The Russian National Orchestra (russian: Российский национальный оркестр) was founded in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

in 1990 by pianist and conductor

Mikhail Pletnev Mikhail Vasilievich Pletnev (russian: Михаи́л Васи́льевич Плетнёв, ''Mikha'il Vas'ilevič Plet'nëv''; born 14 April 1957) is a Russian pianist, conductor and composer. Life and career Pletnev was born into a musical fa ...

. It was the first Russian orchestra to perform at the

Apostolic Palace The Apostolic Palace ( la, Palatium Apostolicum; it, Palazzo Apostolico) is the official residence of the pope, the head of the Catholic Church, located in Vatican City. It is also known as the Papal Palace, the Palace of the Vatican and the V ...

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum The Holy See * The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...

and in

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

History

The RNO's first recording (1991) was Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6, ''Pathétique,'' released on Virgin Classics. Since then, the orchestra has made over 80 recordings for

Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...

, Pentatone, Ondine, Warner Classics and other labels, and with conductors that include RNO Founder and Artistic Director

Vladimir Jurowski Vladimir Mikhailovich Jurowski (; born 4 April 1972) is a Russian conductor. He is the son of conductor Michail Jurowski, and grandson of Soviet film music composer Vladimir Michailovich Jurowski. Early life Born in Moscow, Jurowski began hi ...

Paavo Järvi Paavo Järvi (; born 30 December 1962) is an Estonian-American conductor. Early life Järvi was born in Tallinn, Estonia, to Liilia Järvi and the Estonian conductor Neeme Järvi. His siblings, Kristjan Järvi and Maarika Järvi, are also mu ...

Kent Nagano Kent George Nagano GOQ, MSM (born November 22, 1951) is an American conductor and opera administrator. Since 2015, he has been Music Director of the Hamburg State Opera and was Music Director of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra from 2006 to 20 ...

Carlo Ponti Carlo Fortunato Pietro Ponti Sr. (11 December 1912 – 9 January 2007) was an Italian film producer with more than 140 productions to his credit. Along with Dino De Laurentiis, he is credited with reinvigorating and popularizing Italian cinema ...

José Serebrier José Serebrier (born 3 December 1938) is a Uruguayan conductor and composer. He is one of the most recorded conductors of his generation. Early life Serebrier was born in Montevideo to Russian and Polish parents of Jewish extraction. He fi ...

and

Vasily Petrenko Vasily Eduardovich Petrenko (russian: Васи́лий Эдуа́рдович Петре́нко; born 7 July 1976) is a Russian-British conductor. He is currently chief conductor of the European Union Youth Orchestra, music director of the Roy ...

. Notable releases include the complete Beethoven symphonies and piano concertos on

, Tchaikovsky's six symphonies for Pentatone, and the RNO Shostakovich project, also on Pentatone. The RNO's recording of Prokofiev's ''

Peter and the Wolf ''Peter and the Wolf'' ( rus, Петя и Bолк, r="Pétya i volk", p=ˈpʲetʲə i volk, links=no) Op. 67, a "symphonic fairy tale for children", is a musical composition written by Sergei Prokofiev in 1936. The narrator tells a children's s ...

'' and Beintus's ''Wolf Tracks'', conducted by Kent Nagano and narrated by

Sophia Loren Sofia Costanza Brigida Villani Scicolone (; born 20 September 1934), known professionally as Sophia Loren ( , ), is an Italian actress. She was named by the American Film Institute as one of the greatest female stars of Classical Hollywood ci ...

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

and

Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet politician who served as the 8th and final leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...

, was the winner of a 2004

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

, making the RNO the first Russian orchestra ever to win this honor. A Spanish-language version narrated by

Antonio Banderas José Antonio Domínguez Bandera (born 10 August 1960), known professionally as Antonio Banderas, is a Spanish actor and singer. Known for his work in films of several genres, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Antonio Ba ...

was released in 2007, following a Russian version narrated by actors

Oleg Tabakov Oleg Pavlovich Tabakov (russian: Олег Павлович Табаков; 17 August 1935 – 12 March 2018) was a Soviet and Russian actor and the Artistic Director of the Moscow Art Theatre. People's Artist of the USSR (1988). Biography Tabak ...

and

Sergei Bezrukov Sergey Vitalyevich Bezrukov (russian: link=no, Серге́й Вита́льевич Безру́ков, born 18 October 1973) is a Soviet and Russian film and stage actor, singer, People's Artist of Russia, the laureate of the State Prize of th ...

, with a Mandarin edition following in 2011. Narrators in concert versions of these works have included actors

Danny Glover Danny Lebern Glover (; born July 22, 1946) is an American actor, film director, and political activist. He is widely known for his lead role as Roger Murtaugh in the ''Lethal Weapon'' film series. He also had leading roles in his films include ...

Diana Douglas Diana Love Webster (née Dill; formerly Douglas and Darrid; January 22, 1923 – July 3, 2015) was an American actress who was known for her marriage to actor Kirk Douglas from 1943 until their divorce in 1951. She was the mother of Michael and ...

, Sean Dill and Debbie Allen, model

Tatiana Sorokko Tatiana Sorokko (russian: Татьяна Николаевна Сорокко, pronunciation ; born 26 December 1971; née Ilyushkina) is a Russian-born American model, fashion journalist, and haute couture collector. She walked the runways for ...

, Singaporean violinist

Min Lee Lee Huei Min (also known as Min Lee; born ) is a Singaporean classical violinist. She has been dubbed as "Singapore's poster girl of classical music". Career Lee started playing violin at the age of two, and gave her first public performance ...

, and BBC anchor

Seva Novgorodsev Seva Novgorodsev MBE (Russian: Се́ва Новгоро́дцев, which is a pseudonym, his real name being Vsevolod Borisovich Levenstein (Всеволод Борисович Левенштейн); born 9 July 1940) is a former radio present ...

. Touring annually, the RNO appears in the music capitals of Europe, Asia and the Americas, and is a frequent guest at festivals such as Edinburgh, the

BBC Proms The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hal ...

Festival Napa Valley Festival Napa Valley is a music, food, wine and lifestyle festival held in Napa Valley, California. It is presented by Napa Valley Festival Association, a nonprofit corporation governed by a board of vintners and local leaders. More than 200 mus ...

, an
Festival of the Arts BOCA.
In 2009 the RNO launched its own annual festival, the RNO Grand Festival, held each September to open the Moscow season. The tenth anniversary festival was held from September 10 to October 4, 2018. RNO concerts are often aired on

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other n ...

, the

European Broadcasting Union The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; french: Union européenne de radio-télévision, links=no, UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations whose countries are within the European Broadcasting Area or who ar ...

, and Russia's

Kultura ''Kultura'' (, ''Culture'')—sometimes referred to as ''Kultura Paryska'' ("Paris-based Culture")—was a leading Polish-émigré literary-political magazine, published from 1947 to 2000 by ''Instytut Literacki'' (the Literary Institute), ini ...

channel. In 2008, a panel of international critics assembled by Gramophone named the Russian National Orchestra as one of the world's top orchestras. The RNO maintains two outreach programs in the US and Russia
Cultural Allies
encompassing exchanges between artists in Russia and the West and the commissioning of new works; and th
Magic of Music
bringing RNO musicians to play for children in Moscow's orphanages, special facilities for the mentally and physically disabled, and bringing school children to concert halls in Moscow for RNO children's concerts. In the two decades since the Magic of Music program was created, it has expanded to the US with Russian National Orchestra musicians performing for school children while on tour. The Russian National Orchestra is a private institution supported by individuals, corporations and foundations in Russia and throughout the world. Organizations that support the RNO include th
Russian Arts FoundationPrince Michael of Kent Foundation
Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation, Mikhail Prokhorov Foundation, and th
Trust for Mutual Understanding

Awards

Recordings

Since 1990, the RNO has released over 80 recordings on CD and SACD. These include:

External links

Official Website (English)

References

{{Authority control Musical groups established in 1990 National orchestras Russian symphony orchestras 1990 establishments in Russia