Speak of the devil…

Vladimir Jurowski has been Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the RundfunkSinfonieorchester Berlin (RSB) since 2017. In 2023/2024, his concerts, tours and recordings were the highlights of the ‘RSB100’ anniversary season. His current contract in Berlin runs until 2027,
while he has also been General Music Director of the Bavarian State Opera in Munich since 2021.

Vladimir Jurowski, one of the most sought-after conductors of our time, who is celebrated worldwide for his innovative musical interpretations and equally for his courageous artistic commitment, was born in Moscow in 1972 and completed the first part of his music studies at the Music College of the Moscow Conservatory. He moved to Germany with his family in 1990 and continued his studies at the music academies in Dresden and Berlin. In 1995, he made his debut at the Wexford Festival in Ireland with Rimsky-Korsakov’s ‘Mainacht’ and in 1996 at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden with ‘Nabucco’. He was then First Kapellmeister of the Komische Oper Berlin (1997-2001).

Vladimir Jurowski worked as Chief Conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) for fifteen years until 2021 and has since been appointed Conductor Emeritus. In the UK, he was Music Director of Glyndebourne Festival Opera from 2001 to 2013, leading a wide range of highly acclaimed productions. His close connection to British musical life was recognised by King Charles III in spring 2024 when he appointed Vladimir Jurowski an Honorary Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (KBE). In April 2024, Vladimir Jurowski returned to London as a guest conductor to complete the concert performance cycle of Wagner’s ‘Ring’ with ‘Götterdämmerung’ with the LPO at the Royal Festival Hall.

He was Artistic Director of the State Academic Symphony Orchestra ‘Yevgeny Svetlanov’ of the Russian Federation until 2021 and Principal Artist of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment in Great Britain, as well as Artistic Director of the International George Enescu Festival in Bucharest. He has also worked with the unitedberlin ensemble for many years. Vladimir Jurowski has suspended performances in Russia since February 2022. Ukrainian works are and will remain part of his repertoire, as will works by Russian composers.

Vladimir Jurowski has conducted concerts by the most important orchestras in Europe and North America, including the Berlin, Vienna and New York Philharmonics, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, the Cleveland and Philadelphia Orchestras, the Boston and Chicago symphony orchestras, the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, the Staatskapelle Dresden and the Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig. He is a regular guest at the music festivals in London, Berlin, Dresden, Lucerne, SchleswigHolstein and Grafenegg. Although Vladimir Jurowski is invited as a guest conductor by top orchestras from all over the world, he now concentrates his activities on those geographical areas that he can easily reach with reasonable effort from an ecological point of view.

The joint CD recordings by Vladimir Jurowski and the RSB began in 2015 with Alfred Schnittke’s Symphony No. 3, followed by works by Britten, Hindemith, Strauss, Mahler and again Schnittke. Vladimir Jurowski has been honoured many times for his achievements, including numerous international record awards. In 2016, he received an honorary doctorate from the Royal Philharmonic Society from the hands of the current King Charles III. In 2020, Vladimir Jurowski’s work as Artistic Director of the George Enescu Festival was honoured by the Romanian President with the Order of Cultural Merit.

Stuart Skelton is one of the finest heldentenors on the stage today, critically acclaimed for his outstanding musicianship, tonal beauty, and intensely dramatic portrayals.

During the 2020/21 season he sings “Tristan und Isolde” at the Festival d’Aix en Provence, “Jenůfa” at the Bayerische Staatsoper, and “Fidelio” with Opéra de Oviedo.  Concerts anticipated for the season include performances with the Cleveland Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Orchestre de Lyon, Orchestre de l’Opéra national de Paris, and at the Verbier Festival.

Recent highlights include a Metropolitan Opera new production of “Tristan und Isolde” conducted by Sir Simon Rattle, a much-anticipated debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in “Die Walküre” under the baton of Sir Antonio Pappano, a debut at Teatro alla Scala in “Fidelio” conducted by Myung-Whun Chung, a debut with the Salzburg Easter Festival in “Die Walküre” conducted by Jaap van Zweden, and “Lohengrin” at the Opéra national de Paris led by Philippe Jordan. Associated with “Peter Grimes”, he has sung the title role at English National Opera, Opera Australia, Opera de Oviedo, Tokyo’s New National Theatre, and in concert with the London Philharmonic under Vladimir Jurowski, with David Robertson and the Sydney Symphony, with the San Francisco Symphony and Michael Tilson Thomas, and with Edward Gardner and the Bergen Philharmonic.

Stuart Skelton’s robust concert calendar has included performances with Sir Andrew Davis and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Esa-Pekka Salonen and The MET Orchestra, Sir Simon Rattle and the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks , Gianandrea Noseda and the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra,  Sir Antonio Pappano and Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia,  Franz Welser-Möst and the Cleveland Orchestra, and with Sakari Oramo and the BBC Symphony Orchestra.

In November 2021 he makes his debut with the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin.

Highlights of an expansive discography include his first solo album “Shining Knight” in a program of Wagner, Griffes, and Barber accompanied by Asher Fisch and the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, Britten’s “Peter Grimes”, Schoenberg’s “Gurre-Lieder” and a Grammy Award-nominated Janáček “Glagolitic Mass” with Edward Gardner and the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, a Grammy Award-winning recording of Elgar’s “The Dream of Gerontius” with Sir Andrew Davis and the BBC Symphony Orchestra, and Mahler’s “Das Lied von der Erde” with Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony as well as with Sir Simon Rattle and the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks.