Vladimir Yevgeny Svetlanov: Why Russian Classics Became His Life’s Work
Imagine: 1964, La Scala. On stage is Russian grandeur: Boris Godunov, Prince Igor, Sadko. Svetlanov conducts. The Italians freeze: before them is not just opera but a whole universe, powerful, sincere, without a drop of falseness. And that was only the beginning.
Why Russian classics became his life’s work
Not out of fashion and not for easy victories. For Svetlanov this music was like a native voice: in it he heard a whole country, its history, pain, strength and hope. He felt that if these voices fell silent, something important would disappear forever.
That is why he took on the almost impossible: to create the “Anthology of Russian Symphonic Music.” More than 200 discs, decades of searching and recording. Not for awards, but to preserve what is dear.
The price of a long road
But behind every loud success there is a price. Constant touring, a furious pace, strain… In 2000 the State Symphony Orchestra, with which he had worked for 35 years, parted ways with Svetlanov. A blow? Yes. But he did not even think of stopping. As if he could not do otherwise: if there is music that matters to deliver, it must be delivered.
