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Alexander Lazarev is one of Russia's foremost conductors. He studied with Leo Ginsbourg
at the Moscow Conservatory graduating with first class honours. In 1971 he won first prize in the Soviet Union's national
competition for conductors, and the following year went on to win first prize and gold medal in the Karajan Competition in
Berlin.
From 1987 to 1995 Lazarev was Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Bolshoi Theatre, the first person for over
thirty years to hold both positions concurrently. His leadership marked a period of intense activity, with the Bolshoi
Opera undertaking an unprecedented programme of prestigious foreign touring including Tokyo (1989), La Scala, Milan (1989),
the Edinburgh Festival (1990 and 1991) and the Metropolitan Opera in New York (1991). Several of the Theatre’s most
successful productions including Glinka’s A Life for the Tsar, Tchaikovsky’s The Maid of Orleans, and Rimsky-Korsakov’s
Mlada were filmed for video and the Bolshoi Symphony Orchestra made a number of highly acclaimed recordings for Erato
including such milestones of the Russian symphonic repertoire as Rachmaninov Symphony No. 2 and Shostakovich Symphony No. 8.
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In recent years he has worked as a regular guest with the Philharmonia Orchestra and the St. Petersburg Philharmonic,
appearing with them in London, Paris and Vienna. Other orchestras he has conducted include the Berlin Philharmonic, Munich
Philharmonic, Bavarian Radio Symphony, Royal Concertgebouw, Orchestra Filarmonica della Scala, Orchestra dell’ Accademia
Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Orchestre National de France, Oslo Philharmonic, Swedish Radio Symphony, NHK Symphony,
Cleveland Orchestra, Montreal Symphony and the London Philharmonic, and he has appeared with opera companies such as the
Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, Brussels, the Arena di Verona, the Opéra National de Paris, Bastille and the Bavarian State
Opera.
He has been a regular visitor to the UK since his debut in 1987. From 1992-1995 he was Principal Guest Conductor of the
BBC Symphony Orchestra, and from 1997 to 2005 he was Principal Conductor of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. His
activities with them included complete cycles of the symphonies of Shostakovich and Prokofiev, appearances at the
Proms and extensive foreign tours.
His repertoire is particularly enterprising in its scope, ranging from the eighteenth century to the avant-garde. In
1978 he founded the Ensemble of Soloists of the Bolshoi Theatre whose most important aim was the programming and wide
dissemination of contemporary music by both Soviet and foreign composers.
Alexander Lazarev is a prolific recording artist - in addition to his recordings with the Bolshoi Symphony for Erato, he
has made over 35 recordings for Melodiya, and has also recorded for Virgin Classics, with the BBC Symphony Orchestra for
Sony Classical, with the London Philharmonic Orchestra for Hyperion and BMG, and with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra
for BIS and Linn Records.
Engagements this season include L'amour des trois oranges at the Opéra Bastille, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk at the Grand Théâtre de Genève and The Rake's Progress at the Opéra National de Lyon.
2006/07