Kondrashin, Kirill

Performer

Kirill Kondrashin (6 March [O.S. 21 February] 1914 – 7 March 1981) was a Russian conductor. In the first International Tchaikovsky Competition in 1958, he was the conductor for Van Cliburn, who won the first prize. After the competition he toured the United States with Cliburn, being the first Russian conductor to visit America since the Cold War began. They performed and recorded the RachmaninoffPiano Concerto No.3 and Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No.1, which they had played in the competition. Millions of the recordings were sold in America. And their Tchaikovsky recording for RCA Victor was the first classical LP to go platinum. Later, in 1972, a live performance of Brahms's Piano Concerto No. 2 reunited Cliburn and Kondrashin with the Moscow Philharmonic in Moscow; RCA Victor eventually released the performance, along with a studio recording of Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, on CD. He was also the artistic director of the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra from 1960 to 1975. During this period he premiered Shostakovich's Symphony No.4 in December 1961 and No.13 the following year. He gave several performances in Europe and America with other famous Russian musicians like Rostropovich, Oistrakh, and Sviatoslav Richter. [source from Wikipedia]

Work

• Piano Concerto No. 1 in F sharp minor, Op. 1
• Piano Concerto No. 1 in E flat major, S. 124
• Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18
• Piano Concerto No. 2 in A major, S. 125
• Piano Concerto No. 3 in C major, Op. 26
• Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 77
• Minstrel's Song, Op. 71
• Sinfonia concertante in E flat major, K. 364