The Distinguished Orchestra of Russia, St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, the oldest symphony orchestra in Russia. History of the Orchestra which, according to foreign reviews, “is among the world’s elite and, without a doubt, historically the most important orchestra in Russia”, began with the decree of Alexander III on 16 July 1882, which initiated the creation of the Court Musicians Choir. Transformed into the Court Orchestra at the beginning of the XX century, for the first time in Russia, the orchestra performed the symphonic poems Ein Heldenleben and Also sprach Zarathustra by Richard Strauss, Mahler's First Symphony and Bruckner's Ninth Symphony, Scriabin's Poem of Ecstasy and Stravinsky’s First Symphony. A. Nikisch and R. Strauss conducted the orchestra as well as A. Glazunov. In 1917, the Court Orchestra became the State Orchestra, and was headed by S. Koussevitzky.

In 1921, the orchestra, given the hall of the former Noble Assembly at its disposal, opened the country's first Philharmonia. Outstanding Russian musicians underwent a rigorous test of their conducting skills with the orchestra. Such legendary Western conductors as B. Walter, F. Weingartner, H. Abendroth, O. Fried, E. Kleiber, P. Monteux and O. Klemperer; soloists V. Horowitz and S. Prokofiev, performed with the orchestra. The orchestra mastered a vast contemporary repertoire. In 1918, it presented the premiere of Prokofiev’s Classical Symphony (conducted by the composer himself), and in 1926 – Shostakovich’s First Symphony. In 1934, the orchestra – the first in the country – was awarded the title of Distinguished Orchestra of Russia.

1938 ushered in a half-century of the “Age of Mravinsky” – years of hard work, which earned the orchestra a place among the most prominent orchestras of the world. In 1946, the orchestra embarked on its first foreign trip – and gave its first overseas performance in the country’s symphonic performance history. This was followed by regular tours around the world, performing at the most prestigious European festivals. A unique and creative alliance formed between D. Shostakovich and E. Mravinsky, to whom the composer devoted the Eighth Symphony. The conductor and the orchestra performed five Shostakovich's symphonies for the first time. In fact, a tradition of an original interpretation of famous scores was born. The music of the twentieth century as a whole occupies a significant place in the orchestra's programs. K. Sanderling, A. Jansons and M. Jansons replace each other as the second conductors of the orchestra, L. Stokowski, L. Maazel, Z. Mehta, K. Mazur, E. Svetlanov, G. Rozhdestvensky and composers B. Britten, A. Copland, Z. Kodai, V. Lutoslawski, L. Berio, K. Penderecky stand at the console. The orchestra's concerts feature soloists V. Cliburn, G. Gould, A. Benedetti Michelangeli, I. Stern, S. Richter, E. Gilels, D. Oistrakh, E. Virsaladze, N. Petrov, G. Sokolov, V. Tretyakov, L. Kogan, N. Gutman, V. Krainev, V. Spivakov, A. Lyubimov.

Since 1988, Yuri Temirkanov has headed the orchestra. From year to year, the results of the musicians’ collaboration receive enthusiastic press reviews. “The orchestra is a Russian national treasure, conductor Yuri Temirkanov one of the best in the world” (The Washington Post, 2014). “If the first performance of the Distinguished orchestra of Russia on BBC Proms was outstanding, the second part, also led by Yuri Temirkanov, was the feast of the typical Russian sounding...” (The Guardian, 2015). “This unique orchestra with a special, 'Leningrad' sound...” (Codalario, 2016). “Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony performance was the culmination of that high, St. Petersburg culture of sound that the Distinguished orchestra of Russia is famous for. ( ... ) The brilliant scherzo and the spectacular, technically ingenious finale led the audience into a final frenzy, as expected: the grandiose sound fresco, which could be hardly reproduced by any other conductor or orchestra of the world, appeared before the audience” (Corriere della Sera, 2017). “Regardless of what has happened in the last thirty years in Russia this ensemble remains at the top rank of performing orchestras” (Gregor Tassie, Seenandheard-international.com, 2019).

The orchestra's extensive touring activities just over the recent years included concerts at Théâtre des Champs Elysées in Paris and Musikverein in Vienna, the Berlin, Munich, Elbe, Luxembourg Philharmonic and Frankfurt Alte Oper, the Royal Festival Hall in London, The Usher Hall of Edinburgh, The Bridgewater Hall of Manchester and The City Hall of Leeds, The Victoria Hall in Geneva, Palau de la Musica Catalana in Barcelona and the Santa Cecilia Hall in Rome, Tokyo Suntory Hall, Taipei National Concert Hall, Seoul Arts Center, Beijing National Performing Arts Center and the Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatory.

In January 2022 Yuri Temirkanov resigned as Principal Conductor of the St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, still remaining Artistic Director of both the orchestra and the St Petersburg Philharmonia – he had been occupying this position for more than two decades. Nikolay Alexeev, who had been collaborating with the Orchestra for over twenty years, has subsequently become the orchestra’s Principal Conductor.

The orchestra’s repertoire is constantly updated with new works including contemporary. Over the recent years these comprise Russian premieres of Borisova-Ollas' First Symphony “The Triumph of Heaven” and Fantasia “Wunderbare Leiden”, Dutilleux's Nocturne “Sur le même accord” and “Starry night”, Adams’ Piano Concerto “Century Rolls” and “Shaker Loops” for the string orchestra, Gia Kancheli's Opus “Letters to friends”, Widmann’s “The Babylon-Suite”, as well as “Ramifications” for strings. Concerto for Piano and Orchestra and Romanian Concert Romȃnesc by Ligeti, “Epitaph auf Garcia Lorca” for flute and chamber orchestra by Nono, “A String Around Autumn” for viola and orchestra by Takemitsu.

The 2024/2025 concert season of the orchestra traditionally opens on 25th September – Shostakovich’s birthday. Shostakovich's Sixth Symphony and Brahms' Second Piano Concerto (soloist – I. Papoyan) will be performed under the baton of the Philharmonic's chief conductor Nikolay Alexeev. Traditional subscription cycles – “Distinguished Orchestra of Russia – the St Petersburg Philharmonic” and “The First Symphony Orchestra of Russia” (to the 90th anniversary of the award of the title of Distinguished Orchestra of the Republic) include symphonies by Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Mendelssohn, Tishchenko, Honegger, Schubert, Rachmaninoff; symphonic works by R. Strauss, Ravel, Lyadov, Cantata “Alexander Nevsky” by Prokofiev; piano concertos by Schumann, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev, Ravel, Mozart, violin concertos by Beethoven, Prokofiev, Taneyev's concert suite for violin and orchestra, Harp concerto by Ginastera, symphonic fragments from Wagner’s operas. The soloists will be E. Leonskaja, E. Virsaladze, D. Matsuev, B. Berezovsky, I. Papoyan, I. Bessonov, V. Repin, G. Kazazyan, K. Barati (Hungary).

In the concerts of the cycle dedicated to the 200th anniversary of Bruckner, the Distinguished Orchestra will perform the First, Second, Fifth and Sixth symphonies of the composer. The “Great Symphonies of the War Years” subscription includes Khachaturian's “Symphony with a Bell”, Prokofiev's Fifth Symphony, Myaskovsky's Symphony No. 24, and Shostakovich's Eighth Symphony. As part of the “Legendary Leningrad Premieres of Shostakovich” subscription, the First Symphony, the First Piano (soloist P. Laul), the First Violin (soloist N. Boriso-Glebsky) and the First cello (soloist A. Ramm) concerts of the composer will be performed. In the “Classics. New” subscription: a concert dedicated to the 90th anniversary of Schnittke (The First Symphony and Gogol Suite) and a program with works by Mozart and Penderecky.

In December 2024, the Distinguished Orchestra takes part in the XXIV “Arts Square” International Winter Festival. The festival's poster includes two concerts conducted by Nikolay Alexeev: the opening concert program includes the world premiere of Voronov's Symphony dedicated to the Distinguished Orchestra of Russia, a performance of Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3 (soloist D. Matsuev), Tchaikovsky's fantasy “Francesca da Rimini”. The festival will end with a program of works by Rimsky-Korsakov (musical excerpts from the opera “The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and Maiden Fevronia”), Prokofiev (Third Piano Concerto, soloist N. Lugansky) and Elgar (Enigma Variations).

This season’s guest conductors list features V. Spivakov, D. Liss, A. Sladkovsky, F. Korobov, D. Botinis, D. Jurowski, P. Bubelnikov, A. Soloviev, L. Kremer (Germany), K. Durgarian (Armenia), A. Chernushenko, A. Rybalko, F. Ommassini (Italy).

The orchestra continues its touring activities. Under the baton of Nikolay Alexeev, performances in Sochi and Nalchik took place in August 2023, concerts in Krasnoyarsk in October 2023, tour of China in May 2024, and the orchestra took part in the Platonov Festival of Arts in Voronezh in June 2024. The plans for the 2024/2025 season include concerts in Sochi and Nalchik that have already become customary in August, a trip to Yerevan in September, and performances in Moscow at the Mstislav Rostropovich International Festival in November.