“Sinaisky, whose conducting is precise, sensuous and who has a near perfect technique must have sharpened the senses of the Gewandhaus. This orchestra rarely plays with such boundlessly generosity, with such flexible dynamic range, with such voluptuous use of colour, so rich in detail and with such a grasp of structure. A truly great Shostakovich – moving, truthful and unsettling.” Leipziger Volkszeitung
Vassily Sinaisky's international career was launched in 1973 when he won the Gold Medal at the prestigious Karajan Competition in Berlin. His early work as Assistant to the legendary Kondrashin at Moscow Philharmonic, and his study with Ilya Musin at the Leningrad Conservatoire provided him with an incomparable grounding.
Sinaisky was Music Director and Principal Conductor of Moscow Philharmonic from 1991-1996. He has also held the posts of Chief Conductor of the Latvian Symphony and Principal Guest Conductor of the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra. He was appointed Music Director and Principal Conductor of the Russian State Orchestra (formerly Svetlanov's USSR State Symphony Orchestra) a position which he held until 2002. Sinaisky is Chief Guest Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic and is a regular and popular visitor to the BBC Proms each summer. In January 2007 Sinaisky took over as Principal Conductor of the Malmö Symphony Orchestra in Sweden. His appointment coincides with the launch of the orchestra's ambitious new development plan.
Recent engagements for Sinaisky include returns to the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester Berlin, London Philharmonic, BBC Symphony, Concertgebouw Orchestra and Czech Philharmonic, and debuts with the Pittsburgh Symphony, St Louis Symphony, Russian National Orchestra, Finnish Radio Symphony and NDR Sinfonieorchester Hamburg. Sinaisky enjoys a regular and fruitful relationship with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, conducting many concerts with the orchestra both in the UK and abroad.
In spring 2006 Sinaisky spearheaded the 'Shostakovich and his Heroes' festival in Manchester conducting five concerts over the course of January and February. He won extraordinary critical acclaim. The Telegraph commented that "The Shostakovich centenary year will be very remarkable indeed if it produces another performance of the 4th Symphony to match Saturday night's viscerally penetrating one by the BBC Philharmonic under Vassily Sinaisky. Taut, tense and terrifying..."
Sinaisky has a distinguished pedigree as an operatic conductor, having been Principal Guest Conductor with the Bolshoi. Most recently he conducted performances of Tchaikovsky's Iolanta with Welsh National Opera, including one at the BBC Proms. Sinaisky's conducting of a new production of Shostakovich's Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk at the Komische Oper Berlin in the 2004/05 season also received unanimous critical acclaim in the international press. In recent years, productions of Carmen and Der Rosenkavalier for English National Opera were both highly praised. In autumn 2008 Sinaisky makes his debut with San Francisco Opera, conducting Boris Godunov .
Future recording plans for Sinaisky include a set of the complete symphonies of Franz Schmidt for Naxos with the Malmö Symphony Orchestra. Sinaisky has also made several recordings with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra for Chandos including works by Szymanowski, Shchedrin, Balakirev and Schreker and most recently a series of Shostakovich's film music.
Vassily Sinaisky is represented by Intermusica.
Jan 2008/505 words. Not to be altered without permission. Please destroy all previous biographical material.