Teodor Currentzis

A rebellious contemporary composer who is intent on dragging classical music into a new age, Treodor Currentzis' volcanic personality and intense, unbridled devotion to his art make him one of Russia's most unconventional and charismatic modern maestros. Born in Athens, Greece on February 24, 1972, he was a child prodigy who picked the piano and the violin and started studying at the National Conservatory at the age of 12. Treodor Currentzis moved to Russia in 1994 to learn conducting at St. Petersburg State Conservatory under Ilya Musin. He took over as the principal conductor of the Novosibirsk State Opera and Ballet Theatre in 2004. He also founded the Orchestra MusicAeterna, which began by tackling early period pieces and specializing in authentic, passionate performances. Currentzis came to prominence when he led an extraordinary performance of Henry Purcell's Dido & Aeneas, which was released as an album in 2008. Moving to the provincial Siberian city of Perm in 2011 to take over as the director of their state opera, he took some of the loyal members of the MusicAeterna with him. In the foothills of the Ural Mountains during freezing winters, the ensemble became one of the country's most dynamic orchestras under Currentzis' intense leadership. Their 2011 recording of Mozart's Requiem in D Minor was admired as a fireball of raging energy. Currentzis went on to win five Golden Mask Awards as the country's top conductor. His high energy approach to Mozart was seen as revolutionary by some critics and captured on albums such as Le Nozze di Figaro (2014), Cosi Fan Tutte (2014) and Don Giovanni (2016) for Sony Classical. He also toured Europe with the orchestra, leading performances of works by Prokofiev, Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky and Verdi. appointed to take charge of the SWR Symphonieorchester in Stuttgart in 2018. In 2018, he and his orchestra released Mahler: Symphony No. 6, followed by Beethoven: Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 67 in 2020.