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A rebellious contemporary composer who is intent on dragging classical music into a new age, Treodor Currentzis's 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, he was a child prodigy who picked up the piano and the violin and started studying at the National Conservatory at the age of 12, before moving 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 and around the same time founded the Orchestra MusicAeterna which began by tackling early period pieces and specialising in authentic, passionate performances. Currentzis announced himself to a wider audience when he led an extraordinary performance of Henry Purcell's 'Dido & Aeneas' which was released as an album in 2008, but he moved on to the provincial Siberian city of Perm in 2011 to take over as the director of their state opera, and took with him the loyal members of the MusicAeterna. In the foothills of the Ural mountains during freezing winters, the ensemble became honed into one of the country's most dynamic orchestras under Currentzis's intense leadership, and their 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, and his high energy approach to Mozart was seen as revolutionary by some critics, and captured on albums 'Le Nozze di Figaro', 'Cosi Fan Tutte' and 'Don Giovanni' for Sony Classical. He also toured Europe with the orchestra leading performances of work by Prokofiev, Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky and Verdi and was appointed to take charge of the SWR Symphonieorchester in Stuttgart in 2018.Artist biography compiled by BDS/West 10. All rights reserved
