Vladimir Fedoseyev - Legendary Artists: Vladimir Fedoseyev (2010)

One of Russia's ranking conductors of the new millennium, Vladimir Fedoseyev has worked extensively in Central Europe during the second phase of his career. As chief conductor of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra since 1997, he has brought a new intensity to the city's often underrated second orchestra. During his years as chief conductor of the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra, Fedoseyev gained a reputation for achieving a balance between passion and musical integrity. A frequent guest at the Zürich Opera, he has won many admirers as an opera conductor, a component of his career further bolstered by successful appearances at the Bregenz Festival.

After receiving his initial training at Leningrad's Mussorgsky School, Fedoseyev continued his studies at the Gnessin Academy where he was at first a part of the bayan class. Upon graduation from the academy in 1957, Fedoseyev pursued graduate studies at the Moscow Conservatory where he worked with Leo Ginzburg. After a decade of directing a folk orchestra, Fedoseyev came under the guidance of Yevgeny Mravinsky, conductor of the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra. Following a 1971 meeting, Mravinsky took an interest in his young colleague and began a mentoring process that resulted in guest engagements with the LPO and other Russian orchestras, and in 1974, appointment as chief conductor of the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra of Moscow Radio, an ensemble with which the conductor has continued to work.

During his long tenure in Moscow, Fedoseyev was invited as a guest by such other orchestras as the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, the RSO Stuttgart, the Hamburg Staatsorchester, and the Orchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks. He was, in addition, made first guest conductor by the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra. Aside from Zürich, the opera houses of Milan, Rome, Vienna, and Florence sought his services. Fedoseyev's direction of the 50th anniversary Bregenz production of Rimsky-Korsakov's Tale of the Invisible City of Kitezh was critically acclaimed both in live performances and through the recording derived therefrom.

In Vienna, Fedoseyev mastered the Middle European repertory to the satisfaction of discriminating listeners, while in Moscow he has introduced modestly priced concerts to serve the needs of those cast adrift by an uncertain Russian economy. An American tour with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra in November 2000 resulted in many laudatory reviews for Fedoseyev and his players.

He conducted Janácek's Cunning Little Vixen in Bregenz in 2003 and continued on with other efforts with the Dresden and Oslo philharmonics and debuts with the Cleveland, Detroit, and Pittsburgh symphonies. His recordings include the works of Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, and Mendelssohn. ~ Erik Eriksson