THE JOURNAL (Newcastle, UK) - 19.01.2005

WE THOUGHT WE MIGHT AS WELL GO FOR THE BEST', THE JOURNAL

One of the world's great orchestras begins an exclusive three-day residency in the North-East today, drawing audience members from across England and Scotland.
The St Petersburg Philharmonic was described by one national newspaper as "probably the world's greatest orchestra". But if you want to see its 117 musicians in action this week, conducted by Yuri Temirkanov, you will have to travel to The Sage Gateshead.
Simon Clugston, performance programme director at the Sage, said last night: "This is a huge event and we are so pleased that they are the first visiting orchestra in the hall.
"The St Petersburg Philharmonic, which was previously the Leningrad Philharmonic, is the great Russian orchestra. We have always known that there's a real interest in this area for Russian music played by Russian orchestras. We knew we were going to open a new hall so we thought we might as well go for the best."
The orchestra, which was the first to perform many works by Shostakovich and Prokofiev, flew in yesterday and will leave after its third concert on Friday night. "This is absolutely exclusive to The Sage Gateshead," said Mr Clugston.
He said the first approach was made two years ago but he hoped this would be the start of a lasting relationship between the orchestra and the new North-East concert venue. This made sense, he suggested, because both places were almost on the same latitude. Each of the three evening concerts in the Sage's Hall One features one of the great ballets by Stravinsky: Petrushka tonight, The Firebird tomorrow and The Rite Of Spring on Friday.
Each programme also features pieces by Rachmaninov, adding up to what Mr Clugston called "some of the most fantastic Russian repertoire there is".
He said The Rite Of Spring in particular was "a very big piece" and so not often performed.
Of conductor Temirkanov, the former professional cellist said: "I actually played for him once. He made quite a reputation for himself in the early 1980s in this country. He is absolutely of the Russian school of conductors, immensely innovative."