Formed by the Council of Ministers of Ukraine in November of 1918, the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine is considered to be one of the finest symphony orchestras in Eastern Europe. Its first conductor was Oleksander Horilyj. Natan Rachlin was the Artistic Director of the Orchestra from 1937 until 1962. Stefan Turchak, Volodymyr Kozhuchar, Fedir Hlushchenko, Theodore Kuchar, and Igor Blazhkov consequently conducted the Orchestra as its Principal Conductors. Other conductors who worked with the NSOU include Leopold Stokowski, Mykola (Nikolay) Malko, Igor Markevitch, Kurt Sanderling, Evgeny Mravinsky, Kiril Kondrashin, Evgeny Svetlanov, and Gennady Rozhdestvensky. Soloists who performed with the...
The National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine
Orchestra
“We experienced the music as never before, with immaculate playing all 'round that revealed the score's many inner beauties. The audience rewarded the artists with hearty, protracted applause at the end of the first movement …it was one gorgeous performance.”
“The first movement, from its downbeat, was rhythmically crisp, richly blended and played with a strong sense of dynamic and dramatic shape. Climaxes were raw, the final peroration visceral and urgent. At the same time, the music’s lyrical episodes offered warm, soulful contrasts.”
“Dvorak’s Symphony No. 7...offered all the necessary grandeur and majesty, while still maintaining an elegant and refined quality. The opening was cinematic and immersive. The second movement had a narrative quality and featured numerous fine solos from woodwinds and brass and a beautiful sound from the four horns.”
Joseph Dalton, Albany Times Union
