Teodor Currentzis, MusicAeterna and Patricia Kopatchinskaja Release New Album

Sony Classical is pleased to announce the new release from conductor Teodor Currentzis and his orchestra and choir MusicAeterna is out now. Testament to their versatility and broad musical command, this album brings together two diverse masterworks from two giants of Russian music – Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto Op. 35 and Stravinsky's Les Noces – and presents their first musical collaboration with violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja.

Greek-born but Russian-based, conductor Currentzis has found a kindred maverick spirit in the exceptional Moldovan-Austrian violinist Kopatchinskaja, as is evident in their fresh interpretation of Tchaikovsky's cornerstone of the violin repertory. Known for their instinctive and ground-breaking interpretations across an extensive range of musical eras, Currentzis, Kopatchinskaja and MusicAeterna have performed together several times since this first project and consistently garnered audience and critical acclaim. Spiegel Online recently wrote: "No matter whether it is Mozart or Stravinsky, there is nothing that Teodor Currentzis cannot do at present. And things get even better when the conductor works with the idiosyncratic violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja – together they make a heavenly duo."

The album also presents a rare masterwork from another Russian composer: Stravinsky's Les Noces. Written for solo voices, choir, pianos and percussion, the work celebrates a peasant wedding and was originally written as ballet music in 1917, though in its present form it was not seen on stage until 1923. Currentzis again employs the authentic Russian folkloric influences that were central to his recent interpretation of Le Sacre du printemps and which he considers fundamental to understanding Stravinsky's music. The native Russian-speakers that make up the exceptional MusicAeterna choir also bring another level of understanding and authenticity to this most Russian of Stravinsky's works.