In Schubert's company Maxim Rysanov

• Franz Schubert (1797 - 1828): Polonaise in B-Flat Major, D. 580:
• 1 Polonaise in B-Flat Major, D. 580 05:51
• Sergey Akhunov (b.1967): In Schubert’s company:
• 2 In Schubert’s company 06:52
• Leonid Desyatnikov (b.1955): Wie der alte Leiermann…:
• 3 Wie der alte Leiermann… 13:41
• Franz Schubert: Sonata in A Minor for arpeggione & piano, D. 821:
• 4 Sonata in A Minor for arpeggione & piano, D. 821: I. Allegro moderato 11:35
• 5 Sonata in A Minor for arpeggione & piano, D. 821: II. Adagio 04:22
• 6 Sonata in A Minor for arpeggione & piano, D. 821: III. Allegretto 08:20
• Franz Schubert: Symphony No. 5 in B-Flat Major, D. 485:
• 7 Symphony No. 5 in B-Flat Major, D. 485: I. Allegro 06:47
• 8 Symphony No. 5 in B-Flat Major, D. 485: II. Andante con moto 08:31
• 9 Symphony No. 5 in B-Flat Major, D. 485: III. Menuetto 04:32
• 10 Symphony No. 5 in B-Flat Major, D. 485: IV. Allegro molto 05:30
• Dobrinka Tabakova (b.1980): Fantasy Homage to Schubert:
• 11 Fantasy Homage to Schubert 11:10
• Sergey Akhunov: Der Erlkönig:
• 12 Der Erlkönig 05:07
• Franz Schubert: Violin Sonata No. 3 in G Minor, D. 408:
• 13 Violin Sonata No. 3 in G Minor, D. 408: Allegro giusto 05:09
• 14 Violin Sonata No. 3 in G Minor, D. 408: Andante 05:57
• 15 Violin Sonata No. 3 in G Minor, D. 408: Menuetto. Allegro vivace - Trio 02:40
• 16 Violin Sonata No. 3 in G Minor, D. 408: Allegro moderato 05:27
• Franz Schubert: Winterreise, D. 911 "Der Leiermann":
• 17 Winterreise, D. 911 "Der Leiermann" 04:01
• Total Runtime 01:55:32

Info for In Schubert's company

‘I am not superstitious. Especially numerology which never occurred to me as something attractive, or something that had ever play a role in my life or had freakish power over something. Nevertheless, when I started collecting repertoire for this album, which is dedicated to Schubert's 220th anniversary, some works on the disc accidentally appeared to be connected. Schubert's 5th symphony was recorded in Riga just about 200 years after it was composed. Franz was 20 years old when he wrote it.

Leonid Desyatnikov's "Wie der alte Leiermann", for violin and orchestra, which I decided to arrange for the viola especially for this project, was composed 20 years ago for Schubert's 200th anniversary.

Spooky...

On a more serious note, Schubert touches me deeply. Not only with his music and his sensitive soul, but also his life story is fascinating to me. Composer, elementary school teacher, poet, philosopher, pianist, singer, violinist, violist!...

With this album, I present myself as a commissioner of new music, arranger, solo performer and conductor. I would like to believe I am 0.22% closer to understanding Schubert’ writes Maxim Rysanov.

Schubert’s sunny 5th Symphony, 3rd Violin Sonata and Polonaise for violin & orchestra, are joined by three contemporary composers who each draw on Schubert’s music for their compositions. A darker, tormented Schubert from his final years is the source for their works – Winterreise, Erlkönig and the late Fantasy for violin & piano providing the inspiration. The haunting beauty of Schubert’s music continues to exert a powerful influence on performers, composers and music lovers alike.

Maxim Rysanov, viola, direction
Yakov Katsnelson, piano
Sinfonietta Riga

Maxim Rysanov
Ukrainian-British violist and conductor Maxim Rysanov has established himself as one of the worlds most vibrant and charismatic musicians. He is principally known for his performances as a violist, guest of the crème of international music scene such as BBC Last Night of the Proms, Verbier, Great Mountain, Tran Siberian and Edinburgh Festival, Salzburg Festival among others. After having completed a conducting fellowship at The GSMD he started to combine his viola performance with a career as a conductor.

Conducting engagements include the Spanish Radio Orchestra, Basel Symphony Orchestra, Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, Riga Sinfonietta, London Mozart Players, Russian National Orchestra, and Moscow Musica Viva, Kiev Soloists, Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León, Georgian National Symphony Orchestra, Częstochowa Philharmonic Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra Chaarts, Detmold Chamber Orchestra, Dala Sinfonietta, Southbank Sinfonia, Voronezh Youth Orchestra, Danubia Symphony as well as conducting at festivals in Dubrovnik (with Roger Moore as narrator), Utrecht (with Janine Jansen), Boswil (with Vilde Frang), Surrey Hills (with Nicola BenedettI), Budapest Festival Orchestra (Kelemen Quartet), and the finale of the Beijing Viola Festival, Plovdiv Philharmonic (Kristina Blaumane), Sofia Opera Orchestra and Chorus (Bulgarian premier of Cantata by Dobrinka Tabakova), Sofia Philharmonic, Royal College of Music String Orchestra, Lviv Philharmonic, Detmold Chamber Orchestra, Lepaje Symphony Orchestra (soloist David Geringas) and the Pforzheim Stadtsorchester.

As a conductor Maxim worked with such soloists as Mischa Maisky, Nicola Benedetti, Vilde Frang, Janine Jansen, Boris Brovtsyn, Alexander Sitkovetsky, Sergei Krylov, Kristina Blaumane, Ashley Wass, Benjamin Yusupov, Leonard Elschenbroich, Dora Kokas and Kelemen Quartet among others. Among his concerto highlights are Mariinsky Orchestra (Valery Gergiev), Russian National Orchestra (MikhailPletnev), BBC Symphony Orchestra (Jiří Bělohlávek), Seattle Symphony (Andrey Boreyko), Orquesta de Castilla y Leon (Vasily Petrenko), DSO Berlin (Tugan Sokhiev), Moscow Philharmonic (Yuri Simonov), BSO (Vladimir Fedoseev), Gurzenich Orchestra (Sir Mark Elder), Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra (Philippe Herreweghe), NDR Philharmonic Orchestra (Eivind Gullberg Jensen), Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra (Juraj Valcuha), RTE Symphony Orchestra (Olari Elts), the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra (Arvo Volmer), the West Australian Symphony Orchestra (Vladimir Verbitsky), Auckland Symphony Orchestra (Eckehard Stier), Danish National Symphony Orchestra (Michael Schoenwandt), Malaysian Philharmonic (Yan Pascal Tortelier), Shanghai Symphony (Long Yu), Orquesta Sinfonica de Euskadi (Diego Matheuz), Ulster Orchestra (Paul Watkins), European Union Youth Orchestra (Matthias Bamert), Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg (Michal Dworzynski), Kazan Symphony (Alexander Sladkovsky) and Strasburg (Vasily Sinaisky). Maxim has long been recognised by the international music scene and his list of prizes affirm that status. These include the Classic FM Gramophone Young Artist of the Year Award and the BBC Radio 3 New Generation Award, as well as the Geneva, Lionel Tertis and Valentino Bucchi competitions. Maxim is a keen promoter of new music. Recently he conducted the Russian premier of the Piano Concerto by Benjamin Yusupov. His enthusiasm for new music has generated collaborations, which have extended the viola repertoire. This includes world premieres by Dobrinka Tabakova, Richard Dubugnon and Sergei Akhunov. Other composers with whom Maxim has developed a close working relationship include Benjamin Yusupov, Leonid Desyatnikov, Giya Kancheli, Artyom Vassiliev and Elena Langer. In 2014 Maxim presented the Penderecki's double concerto in a Russian premiere. In 2016 he premieres a new viola concerto by Peteris Vasks that was co-commissioned by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, the Vale of Glamorgan Festival and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg. Further performances include Turku Philharmonic, Riga Sinfonietta, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Wurttemburgisches Kammerorchester Heilbron and the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra.

Maxim's commercial CD have continually gained awards including Gramophone Editor's Choice and ECHO, ICMA, Gramophone and Grammy nominations as well as reaching the top of the iTunes charts in the USA. His recent recording of the Martinu Rhapsody – Concerto was shortlisted for the Gramophone Award. He is delighted to have a Giuseppe Guadagnini viola (1780) on extended loan from the Elise Mathilde Foundation.

Booklet for In Schubert's company