Vladimir Jurowski KBE
Conductor Emeritus
Vladimir Jurowski became the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s Conductor Emeritus in September 2021, following 14 years as Principal Conductor, during which his creative energy and artistic rigour were central to the Orchestra’s success.
Coming up with the LPO
Vladimir returns to the LPO for three concerts at the Royal Festival Hall in the 2024/25 season including Haydn, György Kurtág and John Adams (18 January 2025); Prokofiev, Mussorgsky and Lyatoshynsky (2 April 2025); and Brahms, Schumann and Schubert (5 April 2025, followed by repeat performances at Saffron Hall and on tour in Spain).
Recent highlights
On 27 April 2024 Vladimir closed the LPO’s 2023/24 season with the long-awaited conclusion of his highly-acclaimed Wagner Ring Cycle with the Orchestra: Wagner’s Götterdämmerung.
In February 2024 Vladimir was appointed an Honorary Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (KBE) by His Majesty King Charles III, in recognition of his services to music and the arts. At the BBC Proms concert with the LPO on 12 August 2021 – his final official concert as Principal Conductor – he received the Royal Philharmonic Society Gold Medal, one of the highest international honours in music.
In 2021 Vladimir became Music Director at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich. Since 2017 he has been Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra. He is also Principal Artist of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and in 2021 stepped down from his decade as Artistic Director of the Russian State Academic Symphony Orchestra to become its Honorary Conductor. He has previously held the positions of First Kapellmeister of the Komische Oper, Berlin (1997–2001), Principal Guest Conductor of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna (2000–03), Principal Guest Conductor of the Russian National Orchestra (2005–09), and Music Director of Glyndebourne Festival Opera (2001–13).
Orchestras
Vladimir enjoys close relationships with the world’s most distinguished artistic institutions, collaborating with many of the world’s leading orchestras including the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, the Staatskapelle Dresden, the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, the Cleveland and Philadelphia orchestras, the New York Philharmonic and the Chicago and Boston symphony orchestras.
On the opera stage
A committed operatic conductor, Vladimir’s recent highlights include semi-staged performances of Wagner’s Das Rheingold, Die Walküre and Siegfried with the London Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall; new productions of Der Rosenkavalier, Shostakovich’s The Nose and Penderecki’s Die Teufel von Loudun at the Bavarian State Opera; Die Frau ohne Schatten in Berlin and Bucharest with the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra; Prokofiev’s The Fiery Angel at the Bavarian State Opera; Henze’s The Bassarids and Schoenberg’s Moses und Aron at the Komische Oper Berlin; his acclaimed debut at the Salzburg Festival with Wozzeck; and his first return to Glyndebourne as a guest conductor, for the world premiere production of Brett Dean’s Hamlet with the LPO. Previous productions at Glyndebourne – many with the LPO – have included Die Zauberflöte, La Cenerentola, Otello, Macbeth, Falstaff, Tristan und Isolde, Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg, Don Giovanni, The Rake’s Progress, The Cunning Little Vixen, Ariadne auf Naxos and Péter Eötvös’s Love and Other Demons.
On the LPO Label
The final instalment of Vladimir Jurowski’s highly-praised three-volume Stravinsky series with the Orchestra was released on the LPO Label in April 2024, featuring works including Pulcinella, Requiem Canticles and Symphony in C. During his tenure as Principal Conductor the LPO released numerous acclaimed recordings with Jurowski on its own label, including the complete symphonies of Brahms and Tchaikovsky; Mahler’s Symphonies Nos. 1, 2, 4 & 8; and many others. In 2017 the Orchestra released a 7-CD box set of Jurowski’s LPO recordings in celebration of his 10th anniversary as Principal Conductor.
In 2021 the LPO sent Jurowski off for fresh adventures after 14 years in post. When he comes back, they still play for him as for nobody else.
Jessica Duchen, i, April 2024
If ever you wanted to experience the connection between a conductor who knows precisely what he wants to achieve and an orchestra willing to play their hearts out for him, here it was.
Martin Kettle, The Guardian, April 2024
Bravo to Jurowski and his players and cast. The LPO play for him like few, if any, others.
Colin Clarke, Seen & Heard International, April 2024
Since Das Rheingold in 2018, the London Philharmonic Orchestra under Vladimir Jurowski has grown ever more idiomatic and resplendent.
David Nice, The Arts Desk, April 2024
Jurowski’s force of musical personality has consistently carried audiences, and by all accounts musicians, with him.
The Spectator, Aug 2021
Ten years of Vladimir Jurowski in London have brought a non-stop journey of discovery. As the London Philharmonic Orchestra celebrates his decade as music director, it can look back on a period of unrivalled adventure, taking audiences to places other orchestras never reach.
Financial Times, Nov 2017