British-Russian conductor Vasily Petrenko is back in Hong Kong for four performances in December with Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. On 1 and 2 December, he will conduct Japanese pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii with an all-French programme including Berlioz and Ravel. On 8 and 9 December, he will conduct English soprano Elizabeth Watts for her Hong Kong debut, with a German programme including Strauss and Mahler.

Ahead of the concerts, Vasily Petrenko shared with us his musical journey and his enthusiasm to collaborate again with Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and to conduct special talents Nobuyuki Tsujii and Elizabeth Watts.

Vasily Petrenko

Born in 1976 in Leningrad, ex-USSR, Vasily Petrenko started his music education at a very early age, thanks to his mother who were dreaming about her son’s career as a conductor. Petrenko studied at the St Petersburg Capella Boys Music School, Russia’s oldest music school, then at the St Petersburg Conservatoire.

As Petrenko explains, the 90s were uneasy in Russia and everyone in his family had to work just “for bread and butter”. These challenges made him work harder every day. “Given the school’s challenging ‘Olympic’ education system, the concept of hard work became a constant for us,” he recalls.

From 1994 to 1997, Petrenko became resident conductor at the St. Petersburg Opera and Ballet Theatre, and chief conductor at the State Academy of St Petersburg since 1994.

Vasily Petrenko, by Mark McNulty

He made his conducting debut with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra (RLPO) in 2004, and, in 2005, he became RLPO’s principal conductor, the youngest-ever conductor in this position, and, a year later, he was made Chief Conductor. During his hugely acclaimed fifteen-year tenure with RLPO, he revitalised the orchestra, in Russian repertoire, especially Shostakovich, as well as standard repertoire such as Brahms, and English music.

From 2008 to 2013, Petrenko served as Principal Conductor of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain. He later served as Principal Guest Conductor then Artistic Director of the State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia (2016-2022), Chief Conductor of the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra (2013-2020), and Principal Guest Conductor of St Petersburg’s Mikhailovsky Theatre.

Petrenko is now Music Director of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, since 2021, and Chief Conductor of the European Union Youth Orchestra, since 2015.

Vasily Petrenko, by Mark McNulty

The conductor has worked with many of the world’s most prestigious orchestras, such as Berlin Philharmonic, Leipzig Gewandhaus, London Symphony, London Philharmonic, Philharmonia, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Rome, St Petersburg Philharmonic, Orchestre National de France, Czech Philharmonic, NHK Symphony and Sydney Symphony orchestras, as well as Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, and San Francisco, Boston, Chicago, Montréal and St Louis Symphony orchestras.

We asked Petrenko to describe the role of a conductor in an orchestra, which might be sometimes vague to neophytes.

“Conductors are there to help musicians in the orchestra. To help them play better, more unified, passionate, balanced. The baton itself doesn’t make any sound, this is the musicians who create the piece. And above that is the composer to whom we must have ultimate respect towards every note and detail. The conductor can hear all those elements from the podium, guiding them throughout rehearsals to improve efficiently and more importantly, to inspire the musicians for their best performance,” he explains.

Nobuyuki Tsujii, by Giorgia Bertazzi

For his return to Hong Kong, Petrenko will conduct Japanese pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii with an all-French programme, including the overture to Berlioz’s opera Benvenuto Cellini and Ravel’s complete music for the ballet Daphnis et Chloé, as well as Ravel’s jazz infused Piano Concerto.

He will also conduct English soprano Elizabeth Watts for her Hong Kong debut, with a German programme including Strauss and Mahler. Watts will sing lieder by Richard Strauss, including such perennial favourites as Morgen! and Cäcilie. Petrenko will conclude with Mahler’s sheerly delightful Fourth Symphony.

The conductor has been on stage several times with Nobuyuki Tsujii or Elizabeth Watts. He has already performed the pieces they will offer to the Hong Kong audience. Talking about his preparation and rehearsal process, Petrenko explains: “I’m always trying to find new depths, new layers and new details in each piece. Then, with a clear “hearing” of the music in my mind, we start rehearsals, and ideally, through them, I’m trying to bring the real orchestral sound as close to my ‘imaginative’ sound as possible”.

Elizabeth Watts, by Marco Borggreve

More details about the concerts can be found here:

VASILY PETRENKO & NOBUYUKI TSUJII – Tickets here: https://www.urbtix.hk/event-detail/10281/

VASILY PETRENKO | MAHLER 4 – Tickets here: https://www.urbtix.hk/event-detail/10281/