On October 15, 2026, the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra will make its debut at the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre, conducted by its Artistic Director, Ivan Nikiforchin. The soloist for the evening will be Vladimir Vishnevsky.
“A new season is coming. The MSSO and I are heading straight off on a concert tour in the Far East, featuring a programme dedicated to the works by Sergei Rachmaninoff. We will perform his Symphony No. 2 and Piano Concerto No. 3 with the phenomenal soloist Vladimir Vishnevsky, a pianist with whom we worked closely throughout the previous season. I am delighted that the 2026/2027 season begins in such wonderful cities, which the MSSO and I will be visiting for the first time. For me, as the Orchestra’s Artistic Director, it is vital that we expand our creative horizons and perform the greatest masterpieces of 20th-century Russian music”, says Ivan Nikiforchin.
The concert programme includes two masterpieces by Sergei Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 3 and Symphony No. 2.
“Rachmaninoff’s Third Concerto is a true milestone work for any pianist; for me, it is significant in every possible way. It is one of my absolute favorite concertos, though it is also incredibly challenging. I have performed it a mere dozen times in my entire life. The Third Concerto brought me victory in the two most important competitions of my career: the Rachmaninoff International Competition for Pianists, Composers and Conductors, and the Moscow International Vladimir Krainev Piano Competition. Ivan Nikiforchin was the conductor at both of those events; he has truly become my lucky charm.
I feel an immense sense of gratitude toward Sergei Rachmaninoff and a profound reverence for his genius. I am truly looking forward to the evenings in Vladivostok and Yakutsk when I will perform his Third Concerto. It’s not just a blissful anticipation; at times, I find it truly daunting to play the Third Concerto, because it is clearly something superhuman. There are works that transcend human invention; those pieces are, in the truest sense, divine. I am glad that I do not play the Third Concerto too often, taking time between performances. This gives me time to reflect and to reconsider certain aspects; after all, it goes without saying that I will be contemplating this work for the rest of my life. I have a great fondness for the MSSO, and I truly enjoy performing with Ivan Nikiforchin. I am genuinely looking forward to this tour”, says Vladimir Vishnevsky.
The MSSO was founded in 1943 under the auspices of the government of the then-USSR, thus it is one of the oldest symphony orchestras in Russia. In the autumn of 2026, the Orchestra will be launching its 84th concert season.
Lev Steinberg, People’s Artist of the USSR, conductor of the Bolshoi Theatre, was the Orchestra’s first Chief Conductor; he directed the Orchestra until his death in 1945. Successive Chief Conductors of the MSSO have included such renowned Soviet musicians as Leonid Khudoley (1945–1948), Nikolai Anosov (1948–1951), Viktor Smirnov (1951–1953), Leo Ginzburg (1953–1955), Mikhail Terian (1955–1960), Veronica Dudarova (1960–1989), and Pavel Kogan (1989–2022). These prominent figures have made the Orchestra one of the nation’s finest symphonic ensembles. In 2024, Ivan Nikiforchin, a prize-winner at the I Rachmaninoff International Competition for Pianists, Composers and Conductors and a winner of the Presidential Prize for young cultural figures (awarded in 2024 for his contribution to the development of national musical culture), was appointed Artistic Director of the MSSO.
The Orchestra has built a whole recording catalog comprising CDs and DVDs of both studio and live performances, alongside radio and television broadcasts. In 2023, the MSSO participated in recording the Anthology of Rodion Shchedrin’s Choral Music to commemorate the 90th birthday of the composer. In 2024, the Orchestra recorded S.S.Prokofiev’s symphonic fairy tale Peter and the Wolf and excerpts from M.Weinberg’s ballet The Golden Key. To mark the composer’s centenary, in September 2025 an album of symphonic works by Boris Tchaikovsky “Discoveries and Revelations” was released by “Firma Melodiya” Record Company. The album was recorded by the MSSO conducted by Ivan Nikiforchin at “Tonstudiya Mosfilm” Recoding Studio.
