Yakov Kreizberg
1959 – 2011
“One of the most sensational debuts here in living memory” - The Sunday Times
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"Yakov Kreizberg met the BBC Symphony Orchestra to extraordinary effect.” - The Times UK
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"Conductor Yakov Kreizberg eloquently explores [the music’s] bursting heart, eliciting world class playing.” - The Daily Mail
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“A conductor who is becoming one of the hottest properties around.” - The Daily Telegraph
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“Thunderous applause from the audience.” - Wiesbadener Kurier
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“One of the most sensational debuts here in living memory” - The Sunday Times • "Yakov Kreizberg met the BBC Symphony Orchestra to extraordinary effect.” - The Times UK • "Conductor Yakov Kreizberg eloquently explores [the music’s] bursting heart, eliciting world class playing.” - The Daily Mail • “A conductor who is becoming one of the hottest properties around.” - The Daily Telegraph • “Thunderous applause from the audience.” - Wiesbadener Kurier •
"His is great conducting wholly at one with the composer's vision.” - The Stage
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“Kreizberg - make sure you remember this name - is a genius.” - La Presse Riviera / Chablais
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“Kreizberg, swivelling between desolation and ferocity, turns in a performance of such power that the symphony becomes a lament for the destructive forces unleashed by all violent revolutions.” - The Guardian
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"Conductor Yakov Kreizberg held the final moment and held it, in deep silence, until his arms lowered and we all could breathe again” - St Paul Pioneer Press
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“He drew a glorious sound from the CSO forces, in a reading that was both probing and confident as he led without a score.” - The Cincinnati Enquirer
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"His is great conducting wholly at one with the composer's vision.” - The Stage • “Kreizberg - make sure you remember this name - is a genius.” - La Presse Riviera / Chablais • “Kreizberg, swivelling between desolation and ferocity, turns in a performance of such power that the symphony becomes a lament for the destructive forces unleashed by all violent revolutions.” - The Guardian • "Conductor Yakov Kreizberg held the final moment and held it, in deep silence, until his arms lowered and we all could breathe again” - St Paul Pioneer Press • “He drew a glorious sound from the CSO forces, in a reading that was both probing and confident as he led without a score.” - The Cincinnati Enquirer •
"Kreizberg led the virtuoso ensemble […] through a demanding program with thrilling authority, confidence and insights.” - Los Angeles Times
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“There is no doubt that Kreizberg is one of the best conductors on the scene.” - The Gazette
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“Standing ovations from a full house.” - Schweinfurter Tagblatt
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“It was a feast of sonic thrills and exuberant gestures, tightly controlled by a man confident enough to use no score and sparky enough to generate red-hot playing from the London Symphony Orchestra.” - The Times UK
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We are swept off our feet by the orchestra and this extraordinary conductor, who, without even using any scores, electrifies the musicians with grand, precise gestures, his elegant silhouette arising in all splendor above the orchestra.” - Nice Matin
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"Kreizberg led the virtuoso ensemble […] through a demanding program with thrilling authority, confidence and insights.” - Los Angeles Times • “There is no doubt that Kreizberg is one of the best conductors on the scene.” - The Gazette • “Standing ovations from a full house.” - Schweinfurter Tagblatt • “It was a feast of sonic thrills and exuberant gestures, tightly controlled by a man confident enough to use no score and sparky enough to generate red-hot playing from the London Symphony Orchestra.” - The Times UK • We are swept off our feet by the orchestra and this extraordinary conductor, who, without even using any scores, electrifies the musicians with grand, precise gestures, his elegant silhouette arising in all splendor above the orchestra.” - Nice Matin •
A life in Music
Yakov Kreizberg was “an internationally known conductor praised for the depth and intensity of his interpretations” (The New York Times). His “fearless passion for complexity” (The Australian), “exceptional talent” (La Press Riviera) and “incomparable charisma” (Movimento) made him “one of the finest conductors of his generation” (The Independent).
“Although a master of the Russian repertoire […] he also gave his audiences a deep insight into the great Classical and Romantic works” (The Telegraph), in which “his interpretations come close to being unsurpassed” (“Maestros in America”). “The archetypal magical conductor,” Kreizberg was “commandingly tall but genial” with “the pearly smile of a matinee idol” (The Times UK). “You might say that Kreizberg [was] the Hugh Jackman of conducting” (Ionarts).
On the podium Kreizberg showed “incredible energy and perfect technical command” (Movimento) with “rigorous precision and freely phrased lyricism” (San Francisco Chronicle), alongside “a crystal clear baton” (Trouw) and “two of the most expressive hands in the business” (The Oregonian). With “breathtaking virtuosity” (Seen and Heard) he conducted “as if he had composed the piece[s] himself” (Frankfurter Rundschau) and it seemed “there was no difference between the music and gestures of Kreizberg, they were one and the same thing” (Movimento).
The result: “Yakov Kreizberg reigned as a prince” (Trouw) and “the orchestra, the notes of the score, the music’s soul: all appear[ed] under his total control” (The Times UK). “If there is proof required that inspired music making has a physical effect and that it can make the breath stall, Yakov Kreizberg […] produced it” (Muncher Merkur). One such performance garnered “more than 15 minutes of wild applause” (La Press Riviera), and simply put, “his achievements cannot be overrated” (“Maestros in America”).
Upon his passing away, Kreizberg left behind “a recording legacy that is almost unparalleled in its breadth and beauty” (The Telegraph).
Monte carlo tribute to Yakov Kreizberg
“[...] In a kind of fusional relationship with the musicians, Maestro Kreizberg transfigured the orchestra, leading it to surpass itself in order to strive for a perfection it had not known before.
The special bond between this formation and its musical director cannot really be understood if one has not been able to measure, and almost feel, such was its density, the depth of Yakov Kreizberg's soul. His luminous radiance struck those who had the chance to work under his direction or, more simply, to approach him.
Unparalleled human qualities and an astonishing strength of character, at the particular moment when illness gripped him, led the orchestra and its conductor to become one, as if music and this uncommon power had united them forever.
These moments of sublime grace, which are rarely given to experience, suddenly ended.
Let us preserve the memory of an exceptional man, let us remember a prestigious conductor.
Let us love him forever.”
— H.R.H. the Princess of Hanover
On the World’s Stage
Much sought-after internationally, Yakov Kreizberg led many of the world’s major orchestras to significant acclaim. Kreizberg held positions at l’Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, Netherlands Philharmonic and Netherlands Chamber Orchestras, Bournemouth Sympony Orchestra, Wiener Symphoniker, Komische Oper, United Municipal Theaters of Krefeld and Mönchengladbach, Jeunesses Musicales World Orchestra and at Frankfurt’s Alter-Oper.
His heavily-attended concerts included appearances with the Berliner Philharmoniker, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Münchner Philharmoniker, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Dresden Staatskapelle, Gewandhausorchester, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre de Paris, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, London Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia London, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, the Boston, San Francisco and Chicago Symphony Orchestras, Cincinnati Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, the Los Angeles and New York Philharmonic Orchestras, NHK, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra and many others. An accomplished operatic conductor, he performed at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Canadian Opera, English National Opera, De Nederlandse Opera, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the Bregenz Festival and at the Glyndebourne Festival, where his premiere was called “among the most sensational debuts here in living memory” (The Sunday Times).
Well-known soloists with whom he worked include violinists Hilary Hahn, Gil Shaham, Joshua Bell and Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg; cellists Yo Yo Ma, Daniel Müller-Schott and Lynn Harrell; the pianist Mitsuko Uchida; and the clarinetist Charles Neidich. His partnership with violinist Julia Fischer in concerts and across seven albums was particularly renowned.
His award-winning discography includes recordings with the Netherlands Philharmonic and Chamber Orchestras, Wiener Symphoniker, Russian National Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, and the Sinfonieorchester Komische Oper, on the PentaTone Classics, Decca and Orfeo labels. Notably, Kreizberg spearheaded the launch of OPMC Classics, an in-house label for l’Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, and their five albums under that banner captured their deep connection. Among the numerous awards his work received, his recording of Bruckner’s 7th Symphony with the Wiener Symphoniker received two Grammy nominations in 2005 at the 48th Grammy Awards. In 2007, the President of Austria bestowed upon him the ‘Ehrenkreuz’ (Cross of Honor) for Science and the Arts in recognition of his achievements in Music, and he was granted honorary Austrian citizenship. Many of his recordings, including of Bruckner, Shostakovich and Franz Schmidt, are considered benchmark performances, with most captured in high-fidelity SACD audio, ensuring his interpretations can be experienced in pristine sound for years to come.
Born in St. Petersburg, Yakov Kreizberg studied conducting privately with the legendary Ilya A. Musin. In 1976 he emigrated to the United States. He was awarded conducting fellowships at Tanglewood where he studied with Bernstein, Ozawa and Leinsdorf, and at the Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute with Bernstein and Michael Tilson Thomas. In 1986 he won first prize in the Leopold Stokowski Conducting Competition in New York and made his Carnegie Hall debut soon thereafter, marking the beginning of a significant career.
