In March, musicAeterna once again performs in Moscow with a concert in honour of Richter’s birthday. This time, Teodor Currentzis conducts the performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No.5 and Concerto for Violin with Isabel Faust (violin) making a guest appearance.
Spring brings about the traditional performance at the Golden Mask festival, as well as musicAeterna’s first concert at the First Moscow Hospice. Such concerts will later become one of the ensemble’s important charity traditions.
In May, the musicians perform Kancheli’s Styx in Novosibirsk for the first time with participation from Yuri Bashmet.
The concert version of Verdi’s Don Carlos premieres at the Novosibirsk Opera in September.
In October, musicAeterna and New Siberian Singers make another appearance at Territory. Under the guidance of Teodor Currentzis, two world premieres happen: Sanctus by Vladimir Nikolaev and Benedictus by Sergey Zagniy. The two composers have written the music to complete the unfinished parts of Mozart’s Requiem; the latter is also played in the author’s version. At the festival’s closing, Kirill Serebrennikov and Teodor Currentzis present two more world premieres in a symphonic performance context: the Deae ex machina cantata by Andreas Moustoukis and Alexey Syumak’s Station opera within the Vinzavod space.
December is marked by the Novosibirsk premiere of the local opera theatre’s only co-production with the Paris National Opera: Verdi’s Macbeth directed by Teodor Currentzis and Dmitriy Chernyakov. The Paris premiere will happen in April 2009. The play will go on to become a laureate of the Casta Diva 2008 Russian opera award as the Event of the Year.
Sales of the first music recording by Teodor Currentzis and his ensembles for the Alpha label — Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas — begin at the end of December in Russia. International sales of the disc began in late October.