Olga Volkova
In the orchestra since 2022
Born in Vladivostok, at the age of seven she gave her first violin recital, and at ten she made her debut on stage with a symphony orchestra. She graduated from the Central Music School of the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory (Irina Bochkova’s class), the Cologne University of Music (Zakhar Bron’s and Barnabás Kelemen’s classes), studied at the Queen Elizabeth Music Chapel in Brussels (Augustin Dumay’s class).
In 2016 she became the youngest concertmaster of the Mariinsky Orchestra. Since 2021 she has been the first concertmaster of the Mikhailovsky Theatre Orchestra.
In September 2022 she became concertmaster of the musicAeterna Orchestra.
Olga Volkova has won a number of international awards, including the First Prize of the Paganini Moscow International Violin Competition (2007), the First Prize and all special prizes at the Carl Nielsen International Competition in Denmark (2012). She is a grant-recipient of the New Names Foundation, Russian Performing Arts Foundation, Vladimir Spivakov Foundation, Mstislav Rostropovich Foundation, and DOMS Stiftung (Basel).
She has performed with Mstislav Rostropovich, Vladimir Ziva, Joshua Weilerstein, Justus Frantz, Gustavo Dudamel, Seiji Ozawa, Daniele Gatti, Valery Gergiev, Alexander Rudin, Maxim Vengerov, Eliso Virsaladze, Irina Bochkova, Vadim Repin, Saulius Sondeckis, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Joshua Bell, Olli Mustonen, Pinchas Zuckerman, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Dmitry Sinkovsky, Stanislav Kochanovsky, Andrey Korobeynikov, and Itamar Golan.
As a guest concertmaster, she has collaborated with the North West German Philharmonic Orchestra, Bonn Classical Philharmonic Orchestra, Cologne Youth Philharmonic Orchestra and the Philharmonia of the Nations Orchestra.
She gives master classes in Russia, Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain, and Belgium on a regular basis.
Olga plays a violin by Guarneri del Gesu Robberechts (Robrecht, 1728, Cozio 44054).
I came to love music consciously much later: at competitions and concerts I enjoyed being in the focus of everyone's attention, I liked to perform and, perhaps, from childhood I liked a different sense of time. This feeling is difficult to explain: it is like you are in control of time when you're on stage.
When I came to him to pick up the bow, he said: "And look, by the way, there's a little violin waiting there for you." I wasn't looking for an instrument, I was quite content with my own, but I played a couple of notes on that violin. I realized that it sounded good, put it back in its place and went home. In the morning I realized that I was hooked on something in that violin, I really liked it. I urgently called the master to pick the violin, called Teodor and the guys from the orchestra so that they would come to listen and help compare the two instruments… As a result, the very next day I played the new violin in Zaryadye Hall. The instrument itself is old — most likely an Austrian of the 17th or 18th century. The experts who heard it told me it could not sound the way it actually sounds, that it was a miracle!
musicAeterna orchestra events
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D Major, Op. 77 (1878)
Allegro non troppo
Adagio
Allegro giocoso — Poco piu presto
Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975)
Symphony No. 5 in D Minor, Op. 47 (1937)
Moderato
Allegretto
Largo
Allegro non troppo
Performers:
The musicAeterna Orchestra
Soloist — Olga Volkova, violin
Conductor — Teodor Currentzis
Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)
Symphony No. 5 in C Sharp Minor (1902)
- Trauermarsch. Im gemessenen Schritt. Streng. Wie ein Kondukt | At a measured pace. Strict. Like a funeral procession
- Stürmisch bewegt. Mit grösster Vehemenz | Moving stormily. With the greatest vehemence
- Scherzo. Kräftig, nicht zu schnell | Strong and not too fast
- Adagietto. Sehr langsam | Very slow
- Rondo-Finale. Allegro, Allegro giocoso
Richard Wagner (1813-1883)
The Prelude and the Death of Isolde from the opera Tristan and Isolde (1857-1859)
Performers:
The musicAeterna Orchestra
Conductor — Teodor Currentzis
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D Major, Op. 77 (1878)
Allegro non troppo
Adagio
Allegro giocoso — Poco piu presto
Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975)
Symphony No. 5 in D Minor, Op. 47 (1937)
Moderato
Allegretto
Largo
Allegro non troppo
Performers:
The musicAeterna Orchestra
Soloist — Olga Volkova, violin
Conductor — Teodor Currentzis
Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)
Symphony No. 5 in C Sharp Minor (1902)
- Trauermarsch. Im gemessenen Schritt. Streng. Wie ein Kondukt | At a measured pace. Strict. Like a funeral procession
- Stürmisch bewegt. Mit grösster Vehemenz | Moving stormily. With the greatest vehemence
- Scherzo. Kräftig, nicht zu schnell | Strong and not too fast
- Adagietto. Sehr langsam | Very slow
- Rondo-Finale. Allegro, Allegro giocoso
Richard Wagner (1813-1883)
The Prelude and the Death of Isolde from the opera Tristan and Isolde (1857-1859)
Performers:
The musicAeterna Orchestra
Conductor — Teodor Currentzis
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D Major, Op. 77 (1878)
Allegro non troppo
Adagio
Allegro giocoso — Poco piu presto
Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975)
Symphony No. 5 in D Minor, Op. 47 (1937)
Moderato
Allegretto
Largo
Allegro non troppo
Performers:
The musicAeterna Orchestra
Soloist — Olga Volkova, violin
Conductor — Teodor Currentzis