Michail Jurowski Biographie

Michail Jurowski was born in Moscow on December 25th 1945 the son of famous composer Vladimir Jurowski. He grew up in the circle of worldwide renowned artists of the former Soviet Union such as D. Ojstrach, M. Rostropovitch, L. Kogan, E. Gilels, and A. Chatchaturjan. The Jurowski family was very close to Dmitri Shostakovich. Young Michail not only had the privilege to converse with the great genius, but was also fortunate enough to play four-hand piano with him. This experience highly influenced the young musician, and it is therefore no coincidence that today Jurowski is one of the greatest interpreters of Shostakovich’s music.

Jurowski was educated at the highest level at the Moscow Conservatory, where he studied conducting under Leo Ginsburg and music science under Alexei Kandinsky. Already during his studies he assisted Gennadi Rozhdestvensky at the National Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra of Moscow.

Due to his Jewish descent and the antisemitism of the Brezhnev era Jurowski faced repressions such as a longtime prohibition to travel to Western countries, or the impossibility to be engaged as chief conductor in Moscow or other large cities of culture. Despite these problems Michail Jurowski became a significant figure in Moscow’s music scene. He conducted the Music Theatre of Stanislavski and Nemirovitch-Dantchenko in Moscow for 17 years. During his last years in the Soviet Union he frequently conducted performances at the Bolshoi Theatre.


From 1978 on Jurowski was a regular guest conductor at Berlin’s Komische Oper. In 1989 an invitation by the Semperoper in Dresden led to a permanent engagement. He has been living in Germany ever since and within the shortest time became one of the most sought after conductors for both theatres and concerts.

The most significant milestones in his career in the German language area include:

1989-1996 Permanent conductor at the Semperoper Dresden;
1992-1998 General music director and chief conductor of the Northwest German Philharmonic Orchestra in Herford;
1997-1999 General Music Director and chief conductor of the North German Philharmonic Orchestra and the Volkstheater Rostock;
1999-2001 Chief conductor of the Leipzig Opera;
1998-2006 Regular guest conductor of the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra;
2001-2006 Regular guest conductor of the Deutsche Oper Berlin;
Since 2003 First guest conductor of the Tonkünstler Orchestra of Lower Austria;
Since 2006 Chief conductor of the des WDR Radio Symphony Orchestra Cologne.

In 1993 Jurowski also conducted Sir Peter Ustinov’s production of Tchaikovsky’s “Jolanthe” and Rachmaninov’s “Francesca da Rimini” at the Dresden Music Festival. Both productions were recorded by German TV station ARD and were shown at the Rimini Festival.

Beside concerts in television and radio recordings in Stuttgart, Cologne, Dresden and Berlin, Jurowski conducted various CD recordings, including film music, the Shostakovich opera “The Gamblers”, and until the end of 1996 Shostakovich’s entire vocal symphonic pieces, Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera “Christmas Eve”, as well as orchestral pieces by Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, Reznicek, Meyerbeer, Lehár, Kálmán, Nicolai, Rangström, Pettersen-Berger, Grieg, Svensen, Kantcheli and others.

In 1992 and 1996 Jurowski won the German Record Critics' Prize.

In 2001 Jurowski received a “Grammy” nomination for 3 CD productions of “Orchestral Music by Rimsky-Korsakov” with the RSB Orchestra.

Michail Jurowski opened the 2007/2008 season with a concert at the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa followed by engagements in Bilbao, Sevilla, Valencia, and Vienna (with the Tonkünstler Orchestra of Lower Austria), St.Pölten, Graffenegg etc. He also performed at the Dresden Philharmonie, and conducted the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra, the Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig, the Stuttgart Philharmonic Orchestra, the Stavanger Symphonic Orchestra and many more.

In February and March of 2008 he conducted “Twilight of the Gods” in Dortmund, in August and October Tchaikovsky’s “The Sleeping Beauty” at the Norske Opera in Oslo, and in December 2008 “Eugen Onegin” at the Teatro Lirico in Cagliari. In 2009 Jurowski will be conducting the new production of Respighi’s “Marie Victoir” and the revival of “Un Ballo in Maschera” at the Deutsche

Michail Jurowski opened the 2007/2008 season with a concert at the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa followed by engagements in Bilbao, Sevilla, Valencia, and Vienna (with the Tonkünstler Orchestra of Lower Austria), St.Pölten, Graffenegg etc. He also performed at the Dresden Philharmonie, and conducted the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra, the Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig, the Stuttgart Philharmonic Orchestra, the Stavanger Symphonic Orchestra and many more.

In February and March of 2008 he conducted “Twilight of the Gods” in Dortmund, in August and October Tchaikovsky’s “The Sleeping Beauty” at the Norske Opera in Oslo, and in December 2008 “Eugen Onegin” at the Teatro Lirico in Cagliari. In 2009 Jurowski will be conducting the new production of Respighi’s “Marie Victoir” and the revival of “Un Ballo in Maschera” at the Deutsche