Evgeny Svetlanov was a contemporary of the outstanding choral conductor Alexander Yurlov, whose name is linked with an entire era in Soviet choral art. Yurlov rapidly transformed the Choral Chapel into a refined ensemble capable of performing the most demanding repertoire — from Brahms, Britten, and Stravinsky to Schnittke, Shostakovich, and especially Sviridov, who entrusted the Chapel with the premieres of his works from the early 1960s onward. A true revelation was Yurlov’s revival of long-forbidden Russian sacred music of the 16th–18th centuries, including masterpieces by Bortnyansky, Titov, Berezovsky, and Vedel. His brilliant career was cut short by his sudden death at the age of 45, on the very day he was to conduct Sviridov’s Spring Cantata.
Alexander Yurlov said : “A true artist must always strive to go beyond what he believes possible.”
“Alexander Yurlov was a phenomenon of immense stature… For us, the name Yurlov was synonymous with supreme mastery and inspiration. How many people he endowed with his talent, how many he introduced to beauty! Of such people it is said that they are ‘kissed by God.’ Alexander Yurlov was a man who consumed himself in flames, and this ‘torch’ will remain an example of how, in our rational age, an artist can overturn all conventions and doctrines, and prove that in our time it is both possible and necessary to ignite everything around with the sacred fire of Great Enduring Art.”
Evgeny Svetlanov