Vladimir Genin

Vladimir Mikhailovich Genin (born 31 March 1958 in Moscow, Soviet Union) is a Russian-German composer, pianist and piano teacher. He has lived in Munich since 1997.

Life, career, compositions
Vladimir Genin is the son of the writer and musician Mikhail Genin and Elena Spinel. His grandfather Jossif (Joseph) Spinel was a painter and stage designer.

After graduation 1977 from the Tchaikovsky Academic Music College at the Moscow State Conservatory for one year he studied piano at the State Pedagogical University with Alisa Kezheradze, then composition with Prof. Roman Ledenev and piano with Prof. Ilya Kljachko at the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory. His compositional development was influenced also by his long friendship with Shostakovich's pupilGeorgy Sviridov.

Works by V. Genin have been published by Sikorski Music Publishers, Musikverlag Ries&Erler Berlin and Challenge Records International and have been performed in Europe, Russia, South Korea and in the US, among others with the with Symphony Orchestra of the Moscow Opera Theatre "New Opera" under Yevgeny Kolobov, Symphony Orchestra of the Mariinsky Opera Theatre St. Petersburg under Valery Gergiev, Rotterdams Philharmonic Orchestra under Valery Gergiev, The Menuhin Academy Soloists Switzerland, Orchestra del Teatro Comunale di Bologna and Graz Philharmonic Orchestra under Oksana Lyniv, INSO Lemberg unter V. Protasov.

They were performed at the International Review of Composers in Belgrade, the International Festival Moscow Autumn, the International Gori Choral Festival Georgia, the 'Musikfest der Münchner Gesellschaft für Neue Musik, The Hohenloher Kultursommer et al.

The mystery play Plaint of Andrei Bogolubski, Great Prince of Vladimir was performed during the celebration of the Millennium of Christianity in Russia and on a concert tour in the USA and has since seen over 70 performances. Over 20,000 copies of this work have been sold on records and CDs.

Performances of his orchestrations of Modest Mussorgsky's vocal cycles Songs and Dances of Death and Without Sun commissioned by baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky took place under the baton of Valery Gergiev in St. Petersburg (Kirov-Mariinsky Theatre Symphony Orchestra), Rotterdam and Brussels (Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra).

The feature film The Cosmonaut's Letter (D, 2001) with Genin's original music was presented in cinemas and broadcast by Premiere TV. The Suite from the Film Music was performed by Camerata Nova in the Carl Orff Hall of the Munich Philharmonic under the baton of Vladimir Genin and at the Night of Film Music by the Münchner Rundfunkorchester under Frank Zacher in the Great Concert Hall of the Münchner Musikhochschule.

In 2001, commissioned by the music library Sonoton (Creative Sound Solutions, Munich), he composed six pieces for chamber ensemble together with Roman Raithel, which were released on the CD "Abstract Images" and have since been broadcast as background music by television stations in Europe, Australia, Japan and the USA.

The piano cycle Seven Melodies for the Dial, composed for the pianist Olga Domnina, was released in 2012 by Challenge Records International on a CD, which received positive reviews. A glance at the press review reveals the success of performances of this cycle in Concertgebouw Amsterdam, in the International House of Music Moscow and at Moscow's Stanislavsky Music Theatre.

The CD of the great vocal cycle Les Fleurs du Mal, inspired by Charles Baudelaire, was named CD of the Month in January 2015 by the portal MusicWeb International.

A multimedia project by Vladimir Genin together with the Nodelman Quartet Threnody for the Victims in Ukraine to commemorate the dead of the protests in Kiev in February 2014 (Euromaidan) has generated a lot of attention provided in Germany.

V. Genin also occasionally orchestrates film scores for important German film composers, such as for the ZDF two-parter "Die Pilgerin" (2014), for the feature films "Insoupçonnable" (Switzerland/France 2010), "Lippels Traum" (D 2009).

Since 2015 V. Genin has been working closely with the Ukrainian star violinist Valeriy Sokolov. Sonata for violin and piano (2015) and chamber concerto Pietà (2017) were commissioned by him.

In May 2022, Genin won the "Best Musical Short Film" award for "Dreams" at the International Music Video Awards.

The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians dedicated an article to the work of Vladimir Genin.

As the initiator and artistic director of the project The Musicians' Guild of the Future, he teaches piano, chamber music, composition, orchestration and prepares young artists for competitions and for studies at the conservatory. Among his students are prize winners of national and international competitions in Germany, France and Switzerland. He has been realizing his pedagogical principles since 2002 as Head of the Music Department with a team of 20 and 260 students at the Music school Hallbergmoos and since 2012 a regular professor at the Austrian Master Classes. He is also artistic director of the concert series erstKlassiK  which he launched in 2008.

Musical works (selection)

 * HANDCUFFS-IMPRO In solidarity with those fearless people who fight for freedom and their rights 2020
 * PUNTO CORONATA QUASI UNA PASSACAGLIA for orchestra / for ensemble (various instrumentations) 2020
 * DAS KNABENHERZ VON PYRMONT Triller-Opera, Chamber opera in 5 scenes 2019
 * PIETÀ Chamber Concerto for Violin and String Orchestra dedicated to Valery Sokolov 2016
 * ALKESIS Mini-Monoopera 2015
 * ORPHEUS. EURYDIKE. HERMES Mini-Monoopera 2017
 * CONCERTO for accordion and string orchestra 2018
 * EPITAPHIUM for orchestra 2018
 * MALAFEMMINA, OR AWFUL BEAUTY Tragedia Buffa, Opera in two acts 2013
 * GeBeeth for orchestra Homage to L.v.Beethoven on his 250th Anniversary 2019
 * Russian Roulette A Game of Hazard for Symphony Orchestra 2014
 * Liturgical Concerto for piano and symphony orchestra 2011
 * Diptych for piano and symphony orchestra 2010
 * Sinfonietta for strings 2010
 * Suite from the film music The Cosmonaut's Letter for orchestra 2002
 * Threnody for the Victims in Ukraine for strings 2015
 * Bach is all around for strings 2009
 * Deux pantomimes plastiques avec Intermede Triptych for violin and piano 2003
 * Sonata for violin and piano dedicated to Valery Sokolov 2014
 * Poeme for viola and piano 1986
 * Fantasy after Temen from the opera "Boris Godunov" by Modest Mussorgski for piano quartet 1998
 * Polovtsian Dances from the opera "Prince Igor" by Alexander Borodin for piano quartet 1998
 * Seven Melodies for the Dial, Piano cycle 2011
 * The Plaint of Andrei Bogolubski, Great Prince of Vladimir Mistery play for soloists and choir 1987
 * Confession of St. Augustine Cantata for speaker, soloists and choir 1990
 * Les Fleurs du Mal Twelve Songs and Dances for Soprano, Violin, Viola, Cello & Piano inspired by Charles-Pierre Baudelaire 2013
 * Transport of Elements / Re-poetry Vocal cycle on the texts of B. Pasternak, M. Tsvetaeva and R. M. Rilke (in English, German and Russian) 2010
 * Last Moments Seven Songs for Soprano, Cello and Piano on the Texts of Xenia Evangelista (in German) 2006

Musicological and literary works

 * Thoughts on the Piano Bench Article Series // Pianist - Munich: Piranha Media, 2009 No.1-4.
 * Отец; Голый остров Essais // Almanach Dominante - Munich: Verlag Otto Sagner, 2006, 2008, ISBN 978-3-86688-062-7,
 * Небо как колокол // "Музыкальный мир Георгия Свиридова" - М.: Советский композитор, 1990 - C. 165–173, ISBN 5-85285-048-9.
 * Владимирское чудо // М.: Советская музыка, 1989. No. 10.

Exclusive records

 * 1) The Plaint of Andrei Bogolubski, Great Prince of Vladimir for soloists and choir
 * 2) Confession of St. Augustine for speaker, soloists and choir
 * 3) in C est 4/4: four chamber compositions for four interpreters
 * 4) Seven Melodies for the Dial, Piano cycle
 * 5) Les Fleurs du Mal: Twelve Songs and Dances for Soprano, Violin, Viola, Cello & Piano inspired by Charles-Pierre Baudelaire

Other CDs and DVD

 * Original music for the film The Cosmonaut's Letter // DVD The Cosmonaut's Letter (Euro Video)
 * Six pieces for chamber ensemble (together with Roman Raithel) // CD Abstrakt Images (Sonoton)
 * Arrangement for 12 saxophones of the suite by Georgi Sviridov Snowstorm // CD Saxophone Cinema (MDG)

Literature

 * The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. 2nd edition. Vol. 9, ISBN 0-333-60800-3, p. 652.
 * Karsten Dürer: Hearing impression. In: Pianonews. No.6, Staccato Verlag, 2012,, p. 96.
 * История отечественной музыки второй половины XX века. Композитор, Saint Petersburg 2010, ISBN 978-5-7379-0277-3, pp. 482–510.
 * М. Аркадьев: Размышления о молодом композиторе. In: Советская музыка. No. 12, Moscow 1989,.
 * Д. И. Тахватулина: В. Генин. "Плач по Андрею Боголюбскому, Великому Князю Владимирскому". In: Свиридовские чтения: "Родная земля": образ идея русской культуры// Сборник научных статей по материалам VIII Всероссийской студенческой научно-практической конференции. Изд-во ИП Чемодуров, Kursk 2012, pp. 233–248.
 * Д. И. Тахватулина: Действо "Три Спаса" В. Генина: опыт жанрового анализа In: Актуальные проблемы культуры, искусства и художественного образования: сборник научных трудов ОГИИ. Вып. 14. Изд-во ГБОУ ВПО "ОГИИ им. Л. и М. Ростроповичей". Оренбург 2013, pp. 142–147.
 * Д. И. Тахватулина: Отражение славянских духовных традиций в современной музыке (на примере действа "Три Спаса" В. Генина). In: Свиридовские чтения: "ХХ век: изломы русской истории искусство" // Сборник научных статей по материалам Х Всероссийской студенческой научно-практической конференции. Изд-во ООО "РАСТР. Курск 2014, pp. 242-248.
 * Д. И. Тахватулина: В. Генин. Действо "Плач по Андрею Боголюбскому, великому князю владимирскому": особенности жанровой драматурги. In: Художественное произведение в современной культуре: творчество - исполнительство - гуманитарное знание: сб. материалов и науч. ст. III международной заочн. науч.-практ. конф. ЮУрГИИ им. П.И. Чайковского. Челябинск 2015, pp. 87–97.