Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake (Excerpts) / Orchestral Suite No. 4

Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake" holds a special place in Yuri Ahronovitch's life. The conductor was just five years old when he attended a performance of the ballet at the Kirov Theatre. He was so fascinated that he told his parents he had decided to become a conductor himself. Amidst the turmoil of the war, he was actually able to study at the Conservatory and graduated with distinction in 1954. During his career, he was the principal conductor of the Gürzenich Orchestra and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Stockholm, and in addition, conducted numerous other orchestras worldwide.

Ahronovitch once described his musical approach as follows: "I was never the leader of the orchestra, I was always a colleague, a friend and a partner." This humanistic approach, combined with an unconstrained naturalness and an entirely self-evident pursuit of perfection, defined his conducting style.