Aftertalk with T. Sokhiev, D. Froschauer and M. Šetena

Internationally renowned conductor Tugan Sokhiev divides his time between the symphonic and lyric repertoire, guest conducting the most prestigious orchestras around the world.

Tugan Sokhiev enjoys close and privileged relationships with orchestras such as the Vienna, Berlin and Munich Philharmonic orchestras, the orchestras of the Dresden and Berlin Staatskapelle, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig. Outside Europe, he is invited to conduct the finest U.S. orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra and the Boston and Chicago Symphony Orchestras, and spends several weeks each season with the NHK Symphony Orchestra.

In recent seasons Mo. Sokhiev has conducted a new production of Iolanta at the Vienna Staatsoper, given tours with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (Asia), the Munich Philharmonic (Asia and Europe), and the Staatskapelle Dresden (Europe), as well as conducting the highly popular Silvesterkonzert der Staatskapelle Dresden and, in June 2025, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra’s celebrated Sommernachtskonzert at Schönbrunn Palace. He also conducted several highly acclaimed concerts of the Philharmonic Brass, the elite brass ensemble made up of members of the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic Orchestras & Friends.

Tugan Sokhiev begins the 2025/26 season conducting the Vienna Philharmonic once more, with concerts in Vienna, Bratislava, Hamburg and Luxembourg, and rejoins the orchestra in October for their gala concert on the occasion of the 200th birthday of Johann Strauss II. Further highlights of the season include concerts with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra both in Berlin and at the Salzburg Festival, where he will also conduct the Berlin Philharmonic’s Be Phil project. He will also make his debut with the Cleveland Orchestra, conduct a new production of Tannhäuser at the Zurich Opera and return to the Philharmonique de Radio France, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra and the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia.

As Music Director of the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse from 2008 to 2022, Tugan Sokhiev headed numerous successful concert seasons, including several world premieres and a significant number of tours abroad, propelling the orchestra to international prominence. Passionate about his work with singers, from 2014 to 2022 he was Music Director and Chief Conductor of the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow.

Tugan Sokhiev’s discography includes many recordings with the Orchestre national du Capitole de Toulouse on Naïve and Warner Classics, winning the Diapason d’Or in 2020. His recordings with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, where he was Principal Conductor from 2012 to 2016, are available on Sony Classical. He collaborated with EuroArts on a series of DVDs with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse and also with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, which features many of his concerts on its prestigious Digital Concert Hall.

One of the last students of the legendary teacher Ilya Musin at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, Tugan Sokhiev is eager to share his expertise with future generations of musicians, leading him in 2016 to found the International Conducting Academy in Toulouse. He also works with the young musicians of the Angelika Prokopp Sommerakademie der Wiener Philharmoniker and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra Academy. He is honoured to be a Patron of the Philharmonic Brass Education Program and was extremely proud to collaborate with musicians of the Philharmonic Brass on their first CD.

source: Künstleragentur Dr. Raab & Dr. Böhm

photo © Patrice Nin

First violinist and section leader Daniel Froschauer was born in Vienna, Austria. He began his musical career as a member of the Vienna Boys Choir. His studies on the violin led him to the Juilliard School of Music in New York where he was a student of Dorothy DeLay and Masao Kawasaki. He completed his studies with Pinchas Zukerman, with Professor Alfred Staar and Professor Alfred Altenburger in Vienna. In 1993, he made his debut in the Brahmssaal of the Vienna Musikverein with an evening of sonatas.

Froschauer has been a member of the Vienna State Opera Orchestra since 1995 and joined the Association of the Vienna Philharmonic in 1998. He has performed in both orchestras as a first violinist, since 2004 as a section leader. In 2005, he became a member of the Vienna Hofmusikkapelle.

Daniel Froschauer has appeared as a soloist with, among others, the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, the Japan Philharmonic, the West German Radio Orchestra, the New York Symphonic Ensemble, the Reno Philharmonic, the Northwest German Philharmonie, and the New York Virtuosi Strings Chamber Orchestra. He is a member of the Küchl Quartet, the Ensemble Wien and the Vienna Ring Ensemble. As a particular distinction he received the Young Artist Award from Musical America in New York in 1990 and he was also a prize winner at the Concours International Pierre Lantier in Paris in 1997.

Daniel Froschauer has also dedicated himself to numerous charitable projects such as the organization and performance of concerts and workshops for the Vienna Philharmonic and Suntory Music Aid Fund - a relief fund for people in Japan who suffered hardship as a result of the natural catastrophes in Japan (Fukushima). He also appeared in concerts in the series Music and Medicine - a research project which studies the effects of classical music on cancer patients - as well as concerts at the CS Hospiz Rennweg.

Daniel Froschauer plays the violin "Ex Benvenuti, ex Halphen" by Antonio Stradivari from the year 1727, on loan from the Angelika Prokopp Foundation.

source: Daniel Froschauer

photo © Julia Wesely

Milan Šetena was born in Prague, where he began violin lessons at a very early age.

He studied with Bedřich Čapek from 1974 to 1982 and with František Pospíšil at the Prague Conservatory from 1982 to 1988. As a student, he was appointed as the first-ever concertmaster of the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra under Claudio Abbado in 1987, the year it was formed.

Milan Šetena moved to Vienna in 1988, where he continued his studies with Professor Alfred Staar. In 1990, he was engaged as a first violinist of the Vienna State Opera, and in 1994, he became a member of the Vienna Philharmonic.

In addition to the VPO, Milan performs with the Kammerorchester Wien-Berlin, Wiener Virtuosen, the Wiener Geigen Quartet, the Schulhoff Quartet, and the Antonín Dvořák Piano Quartet, with whom he has participated in numerous CD recordings and performed at renowned international festivals, such as the Salzburg Festival, Schubertiade Schwarzenberg, Festival Mitte Europa, and The Stars of the White Nights Festival in St. Petersburg. Moreover, Milan has appeared as a soloist at numerous concerts in Austria and abroad.

In 2009, he recorded a CD titled Wiener Romanzen with his long-standing piano partner, Maria Vigilante. Along with Rainer Honeck, the concertmaster of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Milan appeared as a soloist on a CD in the "Precious Music" series of the Österreichische Nationalbank. In 2012, Milan recorded another CD in this series, this time as a soloist in his own right.

As well as his activities as an orchestral, chamber, and solo musician, Milan Šetena is also a chamber music coach. In January 2012, he served on the jury of the Concertino Praga International Chamber Music Competition, and in June 2014, he was a panelist for the A. Dvořák International Chamber Music Competition.

In May 2019, Milan Šetena was awarded the title of professor by Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen.

In the summers of 2020, 2022, and 2023, Milan initiated and subsequently became the Artistic Director of the highly successful International Music Masterclasses Slavonice (www.immcslavonice.com).

Milan Šetena plays a violin by Sanctus Seraphin, Venice (1733), on loan from the Austrian Nationalbank’s collection.

source: Milan Šetena