CONTEXT

In most parts of the world, the term "philharmonic," or its equivalent in languages other than English, denotes an orchestra, a concert hall or a privately supported society dedicated to promoting classical music. "Here in Russia, the word has a different meaning," explained Alexei Shalashov, general director of the Moscow Philharmonic, during a conversation last week at the Philharmonic's headquarters in the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall. "We give the name to government-sponsored organizations whose basic function is presenting concerts and acting as intermediaries between the 'product' that musicians generate and the public.

" The Moscow Philharmonic, like its slightly older counterpart in St. Petersburg and others that later appeared throughout the country, was one of the Soviet Union's earliest cultural creations and this year celebrates its 85th anniversary. Largely funded by the federal government, it operates under the auspices of the Federal Culture and Cinematography Agency.

As a producer, it arranges the lion's share of musical events on offer to Moscow concertgoers. "At its inception," said Shalashov, "the Philharmonic had neither an orchestra at its disposal nor a hall of its own." The orchestra came into being in 1928, six years after the Philharmonic's founding.

Popularly known today as the Moscow Philharmonic, the orchestra bears the full title of Academic Symphony Orchestra of the Moscow Philharmonic. More than a decade later, the Philharmonic finally acquired a hall. Originally intended as a theater for renowned avant-garde director Vsevolod Meyerhold, the building was redesigned as a concert venue following Meyerhold's arrest in the Stalinist purges of the late 1930s.

When it opened in 1940, it was named the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall as part of celebrations for the 100th anniversary of the composer's birth. In addition, the Philharmonic has taken under its wing and provides financial support to the Chamber Orchestra of Russia, the Borodin Quartet and two pioneers in the realm of early music, the Academy of Ancient Music string ensemble and the vocal and instrumental group known as Madrigal. The Philharmonic also retains under contract a select group of musicians, both vocal and instrumental -- each designated as a "soloist of the Moscow Philharmonic" -- for whom it arranges individual recitals and engagements with its own and other orchestras.

Tickets for each season's concerts under the Philharmonic's aegis are initially sold as subscription series, each of which normally comprises three to five events. For the current season, it has had on offer more than 160 series at 10 different concert venues, including, in addition to the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall, all three halls of the Moscow Conservatory. Besides presenting nearly all of Moscow's major orchestral ensembles, chamber groups and local soloists, the series include appearances by a host of eminent musicians from abroad.

Itar-Tass Rodion Shchedrin's "The Enchanted Wanderer" will be conducted by Valery Gergiev on Sunday at the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall. A graduate of the Moscow Conservatory, Shalashov began his professional life as a practicing musician, playing for two decades as an orchestra violinist. From there, he went on to become the manager of conductor Vladimir Fedoseyev's Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra.

In 2002, he moved to the Philharmonic, where, a year later, he assumed the post of general director. Under Shalashov's leadership, the Philharmonic has undergone significant change, offering audiences a greater variety of music and, by shaking off certain vestiges of its Soviet past, it has transformed itself into a concert organization comparable to those found in the world's other capitals of music. Concert dates used to be treated practically as state secrets until a few weeks before they occurred.

Most such dates are now readily accessible well in advance of the season's start. The box office at the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall has also become much more customer-friendly. And the Philharmonic has created a well-designed web site www.

meloman.ru, in both Russian and English, which provides detailed, up-to-date information concerning the season's musical events. Philharmonic audiences and subscription sales have steadily grown over recent years.

"We had a total audience of over 700,000 last season, and we expect our subscription sales this year to increase by 10 percent," Shalashov said. Thanks to higher government grants and subsidies, together with steadily rising ticket prices and an increase in corporate sponsorship, the funds at the Philharmonic's disposal have witnessed even more dramatic growth, increasing some tenfold since Shalashov's appointment as general director in 2003. On the subject of ticket prices, however, Shalashov is quick to point out that some tickets are always made available at a price that music lovers on a limited budget can afford.

Improvements in the Philharmonic's economic situation have allowed it to present an ever-increasing number of events that were formerly beyond its financial means, particularly appearances by high-priced musicians from abroad. It has also allowed the organization to embark on a program of renovation and enhancement for the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall. Recent redecoration and more comfortable seats have already done much to make the hall a more agreeable place to hear music.

Plans are now afoot to install panels to improve the auditorium's somewhat cold acoustics. At the beginning of November, a new 100-seat auditorium will open within the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall. "We needed to create a place for contemporary, early and experimental music," Shalashov said, adding that the venue will stage "concerts of a kind that tend to draw small and rather specialized audiences.

" The Philharmonic's 2007-08 season officially began this month with a concert by the Russian National Orchestra and goes into full swing Sunday with the opening of a festival celebrating the 75th birthday of Rodion Shchedrin, probably the best-known and most widely performed of living Russian composers. On the festival's first night at the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall, the soloists, chorus and orchestra of St. Petersburg's Mariinsky Theater will perform Shchedrin's opera "The Enchanted Wanderer," led by their celebrated artistic director, Valery Gergiev.

Written to be played in concert, rather than on the operatic stage, "The Enchanted Wanderer" had its premiere in New York five years ago and made a successful Russian debut this July in St. Petersburg, as part of the Mariinsky's annual White Nights Festival. The celebration of Shchedrin's birthday resumes in mid-December, with a series of four concerts that will include appearances by Fedoseyev and Mikhail Pletnev on the podium and by the composer himself at the piano.

The Philharmonic's schedule for October holds promise of some particularly interesting evenings of vocal music. On Oct. 8, the highly acclaimed Italian soprano Patrizia Ciofi will make her Moscow debut in a concert performance of Giuseppe Verdi's "La Traviata" at the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall.

Musicians from Italy are also due to be heard Oct. 18 and 19, when the soloists, chorus and orchestra of the Arena di Verona come to the same venue, bringing with them the splendid Georgian bass Paata Burchuladze. And on Oct.

28, the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall plays host to superstar soprano Anna Netrebko in a program centered on Giovanni Battista Pergolesi's extraordinarily beautiful Stabat Mater. Not to be overlooked, however, is the appearance Tuesday at the Moscow Conservatory of conductor Vladimir Yurovsky and the Russian National Orchestra. Still in his mid-30s, the Russian-born, German-trained Yurovsky already occupies two of Britain's most important musical posts: He is principal conductor of both the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the Glyndebourne Opera Festival.

His inspired leadership of the RNO has consistently provided some of the most memorable music of recent Moscow seasons. Concertgoers should note that the Philharmonic's subscription sales are due to end Sunday. Some of the series are already sold out, but many of the most interesting can still be found at the box offices of the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall and the Moscow Conservatory.

It's worth bearing in mind that such tickets work out considerably cheaper than paying to attend individual concerts.