On 1 February, the Togliatti Philharmonic presents a concert by the State Chamber Orchestra «Moscow Virtuosi» and Vladimir Spivakov. The concert will take place on the stage of the Palace of Culture, Art and Creativity (DKIT).

As part of the Volga Region concert tour in February 2017, musicians will meet residents of Togliatti, Samara, Saratov and Volgograd.

Vladimir Spivakov, a legendary musician, violinist and conductor, People’s Artist of the USSR, winner of State Prizes of Russia and the USSR, is associated with our city for many years of creative cooperation and is an Honorary Citizen of Togliatti.

In each performance, «Moscow Virtuosi» succeeds in the main thing: to emotionally excite and intellectually entice anyone, even unprepared people, to give them the joy of communicating with musical masterpieces, to excite them to come to the concert once again.

The soloists will be Ksenia Nesterenko (soprano), winner of international competitions and winner of the Big Opera 2016 project at TC Kultura, as well as soloists from the Moscow Virtuosi Orchestra – Honoured Artist of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic Vitaly Khandras (violin), Honoured Artists of Russia Alexei Lundin (violin), Evgeny Shulkov (violin) and Alexei Strelnikov (violin).

The concert programme promises listeners real musical and aesthetic revelations. The brightest works by J. Haydn, E. Grieg, G. Puccini, L. Deliba, A. Piazzolla, A. Schnittke will be performed. We will hear true masterpieces from classical to modern!

The symphony «Queen» by Joseph Haydn is filled with cheerfulness, graceful lyricism, subtle humour and warmth. The history of its creation is accompanied by a number of fascinating legends. One of them tells us that the symphony was loved by the French Queen Marie Antoinette, and that is why it was named after her.

Alfred Schnittke’s wonderful work «The Suite in the Ancient Style» was based on film music, with themes from the films «The Ways of the Dentist» and «Sport, Sports, Sports». «The Vintage Style Suite is an example of brilliant stylisation, which can well be mistaken for authentic Baroque music. At the same time, the suite is relatively easily perceived by listeners.»

The programme of the evening will continue with Edvard Grieg’s elegant melodies for the string orchestra «Wounded Heart» and «Last Spring».

«Griga’s music has accompanied me all my life, since I was a child», says Vladimir Spivakov. – «My mother, a pianist, often played his piano pieces and sang his romances, which touched my childhood heart. In my youth I started playing his violin sonatas, and they amazed me with the amazing sincerity of embodying the subtlest shades of human emotion in music. «The Wounded Heart» and «The Last Spring» are romances orchestrated by Grieg himself, which he performed with his wife, the famous singer Nina Hagerup – they are so sincere, and such love, such light penetrates into this music! And such an air is amazing …».

A rising star of classical vocals, who conquered the jury of the «Big Opera» project of the «Culture» TV channel with a combination of youth and skill, and who became the winner of this competition, the owner of the magic soprano Ksenia Nesterenko will perform vocal masterpieces loved by listeners and included in the repertoire of the world’s greatest singers! We will hear two famous arias by Giacomo Puccini – Lauretta’s arias from Gianni Skikki and Waltz Musetta from La Boheme, as well as the world’s most famous Spanish bolero – Leo Deliba’s Spanish Song. It is noteworthy that the premiere of La Bohème took place on 1 February 1896 in Turin, and on 1 February 2017 in Togliatti, Waltz Musetta from this opera, performed by Ksenia Nesterenko, will be performed exactly 121 years after the premiere!

The evening programme will conclude with a suite «History of the Tango» for violin and orchestra in four parts of the great Astor Piazzolla. The soloist of each of the parts will be artists of the chamber orchestra «Moscow Virtuosi»: «1900 – Brothel» (soloist – Vitaly Handras) «1930 – Cafe» (soloist – Alexey Lundin), «1960 – Night Club», (soloist – Evgeny Shulkov), «Meditango» (soloist – Alexey Strelnikov). We will hear the music of love, passion and sadness – incredibly lyrical, rapid, bright!

The State Chamber Orchestra, which celebrated its 35th anniversary two years ago, continues its hard but joyful creative work, maintaining the highest performing level and the right to the ambitious name «Moscow Virtuosi». Here every musician is a bright personality, and together they form a world-class ensemble. What distinguishes him from many other chamber orchestras is, first of all, true European culture of ensemble performance, attention to the smallest details and nuances, careful, not formal, active creative position in relation to the author’s idea, bright artistry, love and respect for the audience who came to the concert.

Today musicians do not have undeveloped areas of cultural space. The orchestra holds triumphant concerts in European countries, the USA, Canada, Mexico, South America, Turkey, Israel, China, Korea, Japan and others. The musicians perform not only in the best and most prestigious halls (Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Musikverein in Vienna, Royal Festival Hall and Albert Hall in London, Pleyel and the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, Carnegie Hall and Avery Fischer Hall in New York, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, etc.), but also in ordinary concert halls in small provincial cities. The geography of Moscow Virtuosi tours is extremely wide: it includes all regions of Russia as well as post-Soviet space.

The concerts of Vladimir Spivakov and «Moscow Virtuosos» in Togliatti are always awaited with special impatience and anticipation of musical wonders, improvisations, wonderful sound and inspiration!