Vladimir Spivakov played a duet with Vadim Repin for the first time, and also approached Academgorodok scientists.

On 26 March, Vladimir Spivakov and the Moscow Virtuosi chamber orchestra performed at the Trans-Siberian Art Festival in Novosibirsk. At the concert, Vladimir Spivakov and Vadim Repin played a duet for the first time: soloists and the orchestra performed the Concerto for Two Bach Violins.

Three Beads Maestro

In the Arnold Katz Concert Hall in Novosibirsk Vladimir Spivakov and the State Chamber Orchestra «Moscow Virtuosi» performed. The concert took place as part of the Vadim Repin Trans-Siberian Art Festival and was the first time that Vladimir Spivakov and Vadim Repin played in a duet.

That evening, along with the Concerto for Two Violins, Basso continuo and Bach’s Orchestra, Shostakovich’s Chamber Symphony, Kancheli’s Little Daneliade and Piazzolla’s cycle The Seasons in Buenos Aires, performed by orchestra soloists Denis Shulgin, Lev Yomdin, Georgy Cai and Evgeny Stembolsky, were performed.

The hall was overcrowded as expected. As explained by the Philharmonic Hall, all concerts of the Festival have a full house and tickets were purchased long before the performance. Therefore, during the concert, additional seats for listeners were placed on stage, including gifted children: the free presence of young talents at concerts of the Moscow Virtuosi Orchestra is a requirement of the team.

After the main programme was completed, the musicians presented the crowded hall with three beads. And before the last one, Libertango Astor Piazzolla, the conductor addressed the hall with the words that now, in his opinion, the world is living in a state of deficiency in love: «And I am very much asking Academgorodok scientists to do something about it.»

The concert was attended by the Plenipotentiary Envoy of the President of the Russian Federation to the Siberian Federal District, Sergei Menyailo, Governor of the Novosibirsk Region, Vladimir Gorodetsky, First Deputy Governor Yury Petukhov, and Chairman of the Council of Deputies of the City of Novosibirsk, Dmitry Asantsev, Anna Tereshkova, Head of the Department for Culture, Sports and Youth Policy of the Novosibirsk City Hall, multiple Olympic champion Alexander Karelin and many other representatives of the Novosibirsk city government and business community.

«There is more to life: there is music and there is the universe of Bach»

Vladimir Spivakov shared his thoughts about art, music and the festival with journalists half an hour before the concert. The maestro said that playing in the ensemble is a great and special skill and said that they have a long and warm relationship with the artistic director of the Trans-Siberian Art Festival.

– This is your first time playing a duet with Vadim Repin in two violins. What are your impressions of the game?

– You know, such an understanding, as if we had been playing for the last 25 years. Before that I accompanied Vadim several times, even at the opening of this hall. We have excellent relations, we have met a lot, we have great respect for each other. One of Vadim’s most important qualities is the nobility of his playing, his focus on the essence of music. Now this is a great rarity. Everybody aspires to some kind of effect that distorts music, and it turns into some kind of solid «I». One day, after the Chopin Competition, a young man turned to Henry Gustavovich Neuhaus and asked why he had not received the first prize. The maestro replied: «Because when you play Chopin, you have to play in a way that makes it clear: I am not playing Chopin, I am playing Chopin! That’s the story.»

– Who selected works for Virtuosos?

– We picked it up ourselves. We believe that combinations such as Bach and Shostakovich, Haydn and Shostakovich, Beethoven and Shostakovich are very interesting…

– In the years since the concert hall opened, management has done a lot to improve the acoustics. Have you noticed this?

– I don’t remember how it used to be. It was such an exciting moment. The first concert hall, it was finally built in Novosibirsk, a city that long ago deserved it. Here is Academgorodok, an intellectual audience, amazing scientists, great discoveries… It was a good concert, memorable, at least for me… And the sound can continue to improve, because there is no limit to perfection.

– You have just arrived from Krasnoyarsk. What did you play for the audience there?

– We had two concerts in Krasnoyarsk. The programme is completely different – we never repeat ourselves! There was a wonderful young singer Anastasia Belukova from the New Opera. I am performing with her in the programme «Love the World» – music by Bach, his spiritual arias… I hope to come to you one day with this programme too.

– The fourth Art Festival is already taking place in Novosibirsk. What is your personal feeling about the project?

– The great thing is that there is such a festival at all. The world has changed a lot lately: it is complex, full of aggression, imperfections and an antimony. And there is no such thing as it is in music. Music soothes, comforts people. When you listen to music, all negative feelings disappear, people rise up…

– In sports, such as hockey, the threes are played during the seasons. In music, two great violinists play together, how long does it take?

– The main thing is mutual understanding, and it can also be achieved from the first time. You just need to feel the «field» – both in hockey and on stage. Where what happens – and react instantly to the slightest nuances. It is very important not to protrude yourself when you play in an ensemble. On the contrary – you have to treat yourself as calmly as possible. There is something higher than your own Self – there is music, there is the Bach’s Universe, we bow before it…

The Vadim Repin Trans-Siberian Art Festival is taking place in Novosibirsk for the fourth time. The Forum opened in Novosibirsk on 15 March and will last until 3 April. In 2017 the festival is dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Novosibirsk Region. Individual concerts are timed to coincide with the anniversary dates. The first concert of the festival was dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Novosibirsk Philharmonic, the country’s largest concert organisation, which has been Vadim Repin’s main partner in the organisation and conduct of the festival since its inception. The festival traditionally included three concerts in the cities of the Novosibirsk Region – Ordynsky, Iskitim and Berdsk. The programme of the forum included a world premiere, a traditional project «Children to Children», a detailed programme of master classes, chamber music programmes, screenings of Bruno Monsenjon films and a creative meeting with him, as well as other events. The State Chamber Orchestra «Moscow Vituosos» is an invited group of this year’s festival. Among the festival participants are Vladimir Spivakov, Vladimir Fedoseev, Lawrence Foster, Nicholas Angelich, Leonard Schreiber, Pablo Ferrandez, Alexander Knyazev… Thanks to the Festival, world stars such as Charles Dutoit and Leonard Slatkin, Kent Nagano and Olga Borodina, Lera Auerbach and Jean-Yves Tibodet, Svetlana Zakharova and Rudolf Buchbinder, Aphrodite Raikopoulou and Pinchas Zuckerman, Misha Maisky and Daniil Trifonov have performed in Novosibirsk over the four years of its existence…

Lilia Vishnevskaya