On 8 March Barbican hosted the only concert of the State Chamber Orchestra «Moscow Virtuosi» conducted by Vladimir Spivakov. The hall was filled with Russian-speaking audiophiles from London, as well as «foreigners» – «virtuosos» had been waiting for a long time.

The colourful programme with sharp turns and surprises includes works by Dmitry Shostakovich, Josef Haydn, Max Bruch, David Popper, Friedrich Gulda and Astor Piazzolla. Spivakov clearly intended to demonstrate that nothing is impossible for his musicians and that they are closely familiar with different styles, eras and creative biographies. After all, how else could one instantly switch from Shostakovich’s piercing anti-fascist symphony to Haydn’s spring concert, transparent as a drop, and afterwards from classical works, without blinking an eye, to the rhythms of the Argentine tango…

It is difficult to evaluate the performance of Moscow Virtuosi, an orchestra that has been on stage for almost forty years, for one simple reason: it is a reference. The maestro managed to create a team that is unique in its playfulness and skill, and taught him to hold the bar for decades. Over the many years that they have spent side by side, the conductor and orchestras, like husband and wife, who have marked many decades together, have even become subtly similar in appearance…

However, in this performance, just in time for Women’s Day, the classic «perfect» image of the orchestra was refreshed by two young talents: thirteen-year-old pianist Alexandra Stychkina and fifteen-year-old Israeli cellist Daniel Akta. The performers are scholarship holders from the Spivakov International Charitable Foundation. Although both performed in similar airy white dresses on the floor – in the image of spring ball debutantes, their manner of playing varied greatly in temperament. Sasha, a modest girl wearing big glasses, the pride of her daddy, actor Evgeny Stychkin, demonstrated the detached ease of performance that from the first notes distinguishes a wunderkind from ordinary music school students. Having finished her part, she looked up to the conductor in a very childish manner, seeking approval. And Spivakov hugged the pianist as a sign of support.

Artistic Danielle Akta, who is called the brightest rising cello star, is already used to the delight of the public and needed less approval. David Popper’s difficult music – a challenge even for experienced cellists – was nothing to her. Melding with the instrument into one creature and swinginging with it to the beat of the music, she felt in her element and shaken her tail out of her curly hair furiously as she came out to bow.

In the second section, an accordion appeared on stage. The young accordionist Nikita Vlasov, who was lucky enough to get into Spivakov’s orchestra as a student, fit perfectly into the «clip» of classical musicians. Astor Piazzolla’s Four Seasons in Buenos Aires and the cinematic Libertango were performed. Four solo violinists, one after the other, illustrated one of the states of the rebellious soul of Porte, a resident of the port areas of Buenos Aires. Loneliness in the immigrant crowd, passion, despair after a breakup, the joy of a chance encounter – the Virtuosos gave Latin American emotion the European cut. Perhaps if the Argentinean composer had gotten to this concert, he would have clapped the loudest. After all, Piazzolla dreamed that the best orchestras in the world would tango, that people would perceive his tango nuevo as «music for ears» rather than for dancing.

Maestro Vladimir Spivakov himself was «in spirit» throughout the concert and thanked his favourite orchestras in pauses. He could not leave the London public without «dessert». When the programme came to an end and a light stomping of the feet of insatiable listeners was heard, «Virtuosos» performed three more short works from the category of popular classics. After a whirlwind of «Ciardas», Brahms parterre gave a standing ovation.

Xenia Diakova-Tinoku