| The festival “Vladimir Spivakov invites” has opened The second Moscow music festival under the artistic direction of the head of the Moscow House of Music, the new National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia and the Moscow Virtuosi chamber orchestra Vladimir Spivakov opened with a concert with the almost sensational participation of the black prima donna Jessie Norman. Having canceled her last few concerts due to recent surgery, Norman sang Joanna's aria from Tchaikovsky's "The Maid of Orleans," enthralling the farthest corners of the crowded BZK, and Alban Berg's "Seven Last Songs," showing that complex, fragile music can be just as enchanting and more accessible than popular operatic material.
The National Philharmonic was a little embarrassed by the majestic diva, which was evident in the style of the accompaniment. This was not the case when Vladimir Spivakov played Richard Strauss' Norman "Morning" for an encore.
Norman will still appear at the festival - on December 4 she will take part in an elegant program, on December 8 she will sing a solo program with repertoire from Tchaikovsky to Gershwin, and on the 7th in the afternoon, as on her last visit, she will give an open rehearsal for that audience (tickets are distributed to orchestras , theaters and museums) that he cannot afford expensive concert tickets (festival director Georgy Ageev notes, however, that they are several times cheaper than for concerts by Hvorostovsky and Pavarotti).
In anticipation of the festival, Spivakov explained that the idea behind his composition was the subtle internal connections between the music of different composers. But it is possible that the idea of connections will go beyond the festival, and a distinct sense of parallelism will arise when Norman sings Richard Wagner’s cycle “Five Songs with Words by Mathilde Wesendonck,” which was just sung at the Bolshoi Theater by another Wagnerian master, Waltraud Mayer.
Inside the festival, Alban Berg, performed at the opening, will be answered by another - the closing program includes the Violin Concerto “In Memory of an Angel” performed by the NPR, Vladimir Spivakov and his distinguished guest, conductor James Conlon. Together they have already recorded this concert, although with another - Cologne - orchestra.
Another important guest will be the composer Krzysztof Penderecki - perhaps the most magnificent and popular of modern authors. The oratorio “The Seven Gates of Jerusalem” will be performed on December 5, but what it is connected with in the program cannot be said right away. Nevertheless, the search for associations, echoes and thematic intersections will not be such a difficult task, but, on the contrary, can become exciting: the current festival is laconic, and each of its programs is verified. In a stormy December, this property can become decisive in the fight for the public. Yulia BEDEROVA |
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