Translated material
Donquixotes of Ryazan
The trip turned out to be not at all frivolous, but interesting and instructive. The Moscow-Ryazan high-speed train was only half an hour late. Built in the best traditions of Soviet neoclassical architecture, the Philharmonic is located in the very center of the city. It is located in a beautiful and respectable place, evoking associations with the theater districts of St. Petersburg. Lunch at the restaurant, located in the side wing of the Philharmonic, was quite a success. The appetite was not spoiled even by the stuffed wild animals and birds abundantly populating the vaulted halls of the restaurant - perhaps the hunting trophies of the director or chef. The Philharmonic Hall was packed to capacity: people were sitting in the aisles and on the steps. They just didn’t hang on the chandeliers. The hall, by the way, has very good acoustics. Very elegant and recently renovated. Designed for 880 seats and named after the great poet Yesenin.
The program was chosen with great taste and is not educational at all: it is entirely dedicated to the music of Richard Strauss. And you can laugh at me, but I admit honestly: I heard the whimsical “Burlesque” for piano and orchestra (soloist Vadim Kholodenko), the graceful Concerto for oboe and orchestra (soloist Marzhan Urazmaeva) for the first time. It’s nice that it’s in Ryazan. And well executed. The New Russia Orchestra accompanied the soloists. At the conductor's stand is artistic director Yuri Bashmet.
The second section was devoted to the passions, exploits, glorious achievements, and adventures of Don Quixote - Andrianov. Richard Strauss's poem "Don Quixote" for solo cello and large symphony orchestra is complex, eloquent, full of neo-romantic figures and movements, intricate, like book vignettes. Boris was an amazing storyteller. Sincere, passionate and incredibly sensitive, capable of leading the orchestra until the last cello breath, with which, according to Strauss's score, Don Quixote bids farewell to this world.
A completely aesthetic program played by the best Russian musicians sent me on a search for those “culpable” for it in Ryazan. This is how the administrator of the Ryazan Regional Symphony Orchestra, conductor Konstantin Panin, was introduced to me. He works under the supervision of his father, director of the Ryazan Philharmonic (since 1999 it was named the touring and concert association “Ryazanconcert”) Nikolai Panin. Both Panin Sr. and Panin Jr. really want the posters of the Yesenin Philharmonic Hall to be decorated not only with the names of Lev Leshchenko and Vladimir Vinokur, but also with Tretyakov, Bashmet, Pletnev, Fedoseev, and Andrianov too. They are faithful to their policy and carry it out quite successfully, despite some sticks in some wheels that administrators of different ranks and different departments regularly put in their way. “Previously, the classical direction in Ryazan concert life was completely ruined,” admits Konstantin Panin. - Now the policy of the Philharmonic is this: the more often good classical music is played, the better. So far, “star” concerts can be done once every month or month and a half. We are glad that such masters as Eliso Virsaladze, the Moscow Virtuosi orchestra, Nikolai Petrov, Yuri Bashmet, recognized masters of the new generation Andrianov, Matsuev, Gindin, Zamuruev are performing in the Philharmonic Hall...” Konstantin believes that it will be pleasant for fans of the classical genre moments began with the revival of the Ryazan Symphony Orchestra, for which in the last years of the last century it was time to celebrate a wake. Today the management of the Philharmonic finds an opportunity to pay musicians a non-mocking 1,100 rubles. Therefore, concerts are regular and the orchestra has acquired a sane form. That’s why visiting celebrities (both Matsuev and Andrianov) play with him. That’s why the November playbill includes a concert by the Ryazan Symphonists, which will be conducted by Evgeniy Bushkov, who collaborates with New Russia.
Finding money both for the normal life of the Ryazan orchestra and for inviting “metropolitan tricks” is not at all an easy matter. “An invitation of such magnitude as Viktor Tretyakov requires at least 10 thousand USD. And this price is very reasonable. But we often cannot collect money,” complains Konstantin Panin. -- Ticket prices cannot be higher than 350-500 rubles. The audience mainly consists of musicians, college teachers, and schools. People are not rich. So the income from ticket sales is not comparable to the costs of organizing a concert. Alas, the provincial administration and the cultural department are often indifferent to our problems. They refuse to help in finding money.”
However, the very fact that, despite complaints about lack of money, the Ryazan Philharmonic considers it a matter of honor to work with the elite of serious music, proves that the “classical” brand is both prestigious and in demand today. To be convinced of this, it was worth a trip to Ryazan. Even turning a blind eye to the fact that the entire concert program tested in Ryazan was played by “New Russia” and Bashmet yesterday in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory. However, the replacement of Andrianov in the role of Don Quixote by the Italian Mario Brunello (also, incidentally, a more than worthy cellist) completely dispelled my personal doubts about the correctness of the voyage to the ancient Russian city.