A pianist, who was nominated for Grammy at 17, will perform a unique composition from the music of Bach and Bernstein at the Trans-Siberian Art Festival
“At first I wanted to perform only Bach's English suites in Novosibirsk, but in the process of discussing the program with the directorate of the festival, a rather sudden idea arose to unite them with the music of Leonard Bernstein", says Konstantin Lifschits. "And you know everything turned out very well and logically. The formal occasion for Bernstein's music was the 100th anniversary of his birth, which the whole world will celebrate in 2018. But, in fact, his compositions have come into contact with the opuses of Bach and interspersed with them very naturally: after all, both are dance music. Do not forget that every suite is a sequence of dances. As for Bernstein, he is simply crazy about rhythm and dance, this is evident in all his works”.
In each of the three sections of the concert the pianist will perform two English Bach suites, adding to each pair of suites one composition by Bernstein. The pianist emphasizes that the program of his solo concert is the least intellectual design - it is lively and exciting. It is interesting that this evening, the works of Bernstein will be performed by Konstantin Lifschitz, separated by more than 60 years and therefore allowing to present the development of his style: the program will include the Sonata, created in 1938, and the composition "Touches" (Khoral , 8 Variations and Code), written in 1981 year.
"This will be my third visit to Novosibirsk, and during previous meetings with the local public I felt that such a bright program would turn out to be quite in the field of its interests. Trans-Siberian is my favorite festival, thanks to it I have many new friends, I wish prosperity to this wonderful project".
Konstantin Lifshits took part in the program of the second and third Trans-Siberian Art Festival, and during the latter he replaced the ill performer at the last moment.
Critics of various international publications call the pianist "genius", "miracle", "phenomenon" and "erudite". "Undoubtedly, he’s one of the most highly gifted and powerful pianists of modern times," writes the Swiss press about him. His game was highly appreciated by Bella Davidovich and Mstislav Rostropovich. His partners on the stage are such musicians as Gidon Kremer, Vadim Repin and Maxim Vengerov, Valery Afanasyev, Natalia Gutman and Patricia Kopachinskaya. His solo concerts take place in the best concert halls of Europe, Japan and the USA and at the most important festivals in the world. Konstantin Lifschitz is an honorary member of the Royal Academy of Music in London and a lecturer at the Lucerne Conservatory.
The fifth Trans-Siberian Art Festival, headed by Vadim Repin, will be held from March to July 2018. The Russian part of the Festival will be sounded from March 9 to May 13 and will include Novosibirsk, Krasnoyarsk, Moscow, St. Petersburg and Samara in its route. By tradition, small towns of the Novosibirsk region will not be left without attention, the list of which has expanded significantly this year: Berdsk, Akademgorodok, Krasnozyorskoe, Toguchin, Karasuk. The foreign part of the route will take place in the USA and Japan in June and July.
The key point in the geography of the festival is Novosibirsk - the hometown of the artistic director of the project. One of the key participants in the project is Novosibirsk Philharmonic Orchestra. Vadim Repin repeatedly stressed the decisive role played by the collectivein implementing the idea of the Trans-Siberian Art Festival. The main venue of the festival always remains the Arnold Kats State Concert Hall - the new Philharmonic Hall opened in 2013 and, according to Vadim Repin, has become one of the necessary conditions for the implementation of the idea of the festival.