The premiere of the poem about the giant walking excavator opened the international festival “Classics”
On 2nd of December the international festival "Classics" was opened with the concert of Novosibirsk Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Valentin Uryupin, chief conductor of the Rostov Academic Symphony Orchestra. The program of the concert, along with the classical composition by Mussorgsky "Pictures at an Exhibition", included two Novosibirsk premieres - Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra by modern composer Vyacheslav Kruglik (soloist is Timur Martynov, artist of the Symphony Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre) and festive poem "Meeting of the Volga and the Don," created by classic of the XX century Sergei Prokofiev in 1951.
The composition is dedicated to the great socialist building – Volga-Don Canal, which connected the Volga and the Don on 31st of May 1952.
This music hasn’t sounded in Novosibirsk yet, - said Valentin Uryupin, conductor of the program - more than that, it did not sound at all almost anywhere, although from the time of its writing more than 60 years went by. For example, in Rostov-on-Don, where it would be very logical and natural to perform it, I played the premiere a year ago”.
During the first performance there was made a cut in the poem: episode showing the work of a giant walking excavator, which was just included into the production machinery for excavation, was removed. The sound of this fragment considered to be too loud.
“We didn’t cut this episode. And all this music is pictorial: meter by meter they dig the channel, blow the earth, you can hear the universal rejoicing in this regard, - said Valentin Uryupin - Through the music you learn the era better than even through five read books.”
Valentin Uryupin is a talented clarinetist and conductor, winner of numerous international competitions. One of the highlights of his success was the recent victory in a conductor Competition named after Gustav Mahler held in Bamberg. This is one of the most prestigious conductor's competitions in the world today, including the most famous winners of this competition - Gustavo Dudamel.
International festival "Classic" is held in Novosibirsk from 2nd to 8th of December and brings together seven concerts of international, Russian and Novosibirsk performers in such genres as ballet, ancient and classical music. Among the stars of the festival there are Ilze Liepa, Alexander Rudin, organist Jevgenia Lisicina (Latvia), pianist Tanel Joamets (Estonia) and other stars. According to the organizers, the program includes compositions that represent classic examples of its genre. The slogan of the festival is "Art of the highest standard".
The partner of the festival is “Rosbank”.