The concert of the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia conducted by Vladimir Spivakov was successfully held in Voronezh. The event was organised by the Directorate of the International Platonov Arts Festival with the support of the Presidential Foundation for Cultural Initiatives.
More than 1,000 Voronezh residents heard the works by Mozart, Bellini, Arban, Verdi, Bassi and Gimenez performed by the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia conducted by Vladimir Spivakov. The maestro spoke about the features of the programme: "Usually we make the programme ourselves, but as a sign of friendship and respect, we accepted the request of the Platonov Arts Festival Directorate to perform a rare one. Our soloists take part in it. They even perform in two sections, and Kirill Soldatov plays not only the trumpet, but also the most difficult work on the flugelhorn."
There is a lot of painstaking work behind the virtuoso performance that the guests of the concert heard. As the soloists said, the most technically difficult works are the ones by Mozart, which were performed in the first section. "As Rostropovich used to say: "When I play Mozart, I feel completely naked." I share these feelings, - said Kirill Soldatov. – Mozart is always difficult to play, and any deviation, any roughness in the strokes is always audible. This is absolutely transparent music. That is the biggest difficulty in performing Mozart. I play the horn concerto in a version for flugelhorn, and this is a double responsibility: not to spoil the concerto, which was originally written for horn."
In the second section of the concert the transparent and airy music by Mozart was replaced by the expressive compositions of Bellini, Arban, Verdi, Bassi and Gimenez. And after the main programme, the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia performed an encore of Leroy Anderson's "Trumpeters' Parade" and Nino Rota's "Procession of the Clowns" from the movie "8 ½" by Federico Fellini, to which Vladimir Spivakov referred to as the "dessert".
The concert is held within the frames of the project "Great Musical Heritage of Russia. Tours of the National Philharmonic Orchestra in the cities of the Russian Federation", supported by the Presidential Foundation for Cultural Initiatives. "We are very grateful to the Directorate of the International Platonov Arts Festival, our friends and colleagues, for the invitation to Voronezh," said Georgy Ageev, director of the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia. "Unfortunately, this is only our third visit within the twenty years of our orchestra's existence. We would love to visit more often. We express our special gratitude to the Presidential Foundation for Cultural Initiatives for supporting our concert and the touring plans for this season in general."