The Vesnianka Youth Choir on stage at the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatoire (they are not scheduled to perform at this recital; I wished to show you how the Conservatoire stage looks when set up for a choral group).

On Thursday, at the Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory, a concert entitled Pyesn Voskozhdeniya (The Song of Ascents) is set for performance. “We will present the best Orthodox choral compositions of recent years at this concert, showcasing works created in Russia, the Ukraine, and Belarus”, Aleksei Puzakov, choir-director at the Church of St Nicholas at the Tretyakov Gallery and Honoured Artist of Russia, told our Interfax-Religion correspondent on Tuesday. The works presented are by such well-known composers as Roman Ledenyov, Kirill Volkov, Andrei Mikita, and Viktoria Polevaya. These musicians are not only famous all over the CIS, but, in Europe, as well. The organisers dedicated this performance to the creativity of Archbishop Hilarion Alfeyev of Volokolamsk, the head of the MP Department for External Church Relations. Archbishop Hilarion’s pioneering of a new genre in Russian music, the “Orthodox Passion”, is a significant development in our cultural life. “Orthodox listeners so often hear ‘old friends’ as settings for the liturgical chants… it’s worn a rut in their minds. We wish to uplift the listeners of this concert. If their thoughts about God were hitherto vague and murky, perhaps, we can help them reflect on God, eternity, truth, and beauty”, Maestro Puzakov said. The Choir of the Tretyakov Gallery, which many consider the finest interpreters of sacred music in Russia, and the Moscow Symphony Orchestra, will participate in the concert.

24 November 2009

Interfax-Religion

http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=33054

Maslenitsa at the Mariinsky is a festival staged every year at the famous Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg. Today, the musical festival opens on 23 February for the fifth time. The buffet of the theatre offers blini (buckwheat pancakes), whilst a fairy tale about the daughter of Moroz (Frost) and Vesna (Spring), the opera Snegurochka (The Snow Maiden) by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov is presented on the stage. This is a tradition of at the Mariinsky Theatre at the start of Maslenitsa, or Pancake Week. It reflects the ancient sense of a feast of a send-off to winter and a welcome to spring through the offering pancakes. Indeed, the round pancakes symbolise the sun.

Russian Maslenitsa has always been marked in different ways. It is a mixture of various folkloric and religious traditions. In fact, it is the last week before the rigorous and great Easter Lent, which is observed by many Christians. Concerning the peculiarities of the feast, Valery Gergiev, the head of the Mariinsky Theatre, noted, “We wish to revive and affirm the secular traditions of this holiday, Maslenitsa, with balls, dramas, and moderately-priced concerts”. Maestro Gergiev went on to say, “It seems to me that the Maslenitsa holiday is quite promising and it should be appropriately linked with the musical and theatre panorama of St Petersburg. We plan to celebrate the festival with gusto”.

This tradition, which is being revived by the Mariinsky Theatre, was marked in a grand manner for centuries, especially when St Petersburg was the capital of the Russian Empire. Some of the secular aspects of Maslenitsa were masked balls at the palaces of the city and the most renowned actors appeared on the stages of all the theatres. At present, the Mariinsky Theatre is capable of satisfying the highest demands for the feast. Amongst these is presenting as many performances as possible during the one week of Maslenitsa! Among the exclusive offerings by Valery Gergiev and his ensemble are 14 presentations and concerts on the stage. One of them is one of the best productions of the theatre, the opera The Magic Flute by Mozart, during which audience sits on the stage and the actors walk in the hall. Another item in the programme is a performance by the world famous violinist Maksim Vengerov and the famous group Virtuosi Moskvy. The festival also includes the revival of the age-old Russian tradition of student balls. The Mariinsky Theatre is staging a ball at St Petersburg University. Its programme includes not only music and dances, but, also food and fireworks at night!

23 February 2009

Olga Bugrova

Larissa Roshchina

Voice of Russia World Service

http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=rus&q=103287&cid=22&p=23.02.2009 (in Russian)

Here is one of the musical ensembles referenced in the above article. It is a short piece with an accordion solo.

Patricia Kaas of France, who is famous for Mademoiselle Chante le Blues, Jade Ewen from Great Britain, and Sakis Rouvas from Greece are amongst the names of just some of the singers who confirmed that they shall participate in the international Eurovision 2009 Song Contest. They will arrive in Moscow in May to perform and let all of Europe choose the winner. Moscow was chosen to host Eurovision-2009 after Russian pop-star Dima Bilan, supported by Olympic champion figure skater Yevgeni Plyushenko and Hungarian violinist Edvin Marton, charmed Belgrade with his song Believe In Me. This time, the audiences will probably hear the song’s sequel, since Niels Brinck from Denmark announced the title of his song, Believe Again. What is especially interesting about Eurovision-2009 is the participation of the legendary composer Andrew Lloyd Weber. It’s My Time, a song composed by Mr Webber, will be performed by British singer Jade Ewen. They say that Prime Minister Vladimir Putin promised Webber he would vote for the song.

More than 20 countries out of 43 have already decided on who shall represent them in Moscow. Russia has not yet announced its choice. Yuri Aksyuta, director of musical programmes at the television channel Pervy Kanal (Channel One), commented, “We decided to trust the experts, not only the popular vote of the audience. Then, after the experts choose, the finalists will perform before Russian audiences. One of these performers shall be picked to have the honour of representing Russia”. The final winner will be selected in a televised ceremony in early March. Of course, Russians wish that their participant is as strong as other members of the Eurovision-2009 company. However, nobody expects a landslide victory. Even now, music producers now are thinking about Eurovision-2010. Yana Rudkovskaya, Dima Bilan’s producer, believes popular Russian opera and pop singer Nikolai Baskov could represent his country in 2010. Ms Rudkovskaya says Eurovision has never heard such a splendid tenor, in her words, “A truly golden voice”. Indeed, Baskov’s voice is praised by the world-famous Spanish opera diva Montserrat Caballé. Incidentally, the two were planning to perform together in New York on 14 February.

12 February 2009

Natalia Viktorova

Voice of Russia World Service

http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=rus&q=101708&cid=24&p=11.02.2009 (in Russian)

Editor’s Note:

To give you an idea of the calibre of these performers, I am posting videos by Patricia Kaas, Jade Ewen, Niels Brinck, Sakis Rouvas, Dima Bilan, and Nikolai Baskov below. Truly, there is life outside of the USA!

Here is Nikolai Baskov singing in… Italian!

Over the New Year holidays, Russians not only saw traditional presentations and New Year’s trees, but, they also participated in tournaments of fairytale heroes in Yekaterinburg, exhibited collections of family keepsakes in Kaliningrad, played a little “Old Russian Village Football” in Novgorod, and kids saw The Nutcracker in Cheliabinsk, and 1,200 kids came to the Archbishop’s Yolka in Kostroma.

Yekaterinburg: An Orchestra of “Wizards” and “Beasts” Gave a Concert

To mark the New Year, the Sverdlovsk State Philharmonic Orchestra prepared for children a magical adventure-play Poezd na Chunga-Changu (The Train to Chung-Chang), which was staged from 4 to 6 January, a spokesman of the Philharmonic told RIA-Novosti. Children and their parents waited for “wizards” to play live music, and enjoyed a presentation of dances, games, and quizzes, and for the most fearless and curious, a tournament fairytale characters, the spokesman said. At the time of the show, the hall of the Philharmonic Society became a fairyland forest with a New Year’s Tree, and serious musicians dressed as merry “beasts”, and the sombre black grand pianos were draped to match the multicoloured costumes of the players. The Philharmonic prepared a surprise competition with the Wizard of the Snows, games with funny animals, traditional round-dances with beautiful forest-maidens, and a sea of “beautiful and very familiar music”.

Kaliningrad: A Nostalgic Exhibition

With the help of local residents, the Fridlanskie Gates Museum of Kaliningrad assembled a collection of family Christmas and New Year keepsakes, which will be on display until the middle of January, a spokesman of the city press-service told RIA-Novosti. The organisers of the exhibition Traditions of Celebrating New Year and Christmas assembled Christmas toys and decorations made before 1970, as well as postcards and family photos of those years from Kaliningraders. Amongst the items lent by local residents were handmade toys. According to the museum spokesman, the main task of the organisers of the exhibition was to create an atmosphere of holiday magic, wonder, and expectations of fairy tales and miracles.

When this exhibition was first held last year, it attracted an unusual interest amongst the inhabitants of the city, so, it was decided to make it a traditional event. The basis of this year’s exhibition was last year’s collection, when Kaliningraders exhibited approximately 300 toys, to name just one category. Some of the items were immediately donated to the museum, whilst other owners asked for a guarantee of safety and a return of the items after the end of the exhibition. Amongst the objects on display, some were real rarities, Königsberg dishes with Christmas themes, greeting cards from the early 20^th century, New Year’s toys made of pressed cotton from the 1930s to 50s, toys fashioned from ordinary light bulbs, “rain” devised from the copper wire, and much more.

Novgorod: “Old Russian Village Football”

The Folklore Festival Holy Days in Vitoslavlitsakh was held on 8 January at the Novgorod Museum of Wooden Folk Architecture, a representative of the Novgorod oblast administration told RIA-Novosti. The festival invited top-ten-best folk groups from the Novgorod region, as well as guests from other cities in Russia. According to tradition, Holy Days in Vitoslavlitsakh opens with the ringing of bells at noon, after which, those who are attended the festival take part in old amusements, games, and rituals revived by Russian folklore enthusiasts. In the streets of “Vitoslavlits”, people carol under the Christmas star, singing old traditional kolyadki. In addition, there shall be a match of Shchelyge (which scholars describe as “Old Russian Village Football”), skipping rope village-style, stilt races, and snow and ice games. All those who participate in the fun and games, both Novgorodians and tourists, shall receive poteshki, tokens that can be exchanged for prizes in a special “prize shop”.

For those who want to determine their future, the festival shall present a variety of divination methods in the old-style izbas and barns. The festival attendees, as in the old days, could choose to use straw, haystacks, fences, or laptyakh (bast sandals), or look under the dish, or use the hen or beans to guess their fate. Besides, old spinning wheels and looms shall be set up in the izbas, and all who will shall be able to try to use these for spinning and weaving. Visitors shall be able to take part in traditional single combats, and “warriors” from the local Novgorod military history re-enactment clubs shall give demonstrations.

Novgorodians and tourists alike will be able to ride the carousel and on horses. On the streets of the Museum of Wooden Folk Architecture, a Petrushka Booth shall be set up, and mummers and singers shall stroll amongst the guests. Master-craftsmen of traditional decorative arts shall present their handcrafted products. Under the supervision of craftsmen, people can try to make their own handcrafted gifts and fashion so-called “covers” from spill in the “doll shop”. The exhibits shall be open for several hours. At the end of the day, the festival shall conclude with “the funeral of Dudarya”, a straw effigy, which, in old Russia, represented the past year.

The Folklore Festival Holy Days in Vitoslavlitsakh has been held in Veliki Novgorod since 1993.

Kostroma and Cheliabinsk: Celebrating Orthodox Christmas

The Orthodox Church did not remain on the sidelines of holiday celebrations, as it presented concerts and brought the kids to the Christmas tree to give them lots of gifts. On 7 January, the Yolka for the pupils of the Orthodox parish Sunday Schools was held at the Glinka Opera and Ballet Theatre in Cheliabinsk, according to the press-service of the city government. 500 kids were invited to the affair, including students at the Cheliabinsk Orthodox gymnazii (a gymnazia is a traditional high school: editor’s note), the children of Orthodox parishioners, and members of youth groups. They saw a performance of the Christmas fairytale The Nutcracker. After the concert, the kids received gifts, including sweets, soft toys, Christmas cakes, and a specially-prepared colourful collection of Christmas Fairytales. This special book has 92 pages and it was published in a press-run of 5,000. It contains tales for children of Orthodox families, well-known writers from Cheliabinsk edited it, and children’s drawings were used as illustrations.

The Archpastoral Yolka was held on 8 January in Kostroma. In addition, the kids and their parents are waiting for a charity concert to be held three days hence, a spokesman of the Diocese of Kostroma told RIA-Novosti. He told us that more than 1,200 kids came to the Yolka, students of Sunday schools, members of the Orthodox Youth Centre Kovcheg (Ark), and children from the diocesan, oblast, and municipal orphanages and boarding schools. Archbishop Aleksandr of Kostroma and Galich gave his Christmas blessing to all of the children who attended. The traditional charity Christmas concert will feature the Archiepiscopal Choir of the Epiphany-St Anastasia Cathedral, the Blagovest Academic Chamber Choir and Chorus, the Kostroma State Orchestra of Folk Instruments, and other ensembles. The concert shall include a presentation of the Christmas Oratorio written by Bishop Hilarion Alfeyev. All proceeds from the charity Christmas concert will go towards the restoration of holy places and construction of churches.

8 January 2009

RIA-Novosti

http://www.rian.ru/society/20090108/158766816.html (in Russian)

Lyubov Demeter, Russian singer of the Roma people

What makes the lady character of today’s programme so special is her exceptionally sober mind, which has helped her through the many ordeals she’s been confronted with. Unfortunately, sober-mindedness doesn’t always come by birth. So, you have to taste the bitterness of failure and disappointment to develop a balanced and reasonable approach to life and to know the value of your personal self. Lyubov Demeter was lucky to be born with a sense of reason. She is savvy and rational in every aspect of life, including her profession, family, and origin.

“I come from the Roma people, and, as you know, all Romas are brilliant singers and dancers”, Lyubov said. “Yet, I’ve risen far above my predecessors in achievement, because I’m a graduate of, first, a music school, and, then, the Moscow Conservatoire as a singer. I’m the only Gypsy woman in Russia, and, maybe, in the whole world, with a conservatory degree. I know not another Gypsy woman who graduated from a conservatory. All Roma ladies are exceptionally talented, but, they generally lack the drive to finish higher education”.

Nevertheless, Lyubov Demeter is proud of her Romany roots, concerning which she can talk for hours on end. Her father was a Hungarian-born Gypsy; her mother was a Russian Gypsy. Gypsies are known to live in clans and do not normally mix with other people. But, progress, Lyubov said, kills a lot in man, and even the Gypsies, who live away from society, are affected by it. Progress forces on you a particular lifestyle, makes you keep the required pace of life, and imposes certain values on you, which makes it obligatory for you to follow them or drop out. Gypsies have always had a special style in clothing and observed a number of other rules of behaviour. For one, if a bride is not a virgin, her parents will be held in uttermost disdain and disgrace for years. The most honoured Gypsy man is the one with the most wealth. But, as Lyubov said, nearly all Roma traditions are now forgotten. The Gypsies are becoming more society-friendly. They changed their habits and grew more socialised to enjoy modern values too. In a way, this change has affected Lyubov, who never does any fortune-telling and who rose up in society through nothing else but her skills and innate talent.

“You have to work for that, and work very hard, indeed”, Lyubov said. “I, for one, started singing when I was three, and, ever since, I never saw myself in a genre other than music. My destiny was clear from the very start. Every inch of my success I owe to myself alone, because I pushed my way through on my own, supported by no one but my own ambition. I just set my mind to it, and that’s it. My desire to study at the Moscow Conservatoire was so overwhelming and I worked my way through it so doggedly that even my parents thought I ought to set more modest goals for myself. But, I was adamant that I just had to get in there, and, so, I did”.

For Lyubov, school and schooling were very important. “Whatever your occupation, it’ll be worthless without proper schooling”, she said. “School itself is nothing but a start on the long way to the top. It’s only a start because you can’t master an art at one stroke, a couple of years or so, which is nothing compared to a lifetime. Artistry requires a lifetime or even more to excel in and the further you proceed, the more labyrinths of the unknown open up before you”.

After the Conservatoire, Lyubov went to work for Mosconcert, an organisation arranging concert activity for performers. She stayed with it for about thirty years, giving solo concerts all over the country. About fifteen years ago, Lyubov pieced together a Gypsy ensemble, in which she is the lead singer. One of the musicians, and the head of the group, is her husband Vasili, and they’ve been together for about twenty-six years. That the marriage is still alive is due to Demeter’s sober head.

“Vasili Aleksandrovich is an expert in sound-engineering and a brilliant violinist”, Lyubov said. “He, too, graduated from the Moscow Conservatoire in Professor Oistrakh’s class. A high status of this kind makes it imperative for you, whether you want it or not, to reckon with him, if you have brains of course. The rehearsals are difficult, but, we manage to survive them. We have to, there’s no getting away from that. When we rehearse, we shout at one another, we argue, we often get mad at one another, and may even start throwing things at one another. I once asked an American couple, both violinists, about the way they handled their rehearsals and they said they just shut all doors and windows when they plan to do it to prevent the neighbours from injuring their ears on the worst abusive vocabulary they ever heard.

The problem is the same with other musical couples. Music is subjective in nature. I may like it and you may not. I think this, you think that. So, it’s more than problematic to present any proof to support your point of view in music. You need a lot of time to let the music flow through you before you can form an opinion of it. In a family where both the husband and wife are musicians, a sober mind is as indispensable as air. One had to be sober-thinking for such a marriage to survive.

I remember I was once in hospital and I was going to get married then. That was my first marriage, and my first husband was not a musician. As my mum came to visit me in hospital, she pleaded with me not to marry the guy. ‘He isn’t a musician’, she said, ‘he is out of your circle, you’ll find it hard to live with him’, she pleaded. ‘You ought to marry a musician, a pianist, so that you’d sing and he’d play for you’, my mum said. I remember a hospital nurse who happened to overhear our conversation say, ‘Why? One will play, the other will sing, and who’s gonna work?’”

A joke, as it was, yet, it had a grain of truth in it, like any joke. Because if you take music seriously, it’s hard work. Lyubov knows that better than anyone. In her words, “This kind of work requires tremendous psychological and physiological effort, for it touches the finest strings of your soul. In the some three minutes that a romance plays, you live through the heroine’s life and go through all her sufferings. You think of these sufferings, you play them, you feel them, and you sing them…”

For Lyubov, singing is something that can hardly be taught properly. That’s why she is not particularly fond of teaching singing. “I have very few students, I don’t like teaching vocal art”, Lyubov said. “This is something unbearably difficult. A pianist can show his students how to sit, how to touch the keys, how to position themselves against the piano, and how to place their hands and fingers. But, a singer cannot just glance into the student’s larynx and tell him how to position the vocal cords. This is something young singers have to work out for themselves and far from everyone succeeds in hitting on the right position. Teaching the art of singing is far more difficult than any other musical genre. Our singing instrument is the most complicated of all”.

Lyubov never sings for pleasure. This is one of the principles she observes, work and leisure stand separately in her always rational and sober mind. Hobby is hobby, work is work, and there’s no need to bundle the two. Lyubov considers herself a universal Gypsy singer, which she is, since she sings in Russian in Russia, and in Europe, she sings in Caldarari, the language of European Gypsies. Russian Gypsies, she said, are best in dancing, and the Bulgarian Gypsies are the best in singing. But, the most important thing, after all, is to know where you stand and to follow your path.

2004

Tamara Murzina

Ladies of Character

Voice of Russia World Service

http://www.vor.ru/English/Ladies/ladies_023.html (in English)

Of course, if one is posting about a musician or singer, one should find links to their performances. Here is Lyubov Demeter singing one of the soulful old Russian romantsy (romances).

The Turetsky Choir, the most successful Russian pop artists in 2008

Which Russian pop and rock artists were the most successful in 2008?

This time, the list of stars featured both pop and rock artists, which indicates broad public tastes. Despite the current financial difficulties, live concerts are still popular amongst audiences. The year 2008 proved to be quite successful and profitable for the Russian music industry. However, analysts were displeased to see that the Top 10 Singers list did not change since the previous years. The names are almost the same, having attracted 18,000 to the audience for her concert at the Moscow-based Olympiysky Stadium, rock star Zemfira won the third place in the top list, whilst the “king of Russian pop” Filipp Kirkorov, who enjoyed an audience of more than 20,000 people during his concerts at the Moscow Operetta Theatre, came second in the list of most popular celebrities. Mikhail Turetsky’s male choir, known worldwide as “The Turetsky Choir”, occupied the leading position in all possible rating lists. More than 30,000 people bought up all the tickets within a few days to attend the choir’s four performances in Moscow. The organisers even had to announce an additional, fifth, concert to please the audience.

“We have found our creative niche. We work hard to give no less than 100 concerts every year. Our fans are people of different nationalities, ages, and occupations, and our artistry pleases them all. They are part of our huge audience worldwide. We, for our part, offer an extensive concert repertoire consisting of rock and opera pieces, as well as Soviet-era hits and chanson, all arranged by our team. We invented a kind of an art-show where the voice comes first. Our artistry penetrates the souls of the listeners”, Mikhail Turetsky, the choir’s artistic director, said. The Turetsky Choir, Russia’s most successful singers in 2008, have already announced a new series of concerts in Moscow scheduled for March 2009.

2 January 2009

Tatiana Zavyalova

Voice of Russia World Service

http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=rus&q=96209&cid=24&p=02.01.2009 (in Russian)

It would be a crime not to give you a sampling of the artistry of the Turetsky Choir after the article posted above. This proves, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Russia stands for the good, timeless, and moral, whilst America stands for nothing but opportunism and greed (the present economic crisis, which was self-inflicted, is proof positive of that). I shall be attacked for saying this, but, I must state things as I see them. Compare this to rappers and clod-kickers… ’nuff said.