On May 26, the opening of the X International Chamber Music Festival VIVARTE took place at the Vrubel Hall of the State Tretyakov Gallery! The festival was organized by the U-Art Iveta and Tamaz Manasherov Foundation in collaboration with the Tretyakov Gallery and with support from the UNIDENT Group and DRC.
The program of the first concert dedicated to the artist Viktor Borisov-Musatov featured masterpieces by Rachmaninov and Taneev performed by Andrei Baranov (violin), Anna Serova (viola), Aleksei Zhilin (cello), and Andrei Korobeinikov (piano).
Before the concert began, art historian Daria Manucharova presented the festival guests with Borisov-Musatov’s painting ‘The Judgment of Paris,’ which was exhibited for the first time at the Tretyakov Gallery.
The president of VIVARTE, Iveta Manasherova, traditionally took on the role of host for the festival’s concerts.
The tradition of the VIVARTE chamber music festival has become to include a clavierabend in the program. On May 27, an evening of piano music was presented to the audience by Konstantin Emelyanov, a representative of the cohort of the most intriguing young pianists. After his performance at the XVI International Tchaikovsky Competition (where he won the Third Prize), critics described him as a ‘quiet superstar’ whose playing captivates completely.
The concert program features Rameau’s Harpsichord Suite No. 2, Ravel’s ‘Gaspard de la Nuit’, Schubert’s Three Pieces D. 946, and the First Sonata by contemporary Australian composer Carl Vine, regarded as an example of ‘extreme pianism’, a work demanding incredible endurance and concentration from the performer, mastery of all styles and playing techniques: from baroque portato to romantic legato and Stravinsky’s marcato. ‘I incorporated into these 20 minutes all the technical techniques and expressive tools I had available for the piano,’ Vine says about his sonata.
The second evening of the 10th International Chamber Music Festival VIVARTE in the Vrubel Hall was dedicated to the artist Karl Bryullov, whose large-scale exhibition is being prepared by the Tretyakov Gallery (the vernissage will open on June 9).
Before the start of the concert program, Doctor of Arts Liudmila Markina presented to the audience the painting “Italian Noon” by Briullov, a reduced version (its full-sized version is kept in the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg). This painting will not be exhibited at the Briullov exhibition; it was showcased exclusively for the guests of the VIVARTE festival and will then be placed in storage.
On May 28th, in the Vrubel Hall of the Tretyakov Gallery, one of the most extraordinary concerts in the history of the VIVARTE International Chamber Music Festival took place. The program “Journey to the East,” dedicated to the eponymous exhibition at the Tretyakov Gallery (now open at the building on Krymsky Val), featured works from the 19th to the 21st centuries, which are in one way or another connected with musical orientalism.
Chinese motifs were juxtaposed in the program with Persian ones, Kazakh motifs with Jewish, and Indian motifs with Caucasian.
The concert featured violinists Andrei Baranov and Pavel Romanenko, violist Anna Serova, cellists Aleksei Zhilin and Anna Koshkina, flutist Ekaterina Kornishina, guitarist Dmitrii Illarionov, and pianist Andrei Korobeinikov. Musical performances alternated with the poems of Hafiz Shirazi, Rasul Gamzatov, and other authors, recited by the outstanding theater and film actor and master of spoken word Veniamin Smekhov, who also complemented the poetry with captivating stories.
Before the concert began, Doctor of Art History and chief research associate of the Tretyakov Gallery Igor Smekalov presented to the festival guests the paintings of Lev Kramarenko and Nikolai Chernyshev, which depicted the images of Samarkand.
On May 30, the heroes of the evening dedicated to the artist Boris Kustodiev were stars of the global scene: Nikita Boriso-Glebsky (violin), Boris Andrianov (cello, art director of the festival), and Itamar Golan (piano), who performed works by Bedřich Smetana, Leoš Janáček, Johannes Brahms, and Frank Bridge.
Before the concert, the audience was presented with the painting “The Red Tower of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra” by Boris Kustodiev—a preparatory sketch for the renowned “Self-Portrait” commissioned by the Uffizi Gallery to be included in their collection of portraits of prominent contemporary masters. The exhibition of the artist’s works is now open in the Engineering Building of the Tretyakov Gallery and will run until September.
Boris Andrianov, violinist Nikita Boriso-Glebsky, and Itamar Golan form a remarkable trio, truly a dream team. The program of their concert, dedicated to the Russian artist Boris Kustodiev, featured works by Smetana, Janáček, Bridge, and Brahms.
The Israeli pianist Itamar Golan abandoned his solo career upon realizing that chamber music was more meaningful to him. “Each artist, in one way or another, enriches me musically,” he explains in an interview. Golan performed joint concerts with Vadim Repin, Maksim Vengerov, Martha Argerich, and accompanied Barbara Hendricks. For 30 years, he has held the position of professor at the Paris Conservatory, leading the chamber ensemble class. More than once, the outstanding ensemble musician performed with cellist Boris Andrianov, including at the very first VIVARTE International Festival, and on May 30, he performed again at the anniversary festival.
The final concert in the Vrubel Hall of the Tretyakov Gallery, held as part of the X International Chamber Music Festival VIVARTE, was dedicated to the local genius—artist Mikhail Vrubel, surrounded by whose works music was performed every evening.
The musical pieces included in the concert program corresponded to specific paintings by Vrubel, and the renowned majolica fireplace depicting the epic tale of Volga and Mikula was also celebrated. Pianist Yakov Katznelson and actress Daria Melnikova combined the text of a bylina and Liadov’s folk-styled piece in their performance.
The concert also featured soprano Nadezhda Gulitskaia, violinist Nikita Borisoglebskii, flutist Anna Komarova, violist Pavel Romanenko, violinist Anna Panina, and cellist Anna Koshkina performing works by Waxman, Mouquet, Rachmaninoff, Rimskii-Korsakov, Rubinstein, and Tcherepnin.
Before the start of the program, art historian Irina Shumanova presented to the festival guests the work by Vrubel “Italy.” “Neapolitan Night” – a sketch-variant of the curtain for the Russian private opera of S. I. Mamontov.
The 10th International Chamber Music Festival VIVARTE concluded on June 1 with the ‘Musical Promenade’ – a series of concerts in one day. The first guests of the festival were welcomed by the soloists of the Kursk folklore ensemble “Larets,” who performed in the courtyard of the main building of the Tretyakov Gallery on Lavrushinsky Lane. They sang folk songs, danced with the audience, played the kugikly, and described the components of the national costume of the Kursk region.
The second concert of the “Musical Promenade” on the final day of the X International Chamber Music Festival VIVARTE took place at the Good Museum in Tolmachi. A special program for children has been prepared by guitarist Dmitrii Illarionov and curator of inclusive projects at the Tretyakov Gallery Alla Orlova. Dmitrii Illarionov introduced young viewers to the guitar, demonstrating how it can mimic the sound of a train or a seagull’s call, while Alla Orlova showed the children paintings by the artist May Miturich-Khlebnikov and other drawings, for which the musician created sound illustrations. Program guests discovered that music can be seen and painting can be heard. Then, everyone—children and adults alike—received watercolor pencils and drew a cedar tree to a wide variety of music, from Bach to contemporary Latin American compositions.
On June 1st, Children’s Day, the third concert of the “Musical Promenade” on the final day of the Tenth International Chamber Music Festival VIVARTE took place in the new building of the Tretyakov Gallery on Kadashovskaya Embankment.
The program, aimed at a young audience, sparked genuine interest among both children and adults. Actor Mikhail Guldan performed scenes from Mark Twain’s novel “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer,” while members of Modern Guitar Duo Daria Novikova and Vladimir Smirnov complemented his captivating narration with American folklore.
The evening concert of the “Musical Promenade,” concluding the X International Chamber Music Festival VIVARTE on June 1 at the New Tretyakov Gallery, was opened by acclaimed jazz musicians Leonid and Nikolai Vintskevich with the project Vintskevich Jazz-Folk and the folk ensemble “Larets” from Kursk.
Alongside the Vinetskys, the jazz ensemble featured the artistic director of the VIVARTE festival Boris Andrianov (cello), Nikolai Kulikov (guitar), Vladimir Nesterenko (flute), Ivan Katkov (double bass), and Vartan Babaian (drums).
Festival attendees were introduced to the program “Songs of the Black Earth Region”—a collection of jazz arrangements of folk songs from the central part of Russia (particularly the Plekhovo folklore of the Kursk region), previously recorded on the album Sugar Fields. After the program, Leonid Vintskevich told the audience about this unique recording released a few years ago featuring Boris Andrianov and stars of American jazz.
