State Orchestra of Tatarstan Popularizes Contemporary Music: Concordia Festival Concludes in Kazan
The 15th Concordia International Festival of Contemporary Music, dedicated to Sofia Gubaidulina, has concluded in Kazan. Year after year, the festival introduces audiences to masterpieces of the 20th century, as well as rare works from the past hundred years, many of which are being heard in Kazan for the first time, and some for the first time in Russia. The recent festival’s concerts featured music by Sergei Prokofiev and Dmitri Shostakovich, Paul Hindemith and Ottorino Respighi, Max Reger and George Gershwin, alongside works by Erich Korngold, Nino Rota, and Aaron Copland.
For the program of the closing concert, Alexander Sladkovsky, artistic director and chief conductor of the State Orchestra of Tatarstan, made a highly symbolic choice. The year 2026 marks the 100th anniversary of Maya Plisetskaya and, by a sad twist of fate, a year since the passing of the composer Rodion Shchedrin. Mr. Sladkovsky was close to the family, and the performance of Carmen Suite by Bizet and Shchedrin—full of reverence, passion, and profound tragedy—was meant as both a reverent tribute to his great friends and a farewell gesture. The young pianist Sergey Davydchenko, laureate of the most recent Tchaikovsky Competition, prepared Sofia Gubaidulina’s Piano Concerto for Piano and Chamber Orchestra, “Introitus,” for his appearance at the Concordia Festival. His debut was by no means a fledgling performance. Mr. Davydchenko not only met the formidable technical demands with assurance—this being the first major contemporary work in his repertoire—but also strove to grasp the work’s inner meaning. As he noted, he “discovered the philosophical dimension of Gubaidulina’s music, its prayer-like essence.” “The themes of Gubaidulina’s work were no secret to me; I knew that Sofia Asgatovna composed profoundly religious music,” the pianist added. The orchestra honored Salikh Saydashev, the Tatar composer and founder of national music, whose name the State Grand Concert Hall—venue of the Concordia Festival—bears.
His “Red Army March” brought a triumphant close to both the concert and the festival’s 15th edition. For the first time, Kazan hosted a performance of the Jacob’s Dream violin concerto. The work by contemporary Israeli composer Baruch Berliner was presented in an unusual arrangement—for violino piccolo—with St. Petersburg violinist Grigory Sedukh as soloist. In this romantic score, the bright, high-pitched sound of the small violin proved surprisingly close to the biblical narrative: angels ascending a ladder that reaches to heaven, at the top of which stands God…
Mr. Sedukh responded to several questions from Nezavisimaya Gazeta.
What is the story behind your singular instrument? How did you get acquainted with it?
I came across this instrument quite by chance. One, I was invited to the conservatory by the distinguished Iosif Levinzon. I expected him to show me an unusual violin, but instead he brought out a tiny case. When he opened it, I immediately fell in love. The violino piccolo is a next-generation instrument, descended from 18th-century European violins that were often crafted as decorative pieces. Historical violinos piccolo were tuned a third higher than a standard violin, whereas the modern version sounds an octave above. This is not the only instrument in the new family. Its creator, American luthier Carleen Hutchins, developed a set of eight instruments—from the violino piccolo to the double bass—each sounding an octave higher than usual. The project took 30 years, and when it was completed, it seemed no one wanted to play the imstruments. In the United States, not a single musician took them up. That said, the great cellist Yo-Yo Ma did record a piece on the upright viola, returning it afterward with words of gratitude.
No matter how hard Dr. Hutchins tried to popularize the instrument, all efforts were in vain. Her final hope was the St. Petersburg Conservatory. After a long journey, the eight instruments finally arrived there, and we founded the Hutchins Octet. But it did not last long—it was the tumultuous era of the 1990s. Long story short, the instruments left the conservatory. But Dr. Hutchins, tears in her eyes, gifted me the violino piccolo. She saw my genuine interest, and by then I had already played my first concerts—the beginning of my solo career with this instrument.
That’s how the violin came into my possession. What guides your selection of repertoire?
My repertoire isn’t very extensive. I can really name only one major work – Alexander Kniafel’s opera Alice in Wonderland. In that opera, I had a significant
solo role: I not only played the violin but also performed a dance with a ball in a clown costume, ran and leapt across the stage, and even sat inside a wigwam from which my heart-rending cries resounded. It was a fascinating experience! Unfortunately, that’s about all I can say regarding major works for the violino piccolo. The rest are my own arrangements. What I’m proud of is my arrangement of Bach’s six cello suites. I play them two or even two and a half octaves higher than Bach intended. Interestingly, this exceptional music, written for the cello, takes on a new character on the tiny violin. It’s not only the instrument’s tuning:
Источник: www.ng.ru