On February 15, the National Philharmonic Society will host a remarkable event — the Kyiv premiere of Igor Stravinsky’s Apollon Musagete ballet [choreographed by George Balanchine – Ed.]. Stravinsky composed the play in 1927-28; the story centers on Apollo, the ancient Greek god of music. Critics contend that Stravinsky wanted to emphasize the “French touch” in it. During the ballet one can hear the clear and united sound of the string instruments, with a dominant violin. Poetry and its rhythm are the basis for ballet music. Stravinsky composed an ideal ballet; it is so expressive and tangible that it does not need the dances.
Several generations already have been limited to hearing the ballet on records, particularly those of the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra (conductor Yevgeny Mravinsky). Thanks to the Kyiv Soloists ensemble and the famous conductor Volodymyr Sirenko, music lovers will now have an opportunity to listen to Apollon Musagete live. By the way, Sirenko was the only person that Bohodar Kotorovych, the founder of the ensemble and legendary violinist and conductor (he passed away three years ago), would allow to conduct his troop.
There will also be a meeting with the wonderful musician Taras Yaropud, who has recently come back from a European tour representing the Ukrainian violin school. He was born in 1980 in Kamianets-Podilsky, and started playing violin when he turned four; at the age of 15 Yaropud entered Khmelnytsky Music College, and at 18 he won the grand prix of the all-Ukrainian competition New Names of Ukraine. He studied in the Kotorovych’s class at the National Music Academy of Ukraine. At first he was a member of the Kyiv Soloists national chamber quartet and then he became a second violin in the Collegium string quartet. In 2006 he started teaching violin at the National Music Academy. Now he is an active solo performer. Yaropud will play his interpretation of the Mozart Violin Concerto No. 3. The audience will also listen to Fantasia in F minor, and K.608 in Yevhen Stankovych’s interpretation for strings.
