The evening in the National Philharmonic Society opened and ended with music by Maurice Ravel: Valses nobles et sentimentales (Noble and Sentimental Waltzes) and symphony poem La Valse (Waltz) performed by the National Symphony Orchestra (conductor Volodymyr Sirenko). The musicians played at the level which allows the audience to feel the richness and fairy-like beauty of the French impressionist’s melodies to the fullest, which feels like welcoming April in Paris. That was the moment when the pianists Vadym Rudenko and Mykola Luhansky stepped onto the stage. Those musicians are said to be stars of new pianism. Rudenko, born in 1967 in Krasnodar, sat by the piano for the first time when he was four, and when he was seven, he gave his first concert. Mykola Luhansky, born in 1972 in Moscow, began to play piano at the age of five and had his first solo on a big stage when he was 13. Both pianists were students of legendary Sergei Dorensky, professor at Moscow Conservatory. Today they are soloists of the Moscow Philharmonic Society. They’ve become laureates of the top international contests and took part in star festivals. Pianists work with the most famous music groups and perform in the best halls of the planet. The musicians often play together — their duet was formed back at time when they were still students at the conservatory, and their repertoire includes almost everything that was written for such combination of instruments.
Two concerts for two pianos with an orchestra were performed: concerto in E flat, No.10 by Wolfgang Mozart and concerto in D minor by Francis Poulenc. The pianists played in perfect harmony and managed to open the high simplicity and melodiousness of true art works in Mozart’s well-known concert. They also offered a wonderful rendition of Poulenc’s work in a rapid and ringing manner with technically perfect sound, masterfully played soloists’ parts accompanied by the deep and clear orchestra play.
Rounds of applause came one after the other and the musicians already without the orchestra twice played an encore: the second part of Suite No.2 by Sergei Rachmaninoff and Jamaican Rhumba by Australian composer Arthur Benjamin.
After the concert quite a few students came to the dressing room and still new ones were looking in through the doorframe, came in, asked permission to take a picture with the pianists, and took autographs. There was one really touching scene. A young man, maybe 16 years old, told Luhansky without noticing anyone around: “I am happy to see you. You are my idol!”
Siverski Music Nights, an international festival, was recently held in Chernihiv. Rudenko and Luhansky have been its regular participants. Rudenko even was a guest at the first forum and has performed 21 times in 10 years. This year, at the 10th festival, he together with the Philharmonic Orchestra led by Mykola Sukach performed five concertos from the new project Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Complete Concertos. Luhansky’s performance closed the Chernihiv music holiday with music pieces by Ludwig van Beethoven and Pyotr Tchaikovsky.
Rudenko spoke about the brightest impression he got from Siverski Music Nights and said: “This festival is a brainchild of the conductor Mykola Sukach. He attracts and brings excitement in his every manifestation. I have a lot of friends in his orchestra. I love to play in Chernihiv! By the way, I also have many friends in Kyiv — pedagogues Malvina Zarudianska, Anatolii Ilin, Valerii Kozlov, pianist Yurii Kot, and, of course, Volodymyr Sirenko, with whom we often perform together.” He thanked the Ukrainian audience for its warm welcome. Rudenko will soon come to Kyiv again to be a member of the jury at the International Competition in Memory of Vladimir Horowitz. Then he will go on a concert tour in Russia: Saint Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Kazan, Nizhniy Novgorod, after which he’ll visit Brazil, where he will play Frederic Chopin’s music.
“I felt an attraction to Chernihiv when I first met the conductor Sukach. I sure felt the charm of Sukach’s personality, his cheerfulness, and his many-sided talents. He has a very nice orchestra. The Chernihiv audience is great and real. I also saw the amazing old town,” Luhansky told The Day.
Mr. Luhansky at the concert in Kyiv you together with Rudenko played a music piece by Mozart, which brought a round of applause. While listening to Mozart’s music one can’t help wondering — what is the mystery of this music that gives joy to people starting with the very first note?
“In my opinion the reason for this is his greatness. He was the most musically talented person ever born on this earth. Some would not agree with me and could name Johann Sebastian Bach or my favorite Rachmaninoff. But I think that it just was like that judging by what Mozart created and how much he created in his pretty short lifetime. He was a man in whom everything was on fire: both music and the perfection with which he wrote his music. He had it right from his childhood — it was that rare case when he did not have to sacrifice anything to create brilliant music. However, it is absolutely impossible to explain — you should only listen to it and that’s it.”
In your opinion, is today’s audience different from those people who’d fill the halls in the 1970s and the 1980s, for example?
“I think that today’s listeners of classical music have not changed in their nature because it is always quite an action: a person goes not to a football match, rock concert, or an entertainment program, but instead to a concert of classical music, where a certain spiritual effort is required. If a person makes a conscious choice to do so, he is already worth of respect.
“That is why I wouldn’t say that audience was better in some respect then and not as good now. People become better when they listen to classics. I think that it is characteristic of everyone to aspire to something that is higher than them, something that raises them above the everyday life level. For me personally it is direct communication with God, but everyone has his own attitude. Probably it would be the greatest pleasure. Pure. I expect the member of the audience to be friendly and surely cooperative. Compared with the music that is performed, we are equal with them and together take part in the creation of a concert.”
What does a pianist need for artistic inspiration apart from the talent and everyday work?
“There are always new artistic and life impressions, and I am not ready to say what is more important. You know, there can be different things that can inspire you: it may be a beautiful face or architecture, a book you read, record that you haven’t heard for a long time, or a new piece of music.
“Actually, even though you know some musical piece very well, you should always meet it as if for the first time. And — for real! — it happens just like that.
“When I come onto the stage what was before or will be after does not exist — there is only this very moment, and it is as if meeting for the first time. Therefore, I honestly cannot understand how it can become a routine. It seems to always be an event, every time in a new way — better or worse, always some risk, some losses, and some findings.
“In the past months I played abroad a lot: in France, England, America, and Italy. I gave 25 concerts in a little over two months. Now I will mostly play in the former Soviet countries: in Saint Petersburg, Perm, Ural, and Moscow. In May I will go to the more distant countries. There will be concerts in Barcelona, London, New York, and Philadelphia.”
