This is the fourth festival of the Italian musical baroque which our music lovers are looking forward to because the army of admirers of high art has considerably expanded over three years it has been held in this country. The creative project was initiated by the Embassy of Italy and the Italian Institute of Culture in Ukraine in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine. The ITALIA FESTIVAL BAROCCO is a joint Italian-Ukrainian project under the artistic direction of Nancy Milesis ROMANO, who told The Day about the geographic reach and timetable of planned creative events.
“This initiative was launched in order to get this wonderful repertoire known by young people who may never have approached the classical music, much less the music of the Baroque era,” emphasized the art director of the ITALIA FESTIVAL BAROCCO. “This latest festival is organized in cooperation with the Milano Arte Musica Festival, which was held in Milan this summer.”
The Italia Festival Barocco 2017 opened on September 17 at the National Philharmonic of Ukraine with a concert of the Kyiv Chamber Orchestra under Maestro Alfredo Bernardini, who acted both as conductor and oboe soloist. The program featured works by Antonio Vivaldi, Alessandro Marcello, Francesco Maria Veracini, Tomaso Albinoni and other composers. On September 15, students of the National Music Academy of Ukraine had an opportunity to deepen their knowledge of chamber music and improve their oboe skills during a master class held by Maestro Bernardini, who is now a professor at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg.
After Kyiv, the forum will continue in Mariupol on September 22, where the L’Arte dell’Arco trio and Maestro Federico Guglielmo will offer to the audience some pieces by Giuseppe Tartini as well as works of his friends and rivals at the Molodizhnyi Palace of Culture and Mariupol State University.
The festival will continue with events in Lviv, Chernivtsi, and Kharkiv on September 26-28, which will involve Maestro Maurizio Salerno. He will perform concerts of organ music, presenting the art of variations as done by Johann Sebastian Bach, Johann Pachelbel, Bernardo Pasquini, Domenico Scarlatti, and Dietrich Buxtehude.
A master class by Maestro Salerno will be held at Kharkiv University and deal with the story of organ art in various Italian cities.
On October 1, the International Day of Music, the Odesa Opera House will host a concert “The Sacred Theater” by the well-known ensemble La Venexiana and the famous countertenor Raffaele Pe. The evening show will be held on the occasion of the 450th birth anniversary of Claudio Monteverdi and feature compositions of spiritual and secular music by the Cremona-born composer.
On October 3, Kyiv will host the solemn closing of the festival at the stage of the Lysenko Columned Hall, where members of the audience will be able to immerse themselves in The Art of Fugue – one of the last works of the legendary Bach, together with Maestro Ottavio Dantone and the Accademia Bizantina ensemble. The composer did not specify in the score on what instrument to perform this cycle, because he understood it as representing “the ideal music.” Members of the Accademia Bizantina (harpsichord, viola, cello, and two violins) will demonstrate their polyphonic take on the Classical Music with a capital letter.
