In the 1920s the summer stage in the Central Park near the Mariinsky Palace in Kyiv hosted educational concerts for the public, featuring such prominent musicians as Alexander Glazunov, Sergei Prokofiev, Vladimir Horowitz, and Nathan Milstein, as well as conductors Natan Rakhlin, Reinhold Gliere, and Felix Blumenfeld. In the 1950s Rakhlin, who was also a noted composer, gave concerts here, performing his vast repertoire of classical music.
On the initiative of the Horowitz International Competition for Young Pianists, this wonderful tradition was revived in the form of the international festival Musical Summer Nights in Kyiv. Many artists have contributed their efforts to this large-scale cultural and educational event. For two months every summer, on Saturdays and Sundays, the sounds of music attract numerous listeners.
This year the festival is showcasing leading Ukrainian academic ensembles and solo performers, as well as promising young musicians from Ukraine, Russia, Poland, Germany, Norway, Holland, Japan, Spain, and the USA. The festival’s repertoire is varied: classical and contemporary works performed by symphony and chamber orchestras, folk and brass bands, choirs, and soloists.
Over the years the concert performed by the winners of the Horowitz International Competition for Young Pianists has become one of the festival’s most spectacular events. This year one of the participants was 16-year-old Arsenii Aristov (Moscow, Russia), the winner of the 7th Horowitz International Competition for Young Pianists in the middle group. Despite his young age, the pianist exhibited impressive technical and presentation skills. Accompanied by the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, conducted by Volodymyr Sirenko, Aristov played Maurice Ravel’s famous Piano Concerto for the Left Hand in D major. This concerto was composed for Ravel’s friend and pianist Paul Wittgenstein, who lost his right arm in World War I, and it is performed only with the left hand. But this idiosyncrasy did not affect the high technical level of Aristov’s performance. Hearing him play, a listener would think he was using both hands.
This music has a militant, unruly, and spontaneous character, with obvious undertones of Spanish folk melodies, sounds of a military orchestra, and a punctuated military pace. The soloist and the orchestra succeeded in conveying this with equal emotional suspense, in the form of a dialogue and in unison, which thrilled the audience and drew a round of wild applause.
The festival’s president Yurii ZILBERMAN talked about the 10th Musical Summer Nights in Kyiv with The Day.
Mr. Zilberman, what made this year’s festival special?
“Every year is special. Our concerts are not park music with Strauss waltzes but strict academic programs at the philharmonic society level for an educated audience. This year’s festival is special in that every concert features a group of musicians: the State Academic Brass Band of Ukraine (conductor Oleksii Roshchak), National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine (conductor Volodymyr Sirenko), Filarmonia Symphony Orchestra (conductor Mykola Sukach), the National Kyiv Camerata Ensemble (conductor Valerii Matiukhin), State Academic Dance and Symphony Orchestra (conductor Nataliia Ponomarchuk), the Collegium Quartet, Youth Symphony Orchestra from Kharkiv (conductor Kyrylo Karabyts), and the big band of the Kyiv Gliere State Music Academy (conductor Oleksandr Shapoval).
Audiences had an opportunity to see some very interesting soloists. In contrast to previous years, there were many premieres, including contemporary music by Ihor Shcherbakov and Myroslav Skoryk (both from Ukraine), Paul van Gulick (Netherlands), and others.”
Are there similar summer festivals in Europe and elsewhere?
“Of course, there are many festivals of this kind all over the world. In the summer, when the concert season is over, musicians perform in the open air. For example, the Chicago festival has three stages: for academic, jazz, and ethnic music. Places have to be reserved: you choose whether you want to sit on the grass or in a comfortable chair; there is a variety of prices, fresh air, barbecues, etc. Summer festivals are often held in suburbs and resorts: the city of la Roque d’Antheron in southern France is a kind of international pianists’ mecca. There are also festivals in Vienna and Leipzig.”
What problems do you encounter during the preparations for your concerts?
“We have been thinking about introducing reservations, but this has turned out to be a bit of a problem. We also contacted architects to make a roof over the seats for the audience because only the stage is protected from rain. But then the question arises: what do we do with the roof in winter? However, even when the weather is not good, people still come to listen to classical music. We receive many applications from different parts of the world, but we can’t invite every musician to participate in the festival because we won’t be able to pay them an honorarium. The festival does not make any profits because admission is free. This is a unique case-in the West you have to buy tickets to attend concerts.”
The festival also includes performances by the students of the Music Summer Academy.
“For nine straight years dozens of beginner musicians from all over Ukraine, USA, and Europe come to Kyiv to attend master classes given by prominent professors: Norma Fisher (London Music Academy) and Therese Dusseau (France), a jury member at numerous festivals, both teach the piano, Mark Lakirovich (Boston, USA) teaches the violin and viola, and others. The best Ukrainian professors also teach at the Music Summer Academy: Yurii Kot and Tetiana Roshchina teach the piano and Olena Chervova, the cello.”
Can any beginner musician enroll in the Music Summer Academy?
“Master classes are conducted in the form of lectures and lessons according to the instrument: piano, playing with an orchestra, violin, viola, and cello (five to six 45-minute lessons). Students pay in advance and the tuition is $300. But winners of international competitions have the right to attend master classes free of charge.”
How do you explain the fact that young American and European violinists and pianists come to Kyiv to attend master classes at the school?
“It is extremely problematic for a young soloist to play with a professional symphony orchestra in front of a large audience. In the West this costs a pretty penny-from $20,000 to 30,000. Our international festival offers musicians this unique opportunity for free. Students of the Music Summer School perform solo and with a symphony orchestra, which counts as an exam.”
Musical Summer Nights in Kyiv continue until the end of July.
