VII International Music Festival
Odessa Classics 2021

Odessa Opera and Ballet Theater

📅 May 22, 19:00

SPECIAL JOINT PROJECT OF NEW ERA ORCHESTRA AND ODESSA CLASSICS

• Joshua Bell (violin)
• New Era Orchestra
  
• Tetyana Kalinichenko (conductor and art director)

Joshua Bell is one of the brightest violinists of our time. A winner of GRAMMY, OPUS KLASSIK, Gramophone, Avery Fisher Prize, and an exclusive artist of SONY, Bell has performed with almost every leading orchestra in the world.

• Since 2011, Bell has been the music director of the London chamber orchestra Academy of St.Martin in the Fields.

Bell also combines a career as a brilliant classical musician with participation in various television shows (including “Sesame Street”), recording music for popular films – in particular, Bell performed John Corigliano’s music for the soundtrack to the film “The Red Violin” (Corigliano specifically thanked Bell for his inspired performance when receiving the Oscar for Best Original Music); later, Bell’s violin was heard in the soundtrack to the film “Angels and Demons.”

As part of Bell’s tendency to participate in rather unusual activities for a great classical musician, the experiment he took part in on January 12, 2007, at the initiative of The Washington Post, can be considered: for 43 minutes, Bell played in the lobby of a Washington subway station under the guise of an ordinary street musician. Out of a thousand people passing by, only one recognized him by face, and only five or six were particularly impressed. At the same time, Bell earned only 32 dollars. This experiment was reflected in a detailed essay by the famous journalist Gene Weingarten, reflecting on the nature of beauty and its place in the life of modern man.

New Era Orchestra (art director and chief conductor Tetyana Kalinichenko) is an independent Ukrainian orchestra, which in its 13 years of existence has become one of the most significant musical ensembles in the country. One of the priorities of the orchestra’s creative activity is international cooperation.

The collective’s portfolio includes over 20 successfully realized top-level projects. Tetyana Kalinichenko, the art director and chief conductor of the orchestra, was the first in Ukraine to initiate joint projects with such outstanding musicians as Joshua Bell (violin, USA), Sarah Chang (violin, USA), Christoph Sietz (percussion, Austria), Avi Avital (mandolin, Israel), Maurice Steger (recorder, Switzerland), and others. At the same time, the orchestra actively promotes young talented domestic soloists of the new generation.

Odessa Opera and Ballet Theater

📅 June 2, 19:00

• Lucas Debargue (piano)
• National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine
  
• Volodymyr Sirenko (conductor)

Lucas Debargue is an outstanding French pianist who regularly collaborates with leading orchestras and performs in the most prestigious halls worldwide, including Carnegie Hall and Kennedy Center, Benaroya Hall in Seattle, Jordan Hall in Boston, Sanders Theater, Maison Symphonique in Montreal, Royal Music Conservatory in Toronto, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées and Philharmonie de Paris, Wigmore Hall and Royal Festival Hall in London, Berlin Philharmonie, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, concert halls in Tokyo, Beijing, Shanghai, Taipei, Seoul, Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory and the Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg.

The National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine is one of the best academic music ensembles in the country and one of the most renowned in Eastern Europe. Throughout the years, the orchestra has performed with artists such as Arthur Rubinstein, Isaac Stern, Yehudi Menuhin, David Oistrakh, Sviatoslav Richter, Emil Gilels, Mstislav Rostropovich, Leonid Kogan, Montserrat Caballé, José Carreras, Plácido Domingo, Andrea Bocelli, Gidon Kremer.

Odessa Regional Philharmonic

📅 June 3, 19:00

• National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine
  
• Volodymyr Sirenko (conductor)
  
• Benjamin Yusupov (conductor)
  
• Maria Solozobova (violin)

Benjamin Yusupov is a composer, conductor, and pianist. His works, for which he holds exclusive rights with the Hamburg publishing house SIKORSKI, have been performed multiple times by famous soloists and ensembles, including the London, Munich, Israel, Lucerne, Copenhagen, and Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestras. He closely collaborates with renowned musicians such as Maxim Vengerov, Mischa Maisky, Vadim Repin, Alexander Knyazev, and others.

Maria Solozobova is a brilliant concert performer and multiple winner of prestigious international competitions: the Brahms Competition in Austria, the Tibor Varga Competition in Switzerland, the Lipizer Competition in Italy, and many others. She performs at the world’s most famous concert venues: “Concertgebouw” (Amsterdam), “Tonhalle” (Zurich), “Lincoln Center” (New York), Théâtre des Champs-Élysées (Paris), Berlin Philharmonie, “Alte Oper” (Frankfurt), “Konzerthaus” (Vienna). She collaborates with many famous orchestras and participates in numerous international festivals.

Potemkin Stairs

📅 June 4, 21:00 – Open-air concert

• Alexey Botvinov (piano)
• National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine
  
• Volodymyr Sirenko (conductor)
  

People’s Artist of Ukraine Volodymyr Sirenko has been the artistic director and chief conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine for 20 years. He has performed on stages in Amsterdam, Paris, Toronto, and other cities around the world. He has conducted the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, Brooklyn Philharmonic, and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London.
He is the stage director of 10 operas, the author of music for more than 20 films. For the recording of “Requiem for Larissa” by Valentin Silvestrov, he became the first in Ukrainian history to be nominated for a Grammy.

Alexey Botvinov is a People’s Artist of Ukraine, a world-renowned piano performing art star, and one of the best contemporary performers of Rachmaninov’s music. The pianist’s repertoire includes over 30 piano concertos with orchestra. Botvinov has performed in 45 countries and is the only pianist in the world who has performed Bach’s iconic masterpiece “Goldberg Variations” over 300 times on stage.

CONCERT IS FREE

Odessa Regional Philharmonic

📅 June 5, 19:00

Tickets purchased for June 11, 2020, are valid

• Brussels Chamber Orchestra
  
• Michael Guttman (violin, conductor)
  
• Jing Zhao (cello)

Michael Guttman is a star of the first magnitude on the musical horizon of Europe. Over the years, he has played with a whole range of the most renowned performers and ensembles, served as guest conductor of the Brussels Chamber Orchestra, and today he is the leader of the Arriga String Quartet and the “Michael Guttman Tango Quartet.” He is the music director of the chamber music festival in Pietrasanta, Italy.
Violinist and conductor Michael Guttman can rightly be called a favorite of the Odessa audience. He earned this love with his brilliant performances at past ODESSA CLASSICS festivals.

Cellist Jing Zhao is widely known as a brilliant interpreter of classical and contemporary music. She is a student of the outstanding Japanese cellist Ryosuke Hori and also of Mstislav Rostropovich.
Jing Zhao is the winner of the 1st prize at the International Music Competition ARD (Internationaler Musikwettbewerb der ARD) in Germany. Jing Zhao has performed with leading world orchestras and such outstanding conductors as Seiji Ozawa, Riccardo Muti, Lorin Maazel.

Jing Zhao at Odessa Classics – 2018

Odessa Regional Philharmonic

📅 June 6, 19:00

• Matthias Goerne (baritone)
  
• Alexey Botvinov (piano)

One of the most sought-after vocalists in the world, a true superstar of the world stage, the German concert and opera singer Matthias Goerne will perform again at the Odessa Philharmonic. His concert of Richard Wagner’s works in 2016 at the ODESSA CLASSICS festival was a true sensation, after which Wagner’s music began to be heard on Ukrainian stages much more frequently.

Matthias Goerne – Tristan und Isolde: King Marke’s Aria

Green Theater

📅 June 7, 20:00

SPECIAL JOINT PROJECT OF ODESSA CLASSICS AND GREEN THEATER

• Mikhail Shishkin and Alexey Botvinov
  Music and Literature Evening

“First – death, then life”
Rachmaninov.

“Explaining to conductor Leopold Stokowski how to understand his works, Rachmaninov wrote: ‘First – death, then life.’
Word and music. Writer and pianist. A declaration of love for the great composer. Mikhail Shishkin reads his essay on Rachmaninov, Oleksiy Botvinov performs his music.

In 2012, Oleksiy made a bold creative attempt to combine Mikhail Shishkin’s novel “The Letter Book” and the works of Rachmaninov and Scriabin in a theatrical performance. In this production, Botvinov acted as director, author of the staging text, and musical performer. The performance, as well as the subsequent German-language version, enjoyed well-deserved success among Ukrainian and Swiss audiences. The writer and pianist often perform together abroad – and now this will happen for the first time for the Ukrainian audience.

Odessa Regional Philharmonic

📅 June 8, 19:00

• Sebastian Knauer (piano)
• National Odessa Philharmonic Orchestra
  
• Hobart Earle (conductor)

Sebastian Knauer. The high performing art of the German pianist Sebastian Knauer is already familiar to the Odessa audience from previous ODESSA CLASSICS festivals. A true event in the music world was the world premiere in Odessa in 2018 of the joint project of Knauer and the German-Iranian composer Arash Safayan “Überbach,” which was carried out by Knauer with the Berlin Chamber Orchestra. The performance became a world sensation and was awarded the prestigious ECHO KLASSIK award as a project that expands the boundaries of classical music. In 2018 – 2020, “Überbach” was performed in the best concert halls of the world – and always with unchanging success.

And now the world premiere of Safayan’s and Knauer’s new project – a fantasy for piano and orchestra “This is (not) Beethoven.” It is noteworthy that the world premiere of this work took place in the same year when humanity celebrated the 250th anniversary of the birth of the great composer. Arash Safayan’s fantasy is a worthy expression of our admiration for the genius whose music accompanies humanity on the path to peace and mutual understanding.

The National Odessa Philharmonic Orchestra was founded as the Odessa Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra in 1937. It is the only performing arts collective in Ukraine that has twice elevated its status during the years of independence, becoming first state-owned (1993) and then National (2002). The orchestra, under the direction of Maestro Earle, has performed in the best concert halls of 15 countries worldwide, including Carnegie Hall (New York), Kennedy Center (Washington), Musikverein (Vienna), Barbican Hall (London), Liszt Academy (Budapest), Cologne Philharmonic, Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, UN General Assembly Hall, National Auditorium (Madrid), Orchestra Hall (Chicago), Davies Hall (San Francisco), and others. The orchestra has also performed in many cities of Ukraine and has made 11 different creative trips to Kyiv.

Hobart Earle was born in Venezuela to an American family. He graduated from London’s Trinity College and the music department of Princeton University (USA). After graduating from university, he moved to the Austrian capital, where he studied conducting at the Vienna Music Academy. He participated in international conducting master classes in Salzburg and Holland, as well as with Otto Werner-Müller in the USA. In 1987, as a participant in the Tanglewood Festival, he interned with Leonard Bernstein and Seiji Ozawa.
That same year, he founded the chamber orchestra American Music Ensemble Vienna/Ensemble for Viennese Music New York in Vienna. With the orchestra, he prepared over 10 world premieres recorded by Austrian Radio in Vienna, New York, Los Angeles, Washington, and other cities.

During a tour with the Vienna Chamber Orchestra in 1990, Hobart Earle met the Odessa Philharmonic Orchestra, and since then their fruitful cooperation began.
Over the years, Maestro has conducted a number of leading orchestras in Europe and the USA, as well as several productions at the National Opera of Greece and the Mythos Opera Festival (Italy).
In 2013, Hobart Earle was awarded the honorary title “People’s Artist of Ukraine.”

Odessa Regional Philharmonic

📅 June 9, 19:00

• Zurich Chamber Orchestra
  
• Daniel Hope (violin, artistic director)
  
• Alexey Botvinov (piano)

Since 2007, Daniel Hope has been recording on the Deutsche Grammophon label. This winter, the presentation of an album of works by Alfred Schnittke, performed by Daniel Hope and Oleksiy Botvinov, took place, which, according to critics, became a major creative event in the music world.

Odessa Opera and Ballet Theater

📅 June 10, 19:00

• Zurich Chamber Orchestra
  
• Daniel Hope (violin, artistic director)
  

The Zurich Chamber Orchestra is one of the TOP-5 best chamber ensembles in Europe. The map of ZKO’s international tours knows no boundaries, and the venues where the musicians perform are of the highest class: from London’s Albert Hall to the largest halls in European countries, the USA, Asia, and South Africa. The main stage of the Zürcher Kammerorchester is the Zurich Tonhalle. At various times, ZKO has performed with Mischa Maisky, Vadim Repin, Joshua Bell, Hilary Hahn, James Galway, and many other celebrated musicians. In 2017, the orchestra was awarded Echo Klassik for two CDs in the Klassik ohne Grenzen (“Classics Without Borders”) category.

ZKO is visiting Ukraine for the second time at the ODESSA CLASSICS festival, and this large-scale international cultural project is made possible with the support of the Embassy of Switzerland in Ukraine.

Recently, Daniel Hope, soloist and artistic director of the Zurich Chamber Orchestra (since 2016), recorded a disc with the orchestra of serenades created by great composers in different eras. Some of them will be performed at all three orchestra concerts at our festival this year.

Odessa Regional Philharmonic

📅 June 11, 19:00

• Zurich Chamber Orchestra
  
• Daniel Hope (violin, artistic director)
  
• Alexey Botvinov (piano)

During the concert, the European premiere of the “Double Concerto for Violin and Piano with Orchestra” by the world-renowned musician and composer Tan Dun will take place. The work was commissioned by the ODESSA CLASSICS festival and the San Francisco “New Century Orchestra,” which is a convincing testament to the high authority of the Odessa music forum.

The world-renowned artist and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Tan Dun occupies a special place on the world music stage thanks to his creative repertoire, which transcends the boundaries of classical music, multimedia performance, and Eastern and Western traditions. He is the recipient of today’s most prestigious awards, including Grammy, Oscar, Grawemeyer, Bach, Shostakovich, and recently – the Italian “Golden Lion” award for exceptional lifetime achievements.

Tan Dun’s music has been performed worldwide by leading orchestras, in opera houses, at international festivals, on radio and television.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) also commissioned Tan Dun to compose the anthem and music for the award ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Tan Dun records for Sony Classical, Deutsche Grammophon, EMI, Opus Arte, BIS, and Naxos. His recordings have received numerous awards, including the Grammy Award (“Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”) and nomination (“The First Emperor”; “Marco Polo”; “Pipa Concerto”), the Japan Record Academy Award for Best Contemporary Music CD (“Water Passions after St. Matthew”), and BBC’s Best Orchestral Album (“Death and Fire”).

Odessa Opera and Ballet Theater

📅 June 24, 19:00

• Evgeny Kissin (piano)

Pianist Evgeny Kissin is one of the most outstanding musicians of our time.

This is Evgeny Kissin’s second visit to Odessa; the first took place back in 1990 when an author’s concert of composer Tikhon Khrennikov was held in Odessa. For participation in the concert, Khrennikov invited three talented teenagers, students of the Central Music School – violinists Vadim Repin and Maxim Vengerov and pianist Evgeny Kissin. Even then, the Odessa audience was enchanted by the playing of these young musicians.

Almost thirty years have passed since then – and the ODESSA CLASSICS festival was visited by musicians who had already become legendary: Vadim Repin and Maxim Vengerov. Their concerts became a true sensation. And now we are anticipating a meeting with Evgeny Kissin. Today, the maestro is one of the few performers who define the level of performing art in the world.

The program details

Odessa Art Museum, Sofiivska St., 5A

📅 June 3, 21:30

• Olena Andreychikova – “Manifest” Author’s reading of the play
• Oleksiy Petukhov (piano) – improvisations

Roman Catholic Cathedral, Katerynynska St., 33

📅 June 4, 19:15

• “Open Opera Ukraine”
• Project “Musica Sacra Ukraine – Partes Dimension”

Green Theater, Marazliivska St., 1e

📅 June 5, 21:00

• Ensemble “Alter Ratio”
• Program “KULT”

Odessa Art Museum, Sofiivska St., 5A

📅 June 6, 21:30

• Zoltan Almashi (cello)
• Eduard Skrypa (violin)

ZOLTAN ALMASHI’S PROJECT: “THE PLAYING MAN…”

Green Theater, Marazliivska St., 1e

📅 June 10, 21:00

• Antony Baryshevsky (piano)
• Program “A Sip of New Music”

The program details

Odessa Museum of Western and Eastern Art “Nonconformists”

📅 June 1 – 23

Exhibition within the framework of the festival

Curator – Anatoliy Dymchuk
Exhibition opening on June 1 at 15:00

On June 1, the Yuriy Mykolayovych Yegorov Foundation, together with the Odessa Museum of Western and Eastern Art, will present an exhibition dedicated to the movement of Odessa nonconformists. The project is implemented within the framework of the Odessa Classics festival.

Nonconformism of the 1970s – 1980s is one of the most important phenomena in the artistic life of Odessa. This group of artists is associated with one of the first public informal exhibitions in the Soviet Union. The event in question is the “Sychyk+Khrushchyk” action, which took place in the center of Odessa in 1967. A series of apartment exhibitions organized by the nonconformists during the 1970s became an important step in the development of freedom of speech in the late Soviet period.

Despite opposing official Soviet art, which was a common stance for many Ukrainian artists of that time, the work of Odessa nonconformists is marked by a special lyricism, a departure from direct political statements, and an appeal to universal human values. As researchers note, Odessa artists are characterized by a combination of innovation with a return to the roots, particularly to the tradition of icon painting and the achievements of the Odessa Society of South Russian Artists.

In the five halls of the Odessa Museum of Western and Eastern Art, works from the collection of Anatoliy Dymchuk – the largest collection of Odessa nonconformism in Ukraine – will be presented. The project will include works by Oleksandr Anufriyev, Valeriy Basanets, Oleg Voloshynov, Yuriy Yegorov, Viktor Marinyuk, Yevhen Rakhmanin, Volodymyr Strelnikov, Valentyn Khrushch, Anatoliy Shopin, Lyudmyla Yastreb, and others. The exhibition will introduce the viewer to iconic works of the nonconformists from the period of apartment exhibitions, as well as the later works of the artists and their contemporary achievements.

Odesa National A.V. Nezhdanova Music Academy

📅 May 24, 15:00 — 17:30
Grand Hall

Scientific conference and master class on the topic “Teaching Piano Mastery in the Context of a Global Pandemic. Challenges and Trends.”

• Conferences and discussions within the framework of the festival
• Free admission.

Participants:

• Yuriy Mykolayovych Kot – Professor, Head of the Department of Special Piano at the National Music Academy of Ukraine named after P.I. Tchaikovsky (Kyiv), People’s Artist of Ukraine.
• Borys Hryhorovych Fedorov – Professor at the National Music Academy of Ukraine named after P.I. Tchaikovsky (Kyiv)
• Tetyana Ivanivna Shevchenko – Professor, Head of the Department of Special Piano at the Odessa National A.V. Nezhdanova Music Academy, Honored Art Worker of Ukraine.

Pre-Concert Lectures at the Philharmonic

At the best European music festivals, the tradition of complementing philharmonic concerts with a brief introductory lecture, which sets the audience in a special state of musical perception, is gaining increasing popularity. This is especially important in our turbulent and restless times.

We are delighted to bring European traditions to life. Helping our festival attendees erase the everyday, work-related, and emotional impressions that fill each of our days and open their souls to the beauty of our festival is Kyiv musicologist Nataliya Chamorova.

At these sessions, the audience will hear many fascinating stories:

• which acoustic invention by Beethoven was “rediscovered” by the creators of modern telephones only at the end of the 20th century;
• what lifelong dream illuminated Schubert’s creativity and when it finally came true;
• the melody of which Ukrainian folk song, as reinterpreted by G. Gershwin (whose parents, as is known, were from Odessa), became the foundation of American jazz and remains popular to this day;
• why the musical direction of Crossover Style resonates more with the modern philharmonic listener than elite academic compositions.

All this, as well as many other interesting facts, will be learned by the guests of the VII International Music Festival Odessa Classics. Attending the pre-concert lectures is absolutely FREE for our audience members with tickets to the Philharmonic concert on that day.

Lectures begin at 18:00 (an hour before the concert) in the Chamber Hall of the Odessa Philharmonic.

Odesa National A.V. Nezhdanova Music Academy

📅 May 24, 16:00 — 17:30
Grand Hall

• Master Classes within the Festival
• Piano Master Class

Yuriy Mykolayovych Kot – Professor, Head of the Department of Special Piano at the National Music Academy of Ukraine named after P.I. Tchaikovsky (Kyiv), People’s Artist of Ukraine.

Borys Hryhorovych Fedorov – Professor at the National Music Academy of Ukraine named after P.I. Tchaikovsky (Kyiv)