Qarayev Festival on Facebook Qarayev Festival on Youtube
az  en  ru

April 24th:

Closing of the Festival
"Preaching, Prayer, Deluge — Contrasts?", symphony concert

The final concert of the Festival, which took place in Azerbaijan State Philharmonic named after M. Magomayev on April 24th, presented a vast program of vocal, instrumental and choral music of the XX century. The Azerbaijan State Symphony Orchestra named after Uzeyir Hajibeyov and the guests of the festival – the Moscow ensemble Questa Musica — performed a number of works by composers from different countries and different generations, classical music of the last century and the works, referred to the category of forgotten masterpieces.

The Orchestra and vocal ensemble were directed by the young, but already well-known and popular Moscow Conductor Philipp Chizhevsky. The extreme complexity of the program required highly laborious preliminary rehearsals, where the chief conductor of the Azerbaijan State Symphony Orchestra Rauf Abdullayev and the conductor Fuad Ibragimov were extremely helpful. According to the concept of the concert all the performed works were grouped in pairs and divided into three groups, which formed the three parts of the concert. The selection of opuses for each of the parts was determined by the meaningful connection with one of the components of the concert title — "Preaching, Prayer and the Flood — contrasts?" (A compliment to Igor Stravinsky!)

The first part called "The Preaching" comprised an a cappella work by an Austrian composer and conductor Beat Furrer Enigma («Riddle») I-IV, VI to the text written by Leonardo da Vinci (2006/13) and Brief an Gösta Oswald ("A Letter to Gösta Oswald", 1958/59) by a Swede Bo Nilsson, a rarely performed "genius of Malmberget", a cantata trilogy for two soloists and symphony orchestra, incredibly difficult musical and verbal text of which, saturated with a mass of unusual methods of performing, was brilliantly interpreted by a soloist Ekaterina Kitchigina (soprano, Russia) and Nadia Zelyankova (mezzo, Russia-Germany).

The second part called "The Prayer" represented three pairs of works. The part began with vocal and instrumental compositions Agnus Dei (1993) and Credo (2004) by Alexander Vustin, one of the most important Russian composers of the older generation, whose music is rarely performed even in his homeland. The next pair formed an a cappella choir I believe (1932) by Igor Stravinsky and a cantata Stravinsky's Memorial (1982), written by untimely deceased Ismail Hajibeyov, Qara Qarayev's disciple and one of the worthiest representatives of the significant Azerbaijan composer dynasty. The unusual theatrical interpretation that produced a strong artistic impression on the audience, showed the works making the final, third pair. The vocal ensemble located on the balcony under the roof of the concert hall performed a touching and sad chorus The Lamb (1982) by John Tavener, as well as the tragic Hebrew prayer «Schema Yisroel» ("Hear, O Israel") — the culmination of the famous cantata by Arnold Schönberg A Survivor from Warsaw op.46 (1947), which represented an anxious story of a concentration camp inmate, which recalled one of the worst episodes of the camp life. The part of the narrator, usually performed by a male reader, was brilliantly implemented in Baku by Farida Mamedova (soprano, Azerbaijan) and Andrei Kaplanov (baritone, Russia) as a dialogue between an eyewitness and a German sergeant, shouting out orders in German military jargon into a megaphone.

And finally, the third part of the concert — "Deluge" — presented a composition, which could justifiably be regarded as one of the best examples of vocal symphonic music of the XX century. The most complicated aleatoric score by Witold Lutoslawski, a three-part cyclic composition Trois poèmes d'Henri Michaux ("Three Poems by Henri Michaux," 1962/63) required the involvement of a second conductor (his participation being stipulated by the composer himself): Rauf Abdullayev headed the instrumental band, while Philipp Chizhevsky directed the choir. Due to the well-coordinated interaction, the both conductors managed to carry out an almost visible sound structure, formed with the counterpoint of lines and groups, each of which represented a vividly individualized structure.

The Finale from Qara Qarayev's ballet "Path of Thunder" was presented as an epilogue, and at the same time — a flashback to the beginning of the Festival. A party of the choir, added to the instrumental part helped to strengthen the emotional power of the impact of the severe and solemn music, uplifting the spirit and filling the audience with the positive energy of life. The inspired audience gave the participants of the concert a great ovation, making them bow again and again, while the participants themselves tried to bring the artistic director of the festival composer Faradzh Karayev to the stage. In vain: the latter had probably taken too close to heart all the gain and loss of this five-day cultural forum, which was of great personal importance for him.

Three years later, the VII Qara Qarayev Festival will be hopefully held, timed to coincide with the centenary of the outstanding Master, who had implemented the integration of Azerbaijani classical music into the European cultural space and predestined the path of its further development. We look forward to new meetings with Baku!











































More photographs are here.
Original photographs are available upon request.


Prepared by Press Center of the Festival.
Text — Marianna Vysotskaya
Photo selection and processing — Julia Dmitrioukova





















Pro Helvetia, Swiss Arts Council            Medeniyyet TV           YOL Magazine           'Muzikalnaya Zhizn' magazine, Moscow