Music festival in memory of the great scientist, man and citizen

Nizhny Novgorod. The 14th Andrei Sakharov Arts Festival was opened.

The native Muscovite Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov ended up in Gorky (the Soviet name of the city) in 1980 not of his own free will. Although his ancestors on the part of his father, Dmitry Ivanovich, had much to do with these places. Almost all of them were priests in the Nizhny Novgorod province. The exile to the city of Gorky (the city bore this name in the Soviet era), which became a punishment for human rights activities and protest against the presence of Soviet troops in Afghanistan, lasted almost seven years. Gorbachev’s rise to power put an end to this shameful story. Sakharov died in 1989, several years after returning to Moscow. And in 1992 in Nizhny Novgorod, an art festival of his memory was established.

In 2016, its 14th season opened. For several weeks, symphony orchestras, choirs, soloists will perform at festival venues. In honor of the anniversary of Galina Vishnevskaya, the opera “Pagliacci” by Leoncavallo will be performed by the soloists of the Center for Opera Singing of her name. A concert will be held with the participation of the winner of the Tchaikovsky cellist competition Andrei Ionitsa, host Artyom Vargaftik and singer Irina Moreva. Yuri Bashmet, the Moscow Soloists ensemble and Italian violinist Sergei Krylov will present to the public a program from the works of Heidrich, Grieg, Tchaikovsky, Vivaldi, Schumann. The festival will be decorated with a poetic evening by Sergei Jurassic, Days of France and the Netherlands. The performance of the Quartet Borodin will include compositions by Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Mozart.

An exciting overture to the festival was its opening. The concert was attended by famous Nizhny Novgorod groups - a symphony orchestra conducted by Alexander Sokulsky and a chamber choir led by Boris Mokeev. The first collective, one of the country’s leading orchestras, has been participating in the Sakharov Festival since its inception. The choir "Nizhny Novgorod" is an active concert group, winner of many music competitions. The level of their performance was absolutely congruent with the mastery of the soloist - the headliner of all the more or less significant musical events - the tireless Denis Matsuev.

Elena Tanakova © Gallerix.ru