"Shchedrin-marathon" at the end of the anniversary year

NIZHNY NOVGOROD. The "Sealed Angel" festival kicks off, dedicated to the 85th anniversary of Rodion Shchedrin.

The jubilee year for the composer began with the staging of the opera Not Only Love at the Mariinsky Theater. The first work written in this genre is dedicated to Maya Plisetskaya, beloved wife and outstanding ballerina. The performance did not last long at the Bolshoi Theater, after the fourth show it was removed from the repertoire to the considerable chagrin of the author. Music and a risky plot with a non-standard love triangle seemed to the guardians of morality from the art of the 1961 model too innovative. In the production of Mariinsky, the opera seemed to have found a second wind. Amazing music, impeccable vocals, impressive coherence of the choirs, choreography by Gali Abaidulov allow us to hope for a long stage life of a wonderful work.

The anniversary year ends on the same high note. December 2 at the Glinka Nizhny Novgorod Conservatory opened the festival "The Sealed Angel." The musical marathon will last until December 18. Concerts were announced in 12 more cities: from Vladivostok to Moscow. The festival will feature concerts of chamber and choral music, The Little Humpbacked Horse, works for a young audience, a Russian choral opera about life and death nobles Morozova and her sisters, Princess Urusova. The last composition will sound in the old Borovsk, in the cold prison of which the last days passed before the execution of the associate of Archpriest Avvakum.

The choice of the name of the festival is not accidental. In 1988, Shchedrin wrote the Sealed Angel liturgy for a chorus with a flute. The composer’s creation was inspired not only by the eponymous work of the beloved writer Leskov, but also by the celebration of the millennium of the baptism of Russia. The motives of the Old Believers, the beauty of Russian iconography, Church Slavonic texts are a special, sacred topic for Shchedrin, whose grandfather was a priest, and his parents - deeply religious people.

Foreign and domestic musicians take part in the anniversary marathon. His program includes not only concerts, but also exhibitions, a competition of young conductors, and an international scientific conference.

Elena Tanakova © Gallerix.ru