Cool musicians performed cool music in honor of Nikolai Petrov’s birthday

MOSCOW. A festival named after Nikolai Petrov has opened in the Moscow Conservatory.

A man is alive as long as they remember him. With good intentions and good deeds, the road is paved to the souls, and not just to hell. Great discoveries, ingenious verses, paintings, symphonies - the path to immortality. On April 14, pianist Nikolai Petrov would have turned 75 years old. This anniversary, like the previous one, was celebrated by relatives and friends without it. Their efforts made it possible to preserve the brainchild of an outstanding pianist - the Musical Kremlin festival, in which she herself was the main reason for the sound of music, as Petrov dreamed. The festival survived the departure of the founder, crises, site changes and resisted. Now he bears the name of the maestro. Stars still take part in it, among which there are many students of Petrov, his beloved Rakhmaninov, Shchedrin, Prokofiev, as well as indispensable jazz compositions sound. Nikolai Arnoldovich was a long-time fan of this genre, but did not plan to swing and sync on the big stage, leaving this to the professionals.

Rarely performed works are necessarily included in the festival program. Petrov was not interested in "win-win" numbers for concert programs. They promise guaranteed success, commercially viable, "rolled" for years on numerous sites. However, the performer who does not want to develop gradually degrades. A true musician is an enlightener, a tireless researcher. Phenomenal memory and masterly mastery allowed Petrov to constantly expand his already vast repertoire. It contained many works almost unknown to the general public. At his concerts one could hear such rarities as Duke’s play “The Complaint of the Faun from Far Away,” Saint-Saens Second Piano Concerto, “Paganini’s Dedication” by Falik, “Berlioz’s Fantastic Symphony” in Liszt’s transcription, for Mendelssohn’s flat major concerto. The maestro performed the last piece, written for two pianos, together with Alexander Gindin, with whom he had many years of creative collaboration.

Both graduated from the Moscow Conservatory, became laureates of the II Prize of the Queen Elizabeth Competition, although with an interval of 35 years. The history of their piano duet began in 2000 and ended 12 years later in connection with the death of Nikolai Arnoldovich. Dozens of joint concerts, recording discs, participation in festivals. Now Alexander Gindin continues his successful solo career and leads the Kaluga Youth Symphony Orchestra. Gindin is a regular participant in festivals dedicated to the memory of a friend and colleague. As well as Daniel Kramer, a jazz virtuoso musician.

The tradition of celebrating the birthday of Nikolai Arnoldovich on stage remained unchanged. And this time, on April 14, 2018, a virtuoso game and vivid emotions reigned on the stage of the MGK Great Hall. Performed by Alexander Gindin, Daniil Kramer and Valery Grokhovsky, a Mozart Concert for three pianos and orchestra in F Major, Tsfasman Suite for piano and orchestra, jazz improvisations, Beatles songs in an old style were performed. Cool musicians performed cool music, as the maestro loved.

The festival is attended by students of Petrov, wonderful young pianists Mikhail Turpanov and Nikita Mndoyants. Also, the winner of the Knushevitsky cello competition, Bok Yul Ji from Korea, the winner of international competitions, the teacher of the Moscow Conservatory and Japanese University, Sakuyo Vyacheslav Gryaznov, the winner of the pianists competition in memory of Emil Gilels Hidak Shino.

In the performance-concert “Serenade in the Sunny Valley”, organist Evgenia Krivitskaya, double bass player Alexander Parsadanov, violinist Stanislav Malyshev perform music from famous Hollywood films in their original version.

Elena Tanakova © Gallerix.ru