XXXIX International Music Festival "December Evenings of Sviatoslav Richter" "Walking with Thomas Gainsborough"

The Pushkin Museum. A. Pushkin announced the program of the XXXIX International Music Festival “December Evenings of Svyatoslav Richter”. In 2019, the theme of the festival is “Walking with Thomas Gainsborough.” The festival is one of the central events of the Year of Music of Great Britain and Russia, held by the British Embassy in Moscow with the support of the British Council. The festival program is specially prepared for the exhibition of works by the great British painter of the XVIII century Thomas Gainsborough, which will be held at the Pushkin Museum. A.S. Pushkin from December 3, 2019 to March 1, 2020. One of the most prominent artists in Great Britain was a passionate lover of music, was friends with many famous composers and performers whose portraits will decorate the White Hall of the museum during the festival.

At the festival, a brilliant composition of foreign and domestic performers will be presented. For the first time, the English vocal ensemble I Fagiolini will come to Russia under the direction of Robert Hollingworth with the program “The Seasons”. Another high-profile premiere is the performance of the French ensemble Les Musiciens de Saint Julien under the direction of Francois Lazarevich. An absolute surprise for regular listeners will be the performance of the ensemble of brass instruments by Mark Bennett London Varoque Brass, and the main Christmas present is the concert of the famous British "Orchestra of the Enlightenment" conducted by Paul Goodwin. After a long break at the “December Evenings” Evgeny Kisin will perform with a solo program dedicated to Svyatoslav Richter. The festival will bring together young talented performers (Intrada vocal ensemble, Pratum Integrum orchestra, Questa Musica ensemble and the boys choir of the V. S. Popov Academy of Choral Art), as well as foreign and domestic classical music stars (Max Emanuel Tsenchich, Anna Dennis, Jonathan Sells, Yuri Minenko, Maxim Pasteur, Alexander Rudin, Alexey Lyubimov, Patrick Ayrton, Yuri Bashmet and others).

Most of the programs are devoted to various genres of English music of the XVII – XVIII centuries, as well as the incredibly rich musical life of London in the Gainsborough era. Along with the masterpieces of English music of the Renaissance, the compositions of “British Orpheus” Henry Purcell and his followers, the concerts will feature opuses of no less famous foreigners whose names are closely connected with the history of British culture, and the time spent in this country has become the pinnacle of their musical career. These are, first of all, German and Austrian composers - Georg Friedrich Handel, Johann Christian Bach, Karl Friedrich Abel and Josef Haydn, as well as Italians - Nicola Porpora, Francesco Maria Veracini, Francesco Geminiania and others.

The Golden Age of English Music, which coincided with the reign of the Tudor dynasty, will be presented by the clavier compositions of the virginalists, instrumental ensembles and the Russian premiere of John Blow’s opera Venus and Adonis. The culmination of the festival will be the performance of Nelson Mass by Joseph Haydn and works by William Boyce. The theme of Irish folk music will be reflected in the incendiary program "Road to Kilkenny." The idea of returning to national origins is vibrantly and variably presented in the program of the Moscow Soloists ensemble, which will feature cult compositions by pioneers of the 20th century English musical revival - Edward Elgar, Frank Bridge, Ralph Vaughan-Williams, as well as their students and followers Benjamin Britten and John Tavenera. Following the tradition of “December Evenings” and “the spirit of Gainsborough”, a team of young actors and musicians prepared a special project - the literary and musical fantasy “Sentimental Journey” based on the novel by Laurence Stern.

FESTIVAL PROGRAM

December 1 - “England: a country of hopes and glory”
Chamber Ensemble "Moscow Soloists"
Artistic Director and Principal Conductor Yuri Bashmet
Soloists - Maxim Pasteur (tenor), Alexander Rudin (cello), Yuri Bashmet (viola)
Program: E. Elgar, F. Bridge, B. Britten, R. Vaughan-Williams, J. Tavener

December 3 - "God Save the Queen"
Intrada vocal ensemble conducted by Ekaterina Antonenko
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment) conducted by Paul Goodwin UK
Program: William Boyce and Joseph Haydn

December 4 - The Golden Age of English Music
London Baroque Brass Ensemble (Great Britain)
In the program: G. Purcell, W. Croft, W. Corbett, J. Barrett, M. Locke, J. Wilby, J. Cooper (Coprario), E. Holborn December 6 - "Rejoice". English sacred music
Ensemble Questa Musica under the direction of Philip Chizhevsky
Boys Choir of the V.S. Academy of Choral Art Popova. Artistic Director and Conductor Alexey Petrov
London Baroque Brass Ensemble (Great Britain)
Program: Henry Purcell and Benjamin Britten

December 8 - "Seasons". Choral music of the 13th – 20th centuries
Vocal ensemble I Fagiolini. Conductor Robert Hollingworth (UK)
In the program: C. Monteverdi, C. Zhaneken, C. Leighton, G. Schutz, J. Reinberger, I. Brahms, L. Ferre, B. Britten, Ed Hughes, F. Pulenk

December 12 - "Musical intervention". 18th century London
Max Emanuel Tsenchich (countertenor, Austria), Yuri Revich (violin, Austria)
The string quartet consists of Marina Katarzhnova (violin), Asya Sorshneva (violin), Sergey Poltavsky (viola), Igor Bobovich (cello). Olga Filippova (harpsichord)
In the program: G.F. Handel, N. Porpora, F.M. Veracini, F. Geminiani, J. Tartini

December 13 - The Spirit of Gainsborough. The artist and his models
Pratum Integrum Orchestra. Artistic Director Pavel Serbin
Soloists - Sergey Filchenko (violin), Tatyana Tsimre (oboe, Germany), Olga Ivusheikova (flute), Sergey Tishchenko (viola), Pavel Serbin (cello)
Program: T. Linley Jr., I.Kh. Bach, K.F. Abel, T. Giordani

December 14 - “The Road to Kilkenny”. Old Irish Music
Ensemble Les Musiciens de Saint Julien. Conductor Francois Lazarevich (France)
In the program: popular genres of instrumental and vocal music of the XVII – XVIII centuries
December 16 - Hommage à Maestro Richter
Klavierabend Eugene Kisin
Program: Ludwig van Beethoven

December 18 - “Concert Duel” on historical instruments
Patrick Ayrton (Great Britain) and Alexey Lyubimov
Program: J. Bull, P. Philips, O. Gibbons, J. Farnaby, G. Purcell, W. Byrd, P. Ayrton, I.Kh. Bach, C. Burney, Jan L. Dusik

December 20 - Venus and Adonis. John Blow Opera
Pratum Integrum Orchestra. Intrada Vocal Ensemble
Soloists - Anna Dennis (soprano, UK), Jonathan Sells (baritone, UK), Yuri Minenko (countertenor, Ukraine). Artistic Director and Conductor Robert Hollingworth (UK).
Concert performance. Russian premiere

December 23 - "Sentimental Journey". Literary and musical fantasy based on the novel by Laurence Stern
The director is Ekaterina Vasileva. Composer - Igor Kholopov
Actors - Daria Moroz and Valery Krupenin
Soloists - Tomasz Ritter (piano, Poland). Maria Simakova (soprano). The string quartet consists of Sergey Filchenko (violin), Natalya Kosareva (violin), Sergey Tishchenko (viola), Alexander Gulin (cello)
The performance includes music by J. Field, M.I. Glinka, E.I. Fomina, D.S. Bortnyansky, O.A. Kozlovsky, N.G. Kapustina and I.A. Kholopova

The artistic director of the festival is Yuri Bashmet.