What is our life? Playing music!

This year the maestro leads two remarkable orchestras – the Kyiv Chamber Orchestra and the Symphony Orchestra of the National Philharmonic Society. As an energetic and creative man, Kofman promises luxurious concerts. On September 23, the Hall of Columns in the building of National Philharmonic Society will host the concert “Pages from the best programs” performed by the Kyiv Chamber Orchestra which is marking its anniversary this season.

“This year the Kyiv Chamber Orchestra will be marking its 50th anniversary. I was involved in its creation: initially as a violinist, then as a concertmaster, and then there was other work. But since 1990 I have led this orchestra as a conductor, so the anniversary is very dear to me,” Kofman has told The Day. “I came up with a simple, nostalgic move, which is a concert program towards the orchestra’s anniversary composed of landmark works it performed in different years. I selected the works that the musicians, and I hope listeners, liked. That is why we called it ‘Pages from the best programs.’ The concert will include Bach’s Second Suite for Flute and Strings, Valentyn Bibik’s Seven Miniatures, Felix Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 12 and Nino Rota’s String Concert. The flute solo will be played by Dmytro Medolyz.

“We are also preparing some interesting things with the Symphony Orchestra of the National Philharmonic Society. For example, on October 19 we will give the concert “Geniuses and dilettanti.” In the first part we will play works by famous figures for whom composing music was a hobby. These include Jean-Jacque Rousseau, Friedrich Nietzsche, Alexander Griboyedov, Boris Pasternak, and Leo Tolstoy. The second part will consist of high-caliber music – Richard Strauss’s tone poem Also sprach Zarathustra. It was composed in 1896 under the influence of Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra. The work is programmatic and consists of nine fragments performed without pauses. The names of the fragments coincide with the names of certain chapters of the novel. The average duration is around 30 minutes.

“I also invite classical music buffs to the program ‘What is our life? Playing music!’ on December 7. We will play an overture to Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s opera The Queen of Spades by Austrian composer Franz von Suppe which is little known to the Ukrainian audience. It will be followed by a suite from Sergei Prokofiev’s The Gambler based on Fyodor Dostoevsky’s novel. I believe our listeners will appreciate Igor Stravinsky’s Jeu de cartes (Card Game). The program will end with the finale of The Queen of Spades, a scene in a gambling house. Therefore, I invite not only music lovers, but also those who enjoy playing card games to our concert!”

When Kofman is conducting, it seems to the listeners that not one fly can enter the hall and that the souls of composers float above him like guardian angels. The audience hangs on every note! The maestro mesmerizes with the music, achieving filigree performance by the orchestra and coloratura sounding of all instruments. Every event with Kofman’s participation leaves an indelible trace in the memories and hearts of his listeners.