Natalia Svyrydenko Winds Up Bach Cycle

On December 7 the National House of Organ and Chamber Music hosted the year’s last concert of the Bach Cycle organized by People’s Artiste of Ukraine, harpsichordist Natalia Svyrydenko. This year marks the 250th anniversary of the death of the great Herman composer and that night the ninth program of his music was performed.

In the first part of the concert the audience heard Bach’s last composition, The Musical Offering, one of his most enigmatic creations. It is a collection of 13 pieces on the same theme, written for five instruments. This composition is performed very seldom. Natalia Svyrydenko did it with her colleagues and associates, violinists Olena Pushkarska and Mykhailo Bilych, flutist Ihor Tiutiunnyk, and cellist Oksana Horbatenko.

The concert turned out to be a mysterious and unusual event, with the musicians stepping out onstage one by one, watched by a silent audience (the composition was performed nonstop), to play whimsical pieces governed by a theme as whimsical, once conceived by the great monarch. In this music Bach must have stepped several generations ahead. The Musical Offering ends in a magnificent six-line counterpoint and harpsichord solo which is extremely difficult to play.

In the second part, arias from spiritual and secular cantatas and oratorios performed by Olena Kharchenko (soprano) to Natalia Svyrydenko’s accompaniment. The young singer demonstrated an enviable vocal skill, pure intonation, and an excellent command of German. The arias were also accompanied by the flute, lending every number an almost original orchestral coloration.

The Year of Bach is passing and another jubilee is approaching, as 2001 marks the 250th anniversary of the birth of Dmytro Bortniansky. Natalia Svyrydenko plans a commemorative concert in January. The repertoire boasts rare compositions, the Quintet and Concerto Symphony. Her other immediate plans include a concert version of Bortniansky’s opera Alkyd.