Sergei Rachmaninoff and Ukraine

In the cascade of world music jubilee celebrations the 140th anniversary of the birth of Sergei Rachmaninoff in Ukraine acquires a noble scale. Over time, the hypnotic charisma of the outstanding Russian composer, pianist, and conductor does not lose the strength of its influence on cultural processes taking place in the musical universe. On the contrary, every year the interest in the heritage of the maestro is just growing, as well as, in fact,the powerful magnetism of the figure of master himself, one of the titans of the Silver Age, that steadily keeps the attention of musicians of the highest ranking – pianists, singers, conductors, directors, choreographers, and musicologists in its force field.

 Today, more than ever it is clear that Rachmaninoff is a man of art that belongs to the world. However, one of the most presentable music festivals is now held in Kharkiv under the brand “Sergei Rachmaninoff and Ukraine.”

 Ukrainian “routes” in the creative biography of Sergei Rachmaninoff are well known. In 1913 Rachmaninoff became one of the founders of the Kyiv Conservatory (now the Pyotr Tchaikovsky National Music Academy).

In September of 1898 famous patron Savva Mamontov sponsored a concert tour in the south of Russia (Kharkiv, Kyiv, Odesa, Yalta) for Sergei Rachmaninoff, Feodor Chaliapin, Anton Sekar-Rozhansky, and other famous musicians. The tour was a triumphant success. It ended in Alupka, the Crimea. The last concert of the composer, pianist, and conductor took place on the terrace of the Vorontsov Palace in the open air in the light of the moon and the stars with two candelabra on the piano. Rachmaninoff played music by heart and there was no need for additional illumination.

Rachmaninoff played a crucial role in the lives of two famous singers natives of Kyiv – Nina Koshyts and Ksenia Derzhynska. He did a lot for the development of their talent and brilliant career.

In January of 1911 in Kyiv the local branch of the Russian Music Society arranged two concerts of Rachmaninoff.

“On January 27 Rachmaninoff gave a concert as a pianist. Kyiv has not seen such an amazing concert for a long time. All tickets were sold out. The audience received him with great enthusiasm. I can’t remember another time I heard such ovations. Everyone simply went crazy with delight. Entire musical world of the city was there. I am glad that Kyiv welcomed him so warmly,” Ksenia Derzhynska wrote about this concert. Soon she received a card with an autograph and note quote from the musical romance Part of Musset from maestro. It became her lucky talisman, with which Derzhynska began her brilliant career as a professional singer. In 1914 the composer took her to Moscow Bolshoi Theater… Thus, Rachmaninoff helped to make Derzhynska’s dream – to sing on one stage with Feodor Chaliapin and Leonid Sobinov came true.

There is much evidence of Rachmaninoff’s close ties with Ukraine – both direct and indirect. So, apparently, “our offering to great Rachmaninoff,” as Professor Larysa Trubnikova, famous Kharkiv musicologist, called the International Festival Competition “Sergei Rachmaninoff and Ukrainian Culture,” is quite relevant.

Rachmaninoff Festival, established in 1998 on the initiative of Larysa Trubnikova – founder of the Vocal Competition on the basis of the Charity Foundation in honor of Alchevsky family, today received international recognition. In 2004, the Forum was listed in the World Register of Rachmaninoff Festivals and accepted into the World Rachmaninoff Society. It is headquartered in London and its president is the famous pianist and conductor Vladimir Ashkenazi, a seven-time winner of the prestigious Grammy Award in the nomination “Performance of Classical Music.” At his suggestion Rachmaninoff Festival in Kharkiv was honored to take its rightful place in the global community of the like-minded – kind of Rachmaninoff’s “fan club.”

The very fact of such a “smooth” long life of the festival dedicated to a classic in the time of financial instability proves its vitality and relevance. Presently, the forum has extended to a number of exceptional “subsidiary” presentations: annual Ivan Alchevsky International Vocal Competitions and “Alchevsky-Debut,” international scientific and theoretical seminars “Sergei Rachmaninoff: Turn of the Centuries,” large-scale expositions of fine art works by Ukrainian artists, workshops of famous musicians, etc. Seven issues of collections of scientific works, that have enriched the world of musicology in the sphere of researching the phenomenon of Rachmaninoff’s creativity, have been published. Concerts of Professor Andrei Pisarev, Alexander Ghindin, Pavel Nersesian, winners of international competitions Pierre Cornu, Alexei Nabiulin, Vadim Rudenko, Ihor Chetuiev, and other pianists, that were a part of the festival, formed a bright “landscape” of original interpretations of Rachmaninoff’s piano opuses.

In parallel, scientific symposia took place as a part of the annual Rachmaninoff festivals. The symposia were attended by famous scholars from Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Estonia, the Netherlands, Germany, Canada, Moldova, France, Japan, and the United States.

Taking into account this panorama of the amazing creative activities “locked” in the orbit of Rachmaninoff Festival, inevitably, there arises an assumption about some hidden incentives needed to implement such a huge project. And there is certain mystery to it. The thing is that the family of Larysa Trubnikova, general manager and artistic director of the festival, is genetically linked to the family of Rachmaninoff (through her husband) and her own family is related to the well-known family of Alchevsky that included industrialists and bankers, patrons and singers, composers and poets. Perhaps, this can be an evidence of the phenomenon of genetic memory, which instigates descendants to act worthy of their distinguished predecessors.

The main focus of this year’s Rachmaninoff Festival is the presentation of the program of piano music. At the opening concert of the Seventh International Vocal Competition in Honor of Ivan Alchevsky “Alchevsky-Debut” members of the jury delivered their speeches: honorary chairman of the jury, People’s Artist of Estonia, soloist of the National Opera and Ballet Theater “Estonia,” Professor at the Estonian Academy of Music Mati Palm, co-chair of the jury People’s Artist of Ukraine, Professor at the Pyotr Tchaikovsky National Music Academy of Ukraine Oleksandr Vostriakov, and also members of the jury – People’s Artist of Yugoslavia, soloists of the Opera Theater “Novi Sad” (Serbia) Branislav Jatic, winner of the Second Competition “Alchevsky-Debut,” soloist of Kharkiv Opera Serhii Zamytsky.

On April 2 – the birthday of the great composer, famous Russian pianist, Professor at the Moscow Conservatory Andrei Pisarev will perform the musical masterpieces of the classic – Second Piano Concerto and Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. Pisarev was awarded the honorary right to open the first concert of Rachmaninoff Festival in 1998.

Concert program of April 4 titled “Sergei Rachmaninoff and Folk-Pop-Jazz” will make an unexpected image and theme “modulation” in the jazz field. The highlight of the program will be the Parade of Ensembles of Folk Musical Instruments led by Professor Ihor Sniedkov. That night the tonal mosaic of the concert will be diversified by the performance of harpist Iraida Poberezhna (USA), pianist Ildar Khannanov (USA), and organist Stanislav Kalinin (Ukraine).

The concert program of the laureate of international contests Dmytro Onyshchenko will feature music compositions by Franz Schubert, Moments Musicaux and Variations on a Theme of Corelli by Rachmaninoff.

Undoubtedly, the audience will be greatly attracted to the concert program of music compositions by Wolfgang Mozart, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Mykola Lysenko presented by musicians from the United States: Dean Whiteside, Alexander Taras de Sina, Stepan Barka, and Academic Symphony Orchestra of Kharkiv Regional Philharmonic Society.

The final concert of the festival will be held with the participation of young Russian-American pianist, a member of the World Rachmaninoff Society Ivan Moshchuk, who (19-year-old then) in 2010 was named the “outstanding performer of our time” and “an excellent interpreter of Rachmaninoff.” Master classes from leading scholars and musicologists Professor of the Moscow Conservatory Vyacheslav Medushevsky, Academician, Professor of Rostov Conservatory Natalia Beketova, professor of Saint Petersburg Conservatory Lyudmila Skaftimova, professor of the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University (Maryland, USA) Ildar Khannanov, and other professionals will be held as a part of the festival program.

Undoubtedly, such diverse and inclusive festival dedicated to the anniversary of Sergei Rachmaninoff will facilitate deeper public awareness of the truly immense artistic universe of the genius master.