Confucius taught that learning music helps one attain inner harmony. This
maxim reflects the credo of Kyiv's music festival, Kyiv Summer Music Soirees,
ending recently in the Ukrainian capital, says musicologist Svitlana
KORETSKA. The festival began in late May, and eager audiences have
enjoyed a number of masterful classical and jazz performances on the open-air
podium by the Mariyinsky Palace, among them especially Moscow's Premiere
Trio Philharmonic soloists and pianists, the French Sebastien Cornu, and
the Japanese Kinichiro Suzuki. The event climaxed in a concert by the Moscow
Balalaika group with its gorgeous renditions of Aliabyev's Nightingale,
Down Piterskaya Street, Korobeiniki, and Chardash, as every
exotic Russian instrument resounded with moving clarity and mastery.
