Culture

White nights music time

On 29 May, the 10th Music Festival opened in the Cultural Centre "Mir"

In 2013, the Dubna tradition of promenade concerts was opened by one of the brightest contemporary violin virtuosos, a student of Eduard Grach, winner of five prestigious international competitions Sergey Pospelov. Together with the winner of international competitions, Oksana Yablonskaya's pupil Margarita Pospelova they presented a programme that was remembered by the Dubna public for a long time. And later on, throughout the years, Sergey and Margarita have always been the favorites of concerts in the style of proms.

It was a unanimous decision to invite Ekaterina Mechetina to perform the music of Sergei Rachmaninoff in the year of his 150th birthday accompanied by the Dubna Symphony Orchestra.

The Festival opened with performances of masterpieces: Beethoven's Sixth "Pastoral" Symphony and Rachmaninoff's Third Piano Concerto. Extravaganza of sounds, beautiful words, people, emotions and applause! Bravo, dear artists, you are the property of the World!

On the eve of the Festival, we talked to the Director of the Dubna Symphony Orchestra N.A.KASTRO.

Dubna Symphony Orchestra, its director Natalia Kastro,
pianist Ekaterina Mechetina and conductor Sergey Pospelov

Natalya Aleksandrovna, the project "White Nights in Dubna" has made a breakthrough in the activities of the orchestra and has made the summer period creatively successful and eventful!

- That's right, we can't wait until interest in concert production arises on its own. The key to success is to shape the cultural needs of our listeners. And the holiday season, as it turned out, is the most favorable time for this... Usually, by the beginning of June, the Dubna Symphony Orchestra reduced the intensity of its concert activity, giving the audience an opportunity to take a break from musical impressions. But since Dubna is not only a city of science, but also a well-known musical centre of the Moscow region and the Dubna Symphony Orchestra does a lot for this, we have decided to turn the situation in the opposite direction and on the contrary, to make the summer season the most attractive and rich in musical events. There have been events that even metropolitan audiences can envy.

Thus, the time of the philharmonic lull, a kind of three-month intermission has become the time of the music of white nights!

- And this summer cycle of promenade concerts of the Dubna Symphony Orchestra "White Nights in Dubna" is already 10 years old. Its success has stood the test of time. And you can characterize it based on our programmes. These are programmes for all tastes and preferences, where well-known names of composers and performers, of course, attract the public, but together with proven masterpieces, either in one concert or within a cycle, some rare but no less beautiful piece is sure to sound.

The public welcomes such a musical form, it is both easier to understand and different in genres, leaving behind an educational moment that echoes some kind of entertainment.

- The goal is precisely in an attempt to make classical music more democratic in relation to the audience. When creating various projects, it is important to focus on the best examples of what has already been created. The tradition of the promenade concert is very old, it originated in England, where concerts within the framework of proms were and are currently held both in the best halls of London and in the open air. And it requires bold decisions, the best musicians and the most diverse music in styles, genres and forms.

Is there any uniqueness inherent only in Dubna's "White nights"?

- One of the distinguishing features of the festival of concerts in the style of proms "White nights" is the organic combination of Nature and Music. Feeling the emotional excitement that arises at the beginning of summer from the beauty of Dubna's landscapes, we enhance this impression with our concert programmes. It is no coincidence that in the first part of the concert, at the opening of the festival, at the suggestion of the conductor and soloist of the Dubna Symphony Orchestra Sergey Pospelov, L. van Beethoven's "Pastoral" symphony was performed. Rather, it is an opportunity for the citizens and guests of Dubna to take a walk along the Volga embankment and having enjoyed the scenery, to enter the Cultural Centre "Mir" to complete their impressions with music.

Eleonora YAMALEEVA, Member of the Union of Theater Workers of the Russian Federation,
photo by Egor ORELOVICH