Kyiv Baroque Fest 2024
Kyiv Baroque Fest – a new beginning of a long-awaited story. After all, from now on, the National Philharmonic of Ukraine, in partnership with Open Opera Ukraine and the National House of Music, will every year offer music lovers and connoisseurs of early music the opportunity to immerse themselves in, follow, and discover this mainstream direction of the contemporary musical world.
One of the key ideas of Kyiv Baroque Fest is to strengthen and reveal relationships between Ukraine and other European and world cultures. This will contribute to the emergence of unexpected angles and themes in the proposed concert programs, participation in the festival of musicians from different parts of the world, joint educational initiatives, and testing of new festival formats. In this way, the festival team strives to expand existing knowledge and ideas about the music of past eras and sharpen their relevance in the context of the living dynamics of modern cultural processes.
The 2024 festival, which began with last year's three-day overture, maintains its focus on the figure of one of the most vivid and powerful composers of the 18th century – Jean-Philippe Rameau, whose 340th birthday was celebrated last year, and the 260th anniversary of his death is being honored this year. This appeal to the figure of Rameau is not about formal anniversary dates, as this French composer, scientist, performer, and teacher is revealed more and more powerfully in the context of his numerous influences on various European traditions as extremely vivid, large-scale, and fascinating. Rameau's career presents many facets of his talent, and the number of receptions that at various times actualized this or that context of the artist's work is increasing today, convincing evidence of which is the concert and festival programs of European and world music institutions.
We suggest thinking about Rameau in the context of the theme he set – the theme of his perhaps most famous opera-ballet "Les Indes Galantes". This piece aptly demonstrates the problems associated with multi-level reflections on the consequences of colonization policy, which is relevant for many European cultures, particularly the French one. However, today, the works that arose as a result of such a worldview, in particular, "Les Indes Galantes" – are successfully reinterpreted, overcoming the toxicity of colonial narratives, an example of which is some productions of this work on European stages.
Perceived through the framework of postcolonial theory and the ironic distance it creates, this theme appears in the festival as the theme of "Les Europes galantes"– European countries that, although they were part of the European world, were not perceived as relevant to their more successful and powerful neighbors for a long time. Ukraine is obviously among such countries.
The figure of Dmytro Bortniansky as a representative of one of the "Gallant Europes" does not appear by chance. After all, firstly, both composers worked in the gallant era, mixing different stylistic directions and currents in their work, and secondly, among Bortniansky's works we have French musical dramas, which testify both to the influence of the French musical tradition and to the mentioned hierarchy of the then musical world, that in it, the narratives common to various "Gallant Europes" were set by several Western European cultural traditions, in particular, French.
To understand the figure of Bortniansky in the context of the French tradition and, in particular, the figure of Rameau, means to reveal, record, create, and critically reflect on the numerous interconnections characteristic of the musical world of Europe from the second third of the 18th to the beginning of the 19th century. This is an attempt to hear and see slightly different musical terrain because this change in the focus of attention will contribute to the emergence of new opportunities for representation, in particular, Ukrainian culture as part of the pan-European socio-cultural continuum.
So, «Rameau/Bortniansky: Gallant Europes» is a post-colonial reflection that will hopefully arouse curiosity, attract attention, and prompt reflection.
This year, the festival is full of various events.
On November 14, Kyiv Baroque Fest–2024 will open with the recital La Mystérieuse (Modérément). Jean Rondeau harpsichord | France
Jean Rondeau is a superstar of early world music, a keyboardist who plays different instruments.
Rondeau's performance style has a special suggestion and is remembered forever upon literally the first acquaintance. The flow of extremely expressive creative energy and the knowledge of early music that Rondeau has, create a mix that causes unforgettable impressions and experiences.
At the opening of the festival, Jean Rondeau will present a program of well-known harpsichord works of the French harpsichord tradition of the XVIIth–XVIIIth centuries, which demonstrate its originality as accurately as possible.
Partners of the concert: The Embassy of France in Ukraine and l’Institut français d’Ukraine
On November 16, Galant Dialogue: Ukrainian Chromatic Recorder and Harpsichord is a concert of a bright duet: Bozhena Korchynska, a famous flutist and researcher from Lviv, and Olga Shadrina-Lychak, Head of the Early Music Department of the National Academy of Music of Ukraine, harpsichordist from Kyiv.
The program specially prepared for the festival mainly focuses on the music of Czech composers of the gallant era, whose works are not often heard in Ukraine – František Benda, Josef Mysliveček, Jan KřtitelVaňhal. Next to these authors, the works of Rameau and Bortniansky receive a different contextualization, provoking the imaginationof other relationships inherent in the dialogue of different European countries.
Partner of the concert: the Czech Center in Kyiv
November 17, My Le grand tour, or In search of lost meanings. Recital of Nataliya Sikorska. Tafelklavier| Kyiv
Tafelklavieris an original and peculiar type of piano, popular both during the gallant era and in the first half of the XIXth century. Its fragile and overtone shimmering sound opens up another unique musical world.
The tafelklavier that will be played at the concert is a unique historical instrument from the very beginning of the XIXth century. It was restored thanks to the efforts of the owner – Kyiv keyboardist and researcher Natalia Sikorska.
The program of the concert offers a wide variety of music, in which the works of Polish composers – Maria Szymanowska, Michał Kleofas Ogiński, Karol Lipiński occupy a special place. These miniatures best fit the space of salon music making, which involves immersion in intimate experiences and personal poetic appeals-dedications.
Partner of the concert: the Polish Institute in Kyiv
On November 18, Two centuries of piano music: an Italian journey. Recital-presentation of Natalia Fomenko harpsichord, clavichord | Kyiv will be held in the Music Salon.
The central figure of the program is Dmytro Bortniansky, who as a musician was largely formed in Italy, having absorbed various traditions of Naples, Rome, Bologna and Venice. The concert-journey is a study of both the origins of the Italian keyboard tradition, marked by the work of Girolamo Frescobaldi and its contemporary context for Bortniansky – themusicofhisteacherBaldassareGaluppiandhiscolleagueattheBolognaAcademy, Johann Christian Bach.
During the concert, a new Italian harpsichord will be played, which Natalia Fomenko has had since the summer of this year. Its juicy timbral palette and perfectly fine-tuned mechanics greatly contributed to the appearance of such a program. Next to this instrument will also sound a type of clavier that was very popular in the gallant era too – the clavichord, which is the quietest and most intimately chamber of all types of clavier. Its warm, networked and at the same time fragile sound requires a cozy small space, which determined the place of the concert – a salon.
November 19, Listen to Me, My people: two-choir concerts by Rachynsky and Berezovsky.
Two ensembles that systematically and persistently engage in research, performance, and promotion of the Ukrainian sacral musical heritage of the XVII-XVIII centuries – the Lviv ensemble A cappella Leopolis, musical leader and conductor Lyudmila Kapustina, and the Kyiv ensemble Partes, musical leader and conductor Nataliia Khmilevska – will presentsix two-choral concerts by Andrii Rachynsky and Maksym Berezovsky.
These choral concerts were included in a new release made jointly by the ensembles in August of this year. The opportunity to hear one of the interesting and defining periods of national musical history – the late Ukrainian baroque and the early classicist style – is rare because this layer of music has not yet been included in the programs of numerous choirs of Ukraine and the world.
On November 20, À la Française: orchestral works of the gallant era performed by the Kyiv Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Natalia Stets.
The idea and program of the concert arose in communication with the violinist and conductor Ilia Korol – a friend of many Ukrainian musicians – who has been living in Vienna for several decades, maintaining active relationships with Ukrainian colleagues who want to specialize in early music.
À la Française, i.e. "In the French style" – a program address in numerous receptions of the French musical tradition, present in the work of composers of various European countries.
The concert will include both well-known and rarely performed in Ukraine orchestral works of Johann Sebastian Bach, his colleagues, sons and students – G.F. Telemann, K.F.E. Bach, J. G. Graun.
November 21, From Bologna to Lviv. Early music ensemble Terra Barocca of the MyroslavSkoryk Lviv National Philharmonic, Artistic Director Anna Ivanyushenko.
Again, the center of the program is musical Bologna and its numerous manifestations, reflected through various chamber-instrumental and chamber-vocal music by various European authors –Arcangelo Corelli, Johann Christian Bach, Josef Mysliveček, Giovanni Battista Martini, Maksym Berezovsky, DmytroBortniansky, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The ensemble's five musicians offer plenty of rhymes and parallels, exploring ways of engaging with various common musical tropes of the gallant era.
Partners of the concert: The Embassy of Italy in Ukraine and the Italian Institute of Culture in Kyiv.
November 22, at the closing of Kyiv Baroque Fest–2024, another superstar – Andreas Scholl, a countertenor from Germany with the program Ich habegenug / This is enough for me together with Liatoshynskyi Capella: Early Music Ensemble&Choir of the National House of Music, conductor Natalia Khmilevska | Kyiv.
Countertenor Andreas Scholl needs no introduction to the audience, as he is a musician who has already made a very powerful career and is noted for his participation in opera productions, and in numerous chamber concert initiatives.
After studying at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis with the already legendary René Jakobs and Richard Levitt, his musical path intersected with great musicians and ensembles, including world-renowned Cecilia Bartoli, René Fleming, Accademia Bizantina, Freiburger Barockorchester, The Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Berliner Philharmoniker, New York Philharmonic, etc.
Scholl becomes the first countertenor-headliner in the history of the BBC Prom Festival festival and his musical accolades cover every imaginable prizes in the world of today's music industry.
On his first visit to Ukraine, Andreas will perform works together with his Ukrainian colleagues
The program will include works by A. Vivaldi, G.F. Telemann, J. S. Bach.
The partner of the concert is the Embassy of Germany in Ukraine.
Almost every event will also be accompanied by a lecture or a discussion, which will take place in the foyer of the Philharmonic at 5:30 p.m., in order to reveal the necessary contexts that are known only to a small circle of professionals, but are extremely important for understanding what the connections of Ukrainian culture XVII, XVIII–early XIX centuries with other European cultures were, where did they take place, what were the intersections or, to present the figures, there is not enough coverage in the Ukrainian space.
Vira Artemyeva, an associate professor at the National Academy of Music of Ukraine and a specialist in French music, whose dissertation is devoted to Rameau's opera work, on November 20, at 5:30 p.m., will talk about Jean-Philippe Rameau in the lecture "Jean-Philippe Rameau: Labyrinths of the Creative Path". What kind of person is this? What do we know about him? How do contemporary scholars and practicing musicians interpret Rameau? Why Rameau is still perceived as one of the most powerful, interesting, bright, inexhaustibly rich figures in world music history?
Flutist and researcher Bozhena Korchynska will talk about the specifics of the role of the metronome in early music in the lecture "On Tempos and Collisions of the Metronome" on November 15 at 6:30 p.m. Covering quite different stages and showing how what gives us a pulse is not something that was formed immediately and is the way we know it today; the researcher will encourage us to think about the universal category of musical art – time.
Maria Yanishyn-Pryimenko is a young PhD who in June defended her dissertation on the work of Maria Szymanowska in the context of her connections with Ukrainian culture. At the lecture on November 17, at 5:30 p.m., "Maria Szymanowska: Ukrainian contexts of creative biography" Maria will reflect on how several generations of Szymanowska's relatives sometimes, in surprising ways, show the peculiarities of the intersection of different cultures and ethnic groups, which for different centuries coexisted in different territories of modern Ukraine.
On November 18, at 5:30 p.m., the Program Director of the festival, Anna Gadetska, will have a conversation with Ukrainian countertenor Roman Melish "Where do countertenors come from and what should be considered when listening to their singing?". Roman studied for several years at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, comprehensively mastering the skills necessary for a singer with this rare vocal role. How do they become countertenors? Where does this awareness come from? What are the timbral features of this role? Why are there so few countertenors and what happens when their parts are replaced by female voices? After all, how do modern countertenors make sense of the history of castrato singers?
On November 19, at 5:30 p.m., Ukrainian Orthodox clergyman, blogger, public figure, rector of the Open Orthodox University of Saint Sophia-Wisdom, founder and editor-in-chief of the Internet portal "Orthodoxy in Ukraine", Father Heorhiy Kovalenko will reveal the meaningful multidimensionality of the biblical psalms in the lecture "What the biblical psalms say about Psalms: Theological and Theological Contexts". The meeting is aimed at forming a more conscious and thorough understanding of the texts that form the basis of sacred music, in particular, the concerts of Rachynsky and Berezovsky.
On November 21, at 5:30 p.m., a researcher of Franz Xaver Mozart's work, a connoisseur of numerous features of the Bologna School phenomenon, Lviv musicologist Roksolyana Havalyuk will give a lecture "Bologna School: Why did musicians of the XVIIIth century go to Bologna?" and share unique findings and sometimes mind-blowing stories that will reveal many details about this unique place and the relationships of various Ukrainian musicians with it.
On November 15, during the day, the events of the first Early Music Forumin Ukraine, will take place, which is designed as a platform for networking, reflection and discussion, which aims to unite the Ukrainian professional community with colleagues from other European countries.
The partners of the forum: Goethe-Institut Ukraine, REMA – Réseau Européen De Musique Ancienne.
Abonnement tickets for visitors have been introduced at Kyiv Baroque Fest 2024. The price of the abonnement ticket is UAH 3,200. for all the concerts of the festival, which will take place in the Mykola Lysenko Column Hall over the course of 9 days. Until November 1 inclusive, a 50% discount will apply, so the season ticket will cost UAH 1,600. From November 2 to 14, a 30% discount will apply, so the season ticket will cost UAH 2,200.
Partnersof Kyiv Baroque Fest: Embassy of France in Ukraine, l’Institut français d’Ukraine, Embassy of Germany in Ukraine, Goethe-Institut Ukraine, Czech Center Kyiv, Polish Institute in Kyiv, Embassy of Italy in Ukraine, Italian Institute of Culture in Kyiv, Myroslaw Skoryk Lviv National Philharmonic, REMA Early Music Network in Europe.
For accreditation, additional information, organization of interviews with Program Director of the festival Anna Gadetska, artists/musicians and the organizing committee of the festival – Galyna Grygorenko, Olga Kononenko, Mykhailo Shved, Nataliya Stets, invitation to live streams, rehearsals, communicationvia social media messengers, – contact Olga Stelmashevska, head of the NPU communications department: +38 067 238 81 85, ostelm7@gmail.com
