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Concerts devoted to the Tarkovskiys take place in France with tremendous success (photos)
23 November 2010
On the 17th and 18th November 2010, in France, two concerts were held by the Kyiv chamber orchestra “New Era Orchestra” devoted to the creative work of Andriy and Arseniy Tarkovskiy. The performances in Paris and Fontainebleau were the continuation of the project “Father and Son”, organized by the International Investment and Technology holding KM Core and the Culture and Education Centre “Master Klass”, the first part of which was held in spring 2010 in Kyiv.
“It was a cultural expansion from Kyiv to Paris,” stated the co-author of the project “Father and Son”, the president of KM Core Yevhen Utkin, laconically. At the press conference in Kyiv, Mr. Utkin stated that the performances of the “New Era Orchestra”, conducted by Tatyana Kalinichenko, had such a tremendous success in France that could not have been expected, even by the Ukrainian musicians themselves. “We created a cultural export product which was, without modesty, world class,” said the president of KM Core.
The concert in Paris took place on the 18th November in the concert hall “Corto”. The citizens of the French capital know this hall firstly, as the place for art and classical music concerts. That is why those who attended were especially demanding and even a little sceptical. The concert began with Arseniy Tarkovskiy’s poems recited by the Russian actor Sayid Bahov. As Russian spectators were a minority, the French translations of the poems were read by a Russian actor and poet who lives in Paris, Oleksandr Lushchyk.
Having finished the recitals of the poems, Lushchyk spontaneously suggested that the audience should recall the phrase that introduced the film “Mirror”: “I can talk!” In 1974, when the film first appeared on the screen, this simple expression had a special power over audiences. The quotation was translated into French and the audience was asked to repeat it. The magnetic power of this phrase dispersed what was left of the scepticism. The spectators, as if guided by a magic wand, became more sensitive and open, but the secrets of the Tarkovskiys hadn’t yet been exhausted.
Before the beginning of the musical part of the concert, the writer and film critic Layla Alexander Garrett, who worked as a translator for Tarkovskiy during the shooting of his last film “Sacrifice”, went on stage. Having greeted the audience and said a few words for the Tarkovskiys, Leila suddenly, unexpectedly remembered that on this very day, 18th November 1986, the director, whose strength was undermined by a serious disease, found out that he had only two weeks to live. But death has no power over the work of great artists, and this concert was so lively and interesting, as if father and son were present there. Incidentally, this impression was shared not only by those performing on the stage, but also by those sitting in the hall. After the concert spectators called the musicians for an encore twice and were standing and applauding for a very long time.
According to the conductor of the orchestra Tatyana Kalinichenko, the warm atmosphere was created not only by the guests, but also by the hall ”Corto” which turned out to be very lively and sensitively reacted to every note. “The hall “Corto” was a true participant of the concert,” said the conductor.
The programme of the concert included music from films by Tarkovskiy such as: “Mirror”, “Solaris”, “Andriy Rublov”, “Stalker”, “Nostalgia” and “Sacrifice”. In addition, the orchestra performed compositions of Bach, one of the director’s favourite composers. According to Andriy Tarkovski’s friends, the music of the great German composer accompanied him almost all the time. Pieces by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Henry Purcell, George Benda and other composers were also played. The climax of the evening was a piece from the opera “Borys Hodunov” by Modest Mussorgskiy. Although Andriy Tarkovskiy didn’t use this composition in his films, it was in tune with the director’s work, especially with the film “Andriy Rublov”. Furthermore, the staging of Borys Hodunov in 1983 is the unique experience of the director in opera who dreamt in his childhood about becoming a conductor.
At the end of the concert the New Era Orchestra performed “Song of an Angel” by the British composer John Tavener. The next day, when the musicians visited the Russian cemetery “Saint Genevieve de Bois” in Paris, to put flowers on the grave of Andriy Tarkovskiy, they read on the gravestone the epitaph saying: “To the man who saw an angel”.
According to the initiator of the concerts, the director on cultural matters at “Master Klass”, Frank McGovern, the concert was held in Paris for two reasons. Firstly, Andriy Tarkovskiy spent his last days and died in this city. And secondly, the French know the work of the director very well and they deeply appreciate it. This is also confirmed by the fact that among the French media that visited the concert were journalists with the newspaper “Le Figaro” and the television channel Euro News.
The day before, a similar evening was held in Fontainebleau – a municipality situated near Paris. The concert was put on in the auditorium of a palace which was previously used as a winter residence of Napoleon and French kings. Today this place is known as the business school INSEAD, which unites the business elite from all over the world. In particular, the creation of the European Union was discussed at this school. The concert of the New Era Orchestra, watched by students and teachers of the school, was opened by the chancellor of INSEAD, and among the audience were a great number of well-known businessmen.
In Fontainebleau, the guests of the evening were also shown two documentaries about the Tarkovskiys and an exhibition of photographs from the family archive. The concert itself was accompanied by the fragments from the director’s films.
Among the guests, present at both concerts, were Arseniy Tarkovskiy, the eldest son of the director, and Oleksandr Hordon, the husband of Maryna Arseniivna Tarkovska (the director’s sister) and friend of Andriy Tarkovskiy.
While sharing her impressions about the concerts in France, Tatyana Kalinichenko was brief and emotional, “What is an explosive mixture under the mysterious name “a Slavic soul”? It is when you take risks, or embark on an adventure not knowing what the result will be.” Luckily, the result exceeded all expectations.
Summing up the French “adventure” of Master Klass and the NEO, Yevheniy Utkin said, “Nobody in the world has got the drive, energy and vitality that we and our musicians have. It is something that exists inside us, something that pushes us to face crazy and very interesting things.” The project “Father and Son”, according to the president of KM Core, is a cultural phenomenon of European importance which crosses the borders of national culture. “The Mission of Master Klass is to create an intellectual environment, the ground for the growing the seeds of international culture,” stressed Mr. Utkin.
For the next step of the project Master Klass plans a visit in spring 2011 to the native town of Arseniy Tarkovskiy – Kirovohrad, where a monument to the poet is to be erected.
