"Gods of Rhythm" put "Slavianski Bazaar" into a trance

July 11, Vitebsk / Diana Kurilo - BELTA/. The drum show "Gods of Rhythm" surprised, captivated, and mesmerized the "Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk" festival, according to a BELTA correspondent.

In its 20-year history, the International Festival of Arts has presented many unusual spectacles. But a drum show was seen here for the first time. The best drummers from Belarus, Poland, and Lithuania prepared a truly unique concert, performed solely on percussion instruments. In addition to the usual drums and timpani from a symphony orchestra, there were exotic instruments, such as a rainstick and a cuíca. The cost of the marimba exceeds $25,000.

The entire stage was filled with drums, their counterparts, distant and close relatives. The inexperienced BELTA correspondent tried to count them, but the director of the Grig Percussion Group and concert organizer, Igor Avdeev, convinced her that it was a futile endeavor: even he, a professional, did not know their number on stage.

The project featured the Grig Percussion Group ensemble, one of the most original collectives in Belarus, created by musicians from the symphony orchestra of the National Academic Grand Opera and Ballet Theatre of the Republic of Belarus in 1985. Poland was represented in the program by the renowned percussionist, Professor of the Warsaw Academy of Music Stanisław Skoczyński, and the popular duo Magdalena Kordylasińska and Miłosz Pekała, who had participated in many festivals in Poland, Switzerland, Belgium, Denmark, Japan, and other countries. From Lithuania came the famous Giunter Percussion ensemble and its leader, percussionist Pavel Giunter, a highly skilled solo percussionist, studio musician, and showman.

The musicians performed rhythms of peoples from different countries and continents. The audience found themselves transported to China, Japan, Mexico, or Africa. And there was something mesmerizing and shamanistic in this music, something wild, primal, and purifying.-0-