The concert of the renowned organist E. Oganesyan will be the final chord of the music festival in Vitebsk

December 22, Vitebsk / Sergey Kochetov - BELTA/. The final chord of the XXII International I. Sollertinsky Music Festival will sound today in Vitebsk. The concert by the world-renowned French organist Eduard Oganesyan will bring a unique conclusion to the music forum, the artistic director of the regional philharmonic society, Nelly Matsaberidze, told a BELTA correspondent. For the third year in a row, the organ of the Vitebsk Philharmonic Society has been organically integrated into the program of the I. Sollertinsky Festival, and organ concerts are particularly popular with classical music lovers. This time, the organizers specifically invited the French organist with a program dedicated to J.S. Bach and F. Mendelssohn-Bartholdy. Recordings of works by these composers brought world fame to Eduard Oganesyan, and his latest musical recording of all organ works by F. Mendelssohn-Bartholdy became an event in European musical culture. In addition, the performance of J.S. Bach's works is timed to coincide with the 325th anniversary of the birth of the world-renowned composer, which is celebrated in 2010, and the inclusion of F. Mendelssohn-Bartholdy's works in the program serves as a reminder that it was this composer who rediscovered Bach's music for the general public in the 19th century. Summing up the preliminary results of the forum, Nelly Matsaberidze noted that this festival has become the most ambitious project in the recent history of the forum, both in terms of the number of events and the richness of the concert programs. The organizers managed to present classical, popular, and academic music equally, as well as contemporary classics. This year's festival featured more piano music than ever before, giving listeners the opportunity to compare different performance traditions. This was largely due to the performers who presented the public with unexpected and surprising interpretations of the works of Frédéric Chopin, Sergei Rachmaninoff, and other classics. The Venezuelan musicians Raúl Suárez (violin) and Joseph Ávila (piano), who performed on the Vitebsk stage for the first time and immediately captivated the audience with their temperament and subtle understanding of contemporary classical music, can be considered an undisputed discovery of the festival. Another successful move by the organizers was the invitation of talented students from Vitebsk's music educational institutions to participate in the festival, and this practice will continue in the future. Musicians from Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, the USA, France, Israel, Finland, and Venezuela took part in the XXII International I. Sollertinsky Music Festival. In total, the festival program included 10 concerts, as well as the XII Scientific Readings of the I. Sollertinsky Festival and the XX International Chagall Readings. "Holding the scientific readings in an expanded format has shown new possibilities for the music festival that can be in demand when forming programs for future forums," noted Nelly Matsaberidze. By the way, the program for the 2011 festival is already half-formed, with a large number of music stars expected to visit Vitebsk; in particular, the organizers are preparing surprises for fans of organ and piano music. The classical music forum in Vitebsk is the only chamber music festival in Belarus that synthesizes various art forms. The main task of the forum is to promote contemporary musical art and the traditions of classical musical heritage, revive the great cultural traditions of Vitebsk, and discover new and forgotten names in various art forms. The organizers of the festival are the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee and the state concert institution "Vitebsk Regional Philharmonic Society." -0-