Concerts of the international classical music festival in Vitebsk were held to a full house

December 24, Vitebsk / Sergey Kochetov - BELTA /. Concerts of the XXI International Music Festival named after I. Sollertinsky, which concludes today in Vitebsk, were held to full houses, with admirers of classical music coming from all over Belarus for the events for the first time. This was reported to a BELTA correspondent by one of the festival organizers, the chief specialist of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee's Culture Department, Stanislav Generalnitsky. About 3,000 people attended the concerts (including sold-out tickets for the evening closing concert on December 24), which is almost every tenth resident of the regional center. "We consider such a result to be more than successful, given that classical music is a special part of culture," noted Stanislav Generalnitsky. According to his observations, the festival is becoming popular among Vitebsk audiences, and attending it has become prestigious. The concerts meet European standards, which is determined not only by the skill of the performers but also by the emotional intensity and creative uplift with which the musicians perform their programs. Furthermore, in the future, the Vitebsk classical music forum may become one of the centers of attraction for foreign classical music admirers and a kind of locomotive for the development of the regional center's tourism potential. The final chord of the festival will be the concert by the State Academic Symphony Orchestra of the Republic of Belarus under the direction of the winner of the State Prize of Belarus, Honored Artist of Russia Alexander Anisimov. The renowned ensemble brought to Vitebsk a program featuring the winner of international competitions, a graduate of the Belarusian performing arts school, Yuri Blinov (piano), who specially flew in from the USA, and the soloist of the Rostov-on-Don State Musical Theater, one of the best opera sopranos, Irina Krikunova. This year, performers of extra-class from Russia, Finland, Sweden, Holland, and Belarus took part in seven festival concerts. The program was rich in both world-class performers who appeared in Vitebsk for the first time and works by classical composers. It is enough to say that the festival opened with one of the most sought-after Russian pianists on the world stage, a laureate of international competitions, Nikolai Lugansky. For the festival, this was a great stroke of luck, as negotiations with this performer lasted for three years, noted Stanislav Generalnitsky. If it is possible to fit into his concert schedule, the musician will be expected in Vitebsk next year as well. For the first time this year, the organizers managed to invite one of the world's best string quartets, "St. Petersburg," which has been working in the USA for the last 15 years. "The classical lineup of the quartet has never participated in the festival before, and I think the highest performing mastery of the Russian artists will remain in the listeners' memory for a long time," said the interlocutor. In addition, the audience heard performances by the renowned Finnish pianist Juha Lagerspetz and the distinguished Swedish organist Hans Fagius, who, incidentally, captivated the audience not only with his brilliant command of the instrument but also with his artistry. "Overall, the festival turned out to be diverse - from serious and profound concerts requiring intense emotional work to joyful concerts featuring music for relaxation, such as the works of G. Gershwin," noted Stanislav Generalnitsky. Agreements have been reached with many performers regarding the possibility of their participation in the Vitebsk music forum in 2010, he added. The classical music forum in Vitebsk is the only chamber music festival in Belarus that synthesizes various art forms. Its main task is to promote contemporary art and the traditions of classical musical heritage, revive the great cultural traditions of Vitebsk, and discover new and revive forgotten names. The organizers of the International Music Festival named after I. Sollertinsky are the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee and the state concert institution "Vitebsk Regional Philharmonic." -0-