When we first uploaded this concert YouTube was limiting videos to 9 minutes pieces. The first part has now over 35,000 views. It was time to post the entire, uninterrupted version.
So here it is for this very special day.
From our CD booklet:
On April 9,
2003 Omsk Moscow to Omsk
Nikolaevsky was a
frail man and his health had deteriorated. His plane was late and to make
matters worse, he had to bring the orchestral parts from the Mosfilm archives.
The first
rehearsal started late but Yuri quickly made it clear he wanted total
commitment from musicians. At the podium, there were no traces of frailty, just
the will to make music at his best. This is one of the reasons he was so
appreciated by Baroque ensembles and contemporary composers alike (such as
Sofia Gubaidulina) who trusted his clarity of textures and rhythmical rigor
with the premiere of their works.
The following
day, after the first run through the piece, Nikolaevsky knew that Svetlana had
a strong vision for the concerto and felt obviously relieved: we were all on
the same page. A picture of Schnittke’s portrait I painted convinced him that I
too was ready.
Luckily Pavel’s
amateur recording captured the energy of the concert and saved this moment as
the packed audience sat in silence while the last echoes receded and before
they could allow themselves to applaud.
After the
concert, the home town soloist was much surrounded and I found Yuri Nikolaevsky
alone sitting in his changing room, exhausted but visibly happy. As I thanked
him with the only Russian word I knew, in his broken English he told me I was
right to believe in Svetlana’s talent and that it had been worth his journey.
As we all gathered around him Yuri was beaming (photo) and his natural
discretion prevented him to repeat in front of her the compliment he just made…
Yuri Nikolaevsky
passed away in November 2003.
With this
recording dedicated to Schnittke’s music, it is another personal commitment to
a composer’s memory and his good friend that is fulfilled. And that is the way
it should be.
M.V.
