Yuri Bashmet and the Moscow Soloists: For the past several years, I have been coming across this ensemble again and again. They’ve become regulars in Istanbul, having taken the stage at IKSV Festivals, the Cemal Reşit Rey Concert Hall, and İş Sanat. Yet I have somehow missed all of their performances. When I saw that they would be playing at the IKSV Music Festival again this year, I knew that it was high time that I finally saw them live.
To be fair, I had already seen Bahmet perform live last year at the IKSV Music Festival. He took the stage with the Warsaw Philharmonic Choir; the highlight of the program was composer Raskatov’s Crying in the Wilderness. This year, Bashmet performed with the Moscow Soloists, an ensemble that he established in 1992 to bring together the top graduates of the Moscow State Conservatory. This ensemble has been piquing my interest for some time now, with their names coming up again and again in concert programs. As a bonus, the program also featured Daniil Trifonov, a young, rising star of the piano. At age twenty-four, his biography already boasts prestigious international awards and declarations of awe from both leading pianists, like Martha Argerich, and the global press, like the Financial Times.
The opening piece—Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor (my favorite key!)—provided some much-needed consolation, considering that I had to miss an enticing program of Chopin put on by the festival only a few days before. It was a delicate, fragile composition, but also powerfully intricate and captivating. I did wonder what it would be like to hear this piece performed by a full orchestra, and not an ensemble of about twenty players. Of course, the Moscow Soloists did not fall short of any expectations. And combined with the well known acoustics of St. Irene, the string accompaniment to the piano was second to none.
Yuri Bashmet was the conductor, viola soloist, and viola conductor of the ensemble. He conducted the Chopin piece, but then was both conductor and viola soloist in Telemann’s Viola Concerto in G Major. I had a brief feeling of déja vu, like I had been transported to the performances of Maxim Vengerov, in which he also performs and conducts, often simultaneously!
Tchaikovsky’s Souvenir de Florence (Op. 70) was a piece I had seen on stage several years ago with the Akbank Chamber Orchestra. I thoroughly enjoyed it this time as well. The composition combined the grandeur and commanding feel of Tchaikovsky with the beauty, fragility and trademark slurs of baroque music. The allegro vivace – più vivace (fast and lively – more lively) movement made me bemuse that such frenzy must have been caused by the pressure to express all that Florence has to offer within such a brief period of time. I also heard horses galloping, castagnets clacking and bows skipping around in tremolos. It was a joyful burst of energy: Tchaikovsky must have loved Florence as much as I do!
The final three minutes of the evening featured the shortest but most unique selection of the program. “The Eternal Vow” by Chinese composer Tan Dun, recognized worldwide for his Grammy and Academy Award winning soundtrack to the movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The harpsichord came into play in this piece and the viola took on a solo part. Overall, the piece had me imagining endless Chinese meadows at dawn on a summer day. The end of the piece brought us back to reality, sitting in St. Irene just before midnight. Following the Bach encore, we bid the church and musicians good-bye, taking leave to the tram station for our late night tram ride back home.
Featured Image Source: IKSV Music Festival
