On 30 October, the Orpheus Radio Symphony Orchestra under the baton of artistic director and chief conductor Sergey Kondrashev and Pyotr Vostokov’s Big Jazz Orchestra presented the programme “Symphojazz: Made in Russia” at the Moscow International House of Music.
TV BRICS Media Network was the media partner of the event and together with the Russian State Musical TV and Radio Centre “Orpheus” organised a gala reception for the top officials of the embassies of the BRICS countries, Latin America and Africa in honour of the concert.
Irina Gerasimova, General Director – Artistic Director of the Russian State Musical TV and Radio Centre (RSMC), said: “Everything that was performed in the concert was practically heard for the first time. These are absolutely unique and amazing pieces of music that were found in our new archive – this is the former archive of Gosteleradio. And that’s why sometimes we do find there fantastic masterpieces of that era”.
The current concert, “Symphojazz: Made in Russia,” showcased the period of musical creativity of the most famous composers of the Soviet period of the 1930s-1980s.
“These are unique personalities whose names we all know, such as Alexander Tsfasman, Viktor Knushevitsky, Nikolay Minh, Nikolay Kapustin,” Irina Gerasimova noted.
Sergey Kondrashev, Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Radio Orpheus Symphony Orchestra told how the rehearsals went: “The most difficult moment is to adapt to each other because free jazz players play to their drummer. And today we had an experiment. We tried to come together at the climaxes and give the audience pleasure.”
“Soviet symphojazz is completely different from what was abroad, and different from its origins. It has undergone a colossal evolution since the 1930s. <....> Symphojazz grew into an independent genre of high art and occupied a certain niche. By the 1980s, it was already a separate established genre. There is a lot of amazing music among this genre, simply masterpieces,” he added.
Mzuvukile Maketuka, South Africa’s ambassador to the Russian Federation, emphasised the important role of music in people’s lives.
“Music is the food of love, and it’s love for everybody, really. You can be in Detroit, Cape Town, Durban, Moscow or Minsk and listen to the same music. It brings people and cultures together. So, for example, we will bring South African jazz performers to Ekaterinburg next June,” the diplomat said.
Feng Litao, Minister Counsellor for Culture at the Chinese Embassy in the Russian Federation, noted that cultural exchanges are very important components of BRICS relations: “I think we should organise more events like this wonderful concert. For example, a film festival, a music festival, a festival, maybe a painting festival, to showcase our culture to other countries.”
Adrian Rivas Gutierrez, second secretary of the Cuban Embassy in Russia, said the two countries share longstanding ties.
“We are actively working on the creation of a branch of the St Petersburg Russian Museum in Cuba, there is already a virtual version of it. Besides, there is always interest from Cuban music groups to visit Russia and vice versa,” he said.
Ved Prakash Singh, First Secretary of the Economic and Commercial Division of the Embassy of India in Russia, praised the concert: “This is a unique cultural experience, a truly eclectic selection of music. We are happy to be here.”
The Orpheus Radio Orchestra was established in 1997. It is rightly considered the successor of the best traditions of the symphony orchestras of Gosteleradio of the USSR. The orchestra regularly performs at the capital’s main concert venues.
TV BRICS and Radio Orpheus have been co-operating since 2022. The main goal of the partnership is to create a positive image of Russia among the national audiences of the BRICS countries and popularise Russian academic music.
(TV BRICS)
