Articles

http://www.7md.lt/muzika/2016-10-07/koncertas-muzikos-dienai

There was a movie „Le Concert“ („The Concert”) demonstrated in our country under the title “The Concert of Impostors” . It narrates about a director of orchestra frustrated by the Soviet system (not finally) that in the early post-Soviet period gets to know on a chance that Paris „Châtelet“ Theatre plans a concert of the Moscow Bolshoy Theatre Orchestra. He fails informing the managers of the Theatre (that remain of the Soviet standpoint), gathers musicians (of Jewish origin) of his orchestra scattered 20 years ago, they name their new group “Moscow Bolshoy Theatre Orchestra” and leave for Paris. It was a comedy; however, it excellently shows (of course, with a considerable dose of fantasy): an orchestra is a collection of persons with different fates and lives that are united by music.

While listening to the concert dedicated to the International Day of Music at the National Philharmonic on the 1 October and observing the musicians of the Lithuanian National Symphonic Orchestra, I involuntarily begin thinking that the orchestra is as if a micro-universe where not only each instrumentalist (a violinist of the group of the first violins or the group of the second violinists) but maybe also the accompanier, the flutist, the violoncellist and so on and finally the conductor of the orchestra are also parts of the said micro-universe organically supplementing and creating the sounding totality – the creation heard by the audience. Of course, a member of the orchestra, as a personality, is more than only a professional of playing the instrument: his life, hobbies and so on are outside the orchestra; however, that “outside” sometimes is closely linked with the orchestra.

On the premiere of the Symphony No. 4 „The European Sunset” composed by Alvydas Malcys, the author was presented by the announcer, first of all, as a violoncellist of Lithuanian National Symphonic Orchestra. In the West, orchestras usually invite a temporarily residing composer to create music for the orchestra within a certain period; however, the said practice is not used in our land, so Lithuanian National Symphonic Orchestra has a constant own composer for many years. A. Malcys graduated from Lithuanian State Conservatoire (at present – Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre) as a violoncellist and as a composer in the 1990s and never terminated his creative activities. His first works were dated to the years 1985 and 1986 („The Acoustic Abysm” for a violoncello and a piano, “The Supper for Five Persons” for a quintet of the woodwinds), while his first symphony “The Foreknowledge of You” was created in the first decade of 2000. Today the creative garner of A. Malcys includes tens of works for an orchestra, chamber scores, and solo music pieces; the composer issued nine authorial compact disks; his single works were recorded in collections of performers, his music is performed in Lithuania and abroad. On the same day, i.e. the 1st October, the Concert by A. Malcys for a violin, a viola and the chamber orchestra was performed by Ukrainian musicians at Kiev „Musicfest“ Festival.

The Symphony No. 4 „The European Sunset” was created in 2015 and the composer dedicated it to the 75-year anniversary of Lithuanian National Symphonic Orchestra. Why The European Sunset? According to A. Malcys: „This work narrates about a perish of a flustering community that violated the rules created by itself”. Usually, the composer creates his large works as novels, with a plot and personages, so he verbalizes the Part One of the symphony named „Misteriozo. Migla“ as follows: „The continent of Europe is gradually covered with grains of sand brought by wind from Arabia and Africa (...) insecurity is felt “. The Part Two named “The Dialogues” is a narration about the magnificent past of Europe and its beauty, great fights and victories told by a grandfather to his grandson. The Part Three named “The All-embracing Fire” is verbalized by the author as follows: “The fiery passages that sound as an ecstatic dance symbolize the totally destroying flame that turns monuments, museums, libraries, churches and universities into ruins of the civilization.“

So, it is clear what European sunset is spoken about. It is interesting that in the eve, on 30 September, the other premiere of the apocalyptic tonality related to the problems of refugees and the threats arising from them for Europe took place. However, the message about the performance was quite contrary. At the abandoned building of Vilnius Red Cross Hospital, Oskaras Koršunovas staged a performance „Eglė the Queen of Grass Snakes” about, in general, xenophobia and demonization of refugees spreading in Europe. The apocalypse shown by Koršunovas is the “pure” European world cleaned from the “foreign bodies”. Taking into account that, for example, „Brexit“ was caused by the allergy to the “grains of sand” from Eastern Europe (also from Lithuania) invaded to Great Britain, it is impossible to ignore this position. However, the sympathy of Malcys to the position of the so called Visegrad Group is probably understandable as well.

Nevertheless, the “Arabian grains of sand” invading the Old Continent in music of the Part One of the Symphony No. 4 „The European Sunset” created by A. Malcys – the motive of oriental tint – sounds attractively while are played by other and other winds; in addition, the effects of aleatory music are impressive. In the Part Two, the “narration of the grandfather” about the past of Europe is accompanied by interesting orchestral effects and a series of programmed episodes; here, a lyric line coloured in the manner of recreating musical revue and accompanied by a piano is introduced. In the finale, A. Malcys „involves“ the total orchestra for the luxurious acoustic spree. Generally, the work was created very carefully – each effect is well-considered and thoroughly arranged because the author knows excellently the opportunities of the orchestra and is capable to use them reasonably and effectively. This work is a mature symphonic creation of the composer that organically enters the context of the “traditional” classics – before the symphony by A. Malcys, the concert overture “The Carnival” by Antonin Dvořák was presented. .

After the Lithuanian premiere, Lithuanian National Symphonic Orchestra directed by Modestas Barkauskas passionately presented the Dance (Danzón) No. 2 by absolutely unknown to us composer Arturo Márquez (born in 1950) from Argentina – a light and vivacious tango. I’d dare to say that here Lithuanian National Symphonic Orchestra turned into “the Radio and TV Orchestra”. Why not? In particular, the distinctive solo of Rasa Vosyliūtė (the first violin) who excellently highlighted the dynamics of the work and the manner of music is mentionable (the school of Katilius!).

second part of the concert was symphonic. In the first part, young Lithuanian piano talent Robertas Lozinskis, the winner of 2015 M.K. Čiurlionis Piano Competition, glinted. He performed the Concert No. 2 c-moll for piano and orchestra by Sergey Rakhmaninov. From the first sounds of the piano, the audience listened to timbre-sensitive piano playing that distinguished itself for a logic form and technical freedom. Realistically, after several minutes nobody tried to trace what passage or episode was performed by the pianist. Everybody were listening to the music and it was the best compliment for the performer. He was as if dissolved in the music. I heard only the excellent Second Concert by Sergey Rakhmaninov with all its musical waves and remembered the personality of the pianist only after the end of the performance. An unexpected composition of improvisation-like character by a Turkish author performed by the pianist as an encore confirmed once more that a very superior soloist was presented on the scene.

An excellent creative partner of R. Lozinskis was maestro Modestas Barkauskas. From his first gesture – as is a wingbeat – he pitched a soft and lush sound of the orchestra and well-controlled “marching” of the music flow. Generally, the whole programme of the evening was prepared by Modestas Barkauskas very carefully, the logic of works to be presented was well-considered and consistent and their interpretation was convincing. It is worth to look for concerts directed by M. Barkauskas in the repertoire of the Philharmonic and to visit them.