Legendary Musicians Shine at InClassica’s Third Concert
The InClassica International Music Festival moved on to its third evening on Monday 30th August, with a spectacular concert featuring three living legends of the music world - Maxim Vengerov, Steven Isserlis, and Roustem Saïtkoulov - who presented a diverse programme featuring works by Joseph Hollman, Maurice Ravel, Alexey Shor, and Pyotr Tchaikovsky.
As the InClassica festival begins to pick up speed, audience members who attended the event’s third concert on the 30th of August were treated to a particularly special treat, as not only one, but three veritable maestros joined forces to deliver a world-class performance that left the crowd applauding long after it had finished.
Grammy Award, twice Gramophone Classical Music Award, Classic Brit Award and five times Edison Classical Music Award winner, violinist Maxim Vengerov (Monaco), and Gramophone’s Instrumental Album of the Year winner, Critics’ Choice at the Classic BRITS awards and CBE recipient, cellist Steven Isserlis (UK), who have both performed together multiple times, were joined by First Prize winner in the Rome Piano Competition and prizewinner of various other international competitions including the Grand Prix of the Montecarlo World Piano-Masters and F. Busoni Competition, recording artist for labels including EMI Classics and Dinemec Classics, pianist Roustem Saitkoulov (Russia/France), with the trio playing together for only the first time in their careers.
The shortness of their acquaintance, however, had no impact on the quality of their performance, with the musicians instead taking it as an opportunity to approach the pieces being performed in new and intriguing ways.
“Every time I meet with the musicians with whom I have to play, beauty is born, and it is happiness that we can communicate through sounds and music. We practically do not discuss anything during rehearsals, we just feel each other and every time it is as if a new trio is born”, Vengerov said.
Isserlis, meanwhile, echoed these sentiments, while also remarking on his appreciation of the warm reception which the trio were given at every available opportunity by an enthralled audience, stating that “it was lovely to play with friends and the audience was really nice, very appreciative, and we really appreciate them being appreciative”.
The honour of opening the evening’s proceedings fell to Alexey Shor’s Seven Pieces for Piano Trio, with the artists deftly bringing out what Vengerov referred to as the “dreamy contemplative” tone which the work evokes. Vengerov then left the stage to Isserlis and Saitkoulov, who presented a lively rendition of Dutch cellist and composer Joseph Hollman’s Carmen Fantasie, a rarely-performed work for cello and piano that perfectly transmits the spirit of Bizet’s opera while giving the British cellist plenty of opportunity to delight the audience with his virtuosic playing.
The Monegasque violinist then returned, accompanying Saitkoulov in a performance of Maurice Ravel’s Tzigane, a work inspired by the musical traditions of the Hungarian Roma which was originally composed for violin and luthéal but was performed here, as it often is, with a piano taking over the role of the luthéal.
After the interval the trio then reformed once more to close off the evening with a rendition of Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s famed piano trio, which was written in dedication to the famous pianist Nikolai Grigoryevich Rubinstein who had passed away some time earlier. The work, as a result, which can almost be described as a requiem, evokes an intense tragic emotion, with Tchaikovsky’s grief made palpable for all to hear.
“Commenting on the varied nature of the programme, Vengerov noted that this was an intentional choice, stating that “Shor's trio is such a dreamy contemplative music, Tchaikovsky's trio contrasts with it, this is such a tragic, dramatic work”. The violinist also went on to praise the acoustics of the Dubai Opera where the concert was being held, observing that “this room has excellent acoustics. It seems to me that every note was heard both on stage and in the hall. The danger of large halls and opera houses is that the acoustics for the instrument are rather dry, but there is no such thing here, this is a multifunctional hall that allows you to do a lot”.
“It was such an honour to get to see three amazing musicians of this calibre perform all together at our festival. I’m sure that all those who were lucky enough to be here tonight will never forget this amazing evening. It was such a wonderful performance which reminded us of the very best that classical music has to offer” - Konstantin Ishkhanov, President of the European Foundation for Support of Culture.
Organised by the European Foundation for Support of Culture and SAMIT Event Group, the 2021 Edition of the InClassica International Music Festival is currently underway, with daily concerts taking place until the 26th of September. For more information or to book tickets, please visit the official website at inclassica.com.