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May 16, 2005

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*In English:*
Main/culture/music/classical classical music helps the victims Of Beslan
tragedy 16.05.2005 01:05 Igor bukker istochnik: To PRAVDA.Ru the
constant address:
This
spring on the counters of London in the the United Kingdom, music lovers
noted the unique CD “Hovhaness – Concerto for Two Pianos; Three Pieces
for Two Pianos “. The worshippers of classical music will without fail
estimate appearance this CD, practically entire collection from which
will go into the fund for aid to the victims of the Beslan tragedy.
First, this is yet one additional performance of one of the most
brilliant pianists of the present, Martin Berkofsky. In the second
place, for the first time came into being the unique, previously lost
work of great Armenian composer Alan Hovhaness, “Concerto No. 10 in
three movements for two pianos and orchestra”. It was found and restored
by Martin Berkofsky’s himself. In the recording of this work also
participated the ascending star – Turkish pianist Atakan Sari. This disk
can be considered unique and international, since Martin Berkofsky
selected for the joint operation the well-known Russian symphonic
orchestra of “Globalis”. According to the pianist, it for a long time
reflected, to what association it is possible to entrust the very first
performance of “concerto 10”. From the point of view of orchestral music
this work is considered one of the complex: in it are interwoven the
music of the West and East, different cultures, epochs and styles. The
orchestra of “Globalis” was created in 1998: majorities of participants
in the association – graduates of Moscow, St. Petersburg and Kiev
philharmonic societies. Not many orchestras can brag by this quantity of
laureates of All-Union and international competitions. Furthermore,
“Globalis” is known as one of the best recording orchestras. The
association collaborates with the most famous composers of peace – USA,
Japan, China, Austria, England, Poland, so forth all these professional
qualities of the Russian association became decisive. It is necessary to
note that this recording of the concerto for two pianos, made in Moscow,
is very important for Martin Berkofsky, since precisely this pianist
first in 1965 opened to peace the name Of Hovhaness. Subsequently, the
musicians became close friends. Therefore this disc with the recording
of “Concerto No. 10” became a tribute to the memory of a friend.
“Concerto 10” can be considered the early work of the great Hovhaness.
It was written the year 1954, just before the appearance of most famous
symphony “Mysterious Mountain” (Symphony No.2), that became known to
the world. By energy of the music of Hovhaness, a deep association
developed with “Globalis”. As Stanislav Simonov said, the director of
the orchestra, was extremely interested to work with this beautiful and
complex work together with the star of classics, the pianist Martin
Berkofsky. The music of this Armenian composer casts a spell by its
beauty and unusualness. It still is cognitive even for the venerable
professionals: the echoes of the folklore of different national
character are sprinkled in the musical thread of work, and, the original
sounds of ethnic tools extract classical pianos. “Concerto 10” consists
of three movements – andante, largo and moderato. The first part
resembles frightening advance through the musical jungle: winds overlap
the atonal splashes of pianos. The threatening stringed reelings, the
bird trills of flutes and the oriental melodies of pianos create the
mood of endlessness. Motion begins with the theme of oboe, which then
transfers to the entire orchestra. The second movement begins with a
series of gripping stringed chords, augmented by the angular ascending
line of the pianos, very uncommon for Hovhaness. But all this serves as
prelude to the section in which the pianos imitate “kanoon” – Turkish
plucked instrument. In addition to this, in the finale of work the piano
extracts the sounds, in practice not unlike “jhala taranga” – the
north-Indian instrument, which is a collection of the china cups, which
are tuned by the addition of a varying quantities of water. This musical
figure sounds as a low, monotonic rumble. The arrangement By Hovhaness
of “jhala technique” for piano became one of many oriental idioms, which
he successfully injected into western classical music. After the release
of the disc we immediately succeeded in having a talk with the director
of the orchestra “Globalis,” Stanislav Simonov. “Your trio –
“Globalis”-Berkofsky-Sari – became international. The disc was recorded
in Moscow, and brought out in England. Why you did decide to bring out
it abroad, but not here? The idea of the production of this disk
belonged to Martin Berkofsky, and from the very beginning it was planned
to bring it out it in London. There, there are many outstanding firms,
which specialise exclusively in classical music. Moreover in Europe and
America the interest in classics is nevertheless higher than here in
Russia. All these components became decisive in the selection of the
country for the production of this disc with the participation of our
symphonic orchestra.” “Stanislav, you are the producer of this
international disc. And in this position, are you going to spend the
profits from its sales?” “Absolutely not. The major portion of the
profits will go into the fund for aid to the children of the Beslan
school tragedy. On this, we with Martin agreed from the very beginning
of our work. Generally, Berkofsky is one of the pianists with an
international name, who transfers the profits from his concerts and
recordings to charitable foundations. Personally I am familiar with
Martin for more than three years, and have had the time to understand
him as a generous, open person. He has not a drop of snobism,
pompousness, or any other negative features. Martin is obsessed by
music, he lives by it, and it is easily understood that his music and
his entire life belong to the people. Photos from Stanislav Simonov’s
archive