Concerts

"Music Talk" - let's listen to the classics and talk about it!

"Music Talk" is a new joint Project of the Dubna Symphony Orchestra and the Cultural Centre "Mir", the basic thing of which is the knowledge of the world of music through the conversation of performers with listeners. The idea has come from, as often happens in a creative environment, a dialogue. The authors and founders of the Project - Director of the Dubna Symphony Orchestra Natalya Aleksandrovna Kastro and Director of the Cultural Centre "Mir" Eleonora Robertovna Yamaleeva are sharing their thoughts about the idea itself, as well as the unity of music and the theory about it.

E. Ya. We are starting a new musical and educational Project "Music Talk". I see it as stories about classical music for an adult audience. There will be compositions for listeners, as well as explanations about their conception, characteristics, ways of perception, to complement them. But most importantly, the audience will have the opportunity to ask questions and to talk about the classics right to the performers!

N. K. Yes, this format is very much in demand today. The key point is live music and live communication. It is always interesting to hear what professionals say, those who here and now are giving incomparable emotions and high skill from the stage, without the right to make a mistake, or to be in a bad mood or to feel unwell. We want to offer a talk about academic music. We want the strict words "classics, classical music" not to cause wariness and fear as if it is no longer relevant, difficult, uninteresting. It's difficult when it's not clear, so we have started this dialogue between each listener who comes to the concert and the artists on stage!

E. Ya. I find the moment of learning music very interesting when thanks to a professional musician, listeners can "read" a melody and find in it something that resonates gratefully in the soul.

N. K. A melody is not a short motive, but a capacious musical thought that has its own development, culmination and conclusion in the finale. Yes, this is perhaps not easy for a man of today to understand it... Today, there is much talk about clipboard thinking, clip culture when due to our constant haste and lack of time we have to perceive all information quickly, sometimes in fragments, concisely, without paying attention to details. And serious music, "art in time" that cannot be shortened, compressed, broken into small fragments, has somehow ceased to fit into our lifestyle. Therefore, an echo in the soul of what we hear is most likely to occur when we can focus on something important and follow the sounds, the harmony, the nuances, the energy of artists and finally, the conductor's hands! After all, it's happening on stage only now and will not happen again tomorrow, or in a month, or in a year, ever! Therefore, here and now we are doing everything to establish a contact between the audience and creators on stage, a contact that is further enhanced when the musician shares his thoughts about the composition being performed. That's when our goal will reach its highest point, the highest result. That's when this melody will be read.

E. Ya. The individual reading and "living" will also be for listeners a moment of self-discovery through music. Of course, for each person the path of associations can be very different. And what for one person is a path to freedom, for another one it is an inability to even take a step. That's why together with the audience we are going to experiment with the free interpretation of music based on individual perception.

N. K. Yes, of course, music is one of the most abstract arts! And it's not worth imposing any images or associations. But if we accept the point of view that the art of the future is a synthetic art, where there will be no boundaries between music, dance, visuals, architectural designs, then by uniting all this, it is as if we are offering our own idea based on images. But everyone's perception will be different. Each listener will experience the feelings he is capable of and that are closer to him. And if, for example, Sergey Pospelov that will open our new cycle, before performing Vitali's Chaconne, shares his thoughts, then the listener will discover previously unknown sides of musical perception, absolutely different for everyone!

E. Ya. In my opinion, this format of conversation with an audience - in simple words about the essentials - has a great future. For me, probably, the most desirable thing is that, thanks to the speaker, the audience learns to understand the composer's intentions and reveal for themselves the theme of the composition they have heard.

N. K. A little distraction. On Instagram, I am subscribed to some very interesting content about painting. Recently, there has been a discussion about the idea of a painting that has been allegorically and even epathetically dispelling the piety for "high art". And that has made me think, indeed, it seems to us that academic, "high" art is above us, inaccessible to us. It is so detached from our daily lives, our worries, our problems, our amusements and our little joys that it is difficult to let go off the insignificant and focus on the essential. And I have realized that we cannot theorize in our Music Talk, we need an equal conversation, a dialogue between a master and a listener. Let the speaker be God playing Bach, but by putting down the violin, he will be able to share with his audience that this music takes a lot of physical effort. To perform, let's say, a dramatic climax, one needs to play chords one after another, filling them with a rich melodious sound, but so that everyone in the hall hears only the inner strength, without bravado and ostentatious acting. Moreover, the manner and style of performance are closely related to the time of composing, national characteristics, genre, form and much, much more. There is much to discuss!

E. Ya. Yes, our Music Talk will take place right during the concert, when the musician and the audience are constantly exposed to the music and emotions. Such a living experience of compositions will surely be united into something very important. And above all, the musician will clearly, sincerely and accessibly talk about himself in music, about the music inside him, about the exchange of emotions with the audience, thanks to the notes he has once written....

N. K. Of course, that's what we have come up with this all for. Since, "to live" means to "feel". And in order to reveal our feelings, it is worth at least a little to penetrate the essence. Believe me, musicians will try to complete what has been said not only using technical methods, but even more so with the help of their emotions! And there has to be a lot of emotions, enough for everyone in the hall, otherwise it's all for nothing!

On 20 October, on the stage of the Cultural Centre "Mir", the project "Music Talk" will be opened by a famous musician in Russia and abroad, a brilliant violinist, virtuoso, conductor, "Russian Paganini" Sergey Pospelov. He will stand at the conductor's stand of the Dubna Symphony Orchestra and of course, there will be music which we will talk about with the public!

Eleonora Yamaleeva,
photo by Igor LAPENKO