EN / RU

Running time:
2 parts by 60 minutes
6+
1 October 2021 Friday 19.00 Grand hall
19.00 Grand hall

Rachmaninov
“All-Night Vigil”

To commemorate 30th Anniversary of Choir Academy n.a. Popov
“All-Night Vigil” is arguably one of the greatest oeuvres of 20th century Russian spiritual music. The first performance was given in Moscow on March 10, 1915, by all-male Moscow Synodal Choir. The composer himself admitted that the work is exceptionally challenging to play and sing.

The All Night Vigil has 15 sections, 10 of which were based on chants of the Russian church. But Rachmaninov wrote completely new music for the other five sections. The autograph kept in Russian National misses “Praise The Name Of The Lord. Znamenny Chant”, possibly because the part of disappear pre-Revolution autographs of Rachmaninov could be destroyed during anti-German “pogroms” (terror) in Moscow in 1915.

Paradoxically, despite the fact that “All-Night Vigil” is written in a traditional Orthodox form, the piece has never find its way into liturgy. Not only difficulty, but Rachmaninov’s own texts instead of those canonic may be the reason for this. It should be notices, too, that the oeuvre has been influenced by Kastalsky, a composer of the so called “new direction” of Russian church music, and Smolensky, a director of Synod college and a scholar of ancient manuscripts.

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Grand choir “Masters of Choral Singing” was founded in 1928, its founder and first artistic director was a master of choral art Alexander Sveshnikov. In 2005, Professor Lev Kontorovich was offered a position of the artistic director of the Grand Choir (since that year known as the «Masters of Choral Singing»). Under his leadership, the updated composition of the choir successfully continues the traditions established by their predecessors. The name itself – «Masters of Choral Singing» – determine the professionalism, high level of performance, exceptional speed and versatility of the team, where each artist can act as a member of the choir and as a soloist. Today, the Choir is still considered one of the best in Russia, boasting numerous awards – either Russian, or foreign.

The State Academic Choir of Moscow Region named after Andrey Kozhevnikov is one of the oldest and famous ensembles in Russia. It was organized back in 1956 by Vladislav Sokolov, a professor in Moscow conservatory and Honored artist of Russia. The choir is named after an outstanding choir conductor Andrey Kozhevnikov, who was the art director of the choir in 1998 – 2011. Zhanna Kolotiy has been the choir’s leader for three years from 2011 to 2014; from 2014 on Nikolai Azarov is the music director.

In addition to solo concerts, the Choir takes part in different projects, singing with such prominent collectives as the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra (conductor – Vladimir Fedoseev), National Philharmonic of Russia (music director and conductor – Vladimir Spivakov), the State Academic Symphony Orchestra "Evgeny Svetlanov" (with conductors Jader Bignamini and Alexander Vedernikov), among many others.