The winners of the National Russian Competition for Young Composers, organized by Russian Musical Union and the “Orpheus” radio station, have been announced
The results of the preliminary selection of Russian Competition of Young Composers, timed to coincide with the 67th session of the International Forum of Broadcasting Organizations “International Rostrum of Composers”, have been announced. The final concert of the National Russian Competition for Young Composers took place in the hall of the Gnesins Russian Academy of Music on September 23, 2021.
The competition was organized by Russian Musical Union, the radio station “Orpheus” and Russian Union of Composers. The hosts of the evening, Kirill Radtsig and Irina Tushintseva, employees of the “Orpheus” radio station, reported that the final concert was being recorded at the Academy of Music for radio, and a live broadcast was on the website of the “Orpheus” radio station.
Alexander Klevitsky, the Director of Russian Musical Union, Honored Artist of Russia, composer, director of the Academic Grand Concert Orchestra named after Yury Silantyev, spoke at the ceremony addressing to the participants, the jury and the audience, and the Academic Grand Concert Orchestra performed in the finals a few works composed by the participants of the competition with the conductor Denis Kirpanev.
– Happy Music Day! – Alexander Klevitsky congratulated those gathered in the hall of the Gnesins Russian Academy of Music and those who watched the ceremony and the performances online on the “Orpheus” website. – I sincerely appreciate that Russian Musical Union made my musical dream come true. I am really happy that we all have finally managed to gather here today. And I heartily congratulate the radio “Orpheus” on its 30th anniversary.
The works of the participants were evaluated by the jury, which included composers Efrem Podgaits, Petr Aidu, Tatyana Kamysheva, Elmir Nizamov, and Anton Tanonov. The chairman of the jury, Efrem Podgaits, emphasized that this year for the first time the winners have been selected in three categories: “Symphonic music”, “Chamber instrumental and vocal music” and “Choral music”.
Alexei Chernakov was the first to perform in the nomination “Symphonic music” with the composition “Concertando for Piano and Orchestra”. According to the author’s idea, the audacity and freedom of a person in motion are replaced in his creation by an abrupt stop, which makes him think over the meaning of life. The piano part was performed by the author himself. This was followed by Kirill Arkhipov’s “Concerto for Symphony Orchestra “Anomaly”. The author’s interpretation implied a clash of minimalist rhythms with the early opuses of Rachmaninoff, and the expressionism of the Second Viennese School with techno and “commercial sound” of modern Russian popular artists. Vladimir Ladomirov in his composition for orchestra “After Altamira…” demonstrated the drama of the birth and vanishing of cultures on the example of Stone Age painting found in the Spanish cave of Altamira.
The nomination “Chamber instrumental and vocal music” was opened by the Diptych for voice and chamber orchestra “Forest Tales of the Tatars”, in which Adelia Fayzullina relied on Tatar legends and folklore themes. The music of the young composer from Kazan was performed by the chamber staff of the Silantiev Orchestra conducted by Vladimir Fadeev. Yakov Alexandrov in the string quartet “Lux Aeterna” first showed a kaleidoscope of human emotions, and then – a sudden fading in the face of eternity. Vladimir Ladomirov, in his composition for the chamber ensemble “White Noise”, affirmed the equivalence of intuitive comprehension of reality and its rational cognition. The last two compositions in the nomination “Chamber music” were performed by the soloists of the Moscow Ensemble of Contemporary Music.
The works in the “Choral Music” nomination were performed by the Chamber Choir of the Moscow Conservatory conducted by Alexander Solovyov. This nomination started with the “Lyrical Hymn” on the theme of the Belgian legend about the magic horse Bayard. That piece was composed by Konstantin Komoltsev in 2018 for the Yekaterinburg Children’s Opera and Ballet Theater. Elena Weinberg in “Gloria” for the women’s choir set out not to recreate the canon, but rather to present the world of thoughts of a person who reads a prayer and realizes good and evil by his personality. Yakov Alexandrov was inspired by folklore sources when creating the choral work on folk texts named “Spring”.
While the jury was deliberating, choosing the best of the best, Ekaterina Buzovkina’s “Reminiscence/Overcoming” for harp, balalaika and cello, who became a laureate of Russian National Competition for Young Composers in 2019, was performed for the audience. The names of the winners were announced by Efrem Podgaits, the Chairman of the Jury. As a result, the awards were distributed as follows:
“Symphonic Music”
1st award – Kirill Arkhipov
2nd award – Alexey Chernakov
3rd award – Vladimir Ladomirov
“Chamber Instrumental and Vocal Music”
1st award – Vladimir Ladomirov
2nd award – Yakov Alexandrov, Adeliya Fayzullina (equal number of votes)
“Choral Music”
1st award – Elena Weinberg
2nd award – Yakov Aleksandrov
3rd award – Konstantin Komoltsev
All finalists received diplomas of laureates, and the recordings of the winners’ compositions will be presented by the “Orpheus” radio station in Belgrade, where the 67th session of the International Forum of Broadcasting Organizations “International Rostrum of Composers” will be held from October 12 to 15.