Blog #118

Yesterday we had a really unusual day at the Mariinsky - 2. Intense, unpredictable and full of improvisation. A wonderful music festival "Faces of Modern Pianism" takes place in St. Petersburg these days, this festival gathers different generations of performers, both famous and young musicians. I am particularly pleased that our great Grand Piano Competition laureates, such as Alexander Malofeev, Alexandra Dovgan, and Eva Gevorgyan, participate in it and prove their high class status. They’ve performed powerfully, with triumph. We are very happy for them.

I had a very special day yesterday because I played two performances in a row. The first, as I call it, "half-recital" concert: two sonatas of Beethoven No. 23 and No. 32 in the first part, and Tchaikovsky's trio "in Memory of the great artist" performed by me with my companions, friends, brilliant musicians, Sergey Krylov and Alexander Ramm - in the second. Then, a few hours later, with Maestro Gergiev, we played "Burlesque" by R. Strauss and F. Liszt's Concerto for piano and orchestra No. 2.

Both concerts were notable for the fact that an acoustic shell was used for the first time on the stage of Mariinsky-2. And I can tell that the impression of the sound of instruments with it is simply phenomenal. The acoustics have become so much brighter, so much more airy, that it almost feels like you are playing on the stage of a concert, not a theater, hall. Such a big concert hall for 2000 people simply does not exist in our country. There are magnificent halls smaller in size, but the Theater Mariinsky-2 now has the opportunity to host concerts of classical music (chamber, solo and concerts with an orchestra) for such a large audience. I congratulate my dear friend Valery Abisalovich on this opportunity.

Tomorrow in the same "half-recital" program we reunite with Sergei and Alexander in Moscow, in the P. I. Tchaikovsky Concert Hall, which I am very happy about. I'll see you all tomorrow!