Xth "Stars on Baikal" Festival

The time of my favorite festival “Stars on Baikal” is approaching. It is about my native town, about Baikal and place, that you will love the moment you visit it.

“Stars on Baikal” for me and my guests is a unique event: outstanding concerts are held in a unique atmosphere. And everyone who was there can prove my words.

Every of nine last festivals for sure gave a lot of tremendous impressions, musical knowledge and acquaintances with famous musicians to our Irkutsk audience. We remember legendary concerts of past in our Irkutsk Philharmony, but later they seized to exist and with the help of “Stars on Baikal” we try to revive this tradition. And I believe we’ve managed to turn it to region’s most famous musical brand.

The idea of the festival, invented by us with Vladimir Konstantinovich Shagin, who, unfortunately passed away several years ago, came to life thanks to him first of all. He with his Musical Theatre of N.M.Zagursky assumed all administration responsibilities for the festival. 

And nowadays his son, Andrew Shagin, is doing his father’s job. And it is very important for the festival. Another person, who played a key role in turning the festival into famous musical brand of Irkutsk and Siberia, is our governor Sergei Vladimirovich Eroschenko. He helps the festival enthusiastically and deeply involved in all it events. We have a lot of fans all over the world now: they come from Americas, Japan, China, Korea, Germany (special charter flight from Gütersloh), Siberia, other regions of Russia. They buy tickets in advance and looking forward for the festival. I’d like to underline the role of our patrons of art in region, they help a lot and they all are men of worth. Today their help is priceless. I said a lot of times, that tickets from Moscow to Irkutsk cost more than tickets to the US. And we won’t be able to invite all our friends without our patrons. So it is great, that we all do our common cause.

I also have great news about new concert hall in Irkutsk and will share them with you a little bit later. 

One more festival’s ingredient of success is its guests, my friends-musicians, who came here in these nine years: V. Gergiev, Y.Temirkanov, Y.Bashmet, Z. Mehta, V.Spivakov, V.Fedoseev, E. Obraztsova, G. Garayan, Bolshoi Ballet artists, and a lot of young musicians.

I want to mention separately “New Names Foundation” auditions. We organize them every year and to my mind it is the most important event of the festival. Because, thanks to “New Names”, we find talented children, who later become wonderful professional musicians. There also will be master-classes of Moscow professors and “New Names” graduates. Among them S.Krylov, I. Fedorov, A. Toradze, B. Andrianov, etc. V. Pyasetsky will give open lesson with Tchaikovsky Competition laureate D. Kharitonov in my Music Hall.

This year we expand the geography of our festival to Bratsk, where a grand piano was bought recently, and to other towns of the region. And it is very important for us.

Tenth festival is marked by Tchaikovsky Competition. A lot of its laureates will take part in “Stars on Baikal”: A. Buzlov, G. Kazazyan, P. Milyukov, L. Debargue, D. Kharitonov, G. Li, Clara Jumi Kang, A. Ionita, and grand prix winner Ariunbaatar Ganbaatar. Some will perform with orchestra, some – will give a recital, some will play chamber music.

Usually when the contest finished, all passions and debates quieten down. But it is not so with Tchaikovsky Competition. Its laureates are invited to different festivals and to famous concert halls and audience still has a possibility to watch all Competition’s rounds on medici.tv. Now 11 million have already seen it. It is unique!

I’d also like to tell a couple of words about Xth “Stars on Baikal” programme. We are waiting for maestro Gergiev at its Grand Opening, he gives two concerts: one with A. Toradze and during the second we, Gergiev, Malofeev and me, repeat Verbier’s concert and perform Concerto for three pianos by Mozart. Maestro will play the piano and I am absolutely delighted that he decided to do it again. So the Grand opening promises to be great!

We will have our traditional charity auction “Nota Do”. We will raise money for young musicians support as usually. This support allows us to buy them new instruments, pay for participation in educational short programs and award scholarships. This year we have a wonderful surprise from Moscow Actor’s House. Igor Zolotovitsky and Alexander Zhigalkin present an informal actors' party accentuated on music. Theatre and music are one more key themes of our festival this year.

The concert for children with special needs, where I perform with our youngest musicians, will also take place during the festival. I have great confidence in music’s superpower to help people, to cure them. So we decided to make this kind of concerts one of our traditions.

And, of course, we organize our traditional football game, where musicians become football players.

One evening is dedicated to 120th anniversary of Leonid Utesov, so called “Trombone Show”, where different works by the founder of soviet jazz are presented to the audience.

Vladimir Molchanov becomes a compere for this festival. He was a good friend of Svyatoslav Belza and when we offered him to become a compere at “Stars on Baikal” he agreed gladly. “It is a great honor for me to compere the festival, that Belza himself compered”. 

We also see a unique project “Music for two” of two legendary French actors, Fanny Ardant and Gérard Depardieu. Absolutely staggering event, absolutely marvelous actors. I am happy they come to Irkutsk. This play will again underline the main idea of the festival – interlacing of theatrical and musical art. Besides, tour of A. Kalyagin’s theatre company takes place in Okhlopkov’s Theatre in Irkutsk at the same time by happy coincidence. 

We also wait for the performance of legendary jazz journalist Leonid Chizhik. I believe him to be Oscar Peterson of the Soviet Union and Post-Soviet Russia. I lives in Munich now and by chance he came to my concert there. I was glad to invite him to my festival, when I found out that he was eager to perform in Russia, where he’d been super popular many years ago. It will be a recital, which is highly important to my mind.

Bolshoi Theatre Ballet Company will bring not only traditional program, but also one very interesting modern staging. First part of performance consists of classical ballet turns and the second – of an unusual bright modern ballet Mauro Bigonzetti “Cinque” (music by Vivaldi).

Several turns of modern choreographers were presented at the last Christmas concert in Irkutsk, and the audience was delighted. And we understood that Irkutsk is ready not only for classical performances, but also for modern ones. So it promises to be a unique and enchanting performance.

Undoubtedly we are looking forward to performances of Y. Bashmet with “Moscow Soloists”, maestro Bashmet always brings the most interesting programs to our festival. Besides that Michael Petrenko and I will perform 18 romances by Rachmaninoff. There also will be a lot of performances by famous musicians like Polina Osetinskaya and by young and promising musicians like “Nutcracker” Competition winner Vladislav Khandogiy.

As for new activities, we plan to involve in broadcasting a special team and reporters of “Molodezhny Irkutsk” will broadcast all the events live.

I can’t wait it to start! But now we have Annecy festival and I will keep you well posted on it.