A trip to the Moscow Conservatory last night to hear one of
Moscow's favourite violinists ... and a little Japanese girl play like a demon.

The Moscow Conservatory. Tchaikovsky on the left.

Vladimir Spivakov is a tall, white haired violinist and is very popular here. The classical artistes in Moscow (and Russia) are highly venerated. The primary reason for going to a concert is to hear the artiste perform and to hear the composer's works comes second. On some concert posters the actual work performed is not advertised or is hidden in an obscure corner!

I personally think the composer is the star. The performer is the interpreter, not the author.

Spivakov conducted his own Moscow Virtuosi orchestra. The first piece was Bach's Double Violin Concerto and he requisitioned his virst violin to play alongside himself. Whilst the work was very enjoyable I felt that the orchestra should have had their conductor. He was neglecting his role as leader to step into the limelight and the orchestra did not provide a seamless accompaniment.

Then he took up his conducting role and Hayd's Surprise Symphony was just a delight. It is a joyful work. It reminded me of Haydn's unusual life - succesful, talented, modest, rich, popular, generous... and he lived to a ripe old age. Unusual compared to the shorter, difficult agonies of his contemporaries, Beethoven, Mozart, Schubert.
The orchestra came alive when they had their leader facing them.

Aimi Kobayashi has been performing in front of concert audiences since the age of 3. She played Beethoven's 1st Piano Concerto and was simply amazing. It was as if the combination of the orchestra + its leader + plus this astonishing talent had been planned so as to build up to a climax. Nearly right! After numerous curtain calls and acres of flowers she played a solo encore. We were not told what the piece was (perhaps more Beethoven or possibly Schuman) but this was the real climax. I leapt to my feet when she finished but the great majority of the Russian audience stayed firmly seated (they are very reluctant to move outside of convention. Moscow audiences tend to be very knowledgable, very well mannered and very appreciative).

I went to hear Bach, Haydn and Beethoven. The fact that their works were interpreted by such brilliant musicians was the icing on an already very rich cake.

Do svedanya,

Graham