Fireworks of Music in Malta
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MAY No 5 (13) 2018 New stars: Malta International Piano Competition 2018 Armenian Cultural Days fireworks MIMF of music 2018: in Malta CONTENTS MIMF — 2018 A new circle VI Malta International of the “culture circulation”… ................... 48 Music Festival in all dimensions ................ 4 The way youngsters do ............................ 50 What people say about the VI Malta International Music Festival ......... 5 Ephemerides and other ephemeral bodies ........................... 52 New stars: Malta International ......................... Piano Competition 2018 ........................... 10 Bravo, maestro Accardo! 54 Tchaikovsky, Elgar, Shor PERSON Alexey Shor: and Chagall for the unenl ightened “I liked the energy and the most sophisticated... .................. 56 of Armenian audience” ............................. 12 Captivating reading of sound .................. 58 Alexander Sokolov: “ The main criterion for a member ARMENIAN DAYS IN MALTA Unforgettable Armenian of the jury is whether you want to listen Cultural Days in sunny Malta .................... 60 to this composer again” ........................... 14 “We managed to find a common Carmine Lauri: language very quickly, and “Give me a tune and I am happy!” ............. 16 we worked together easily” .................... 63 Krzysztof Penderecki: “Maestro Sergey Smbatyan Anna Ter-Hovakimyan: Critics and musicologists keeps surprising me with his talent” ....... 20 hail performance of Symphony Georges Pélétsis: Orchestra in Malta .................................... 64 “Music is beauty in sound” ....................... 24 Sergey Smbatyan: A Date with Lyubov… or “I am proud that Armenia has conversation of two artists ...................... 26 people who are ready to fulfil complicated tasks” ......................... 65 REVIEWS Vienna blood ............................................ 30 Giya Kancheli: “When speaking about Armenia, Malta International Music Festival I remember Dilijan and united Malta and Armenia artists ............. 31 my Armenian friends” ............................. 66 Giya Kancheli: Spiritual ............................. 32 Armine Grigoryan: Conserto Grosso ...................................... 34 “ Music passes on from heart to heart, from soul to soul” ...................... 67 Rhapsody in true ...................................... 36 Sigmund Mifsud: Tchaikovsky and… the mysterious “ Armenia is a beautiful country, but Bach-ish light of Alexei Shor’s works ....... 38 what struck me the most is its people” ... 68 Images from the Great Siege .................. 40 Maurice Vassallo: “ My aim is to establish an Armenian With the help of divine power ................... 43 Cultural Centre in Malta” ......................... 70 Sindbad the Sailor Aiman Mussakhajayeva: and the Ascot rider .................................. 44 “I have many Armenian friends, Love Changes Everything ....................... 46 but I’ve never been to Armenia” .............. 72 MALTESE HERALD Publisher: Maltese-Russian Friendship Foundation (MRF Foundation) Editor-in-chief: Nina Ryabchenko Design & Layout: Sergey Novoselov Proofreading: Nadezhda Zhukovskaya Contact & Advertising: [email protected] +(356)27877705 Partner: European Foundation for Support of Culture Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission from the Publisher is prohibited. Opinions expressed in Maltese Herald as well as its content do not necessarily reflect those of the Publisher or Editor. Even though every attention has been taken to ensure truth and accuracy, the Editor and the Publisher cannot be held responsible for errors and omissions in articles, advertising, illustrations or photographs. © 2018 Maltese Herald • No 5 (13) May 2018 EDITOR’S NOTE Nareh Arghamanyan: “It was very interesting to work with musicians of Malta Philharmonic Orchestra” .......................... 74 Alan Chircop: “I liked Armenia, I felt like it’s my second home” ............................... 76 Constantine Orbelian: “Armenia is ready to share its cultural heritage with the whole world” ............... 77 “We are very proud to participate in the Armenian Cultural Days in Malta” .. 78 Participants of Eurovision Song Contest performed on open-air stage in Valletta ....................................... 80 Pascal Chamassian, Artistic director of Araxe, the Armenian ensemble of the Union of Armenian Youth of France: “Araxe ensemble – Ambassador Dear friends, of Armenian culture in Europe – The Malta International Music Festival will return to Malta” .................................. 82 became a real triumph of symphonic music. It stands to reason that music Voice and Harp Trio ................................. 84 written for symphony orchestras is one The gifted children from of the richest and most significant areas Armenia performed in the of instrumental music. Parliament of Malta .................................. 86 A symphony orchestra presents the audience with the richest palette of Albert Marshall: sound colours and creative opportunities. “The most important lesson the Concerts and festivals of symphonic Maltese should learn about the Armenians music enable the public to enrich their is the fierce love this nation has for knowledge of world culture. Music is its national heritage” ................................ 88 not only art, it is a certain religion with a great influence on people. I would like Works of Komitas – a symbol of to thank you all, dear participants of the Armenian national identity – festival, most talented musicians! You performed for the first time in Malta ...... 90 brought such great joy to me and the grateful audience! EVENTS The MIMF gave us an excellent Fireworks show in the sky over Malta ..... 92 opportunity to listen to beautiful music MIMF-2018 performed by remarkable orchestras Behind the scenes... and made it possible for us to meet the renowned musicians and young talents. and at the heart of it all! .......................... 96 The Festival was accompanied by the Media about the Festival .......................... 98 Days of Armenian Music, which brought together the Armenian community of Malta. You will be able to read about all this and, of course, about the culture and history of our sunny island, as well as the Maltese way of life and the Maltese language, in the new issue of Maltese Herald. Sincerely yours, Nina Ryabchenko, Editor-in-Chief of “Maltese Herald” МАЛЬТА ДЛЯ ВСЕХ / MALTA FOR ALL ПРИСОЕДИНЯЙТЕСЬ К НАМ НА FACEBOOK! www.maltavest.com 3 18 days, 18 concerts, abundance of stellar names: Grigory Sokolov, Salvatore Accardo, Maxim Vengerov, Nikolai Lugansky, Lyuba Kazarnovskaya, Andreas Ottensamer, Carmine Lauri, Aiman Musakhodjaeva, Cosmopolitan Trio Vena, Khachaturian Trio, Narek and Tigran Hakhnazaryan… The concert of music by the legendary Giya Kancheli, the world premiere of a symphonic cycle The Images of the Great Siege by the Maltese composer Alexey Shor dedicated to the Great Siege of Malta in 1565; two orchestras – the Armenian State Symphonic Orchestra and the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra – on one stage. VI Malta International Music Festival in all dimensions 4 Maltese Herald • No 5 (13) May 2018 MIMF-2018 What people say about the VI Malta International Music Festival From the 15th of April till the 1st of May, Malta was welcoming participants and guests of the sixth Malta International Music Festival organized by the European Foundation for Support of Culture. he unrivalled and fabulous of Culture 2018”, and such events event that turned a small like the Days of Armenian Culture in Mediterranean island into the Malta promote the image of the island capital of world classical music – as an international venue that can Tthis is how the festival was described by unite representatives from different its guests and participants. We can add a countries. couple of accents to this: the large-scale music forum was accompanied by the Days of Armenian Culture and the final round of the First Malta International Piano Competition. In an overambitious attempt to cover the whole picture, we Pierre Fenech are presenting an overview of what was Mediterranean Conference Centre happening within these two weeks from Chief Executive Officer all possible angles. — We would like to thank the European Foundation for Support of Culture and its President Konstantin Ishikhanov for implementation of this project in Malta. Dr Owen Bonnici Representing the largest concert hall on Minister for justice, culture and local the island, we are proud that we have a government of Malta possibility to accept renowned stars of — I think, this is an example of how the world level. two countries can work together, even if they are not neighbours in geographical terms; but we are neighbours by spirit and because we both love culture enormously. We have seen so many talents from Armenian Dr Gavin Gulia and Maltese cultures these days, and Chairman of the it is really wonderful. I have been Malta Tourism Authority the Minister of Culture for almost — Tourists do not appear out of the blue. five years, and I have never seen We need to work constantly so that our such a close collaboration between island remains attractive, and “the sea two countries in realization of such a and the sun” formula is not just enough. wonderful programme. The modern tourist market requires Jason Micallef new conditions, including large-scale Valletta 2018 Chairman cultural projects. In that respect, the — International cooperation is the Malta International Music Festival key notion of