“We need to create new heroes of our time”

Kyiv public, gathered at the House of Architects, offered a rapturous reception to famous violinist Bohdana Pivnenko who performed colorful violin pieces accompanied by the Kyivska Kamerata chamber orchestra, led by its artistic director Valerii Matiukhin. However, Pivnenko’s music was not the event’s only attraction, as she was joined on stage by Valerii Sokolov from Kharkiv, who is now a leading young concert violinist globally.

“Sokolov has been an acquaintance of mine for a long time, we come from the same city (Kharkiv), and I listened to him playing violin several times. When he proposed a joint event, I willingly agreed, for he is a refined musician and a professional of the highest quality for his age (he has not even turned 30 yet). I am pleased with the result of our joint project,” Pivnenko admitted. “He mostly performs in the West. Sokolov’s path to the European public was spectacular. His good performance at the Pablo Sarasate International Violin Competition in 1999 brought him a grant of the Spivakov Foundation, allowing the musician to continue his education at the London Yehudi Menuhin Violin School. Sokolov went on to graduate from the Royal College of Music in the UK and graduate school of the Frankfurt Higher School of Music and Theater. His talent was recognized when he won the George Enescu Competition in Bucharest in 2005, receiving its Grand Prix and two special prizes. European stages have been wide open for him ever since.”

What were the principles employed when you were preparing your joint concert program?

“The first section featured pieces by classics – Johann Christian Bach and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The second section contained Ukrainian music (works by Yevhen Stankovych and Volodymyr Zubytsky) and the Ukrainian premiere of Double Concerto by English composer Malcolm Arnold. By the way, this artist is unknown here, even though BBC News once called him ‘a towering figure of the British music history,’ second only to Benjamin Britten and Ralph Vaughan Williams.”

This evening made an indelible impression on the public due to its emotional influence. When the country is at war, such events inject a lot of internal strength into society; therefore, they are essential. We heard the rarely performed Zubytsky’s Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, which musicologist Anna Lunina described as a “fiery, spontaneous, phenomenal virtuoso’s work.” The composer had Hutsul folk tunes cleverly interwoven with jazz-colored improvisation. In my opinion, its life-affirming energy naturally reflects not only the region’s spirit, but also the all-Ukrainian capacity of renewal, finding new ways and perspectives.

“Indeed, although this work is very colorful artistically, its orchestral party is very difficult to master, due to its metro-rhythmic characteristics and sharp change-prone nuances. A thorough study of it would take a month of rehearsals for the orchestra, while we are permanently short of time. That is the reason why Zubytsky’s piece makes only infrequent appearances on stage.”

Ukrainian Poem of Stankovych in the interpretation of Sokolov was seen as a profound meditation on the Ukrainians’ eternal yearning for good fortune, and the context of the present-day circumstances made people to perceive it also as a symbol of immortality of the human soul as it strives for purity and truth.

“Actually, Sokolov wanted this work to be the first to be presented to the audience. In fact, it was the culmination of the evening’s drama, showing consolidating magnetism, typical for Stankovych’s music.”

Your supporters would like to learn how your audio project Anthology of Modern Ukrainian Music is progressing…

“I have already recorded the third disc, including compositions by Yurii Laniuk, Myroslav Skoryk, Yulii Meitus, and Reinhold Gliere. It is, so to speak, Christmas-time music, light, intended for average consumer, it will not let you get bored, for example, when your car gets stuck in a traffic jam...”

Art gives comfort to people amid the hard times now facing Ukraine...

“My main desire is to see the war in the east end. Culture drives society, we need to develop spiritually our youths, to create new heroes of our time, and music offers great advantages for this effort.”

In particular, Pivnenko’s activity as chairwoman of the jury of the International Performing Arts Festival Competition for Children and Youths “Chords of Khortytsia,” as well as her role as co-founder of the NGO “Responsible Future” present a concrete contribution to the cause of support for gifted child musicians, who will take to the stage in the near future...