14 February 2018, Wednesday

8:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. Cultural opening of the Conference

Sverdlovsk State Children Philharmonic Society
Address: 36, 8 Marta St., Yekaterinburg

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What was Johann Sebastian Bach doing when Vasily Tatishchev founded Yekaterinburg? The great composer was creating music which is still alive and will sound the same as three centuries ago – and exactly in the same way as Bach created it.

The Kovalyov Readings participants will be greeted by the main performers of the Opera and Ballet Theater, as well as by the B-A-C-H chamber orchestra and the Chapel of boys and young men of the Sverdlovsk State Children Philharmonic Society who will combine their efforts to perform one of the greatest works by Sebastian Bach.

The Magnificat, a light and festive cantata, is one of the greatest musical works in the world, which is very popular in Europe, and the one often performed. More than once it has been performed in Sverdlovsk-Yekaterinburg, but only recently it has been made in the original version of voices created by the composer. In the beginning of the 18th century, the cantata was performed by the boys’ choir of St.Thomas Church in Leipzig, and now Yekaterinburg has such a choir - the Chapel of boys and young men of the Sverdlovsk State Children Philharmonic Society headed by Vyacheslav Kulmametyev. The Chapel is a laureate and award winner of different international festivals and contests.

The main singers of the project are Nadezhda Babintseva (mezzo-soprano), a leading singer of the Yekaterinburg Opera Theater, a laureate of the Onegin National Opera Award in the category “Prima Donna”; Elena Dementyeva (soprano), a leading singer of the Yekaterinburg Opera Theater, a laureate of numerous international contests; Garry Agadzhanyan (bass), a nominee for the Golden Mask Award, a laureate of many international contests; Yuri Volkov (tenor), a leading singer of the Yekaterinburg Opera Theater, a laureate of international contests.

The orchestra of the project is the B-A-C-H chamber orchestra, popular far beyond Russia, which has taken part in more than 90 international festivals in Russia and Europe and has successfully toured around Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Netherlands, etc.

In German, “Bach” means a stream. But many people say Bach is not a stream, it is a sea. The works by Bach are often referred to as “the musical Bible”. Bach considered that by creating his works he was serving God. Bach combined the traditions of medieval polyphony and protestant chorale. His music is very expressive, illustrative and full of different symbols. Bach’s manner is clearly recognizable: you can hear, see and literally feel the descent of the Holy Spirit or the flying of the Angel. To experience this is an immense happiness!

We invite you to feel the power of baroque music performed by more than 90 singers.

In the end of the concert you will hear "the musical Bible of the XXI century" – famous jazz by the Jazz Choir of the Children Philharmonic Society.