International Forum
“Mieczysław Weinberg (1919–1996). A Re-Discovery”
Moscow, 16–19 February 2017
A draft version of the project
(state of: 25.01.2017)
Conference languages: Russian and English
Conference Place: The Bolshoi Theatre, Theatre Square 1, 125009 Moscow
The international forum is designed to promote the revival of Mieczysław Weinberg’s name and oeuvre in the musical life of Russia.
The project comprises 4 opera premieres (two – in the Bolshoi Theatre, in the Kolobov Novaya Opera Theatre of Moscow and the Yekaterinburg State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre), three chamber music concerts (the Beethoven concert hall of the Bolshoi Theatre and the State Institute of Art Studies), 4 round tables, paper presentations of almost 40 researchers from different countries, artistic meetings with the staging teams of „The Idiot“ and „The Passenger“. The first staging director of „The Passenger“ David Pountney and the author of the novel „The Passenger“ Zofia Posmysz are the invited guests of the forum.
Mieczysław (Moisey) Weinberg (8.12.1919–26.02.1996) was an outstanding Soviet composer of a dramatic destiny, who reflected in his music the tragic events in the European history of the 20th century. For many years, Weinberg has been known in the Soviet Union and then Russia principally as a composer of film music. At the same time, his enormous musical legacy (26 symphonies, 17 string quartets, 7 operas, Requiem, and numerous other instrumental and vocal works), remaining largely unknown, except for professional musicians, has been on the remote outskirts of the music scene and public attention. Today, at the beginning of the 21st century, when the mankind is intensely reflecting upon the tragedies of the past, Weinberg’s heritage and the humanistic ideals expressed in his music reveal finally theirs great worth and have become highly topical.
Importantly, the forthcoming conference is a scientific part of the wide-scale theatre-and-music project, which includes Russian stage premieres of two operas by Weinberg: “The Idiot” at The Bolshoi Theatre and Mariinsky Theatre; “The Passenger” at the Yekaterinburg Opera and Ballet Theatre and at the Theatre “New Opera”; concerts of chamber music in the Beethoven-Hall of The Bolshoi Theatre and in the Institute of Art Studies, several publications devoted to the conference materials and the composer himself. The project promises to have a great impact on the promotion of the Russian musicological tradition, on the research of Weinberg’s music and the music of the second part of the 20th century as well.
Thus, the main conference fields are the history and the present of staging of Weinberg’s operas, his life and work with a special accent on the chamber compositions, the aspects of the composer’s heritage and his identity. The international conference “Mieczysław Weinberg (1919–1996). A Re-Discovery” brings together the musicologists from Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany, Belgium, the UK, the USA, and Israel.
10th February 2017
14:00 Press centre of the Bolshoi Theatre
Press conference of the International forum “Mieczysław Weinberg (1919–1996). A Re-Discovery”
Speakers:
Vladimir Urin, the director of the Bolshoi Theatre
Andrey Ustinov, chief-editor of the newspaper The Muzykalnoye obozrenie
Invited participants:
The State Institute of Art Studies (Natalya Sipovskaya)
The Kolobov Novaya Opera Theatre of Moscow (Dmitry Sibirtsev)
The Yekaterinburg State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre (Andrey Shishkin)
The Adam Mickiewicz Institute in Warsaw (Aleksander Laskowski)
12th until 19th of February 2017
Foyer of the Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow, Russia
Photo exhibition of the staging of Weinberg’s operas (2016–2017)
“The Passenger” in the The Yekaterinburg State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre
“The Passenger” in The Kolobov Novaya Opera Theatre of Moscow
“The Idiot” in The Bolshoi Theatre
“The Idiot” in The State Mariinsky Theatre
15th February 2017
19:00 The State Institute of Art Studies, Kozitskiy pereulok 5, Moscow
Prologue concert
Violin music of Mieczysław Weinberg
Sonata for violin and piano No. 2 op. 15 (1944) dedicated to David Oistrakh
Sonata for violin and piano No. 6 op. 136 b (1982) dedicated “to the memory of my mother”
Elena Prokhorova (violin), Berlin, Germany
Olga Makarova (piano), Moscow, Russia
16th February 2017
Staging history of Mieczysław Weinberg’s operas – the opera „The Idiot“ in Russia today
11:00–11:30 The Bolshoi Theatre
Participants’ registration
11:30–12:00 Conference opening
12:00–14:00 Round table: “Mieczysław Weinberg’s operas in the context of contemporary theatre”
Participants: Invited music critics, stage directors, conference participants and guests.
Association of music critics
14:00–15:30 Break
15:30–17:30 Round table: The opera “The Idiot” on the Russian theatre stage
15:30–15:50
Mieczysław Weinberg’s opera “The Idiot”: Interpretation of Fedor Dostoyevsky’s novel in music
Svetlana Voytkevich, Krasnoyarsk, Russia
Alexey Stepanyuk, the State Academic Mariinsky Theatre, production director and scene designer of „The Idiot“ premiered on the 6th of July 2016
Yevgeny Aryeh production director in the State Academic Bolshoi Theatre of Russia
Michał Klauza (Poland), producing conductor of „The Idiot“ in the Bolshoi Theatre of Russia premiered on the 12th February 2017.
19:00 Performance in the Bolshoi Theatre
“The Idiot” of Mieczysław Weinberg
Libretto of Alexander Medvedev upon the same name novel of Fedor Dostoyevsky
producing conductor Michał Klauza (Poland)
production director Yevgeny Aryeh
stage designer Semen Pastukh
costume designer Galina Solov’yeva
light designer Damir Ismagilov
chief choir director Valery Borisov
17th February 2017
The opera “The Passenger”: the past and present
10:00–10:20 The Bolshoi Theatre
“The Passenger–2016” – The project – from the idea till the premiere – content, events and newsline. Postscriptum
Andrey Ustinov, Moscow, Russia
10:20–10:40
The premiere of “The Passenger” in 2006 in Russia
Dmitry Abaulin, Moscow, Russia
10:40–11:00 The Passenger”: text and context
Alla Bayeva, Moscow, Russia
11:00–11:20 The cancelled premiere of „The Passenger“ in 1968
Antonina Klokova, Berlin, Germany
11:30–12:00 Break
12:00–12:20 “The Passenger” in the USA
Katherine Syer, Illinois, the USA
12:20–14:00 Discussion
Round table: The opera “The Passenger” in Russia and in the world today
The historical memory in the opera “The Passenger”
Sergey Medvedev, Moscow, Russia
14:00–15:30 Break
15:30–16:30 Artistic meeting
Jan Latham-Koenig, musical director and conductor, Sergey Shirokov, stage director of “The Passenger” in the Kolobov Novaya Opera Theatre
Thaddeus Strassberger (USA), stage director and designer as well as light designer,
Vita Tsykun (USA), costume designer,
Andrey Ustinov, project curator of “The Passenger” in the Yekaterinburg State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre, premiered on the 15th September 2016.
16:30–18:00 Witness and Guardian of Memory. Zofia Posmysz.
Meeting with Zofia Posmysz (Warsaw, Poland), former prisoner of Auschwitz, novelist and script writer of the radio play „The Passenger from Cabin 45“ (1959) and the novel “The Passenger” (1963)
19:00 The Kolobov Novaya Opera Theatre, ul. Karetnyy Ryad 3, building 2
Performance of Mieczyslaw Weinberg’s opera “The Passenger” op. 97 (1967–1968) in 2 acts (8 scenes and an epilogue), libretto by Alexander Medvedev on the novel by Zofia Posmysz. Dedicated to the victims of Auschwitz.
Musical director and conductor Jan Latham-Koenig
Stage director Sergey Shirokov
Stage design Larissa Lomakina
Costume design Igor Tchapurin
Choir director Julyia Senyukova
Light design Ivar Salikhov
19:00 The Bolshoi Theatre
Performance of “The Idiot” of Mieczysław Weinberg
18th February 2017
The Life and Legacy of Mieczysław Weinberg – chamber works
10:00–10:20 The Bolshoi Theatre
The First 20 Years of Weinberg in Poland
Danuta Gwizdalanka, Warsaw, Poland
10:20–10:40
Mieczysław Weinberg and his music. Reception in the 21st century in Poland
Aleksander Laskowski, Warsaw, Poland
10:40–11:00
Weinberg and Belarus
Inessa Dvuzhilnaya, Grodno, Belarus
11:00–11:20
About the materials of Mieczysław Weinberg in the archives of Dmitry Shostakovitch and Manashir Yakubov
Olga Dombrovskaya, Moscow, Russia
11:30–12:00 Break
12:00–12:20
The Renaissane of Weinberg’s music in the West
Jascha Nemtsov, Berlin, Germany
12:20–12:40
Weinberg in Washington
Bret Werb, Washington, the USA
12:40–14:00 Discussion
14:00–15:30 Break
15:30–15:50
A performance guide for the unaccompanied cello compositions by Mieczysław Weinberg
Elizabeth A. Grunin, Lincoln, the USA
15:50–16:10
Intriguing connections: the inherent logic of the cycle “12 miniatures for flute and piano”, op. 29
Janna Menhel, Tel Aviv, Israel
16:10–16:30
“24 preludes for cello solo” of Mieczysław Weinberg
Anna Fefelova, Perm, Russia
16:30–16:50
Shakespeare Sonnets in the music of Mieczysław Weinberg
Stefan Weiss, Hannover, Germany
16:50–17:10
“An encyclopaedia of the genre”: Weinberg’s String Quartets
Daniel Elphick, London, the Great Britain
17:10–18:00 Discussion
19:00 The Bolshoi Theatre, Beethoven concert hall
Concert of chamber music of Mieczysław Weinberg
I part
Six Shakespeare Sonnets for bass and piano op. 33 (1946), dedicated to Nikolay Peyko, Russian translation by Nikolay Gerbel
Russian premiere
Yuri Syrov (bass-bariton)
Alla Osipenko (piano)
Concertino for violin and string orchestra op. 42 (1948)
Alexander Kalashnikov (violin)
Three Palms for string quartet and soprano op. 120 (1977), Poem after verses by Mikhail Lermontov, dedicated to Boris Tishchenko
Anna Aglatova (soprano)
II part
Concerto for clarinet and string orchestra op. 104 (1970)
Sergey Petrov (clarinet)
Concertino for violoncello and string orchestra op. 43, first variant (1948)
World premiere
Petr Kondrashin (violoncello)
The Chamber orchestra of the Bolshoi Theatre
Conductor – Mikhail Tsinman
19:00 The Kolobov Novaya Opera Theatre, ul. Karetnyy Ryad 3, building 2
Performance of Mieczyslaw Weinberg’s opera “The Passenger”
19th February 2017
Mieczysław Weinberg: Identity – Biography – Personality
10:00–11:30 The Bolshoi Theatre
Artistic meeting with David Pountney, Welsh National Opera, the Great Britain
11:30–12:00 Break
12:00–12:20
Music of Mieczysław Weinberg and Quatuor Danel
Marc Danel
12:20–13:00
Mieczysław Weinberg’s Jewish Songs: commemoration and constraints
David Fanning, Manchester, The Great Britain
Michelle Assay, Sheffield, The Great Britain
13:00–13:20
Jewish aspects in the works of Weinberg. The opera “Congratulations!” (Mazl Tov!)
Julia Broido, St. Petersburg, Russia
13:20–13:40
Symphony Nr. 21 and “hyphenated” national and cultural identity
Elena Dubinets, Seattle, The USA
13:40–14:00
In the middle of Mieczysław Weinberg’s identities: between Jewish, Polish, Russian und Soviet cultures
Ekaterina Lobankova, Moscow, Russia
14:00–15:30 Break
15:30–15:50
Mieczysław Weinberg and “the eternal feminine” (events, subjects, evocation)
Lyubov Kupets, Petrozavodsk, Russia
15:50–16:10
Music for the Dead. Weinberg’s instrumental music to the memory of his family
Verena Mogl, Hamburg, Germany
16:10–16:30
A documented biography of Mieczysław Weinberg as a research challenge
Antonina Klokova, Berlin, Germany
16:30–18:00 Discussion
Round table: Mieczysław Weinberg in the memory of his family, friends and colleagues
Participants: Olga Rakhalskaya, Anna Weinberg, Moscow, Russia
Arnt Nitschke, Hamburg, Germany
Tommy Persson, Gothenburg, Sweden
Vladimir Rubin, Moscow, Russia
Andrey Zolotaryov, Moscow, Russia
18:00 Final Forum results
Vladimir Urin, The Bolshoi Theatre
Andrey Ustinov, newspaper The Muzykalnoye obozrenie
19:00 The Bolshoi Theatre. The New Scene
The Yekaterinburg State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre
Mieczysław Weinberg’s “The Passenger” op. 97 (1967–1968) in 2 acts (8 scenes and an epilogue), libretto by Alexander Medvedev on the novel by Zofia Posmysz. Dedicated to the victims of Auschwitz.
Conductor – Oliver von Dohnányi (Slovakia)
Stage director, stage and light designer – Thaddeus Strassberger (USA)
Costume designer – Vita Tsykun (USA)
Choir director – Angelika Grozina
Project curator – Andrey Ustinov
Premiere took place on the 15th September 2016.
20th February 2017
19:00 The State Institute of Art Studies, Kozitskiy pereulok 5, Moscow
Unknown pages of Mieczysław Weinberg’s vocal music
Concert of vocal music of Mieczysław Weinberg
“Jewish songs” op. 13, 1st cycle on poems by I. Leib Peretz
Edited by the Composers Union in 1945.
The Singers of the Primeval World, op. 32. Elegy after Friedrich Schiller
(1946), Russian translation by Lev Ostroumov
The Gipsy Bible, op. 57. Songs on poems by Julian Tuwim (1956). Dedicated
to Dmitry Shostakovitch
“Contemplation” , song No. 1 from the unfinished cycle Memoires, op. 62.
Songs on poems by Julian Tuwim (1957–1958)
Dmitry Grinikh (baritone)
Olga Sobakina (piano)
23rd February 2017
19:00 Dom Kino (The House of Cinema), Ul. Vasilyevskaya 13, Moscow
The Cultural Centre of Poland in Moscow presents
“The Passenger”, movie, Poland, 1963
Directors: Andrzej Munk, Witold Lesiewicz
Staring: Aleksandra Śląska, Anna Ciepielewska, Janusz Bylczynski, Krystyna Dubielowna, Anna Golebiowska, Barbara Horawianka, Małgorzata Potocka
Awarded by The International Federation of Film Critics in 1964 at the Cannes Film Festival and The Italian critics award on The Film Festival in Venice.
Special guest: Małgorzata Potocka
Find the detailed information about the forum on http://muzobozrenie.ru/
E-mail: weinberg.moscow2017@gmail.com