Music in the most difficult times

Strong, prolonged applause erupts before a single note is played. A shy smile flits across the faces of the young musicians as they take to the stage in Freiburg's Konzerthaus. Blue and yellow flags are stuck in the scrolls of the double basses. The Ukrainian flag can also be seen in the stalls. Just a few weeks ago, the orchestra members were still living under bombardment in Kiev. Most of them fled to Poland - some have remained in the Ukrainian capital. Normally, no man between the ages of 18 and 60 is allowed to leave the country attacked by Russia. The government made an exception for the members of the Kyiv Symphony Orchestra because they fulfill an important role as cultural ambassadors. The Ukrainian spelling of the capital in the orchestra's name is significant for them. This also emphasizes their own culture, which Russian President Vladimir Putin denies the country. With one exception, the program includes works by Ukrainian composers. Music to strengthen cultural identity. And as consolation in the most difficult of times.

The Kyiv Symphony Orchestra has been around for 40 years. The state orchestra plays for national holidays, but has also realized major opera productions and is involved in music education. After the escape, the orchestra was able to rehearse for two weeks in Warsaw for the tour of Germany planned at short notice, which took them to seven major cities in seven days. The evening organized by the Albert Concerts for the benefit of the orchestra is the only one in Baden-Württemberg. "I thought the first rehearsal would be chaotic because the musicians hadn't been able to practise for a long time. But I sensed a special intensity in their playing right from the start," says conductor Luigi Gaggero in a personal conversation after the concert. "We receive terrible news from Ukraine every day. Friends and relatives are dying. We talk about it in the orchestra. Music helps a lot to express these emotions and give each other support." This existential significance of music has been somewhat lost in the classical music business. As a conductor, he wants to create space for listening: "The emotionality comes from the orchestra!" The Italian deliberately does not use a baton, but leads his orchestra with his hands. He doesn't want to demand anything, but rather invite people to make music.

The concert evening begins with the Symphony No. 1 in C major by Maksym Berezovsky (1745-1777), who was born near Sumy in northern Ukraine. This is tender, bright, charming music in the style of Mozart - the two composers even had the same teacher in Bologna. Gaggero conducts with a smile. Aleksey Semenenko, who comes from Odessa and has been a violin professor in Essen since 2021, plays Ernest Chausson's Poem and refines the somewhat kitschy Melody by Myroslaw Skoryk. Semenenko himself was in Ukraine when the war broke out - and had great difficulty being allowed to leave for Germany. Now he is worried about his parents and brother in Germany, who still live in Odessa. In his touching encore, he lets Johann Sebastian Bach's Adagio from the first solo sonata in G minor flow into the Serenade by the still-living Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov. And shows the close connection between the composers in the narrative tone and chord breaks.

Borys Lyatoshynskyi's 3rd Symphony, composed in 1950, is about the brutality of the masses and the value of the individual. The composer originally wrote "Peace will conquer war" above the last movement, but had to remove the title after Stalin's criticism. The original version performed also ends bombastically, but with the musical material of peace. No victory for violence, then, which repeatedly gains dominance in the brass and the martial percussion. There is also room for lyrical solos in the cor anglais and flute. Huge applause for the Kyiv Symphony Orchestra - tears flowed during the encore performance of the Ukrainian national anthem, which was sung by some Ukrainian refugees in the audience.

The male musicians only had a special permit until the end of their tour at the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg on May 1. Now it has been extended. The orchestra will stay in Füssen for a few days and work on a new program, reports the conductor happily. The mission of the Kyiv Symphony Orchestra continues.