JERUSALEM—A special concert will take place on March 5 at the Jerusalem Theatre where the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of internationally acclaimed Estonian violinist cum conductor Andres Mustonen, will perform a program dedicated to the commemoration of the centennial of the Armenian Genocide, the Jerusalem Post reports.
The Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, in collaboration with the music festival Yerevan Perspectives, will perform music written by the foremost Armenian composers, as well as Beethoven’s “Eroica” Symphony.
Veteran Armenian composer Stepan Rostomian, the initiator of the concert, explains that the performance in Jerusalem is the first in a series of international concerts.
“The Centennial of the Armenian Genocide will be noted by remarkable concerts all over the world,” he says. “Two dozen renowned musicians will give memorial concerts in the world’s most prestigious concert halls through a series of concerts under the title ‘With you, Armenia,’ which will start in Israel. Further venues include St. John Church in Tallinn; the Beaux Arts Palace in Brussels; the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg; Carnegie Hall in New York; Santa Cecilia Hall in Rome; Cadogan Hall in London; and Musikverein Hall in Vienna. The roster of top-class musicians includes the Belgium National and La Scala philharmonic orchestras; the Royal Philharmonic and Mariinsky symphony orchestras; Camerata Salzburg; conductors Valery Gergiev, Pinchas Zukerman, George Pehlivanian and John Axelrod; and soloists Evgeny Kissin, Maxim Vengerov, Mischa Maisky, Julian Rachlin and Sergei Nakariakov.”
In regard to the Armenian Genocide, Rostomian says that this tragic page in his people’s history is a wound that every Armenian bears in his heart.
“This was not only the loss of human lives but also of our cities, which are now in Turkey, and of our cultural monuments that were destroyed,” he says.
He stresses, “I have nothing against the Turkish people; I have musician friends in Turkey. But the world – and Turkey in particular on the governmental level – has to accept the fact that this terrible thing happened at all. Otherwise, it can be repeated – and that is the fear that every Armenian feels.”
The program features the following pieces: Komitas’s “Fragments from Liturgy” (arranged for violin and orchestra by Andres Mustonen); Rostomyan’s Fourth Symphony; “Adagio” from the ballet “Spartacus” by Aram Khachaturian; and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3, “Eroica.”
Mixed messages keep coming. They are playing the fiddle at both ends…..
what a magmifisant program.Bravo.
Gomidas ~ Komitas
My Musical God
My Poetic Prince
My Secret God
My Holy Hero
Since
Childhoodness
Gomidas,
Melodious Saint
Melodious Shrine
Melodious Fortress,
You left Treasures
Like our Altars
All destroyed,
But Yours
Shall
Live
On.
Sylva~MD~Poetry
From the Poetry Collection “Gomidas My Musical God” (2015)
For the sake of Turkey’s interest, Turkey needs an honest, wise and brave president, I hope Erdogan will come to his senses and starts acting like a real leader.