Programme:
M. Wielgorsky: Variations on Russian themes for cello and orchestra
P. I. Tchaikovsky: Elegie in memory of Ivan Samarine for strings orchestra in G major
K. Davydov: Fantasy on Russian themes for cello and orchestra
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M. Bruch: Kol Nidrei, for cello and string orchestra, Op. 47
P. I. Tchaikovsky: Serenade for strings in C major, Op. 48

The Musica Viva Moscow Chamber Orchestra was founded in 1978 by the violinist and conductor Viktor Kornachev, who brought together nine young musicians freshly graduated from Moscow’s music academies. After ten years of enthusiastic work and professional growth, the leadership of the ensemble was taken over by internationally acclaimed violinist Alexander Rudin. Under Rudin, Musica Viva has grown into a first-class ensemble and one of the most notable Russian chamber orchestras currently active. For this concert at the Ljubljana Festival, the orchestra has chosen a carefully considered programme that brings together four composers of the Romantic era. Count Mikhail Vielgorsky was a Russian official, cellist and composer, whose salons had a significant impact on the development of chamber music and the string quartet in Russia during the nineteenth century. Karl Davidov, who was also an excellent cellist, was openly admired by Tchaikovsky. As a contrast to these Russian musical pearls, the concert will also include Kol Nidrei, the popular composition for cello and orchestra by the German composer Max Bruch, featuring special guest Bernardo Brizani, a Slovene cellist who is building a successful performing career both in Slovenia and internationally, having joined the Joseph Keilberth Orchestra Academy of the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra after completing his master’s degree at the Ljubljana Academy of Music.