21st Century Conductor

Working with two great names from Eastern Europe, composer Stepan Rostomyan and Cellist Ivan Monighetti, was a breakthrough experience in Yerevan last week.

I first came across Stepan Rostomyan's music when Paragon Ensemble were using me as assistant administrator back in 1991, following Glasgow's year as European City of Culture.  We were off to the derelict generator room of Niest Point Lighthouse in the Isle of Skye to perform for the Skye and Lochalsh Music Guild.  The programme included Rostomyan's 3rd Symphony for small ensemble and tape.  I was to press "play" and stage manage the event.  The sound of that music, intertwining Armenian church bells and children's choirs with ever whirling instruments and wind caressing the side of the building, made a lasting impression on the 60 odd people who had squeezed into the venue to hear us.  Thankfully, the electricity was still working.

Fast forward to last week, and the world premiere of Rostomyan's 1st Symphony, written for the Armenian Phil when he was 24, but never performed.  The orchestra is vast, including 10 double basses, 2 pianos and 2 contrabassoons.  The single movement work lasts about 12 minutes and packs in many aspects of Stephan's later music, the mystery, the planes of sound phasing in and out of each other, the clangourous finale reaching fever pitch.  The orchestra had never played anything so modern before, so we were entering the delivery room in very many ways. In this photo, Monighetti, Sona Hovanessyan, the manager of the Armenian Music Information Centre, a colleague of Stepan's and the composer at rehearsal.

Ivan Monighetti was the guest soloist. Rostropovich's last student and veteran interpreter of the Russian repertoire. What a great experience to enter into his interpretation of Shostakovich's 1st Cello Concerto.  Written in 1961, 8 years after Stalin's death, the composer still needed to parody Stalin's favourite Georgian folk tune in the last movement. There is still some discussion about Shostakovich's allegiances, a pro-Communist, but anti-Soviet, Russian to the core, and a genius who ended up belonging to the world. One recommended book is Shostakovich Remembered, by Elisabeth Wilson, linked below.

After the shock and courage of the first half, the concert was concluded by Beethoven 7. It seems that my decision to conduct the second movement at the tempo Beethoven had written was somewhat contraversial.   Why do we do the classics in this era of IT driven convenience culture? Because they knock the hell out of everything else. More pictures in the album at the top right hand side.

For more information about Rostomyan's music, contact Sona Hovanessyan at: sonahov@yahoo.com

Ivan Monighetti's website is at: http://www.monighetti.com/

Shostakovich Remembered:

http://www.amazon.com/Shostakovich-Remembered-Second-Eliz...