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Hermitage Magazine. Letter from Director of the State Hermitage Museum On the cover of this issue devoted to music is Man Ray’s iconic photograph. For the Hermitage, it is not simply a masterpiece but brings to mind one of our most significant muscical events - when Paganini’s violin was brought to the museum from Genoa. As an example of the unique way in which the museum synthesizes the arts, Sergey Stadler played the great musician’s instrument while a model sat reproducing the pose seen in Man Ray’s photograph. The Hermitage is indissolubly connected with music. Its theatre has existed since the time of Catherine the Great and its stage regularly hosts concerts and operas - some of which are created especially for the theatre. The museum also has its own orchestra led by Saulius Sondeckis, its various music festivals, and an ongoing program of musical events in the galleries. It is even possible to say that a certain concept of the musical life of the museum has been created that is distinct from simply presenting concerts within the museum walls. The muses in the niches of the Hermitage theatre should be pleased. The MUSEUM and MUSIC live together as semantics dictates. Music is also heard in the exhibits of the museum itself. Once I spent some hours in the galleries with Sir Paul McCartney and we spoke, in particular, about which guitars and mandolins, held in the hands of the subjects of Picasso’s pictures, were being played and which were not. There is also Caravaggio’s celebrated Lute Player. The sheet-music lying on the table in front of the young man allowed us to reproduce the music he is playing. Actually, even his gender was determined due to the character of the music set before him. The Hermitage and its Italian colleagues even went a step further during one event held in the galleries. While the reconstructed music from the painting was being played, the air was filled with the scents of the fruit and flowers seen in the picture. An interesting pastime for the thoughful museum visitor is to imagine which music matches the work of Rembrandt, Rubens, and Leonardo. The musicians who participate in our festivals offer their own various interpretations. To which music do the figures in Matisse’s Dance move? It is probably not the same as that which is being played in the artists’ Music. Or is it? And could this, perhaps, provide the theme for yet another festival... Mikhail Piotrovsky Music is the international language par excellence that, while displaying national characteristics, nonetheless easily transcends the boundaries which constrain, for instance, literature. A small word for one of the most universal of all human activities, Music takes as many forms as there are ‘voices’ to bring it to life. In the summer issue of Hermitage we explore the wonderful world of colour and sound that gives expression to the full range of our emotions and meaning to our lives. Contents: Books Film Theatre Architecture Art Music Easy Listening for the Hard of Hearing examines the quest for the mechanical reproduction of music throughout history and the composers who accepted the challenge of writing for some of the most demanding of 'performers'. Music, Might, Pageant and Statecraft The In Sound From Way Out Lev Theremin was a brilliant Russian physicist and inventor who created the world’s first electronic musical instrument. Played without touching it, the Aethervox - or Theremin as it was later known - remains popular to this day. Summer Dreaming A Midsummer Night’s Dream is one of Shakespeare’s best-loved plays - not only by audiences but by musicians as well. It is also one of the best served, with numerous musical settings of the text stretching back hundreds of years, interpreted by composers as diverse as Purcell, Mendelssohn, Orff, Britten, and Schnittke. Musical Petersburg Each summer the Hermitage organizes a vast assortment of concerts in the city's palaces, gardens and theatres that bring some of the greatest names in the world of classical music to the city to continue the traditions established in past centuries. The Voices of Ancient Novgorod Gussli, gudki, and dudki are some of the oldest Russian musical instruments and date from the early medieval period. One man has taken it upon himself to restore the traditions of playing these rare and unusual instruments, in the process preserving an important part of the countries cultural heritage. Living History The 225th anniversary of the Mariinsky Theatre is an occasion to look back at the history of this renowned theatre, and forward to what the future holds. An interview with Valery Gergiev by Juliya Kantor on the occasion of his 20th anniversary with the theatre offers a rare glimpse of the maestro’s thoughts about the links between life, music and art. Art and Money Spotlight |
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© 2011 State Hermitage Museum |
