Two classical music stars open international festival in Sochi.

SOCHI, the Black Sea, February 14 (Itar-Tass) - The Third Winter
International Music Festival opened in the Russian city of Sochi late on
Saturday. Two world famous Russian music stars - violist and conductor
Yuri Bashmet and violin player Vadim Repin - opened the festival with
brilliant performance and received a storm of applause.
Maestro Yuri Bashmet is the ambassador of the 2014 Sochi Olympic games
and the artistic director of the Third Winter International Music
festival. Bashmet told journalists that he was pinning high hopes on the
festival, which, he believes, has a good future.
Bashmet added that he was proud of every concert that would take place
on the Sochi stage in the next eight days. "It's hard for me to select
just one concert. For example, I have two children: a son and a daughter.
How can I say that I am more proud of my son than of my daughter?", the
musician explained.
Bashmet was certainly a star that shone out for almost three hours in
the overcrowded hall of the Sochi Winter Theatre. At the beginning the
maestro mounted on the conductor's stand and played the overture to Mozart'
s opera 'The Magic Flute' together with his chamber orchestra 'The
Soloists of Moscow'. After that Bashmet took the viola and played Brahm's
'Adagio for Viola and Stringed Instruments'.
Bashmet again conducted his orchestra when Austrian pianist Oleg
Maisenberg was playing the piano.
The audience burst into applause when violin virtuoso Vadim Repin
appeared on the stage. Together with 'The Soloists of Moscow' conducted by
Bashmet, Repin played Mendelson's Concert No. 1 for Violin and String
Orchestra and Carmen Fantasy by Waxman, a virtuoso showpiece for violin
and orchestra. It is considered by many to be one of the hardest pieces in
the violin repertoire.
"I've come here in excellent mood. A festival is always a bright
holiday. By the way, I haven't been to Sochi since I was eleven years
old. I don't remember that trip very well. So, I am going to gather new
impressions," Repin told Itar-Tass.
Vadim Repin began playing the violin at the age of five. He won
first the Venyavsky youth contest and later the Queen Elizabeth Music
Competition in Brussels.
Repin has recently won the French annual award in the classical music
nomination known as 'Les Victoires de la Musique Classique' (Music
Victories).
At the end of the concert Yuri Bashmet again reappeared on the stage
as a conductor. The Soloists of Moscow played 'A Little Night-Music'
serenade by Mozart. They played an aria from Bach's suite as an encore.
Bashmet played a foot tapping Polka dance by Alfred Schnitke on a viola
also as an encore. After that the maestro disappeared behind the wings and
returned to the stage wearing a sport jacket over his tail coat. The word
'Sochi' was written on the jacket. The entire hall rose to its feet to
greet Bashmet.
The festival's further program includes concerts by Georgian jazz
singer Nino Katamadze and performances by the Mariinsky Theatre prima
Ulyana Lopatkina.
Polish composer Ksistof Penderetski will participate in the festival's
closing ceremony.

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