Music of Survival, a New York City Opera presentation at Carnegie Hall on February 24, features virtuoso cellist Kristina Reiko-Cooper and soprano Elizaveta Ulakhovich with the New York City Opera Orchestra under the baton of the eminent Constantine Orbelian.
In the face of Cancel Culture and the worldwide rise in antisemitism, the concert counters with a celebration of the enduring power of the human spirit. It opens with two 20th-century Jewish composers, Mieczyslaw Weinberg and Erich Wolfgang Korngold, whose Cello Concerto in C Major, Op. 37, was originally written for the 1946 film Deception.
True gems that are rarely performed—Weinberg's Fantasy for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 52, will also receive its New York premiere—their works provide a commemorative notion as both survivors of the Holocaust and (Weinberg) Stalinist totalitarianism.
The concert will conclude with the US premiere of Metamorphosis by Russian-American composer Gennady Rovner, which features Russian Soprano Elizaveta Ulakhovich. This work continues the artistic journey across borders.
Photo: Soprano Elizaveta Ulakhovich
Orbelian has long been passionate about combining artistic excellence with cultural diplomacy through programs such as Music of Survival. Born in San Francisco to a family of Russian Armenian immigrants, he is equally at home in New York City, Yerevan, Armenia, where he is the General and Artistic Director of the State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater, and Kaunas, Lithuania, where he is the Chief Conductor of the Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra.
A central figure in Russian and Eastern European musical life - first as the music director of the Moscow Chamber Orchestra and the Philharmonia of Russia, then as the founder of the St. Petersburg International Music Festival, he led the opening Ceremonial Concert for the Cultural Olympics in Sochi – the first event setting the stage for Russia's hosting of the Olympic Games in 2014.
Photo: Constantine Orbelian
Hailed by Opera News as "a singer's dream collaborator," he is a four-time GRAMMY-nominated recording artist with over 60 recordings on the Delos record label. Throughout his more than 30-year career, he has been renowned for his collaborations with outstanding talent like Dmitri Hvorostovsky and his achievements in international exchanges, like bringing American superstar Renée Fleming for a recital to Armenia and the Armenian Ballet company, performing Gayane, Aram Khachaturian's ballet, to Moscow's Bolshoi Theater.
Photo: Kristina Reiko-Cooper
In 2022, he collaborated in Kaunas with the artistically versatile and equally entrepreneurial partner Kristina Reiko-Cooper for the premiere of Lera Auerbach's monumental Sixth Symphony, Vessels of Light. Commissioned by Yad Vashem, The World Holocaust Remembrance Center in Jerusalem. Realized through an international consortium initiated by Reiko-Cooper, it is the first symphonic work featuring a libretto sung in Yiddish in its entirety. Its latest installment at the Berlin Konzert Haus with Reiko-Cooper and its current conductor Joana Mallwitz, this November, was named "best classical concert performance of the year" by the press. (Süddeutsche Zeitung)
In 2023, it also received its New York premiere at Carnegie Hall, with Orbelian and Cooper sharing the stage. For that same premiere, Orbelian invited Ms. Ulakhovich, the soprano for Music of Survival from St. Petersburg, to sing as one of its soloists, making her New York debut.
Music of Survival is part of Orbelian's latest efforts to revive New York City Opera as its executive director, music director, and principal conductor after the longstanding institution had lost its financial footing.
Since its launch in 1943, the mid-sized alternative to the MET, dubbed The People's Opera, for its edgier, timelier productions, discovery of young talent, and less expensive ticket prices, has made a unique space for programs that weave art into the fabric of civil life.
"Since its inception, New York City Opera has been a trailblazer in breaking down racial barriers and championing diversity. Known for staging groundbreaking works such as Troubled Island and Stonewall, our artists have always organically reflected a diverse tapestry of talent," recalls Roy Niederhoffer, the organization's Chairman, Emeritus. "Looking back on our own turbulent history as a survivor of adversity," he adds, "New York City Opera is proud to present this most fitting program of Music of Survival at Carnegie Hall." Tickets are available.
New York City undoubtedly stands to gain from its continuous exchange of notable artists with different nations and programs that celebrate relevant cultural conversations. This exchange should be embraced within a free-spirited society of any true democracy, even if the latest calls for politically motivated boycotts strain our collective recognition of the importance of upholding cultural freedom to maintain and enhance our civic lives.
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