Esperia

Varvara Myagkova returns to the Diaghilev Festival with a new solo program — a romantic collage that moves from Schumann’s Kreisleriana and Brahms’s Theme and Variations to the “Russian fairy tales” of Medtner. The program closes with a surprising contrast: Prokofiev’s sharp and witty miniatures in Sarcasms paired with elegant Baroque sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti.

The pianist’s goal is to uncover and highlight the visible and hidden connections between works from different styles and eras: “By bringing together pieces that seem so different and unrelated, I’ve not only shared my entire artistic experience, but also couldn’t ignore the voice that runs through them — a voice that is passionate, engaged, and full of selfless devotion. I want to rediscover these works as if they were freshly written today. We are not just inheritors of these notes. They live within us from the moment they were created to this very moment.”

Varvara Myagkova rose to fame thanks to the spread of her recordings and interviews on social media. Since 2019, the solo career of this Moscow Conservatory graduate — who spent many years working with a children’s choir — has taken off rapidly. Today, she performs in top concert halls and at major music festivals across Russia. Her repertoire is vast, ranging from Bach to contemporary composers writing in the style of “new simplicity,” some of whom have written pieces especially for her.

Ivan Naborshchikov — one of the most remarkable violinists and composers of his generation, a prizewinner of international competitions and an active performer across Russia and Europe — presents a new chamber program together with pianist Yuri Panov. The concert features works composed in the first half of the 20th century. Two major sonatas — Prokofiev’s epic First Sonata for Violin and Piano and Bartók’s First Sonata, rooted in neo-folklore and rich in experiments with atonality — are juxtaposed with Webern’s pointillist and abstract Four Pieces and Cage’s early, impressionistic Nocturne.

Ivan Naborshchikov explains the concept behind the program:
"For me, the most important idea is the image of the night and the sensations, phenomena, thoughts, and actions associated with it — all of which can be found in each piece of this program. I envision the concert as a single statement, with no applause between the works."

The soloists of the musicAeterna orchestra present a new chamber music program featuring works by Maurice Ravel, Dmitri Shostakovich, and the prominent contemporary Serbian composer Marko Nikodijević.

The concert is built on the principle of growing musical texture and density — from trio to piano quintet. It opens with Ravel’s Piano Trio, a virtuosic cycle, a brilliant example of mature composer’s style. The music blends Basque rhythms unfamiliar to the Western ear with exotic structures inspired by Malay poetry, combining sharp instrumental clarity with deep emotional resonance. This performance also celebrates the 150th anniversary of Ravel’s birth.

The program concludes with Shostakovich’s Piano Quintet, a work that was met with great acclaim at its 1940 premiere. It mixes Bach-like polyphony with folk-style melodies reminiscent of Mussorgsky’s operatic language. The lyrical and dramatic elements are seamlessly fused, while the dark, aggressive undertones so common in Shostakovich’s music are almost absent. Musicologist Levon Akopyan quotes British critic Gerald Abraham’s description of Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony, which fits the quintet as well: “This is Shostakovich after the devils have been driven out.”

Between these two 20th-century chamber classics are two works by our contemporary, Marko Nikodijević: the String Quartet No. 2 and a poetic piece for the piano quintet titled Crossing the Night Blue. Nikodijević’s music — energetic, vivid, and often influenced either by historical traditions or techno-inspired sounds — is well known to the audience of the Diaghilev Festival.

For many years, Greek cellist, composer, improviser, and researcher Yiorgos Kaloudis has been exploring the expressive potential of the Cretan lyra, one of the world’s oldest bowed string instruments. He has released seven albums and given solo performances at the Athens Concert Hall (Megaron), as well as at prominent early music, classical, and jazz festivals across Europe and Russia. He is a regular collaborator with the Diaghilev Festival and the musicAeterna Orchestra.

The Cretan lyra is a teardrop-shaped, traditionally threestringed bowed instrument, often accompanied by sympathetic strings. Unlike the violin, its strings are stopped not by pressing with the fingertips, but by touching them with the nails — a technique that produces a distinctive, ethereal tone with whistling overtones. This ancient method of sound production has survived thanks to the lyra’s continued role in Cretan folk traditions, where it was primarily played at social dances, often with bells attached to the bow, and remained outside the domain of professional classical music for centuries.

Kaloudis began his in-depth study and performance practice of the lyra in 2004. Drawing upon his background as a cellist, he expanded the traditional instrument by adding a fourth string, adapting the baroque techniques of the bow thus specially cello techniques for the left hand, but also extending its range and adaptability. His innovations and transcriptions have enabled the classical Cretan lyra to interpret Baroque and Early music repertoire, most notably the Cello Suites by Johann Sebastian Bach, with clarity and emotional depth.

At the Diaghilev Festival, Yiorgos Kaloudis performs two works from this iconic collection. Written during Bach’s time in Kothen, the six suites are often regarded as the Bible of modern cello playing. Each suite blends dance forms with intricate polyphony, offering a sublime balance between technical mastery and expressive power — a balance that Kaloudis brings to life through the voice of a uniquely ancient instrument.