"Chaikovsky’s Path" — a project by Yuri Bashmet

The recently concluded musical marathon “The Path of Pyotr Ilyich Chaikovsky” was conceived and brought to life by our contemporary, the brilliant Russian artist Yuri Bashmet. This unique cultural project is aimed at preserving and promoting the creative legacy of the great Russian composer, as well as developing the cultural environment in Russian regions associated with his life and work. At the closing of the grand musical forum, Yuri Bashmet said: “For me, Chaikovsky is my favorite composer. It was his music, when I was still in school, that changed my view of the profession. It was after hearing his Sixth Symphony that I decided to become a professional musician.” This very piece — Chaikovsky’s Sixth Symphony — was performed at the final concert conducted by Yuri Bashmet at the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Hall. It was on this same stage, under Chaikovsky’s own baton, that the piece was first performed in 1893, just eight days before the 53-year-old Russian genius passed away. And, it must be said, it did not receive the applause it deserved at that time. Let us recall Chaikovsky’s own words about the work: “Into this symphony I have put my whole soul, without exaggeration. I love it as I have never loved any of my musical offspring,” he wrote before the premiere of his final Sixth Symphony, which came to be known as the “Pathétique.” The second performance of the symphony, however, revealed the confessional depth of the work. Since then, for more than 130 years, it has been performed worldwide by the most renowned musicians and conductors.

According to Yuri Bashmet’s concept, concerts featuring the genius’s music took place in various locations in one way or another connected with Chaikovsky’s life and work. The musical marathon “Chaikovsky’s Path” began three years ago in the composer’s birthplace of Votkinsk, in the foothills of the Urals. As is well known, the house where the Chaikovsky family lived and where the Russian genius was born in 1840 has been preserved. Today, it is a famous memorial museum. Concerts within the framework of the “Chaikovsky’s Path” project were held this year in eight cities across Russia associated with the composer’s name. Among them, of course, is Klin near Moscow. Toward the end of his life, Pyotr Ilyich Chaikovsky purchased a house and estate there. After the composer’s death, his brother Modest preserved it, and today it is a world-renowned memorial museum and archive of the great composer. “Klin is a truly special place, with incredible energy and atmosphere,” said the project’s artistic director Yuri Bashmet. “Every time I come to Klin, to Chaikovsky’s house-museum, I feel both an emotional uplift and a great responsibility for what will happen on stage during the concert.”

The musical marathon then continued through the cities of Podolsk, Vladimir, the village of Usovo in the Tambov region, Alapaevsk in the Sverdlovsk region, as well as in Moscow and St. Petersburg. These concerts became a vivid artistic phenomenon. Each of them was a kind of rediscovery of the great master’s work. All genres of Chaikovsky’s creativity were presented: opera, ballet, chamber music — both instrumental and vocal — piano, violin and cello concertos, and all his symphonies. Alongside renowned Russian performers, young artists and ensembles also took part in the concerts. Popular theater and film actors hosted the evenings. The high artistic standard of each performance lent special significance to the entire marathon, which concluded in the year marking the 185th anniversary of Pyotr Ilyich Chaikovsky’s birth. Artistic director and chief conductor of the project Yuri Bashmet added: “At every concert, the program and participants were different, and each performance was special and memorable. For me, it is a great joy to discover new places connected with the life and work of our great genius — Chaikovsky. Traveling along his path, we ourselves become travelers, discovering new places. Chaikovsky is incredibly connected both with St. Petersburg and with Moscow. It was in the Philharmonic Hall that his last performance in life took place. This concert is a very special, creative, and deeply personal event for me,” emphasized Yuri Bashmet.

It is worth noting that more than 75,000 people in Russia attended the concerts of the “Chaikovsky’s Path” project.