«December Evenings» by Sviatoslav Richter

"I would like to have my own sign, so that I can be recognized by it. But what kind of sign would that be? The union of all the arts created by God!" — this is how the greatest pianist of the 20th century, Sviatoslav Richter, described the idea of his festival "December Evenings." As tradition holds, the annual celebration once again took place in the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts. At the origins of this unique artistic phenomenon stood two figures: the renowned pianist Sviatoslav Richter and the distinguished art historian and director, later president, of the Pushkin Museum, Irina Antonova.

The legacy of these two outstanding figures has been carried forward by the famous musician Yuri Bashmet — People's Artist of the USSR, and artistic director of two ensembles: the chamber orchestra "Moscow Soloists" and the symphony orchestra "New Russia." He has led the festival for more than a quarter of a century. "I have participated in almost all of the major music festivals around the world," said Yuri Bashmet. "But 'December Evenings' is a special one. Not only because of the carefully prepared thematic programs aimed at finding resonances between music, painting, and poetry — a kind of polyphony and, ultimately, mutual enrichment of the arts. The festival is unique above all because at every concert, the spirit of Sviatoslav Richter is alive in the hall. His aura radiates a special energy that fills the entire event. And, of course, it is a ‘stellar’ festival — just leaf through the concert programs over the years. I am proud to be a permanent participant and its artistic director," emphasized Yuri Bashmet.

The international music festival "December Evenings of Sviatoslav Richter" is a series of concerts held in the museum's White Hall. Each year, the festival’s theme echoes the accompanying exhibition. In this way, it reveals the interconnections between various arts within a single epoch or national school, allowing the audience to grasp their essence more deeply. Over 44 years, the festival has held about 600 concerts of chamber, symphonic, choral, and vocal music, featuring works by more than 200 composers of different eras.

According to Yuri Bashmet, "this year each of the eight concerts is unique, and it’s hard to single out one. For example, the program of the first evening, titled 'Let the Storm Break Stronger!', featured a rarely performed movement from Nikolai Myaskovsky's Sinfonietta. The musical and literary performance based on Vladimir Mayakovsky’s poem 'The Cloud in Trousers' (read by Honored Artist of Russia Igor Gordin) included bright flashes and powerful instrumental ‘statements’ — Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Shostakovich — embodying the festival’s essential principle: the synthesis of painting, music, and poetry," noted Yuri Bashmet. The opening of "December Evenings" 2025 was dedicated to the memory of Irina Antonova, who passed away on November 30, 2020. On the second evening, December 5, pianist Boris Berezovsky presented a "Dedication to Sviatoslav Richter."

This year, the festival exhibition is dedicated to the art of Marc Chagall, showcasing major works from Russian museums and private collections. As is well known, Chagall loved music deeply, though he earned fame through painting. In the Paris Opéra Garnier, the 77-year-old Chagall painted the ceiling of the auditorium and later created panels for the Metropolitan Opera. He also designed sketches for the scenery of Mozart's The Magic Flute.

The final evening of the festival took place on December 25 and was titled "The Ceiling of the Paris Opera." Works by Gluck, Debussy, Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky, Ravel, Sarasate, and Schoenberg were performed — composers whose music inspired the stories depicted by Chagall on the ceiling of the Paris Opera. On the same evening, Yuri Bashmet conducted Mozart’s famous Symphony No. 41 “Jupiter” — the very piece performed by the Paris Opera Orchestra on September 23, 1964, when Marc Chagall officially presented his completed masterpiece to the public.