pianist
Nikolai Lugansky
Pianist Nikolai Lugansky about Alexander Vedernikov. October 30, 2020.
"I met Sasha Vedernikov in the early 90s, when he was still an assistant in the Bolshoi Symphony Orchestra with V.I. Fedoseyev. A very young and smiling man came up to meet me, since when we became friends. And as we aged we conversed more and more. Our friendship has become especially close in recent years. We often met not only in concert halls, but also went to visit each other — in Moscow or outside the town. He embodied health and energy. Of everyone but him, I could imagine that such a thing could happen…
It has always been very easy for us to discuss a variety of topics. We talked for hours over literature, music, painting… At the same time, we could talk about politics, we could even have different opinions about political events, but he was such an open and cheerful person that different opinions could not affect our friendship in any way.
We performed together 32 times — with a variety of orchestras, in different cities and countries. We played concerts by Beethoven, Brahms, a cycle of all Rachmaninoff's concerts with the Bolshoi Theater Orchestra, which was recorded by the "Kultura" channel. Probably the most valuable of our joint work that comes to mind now is the studio recording of two Chopin concerts with Sinfonia Varsovia, which we made in Warsaw about five years ago, this record even received a Polish award.
Each of our meetings was a great joy and pleasure. His ability to collaborate with soloists was absolutely amazing. The feeling of communication, both musical and human, on an equal footing has always been one of the main pleasures for me in our playing with the orchestra. I can hardly mention anyone else with whom this would be the same. I am sure that many soloists who have worked with him will agree with me.
This season we had a lot of plans with the Third concert by Medtner, new piece to both of us, I suppose. We should have performed it in St. Petersburg, Moscow, Tokyo, Belgorod, and recorded it in London with the BBC Orchestra. It is so bitter to realize that this creative meeting will not happen.
He was absolutely outstanding both as a symphonic and an opera conductor. I think his conducting at the Bolshoi was one of the happiest periods for this theater. I feel like there were no such diversity of new productions, new music, new forms, styles at the Bolshoi Theater before Vedernikov came. I remember a huge number of different performances that I attended with great pleasure: "Falstaff", "Ruslan and Lyudmila", "The Fiery Angel, "The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh"…
What happened today is a terrible tragedy, on the one hand, for me personally, and on the other hand, for the whole music community."
It has always been very easy for us to discuss a variety of topics. We talked for hours over literature, music, painting… At the same time, we could talk about politics, we could even have different opinions about political events, but he was such an open and cheerful person that different opinions could not affect our friendship in any way.
We performed together 32 times — with a variety of orchestras, in different cities and countries. We played concerts by Beethoven, Brahms, a cycle of all Rachmaninoff's concerts with the Bolshoi Theater Orchestra, which was recorded by the "Kultura" channel. Probably the most valuable of our joint work that comes to mind now is the studio recording of two Chopin concerts with Sinfonia Varsovia, which we made in Warsaw about five years ago, this record even received a Polish award.
Each of our meetings was a great joy and pleasure. His ability to collaborate with soloists was absolutely amazing. The feeling of communication, both musical and human, on an equal footing has always been one of the main pleasures for me in our playing with the orchestra. I can hardly mention anyone else with whom this would be the same. I am sure that many soloists who have worked with him will agree with me.
This season we had a lot of plans with the Third concert by Medtner, new piece to both of us, I suppose. We should have performed it in St. Petersburg, Moscow, Tokyo, Belgorod, and recorded it in London with the BBC Orchestra. It is so bitter to realize that this creative meeting will not happen.
He was absolutely outstanding both as a symphonic and an opera conductor. I think his conducting at the Bolshoi was one of the happiest periods for this theater. I feel like there were no such diversity of new productions, new music, new forms, styles at the Bolshoi Theater before Vedernikov came. I remember a huge number of different performances that I attended with great pleasure: "Falstaff", "Ruslan and Lyudmila", "The Fiery Angel, "The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh"…
What happened today is a terrible tragedy, on the one hand, for me personally, and on the other hand, for the whole music community."
