On Wednesday, May 29, the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow will host a gala performance of the International Music Festival Tribute Knushevitsky that was founded eight years ago in Saratov, native city of one of the greatest cellists of the twentieth century. The Festival was founded by Olga Suvorova who passed away in 2012, a well-known radio journalist who stood at the origins of the philanthropic movement in post-Soviet Russia, social activist, writer and executive producer of the Art-Brand Artists Management, and Svyatoslav Knushevitsky’s granddaughter.

The unique ensemble of soloists (a rare case where “all the stars together”) — Hibla Gerzmava, Alena Bayeva, Alexander Gindin, Yevgeny Rumyantsev, Sergei Suvorov, the Moscow Chamber Orchestra MUSICA VIVA conducted by Alexander Rudin, the musicologist Artem Vargaftik, and above all — an unusual program that features Russian and international premieres. Hibla Gerzmava will sing a work by Mozart, which is virtually unknown to Russian audiences, that he wrote to the text of his opera Idomeneo — the Scene for soprano, piano and orchestra Ch’io mi scordi di te?, KV. 505 (1786), often referred to as one of the greatest works in the genre. Mozart wrote this piece in just one day for Nancy Storace, an outstanding English singer of Italian origin, one of the brightest opera stars of her time. Premiere of this work took place in Vienna in February 1787. The piano part was performed by the composer himself.

Coincidentally, May 29 is the birthday of Hibla’s late mother. On this day, Hibla will sing in her memory…