Conductor Philipp Chizhevsky and the Questa Musica Ensemble

On June 30, the Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatory will host a concert by renowned conductor Philipp Chizhevsky and his ensemble, Questa Musica. The program will feature Giovanni Bottesini’s Concerto No. 2 for Double Bass and Orchestra and Antonio Vivaldi’s celebrated cycle The Four Seasons. The evening’s soloists will be Leonid Bakulin (double bass) and Leonid Zhelezny (violin).

During his lifetime, Italian composer Giovanni Bottesini, known as the “Paganini of the Double Bass,” captivated audiences around the world with his virtuoso playing and remarkable versatility. One of the great Romantic composers of the nineteenth century, he placed exceptional demands on the double bass—his compositions for the instrument are distinguished by their technical complexity and emotional expressiveness. Concerto No. 2 for Double Bass and Orchestra in B Minor is no exception, allowing the double bass to convey an entire palette of emotions and musical colors.

The Four Seasons in Chizhevsky’s interpretation has the power to genuinely surprise even those who know this cycle of violin concertos well. The conductor and his ensemble succeed in reimagining music that is familiar to everyone and, through the boldness of their interpretation and unexpectedly placed accents, reveal this canonical masterpiece to listeners in an entirely new way.