19.12.2022 - Premiere of THE PIANO OF SHOSTAKOVICH
A documentary by Stefan Prokhorov, Kety Marinova and Veselina Antonova about the performances and life of Dmitry Shostakovich in Ruse, 60 min.
With the financial support of Ruse Municipality under the Culture Programme in the Creative Projects Programme
With the special participation of a string quartet from the State Opera-Ruse Orchestra
The documentary "Shostakovich's Piano" follows the composer's visits and concert performances in 1958 and 1965 in Ruse.
State Opera-Ruse, as the most representative musical institute of the city, whose honorary citizen is Dmitry Shostakovich, created a documentary about the composer's stay in Ruse. In a curious and colourful series of interviews with doyenne musicians from the Ruse Philharmonic and the Ruse National Opera, the two institutions with which Shostakovich worked in the past, stories are told that reveal unexpected details, painting his magnetic image. As a connecting yet curious thread throughout the film is the question "Who is the concert grand piano on which the composer played?" On 24 January 1958, under the baton of the legendary Dobrin Petkov, Shostakovich took to the stage of the Rousseau Opera House as soloist for his Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 2 in F Major, Op. 102, written only a year earlier. The story tells how orchestra members carried the instrument by hand through the city centre from its rehearsal hall, which was located in the hall of today's State Puppet Theatre-Ruse, to the stage of the National Opera-Ruse. The traces of this instrument are lost and intertwined with the history of another concert grand piano, also deeply connected with the musical history of Ruse. The confusion continues until the truth about Shostakovich's piano in Ruse is revealed during the filming of the documentary in September this year.
The film also highlights moments related to the first production of the opera Katerina Izmailova in Bulgaria, which took place in the presence of the composer in 1965 in Ruse, as well as his remarkable visit to Pirgovo, from which there is historical documentary footage and memories of people who welcomed him then.
The author's team is composed of the director and scriptwriter Stefan Prokhorov, the cinematographer Kety Marinova and the script consultant Dr. Veselina Antonova - researcher and archivist at the Artistic Archive of the State Opera-Ruse.
The film is scored by a string quartet, composed of soloists-orchestras from the State Opera-Ruse Orchestra, whose special performance will grace the premiere screening on 19 December in the Europe Hall in the Dokhodnoe Building.
Partners in the search for archival materials are the National University of Education "Prof. Vesselin Stoyanov, NMA "Prof. Pancho Vladigerov", Central State Archives, International Elias Canetti Society, the Town Hall of the village of. Pirgovo.
