On September 24, 2023 at 17:00, the central square of Vladivostok will become a venue for a concert to commemorate the consecration of the Transfiguration Cathedral building. Opera soloists, together with the Chorus and the Mariinsky Orchestra of the Primorsky Stage under the baton of the Principal Conductor Pavel Smelkov will present a program containing Russian classical masterpieces. A cantata written specifically for the opening of the Cathedral will also be performed.
The New Temple cantata created by the renowned modern academic composer Alexander Smelkov in 2023 is dedicated to Vladimir, Metropolitan of Vladivostok and Primorsky Territory. The composition has five movements and is scored for soloists, chorus and a great orchestra.
“My intention was that the finale of the New Temple cantata should express the unanimous joy of the Feast of Transfiguration of Jesus and delight at the construction and consecration of the Cathedral building in Vladivostok”, the composer Alexander Smelkov commented. “However, we do not immediately reach the jubilant glorification of the Savior. In the second movement of the cantata, composed on Fyodor Tyutchev’s brilliant poem Our Century, one can perceive the confusion and ambivalence of someone lacking spiritual support. The poem, written in the middle of the 19th century, has retained its actuality till nowadays. Through Blok’s hurricanes and the yawning fogs of the third movement, we try to push towards the light and our own transfiguration, and to get rid of the painful burden of unbelief. In the fourth movement, based on the poem New Temple by Ivan Bunin, so consonant in its name with our celebration, through simple people, people of labor, such as painters, artists, and builders, we turn to the sincere and heart-warming Faith as an example of unpretentious admiration for the Creator God and His Creation. The cantata starts with a solemn opening on the theme of glorification and with a choral prayer. It is a prayer to the Savior for the future of our beloved Russia, written in the non-clamorous tonality of the Transfiguration, revealed to the disciples on Mount Tabor”.
The Chorus and soloists of the Opera Company of the Primorsky Stage, such as Alina Mikhailik, Alisa Fedorenko, Laura Bustamante, Tatiana Makarchuk, Ilya Astafurov, Alexei Kostyuk, Mingiyan Odzhaev, Alexei Repin, and Yevgeny Plekhanov, will take part in the concert.
The concert is organized by the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre and the Vladivostok Eparchy of the Russian Orthodox Church with the support of the Vladivostok City Administration.
