The People’s Artist of Russia, conductor Valery Gergiev, addressed attendees at the opening of the New Year’s Music Festival held in the Science and Art Park at the Sirius Cultural Center in Sochi. His remarks centered on safeguarding Russian cultural heritage and the responsibility that rests with today’s generation to preserve the nation’s artistic treasures for future generations. The remarks were quoted by a leading Russian media outlet and echoed across cultural circles for their emphasis on continuity and preservation of tradition.
Gergiev announced the lineup for the festival, highlighting performances of pieces drawn from Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker and Sergei Rachmaninov’s Second Symphony. He noted that the festival’s concerts have traveled through many regions and countries, including Japan, several Western nations, and various parts of Europe, before returning to Russia. In speaking about Rachmaninov’s Second Symphony, he underscored that the program marks a commemorative moment as the musical world enters the Rachmaninov Year. He stressed that preserving the Nutcracker treasure remains a priority and that Rachmaninov’s Second Symphony is equally cherished as part of Russia’s musical heritage.
Gergiev also shared insights into ongoing preparations at the Mariinsky Theatre for the Year of Rachmaninov. He described a rigorous program that will feature a broad array of Sergei Vasilievich’s works, ensuring that his music is performed across multiple platforms and venues. The conductor highlighted connections to notable cultural sites and towns associated with the composer, including Veliky Novgorod, Ivanovka in the Tambov region, and communities such as Votkinsk and Klin, which have historic ties to Russian music and premieres. He reflected on a lineage of premieres that began in Saint Petersburg and extended into the broader national landscape, noting how Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky himself encountered Igor Stravinsky in the late stages of his life within the corridors of the Mariinsky Theatre. The story, and many others like it, illustrate the deep human dimension behind the music and its institutions.
The festival’s events are framed as part of a broader effort to remind audiences that cultural memory is not a static archive but a living practice. The conductor spoke about the responsibility of major music institutions to maintain the vitality of classic works while inviting new generations to engage with them. He pointed to the ways in which performances can reconnect communities with their own heritage, offering both reverence for tradition and fresh interpretations that resonate with contemporary listeners. The opening event thus served as a reminder that music is not merely entertainment but a cultural covenant linking past, present, and future.
In acknowledging the 150th anniversary of the birth of the celebrated composer, the remarks highlighted the long arc of Russian musical achievement and the ongoing effort to honor those legacies through concert programming, education, and outreach. The celebration in 2023 marked more than a milestone; it was a reaffirmation of the belief that great art continues to inspire, educate, and connect people across regions and generations. Gergiev’s reflections emphasized that the preservation of such legacies depends on concert halls, teaching institutions, orchestras, and individual listeners who keep the music alive through attentive listening, thoughtful discourse, and active participation in cultural life.