News

The Penza Oblast has once again hosted the performance of leading organists from Russia and abroad: the VII Penza Fest Organ Music Festival (6+) opened in "Penzakontsert".
This year the festival has regained its international status, which means that residents and guests of the region will be able to attend concerts performed not only by Russian but also foreign musicians.
The first Penza Fest concert was given by two outstanding artists - Maria Blazhevich (Tomsk), winner of the "Organist of the Year – 2021" All-Russian Award, organist and pianist of the Tomsk State Philharmonic, and countertenor Mikhail Shirochenko (Moscow), soloist of the "Youth Opera Programme" of the State Bolshoi Theater of Russia, finalist of the  "Bolshaya Opera" television competition.
The artists performed the programme called "The Organ does not Believe Somebody's Tears. Romantic Music about Love", which included works by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdi, Franz Schubert, Johannes Brahms, Robert Schumann, Fryderyk Chopin, Gustav Mahler and Charles Aznavour.
In a duet with the organ, king of instruments, the rarest, highest male voice sounded - a countertenor. It was for such voices that Handel, Vivaldi, Bach and other masters of the Baroque era wrote their arias.
Photo credit to the Penza Oblast Ministry of Culture and Tourism