Full house and ovation from the enthusiastic audience - Kazakh artists successfully completed a concert tour in France and returned home. FORTE TRIO visited several cities of this European country and were warmly received everywhere. The final performances took place in the city of Lyon in the legendary performance hall ‘Salle Moliere’. Musicians were the first Kazakhs to perform on this historic stage.
“We will remember this tour by the halls. I am sure that the French have a lot of them. But as I said, first impressions are very important. For example, I remember when we were performing in the Salle Cortot hall, which is in Paris. This hall is such a sensation. It made us play differently. It somehow dignifies our sound. And it is called the Stradivarius Hall for a reason. It was as if we were inside some kind of instrument. And the hall has a soul. I was very happy to play in this and other halls. This one won my heart, that's for sure,” said Murat Narbekov, a soloist of FORTE TRIO.
Kazakh classical music received a tremendous response among French art lovers and local Kazakhs, who did not miss the opportunity to enjoy the concert of musicians who came from their homeland. And good for them. Kazakh artists once again presented on the international stage the richest traditions not only of world music, but also of domestic one.
“We tried to take into account the interests of the French audience, which is very fond of Western European classics and Sergei Rachmaninoff. We performed his Trio élégiaque No. 1. Of course, we also made sure that the French public heard their national music. This program featured Claude Debussy. And since we performed in the regions bordering Germany, we also included in our program the works by Johannes Brahms, one of the most famous composers who left a great chamber legacy,” said Timur Urmancheyev, an artistic director of FORTE TRIO.
Laureate of international competitions, talented musician Sholpan Mankeyeva also conquered the prestigious stage of France. This tour was her debut with FORTE TRIO.
“It's great that I always had the opportunity to try something new in my playing, to extract new colors, to try new sound production, because each hall had different and very special acoustics. And of course it was nice to perform in France, because we always received a warm response from the audience. And this inspired us even more,” said Sholpan Mankeyeva, a soloist of FORTE TRIO.
The final concert of the trio, which won the hearts of the most sophisticated spectators of France, symbolically coincided with the end of the concert season in this country. This tour became not only a gift for classical music fans, but also a bright event marking the 30th anniversary of Kazakhstan's Independence.
Translation and Editing by Assem Zhanmukhanova
