“This music pierces and magnetizes.” Oleksandra Matviichuk became a reader of the work “The Rope Of Wartime” at the National Opera of Ukraine
On June 7, the National Opera of Ukraine hosted the Music for Peace art project, an event and act of solidarity by the international art community with Ukraine. A special feature of the event was the arrival of the legendary composer Jörg Widmann and conductor Kent Nagano to perform the Cantata in tempore belli. Head of the Center for Civil Liberties, Oleksandra Matviichuk, joined the performance as a reader.
The concert began with the performance of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Requiem with the participation of the choir and orchestra of the National Opera of Ukraine, as well as well-known Ukrainian singers. But it was the second section that was a special part of the concert, during which the work “Cantata in tempore belli” (“Cantata in Time of War”) by German clarinetist, conductor, and composer Jörg Wiedmann was premiered in Ukraine. The artist, one of the world’s three most performed contemporary composers, decided to write music about the war, using texts by German poets of different centuries and texts from the Bible.
Conductor Kent Nagano, the General Music Director and Principal Conductor of the Hamburg State Opera and the General Music Director of the Hamburg State Philharmonic Orchestra, visited Ukraine specifically for this event. He has been conductor emeritus of the Berliner Symphoniker since 2006, the Concertgebouw Cologne since 2019, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra since 2021, and the Hamburger Philharmoniker since 2023. As part of the Music for Peace project, Kent Nagano conducted the Symphony Orchestra of the National Opera of Ukraine for the first time.
Oleksandra Matviichuk joined the event as a reader in Widmann’s Cantata. Her voice, which is heard from various international venues, reminds the world of the human dimension of war, the need to build a just peace, and to bring to justice those who commit crimes. And thus, it reinforces the central message of the project: “Seek peace and strive tirelessly for it!” “I’m not a professional reader, so this is quite an adventure. It’s hard for me to convey my feelings. This music just pierces and magnetizes. This is a real event, without exaggeration,” says Oleksandra.
