The National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine defies the Russian invasion with a Kyiv premiere, before embarking on a first tour of the UK for 22 years
he sound of the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine is filling – even overfilling – the smaller of the two performance spaces of the Kyiv Philharmonic Hall. Under the sparkling chandeliers of the elegant, if slightly battered space, the orchestra is doing its first read-through of a new work by one of Ukraine’s most respected senior composers,to the freedom of the Ukrainian people – originally built by the Soviets to symbolise Russian and Ukrainian unity – gleams in the afternoon sun.
In the face of the terror and uncertainty of the full-scale invasion on 24 February last year, many of the orchestra’s musicians scattered, according to the orchestra’s chief executive, Oleksandr Hornostai, heading west to safety. Some stayed, volunteering in field kitchens, doing what they could to help the effort to push back the Russians from the capital. And it wasn’t long before the orchestra started performing again – reuniting first at La Fenice, Venice’s opera house, in April 2022.
The violence suffered by Ukraine sharpens the urgency of the music-making, says Sirenko. “A mayor of one the European cities where we performed last year said to us: ‘If you are fighting as fiercely as you are playing, Ukraine will definitely win the war.’” He adds: “All the music we play – whether it’s Schumann or Beethoven – has become about our war.
This is undeniably a big moment for the orchestra: it is its first tour of the UK in 22 years. As Stankovych, who joins the musicians outside the hall in the adjacent park during the afternoon rehearsal break, says: “There’s a demand for our composers and musicians abroad at the moment. For a long time, audiences knew only Leningrad and Moscow.” The full-scale invasion of Ukraine, he says, has been “a kind of engine for Ukrainian art, music, film.
According to cellist Natalia Subbotina: “It is important for us to continue our work. Everyone is fighting on his or her frontline, and it’s our work to help the rest of Europe understand Ukrainian culture.” The metaphor of the “cultural frontline” has become controversial in Ukraine as, increasingly, artists acknowledge that there can be no comparison between slugging it out in a trench in Chasiv Yar or Bakhmut and working in a theatre, artist’s studio or concert hall.
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