On Friday, February 10, NOVAT will hold a presentation of its Concert Hall. This is going to be a landmark event in the cultural life of the city. By the decision of the head management of the Theatre, the concert hall will be named after the first principal conductor of the Theatre, People’s Artist of the USSR, Isidor Zak who considered the Novosibirsk opera and ballet theatre as the main deed of his life. The opening ceremony of renovated stage will be marked by a special concert programme performed by Isidor Zak’s grandson, the world-famous violin virtuoso Ilya Konovalov.
The name of Isidor Zak has been written in the history of the Theatre in letters of gold. It was him who conducted the opening premiere of Ivan Susanin opera on May 12, 1945. The outstanding conductor devoted 30 years of his creative life to the Theatre. All the remarkable productions of the first 50 years of the Theatre’s history are associated with his name.
The small stage of NOVAT that was opened on October 14, 1956, by a legendary pianist Emil Gilels’ concert, has its own rich story. During long years the Concert Hall hosted the Novosibirsk Academic Symphonic Orchestra headed by the great conductor Arnold Katz. The stage remembers such acknowledged masters of the Soviet performing school as David Oystrakh and Leonid Kogan, Svyatoslav Richter and Nikolai Petrov. This hall witnessed debuts of practically all of Novosibirsk musicians who gained world popularity afterwards – Vadim Repin, Maxim Vengerov and Anton Barakhovsky.
After reconstruction, the Concert Hall has turned into a modern concert venue of 333 seats. It can boast of all qualities required for holding concert programmes, scenic productions, as well as for cinema demonstrations. During the reconstruction works the hall was completely re-equipped. The new Italy-made seats have been installed in the form of an amphitheatre. Besides that, sound characteristics of the hall have been significantly improved.
Ilya Konovalov, who already had a chance to test the acoustics of the renovated hall, gave a high appraisal of its quality. “Acoustics of the Concert Hall is perfect, - mentioned the musician. – Especially in comparison with what it was like when I performed here in my young days”.
The concert will be accompanied by the Novosibirsk Academic Symphonic Orchestra and the Youth Symphonic Orchestra of the Novosibirsk Specialized Music School. Pieces by Beethoven, Brahms and Tchaikovsky will be performed. The baton will be given to Gintaras Rinkyavichus, Eldar Nagiev and Ilya Konovalov.