The Transformation of a Music Festival in St. Petersburg “The World of Art. Contrasts”

The article presents the history of an extraordinary music festival organized in St. Petersburg by two composers Igor Rogalev and Igor Vorobyev. The festival was fi rst called “From the Avant-garde to the Present Day,” subsequently “From the Avant-garde to the Present Day. Continuation,” and during the last three years — “The World of Art. Contrasts.” This festival was founded in 1992, and its aim was to create a venue for performance of music by contemporary composers and representatives of the “forgotten generation” of the early 20th century Russian avant-garde movement, such as Nikolai Roslavetz, Alexander Mosolov, Arthur Lourie, etc. Many premieres of these and other composers were performed at this festival, as well as well-known works by such early 20th century established masters as Arnold Schoenberg, Alexander von Zemlinsky, Igor Stravinsky, Bela Bartok, etc. Some of the leading contemporary composers of the late 20th and early 21st century were invited to participate in the festival, as were numerous outstanding performances, ensembles and orchestras up to the St. Petersburg Mariinsky Theater, artists, poets and writers. At the present time the artistic goal of the festival is to connect the strata of music by contemporary composers with the masterpieces of the great classics of the previous centuries — from the Renaissance era to the 19th century. Each year the festival has a certain particularthemes, such as, for instance, Italian music or Japanese music, around which the program is built endowed with a broad stylistic and genre-related pallette.