On February 2, the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall will host the Moscow premiere of the concert performance “Poor People” by Fyodor Dostoevsky.

“Poor People” is a new reading of the famous story about the naive love of a simple official Makar Devushkin for a young Varenka Dobroselova. For the first time, the concert performance, directed by Murat Abulkatinov, was seen by the residents of Zaraysk in the summer of 2024.

“We turned to Poor People because this is practically Dostoevsky’s first work, here he is a romantic. Fyodor Mikhailovich always treats his characters with compassion, and here he also treats them with extraordinary love and humor, even if it is specific. My partner will be the wonderful actress Yulia Khlynina. And Yuri Abramovich Bashmet helped us with the musical material,” says Evgeny Mironov, the initiator of the project, who plays the role of Makar Devushkin.

Yuri Bashmet’s subtle intuition helped him accurately choose the music that hit the nerve of this touching story. The maestro clarifies that “there were several options. For example, Prokofiev’s music. She is certainly brilliant, but by ear she made Dostoevsky’s youthful attitude towards these poor people heavier. Then Tchaikovsky appeared. It would seem that romance should turn out to be butter for romance, but no, it turned out to be a gentle but sad story about love.”

This is not the first time Yuri Bashmet has turned to Dostoevsky: for several years now, the Maly Theater has been successfully hosting the play “Meek” starring Sergei Garmash and the Moscow Soloists chamber ensemble led by Maestro Bashmet. It can also be visited during the festival, on February 8th.

The festival is supported by Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin and the Moscow Government Department of Culture.

Based on the materials of the Musical Life magazine

Tickets: https://bmaf.ru/bednye-ljudi/