Mar 1

Mar 1 Russian Renaissance

“But now I can see you smile
There’s a wall that divides us
Never forgive
The right to live
And all the love that they deny us”

— Ready or Not, Bananarama, from True Confessions (1986)

University of Chicago uChicago Presents series staged a concert by a quartet operating under the moniker Russian Renaissance. The four musicians played a wide variety of music, including gypsy jazz, Eastern European folk, classical, and even a little R & B thrown in for good measure. Ivan Kuznetsov, Anastasia Zakharova, Alexander Tarasov, Ivan Vinogradov played the balalaika (sort of a lute), the dorma (another type of a lute), the bayan (a button accordion, and contrabass balalaika, respectively.

And did they play them, which was no surprise. In 2017, the group won the $100,000 M-Prize Competition, which is an annual chamber music competition with the largest prize in the world. I can guarantee you that these talented musicians have to play a lot of chamber music concerts to earn $100,000. The quartet has won numerous other awards and accolades. They have recently performed at Lincoln Center and the Kennedy Center, and have performed at many international venues.

The quartet played what Mr. Vinogradov described as “world music” to showcase their combined virtuosity with what many perceive as strange instruments, while at the same time demonstrating that we all share a common musical heritage uniting us.

The four musicians delivered the goods this afternoon. Along the way, they played Béla Fleck’s The Sinister Minister., a traditional Russian folk song fused with American R & B entitled I’m Sitting on a Stone; Django Reinhardt’s Rhythmn Future; Tchaikovsky’s Russian Dance from Swan Lake; and Galliano’s New York Tango, together with six or seven other selections. The program was varied, which showed off each instrument’s versatility. This is a group who could easily record for Manfred Eicher’s ECM label.

After the concert, the Logan Center went beyond the call of duty, serving a complete buffet dinner of Russian food. I took a pass because of the high caloric count, but the food did look terrific. The long, double line at the table and smiling faces were proof that food was excellent.

Sadly, and for no good or justifiable reason, the Logan Center main performance hall was only half filled. Had this quartet been playing at the CSO, particularly with all the positive press, the concert most likely would have sold out. The uChicago Presents series is presenting top flight classical music and jazz in a beautiful and spacious concert hall. On top of that, the ticket prices are a bargain, particularly if you purchase a season subscription.

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