Amid war at home, National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine comes to Mechanics Hall

On Feb. 9, the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine will make its third visit in eight years to Mechanics Hall in concerts presented by Music Worcester.

Each time the visits, part of the orchestra's three national tours of the United States, have been in different circumstances. The orchestra was here in 2017 and early 2020. The latter tour was finished just before the COVID-19 pandemic struck.

"We were very lucky to play (that) tour," said renowned Ukrainian-born pianist Volodymyr Vynnytsky. "Now we have a different situation," he noted.

"War."

But with that, the audience can expect to hear "the warm sound of the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine." It's important to present "the level of culture we have," Vynnytsky said.

For the Feb. 9 concert, the orchestra will be led by Volodymyr Sirenko, its artistic director and chief conductor, and the program will include 18th century Russian/Ukranian composer Maxim Berezovsky’s Symphony No. 1 in C Major, a work that was “discovered” in 2002.  Also on the program, Czech composer Dvorak’s  Symphony No. 8, is a warm, cheerful work, and Vynnytsky will be featured as guest soloist for French composer Saint-Saens' virtuosic Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor.

"I love this concerto," Vynnytsky said.

'An important tour'

The National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine has a history that goes back to 1918, but its North American tour in 2017 that it took to Mechanics Hall was its first. The orchestra has enhanced its a reputation as one of Eastern Europe's finest orchestras under Sirenko, who became artistic director and chief conductor in 1999.

The 2017 tour was one the orchestra was very keen to make, said Theordore Kuchar, the  orchestra's conductor laureate, when he brought the orchestra in Worcester that year. Ukraine had become independent in 1991, but there were storm clouds. In 2014, Russia annexed the Crimea, which had been a Ukrainian territory.

"It's an important tour not only for the orchestra but for all people of Ukrainian background or who have some spiritual connection," Kuchar said.

The orchestra returned in February, 2020, led by Sirenko with acclaimed Ukrainian-born cellist Natalia Khoma, Vynnytsky's wife, the guest soloist for Tchaikovsky's Rococo Variations for Cello. Vynnytsky was also touring with the orchestra as guest soloist but wasn't part of the Worcester program. This time he will be.

Vynnytsky and Khoma have lived in Charleston, South Carolina, for almost 20 years. Vynnytsky is director of Chamber Music at the College of Charleston, among many other affiliations that include being artistic director of the Music and Art Center of Greene County, New York. Khoma's affiliations include associate professor of cello at the College of Charleston and director of the Charleston Music Fest.

Born in Lviv, Ukraine, Vynnytsky grew up in the old Soviet Union and studied at the Lviv Music School for Gifted Children and later at the Moscow Conservatory.

The Moscow Conservatory was "where you could study at the highest level," Vynnytsky said. After earning his doctorate there, he taught at the Kyiv Conservatory before eventually moving to the United States. Besides teaching at the College of Charleston he has been a visiting member of the piano faculty in SUNY at Purchase, New York, and at the University of Connecticut. But he has also maintained ties with his homeland, and served as a Chairman of the Jury of the Emil Gilels International Piano Competition in Odesa, Ukraine.

As a pianist, Vynnytsky been described as possessing “incredible technique and deep musical understanding” and has performed in recital in such countries as the United States, France, England, Denmark, Sweden, Czech Republic, Poland, Ukraine, Russia, Brazil, Canada and South Africa.

The Saint-Saens Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor has three movements that could be described as slow, fast and faster.

"Saint-Saens himself was an amazing pianist. His technique was extraordinary," Vynnytsky said. "It's why the technique for this concerto is difficult, yes, but I love this concerto and it is one of the popular concertos."

The Feb. 9 performance will be Vynnytsky's first in Mechanics Hall, but he's familiar with the venue.

"It's a beautiful hall, historical hall and famous hall," he said.

Excitement for orchestra's return

The program for the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine's 2017 concert in Mechanics Hall included Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3 and Dvorak’s American-themed Symphony No. 9 in E minor "From the New World." Reviewing for the Telegram & Gazette, Joyce Tamer wrote that the orchestra "gave a stunning reading of the symphony, expansive, rich in detail and lushly romantic … The audience was on its feet, roaring approval, at the conclusion of the performance."

In 2020, Telegram & Gazette reviewer Jonathan Blumhofer noted that the orchestra's Mechanics Hall concert concluded with Dvorak’s turbulent Symphony No. 7 "with the closing bars grand and triumphant."

On Feb. 24, 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine in a dramatic escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian conflict.

For the 2024 tour, the orchestra took a bus to Poland and then boarded a plane, Vynnytsky said.

“It is a privilege to welcome back our colleagues in the NSOU,” said Music Worcester’s Executive Director Adrien Finlay.  “The world has changed in so many unbelievable ways since their last visit, and I know we cannot begin to understand how the lives of the Orchestra’s musicians have been altered as well since their last visit.  To be able to present this ensemble with our community once again makes this a very special engagement for us.”

Vynnytsky said "the cultural world helps us very much. First the United States of course, and Europe."

Vynnytsky and Khoma have been back to Ukraine to visit since the invasion but it is "very difficult and dangerous now," Vynnytsky said.

"Our life, we teach, we play concerts we listen to the news every day. Sometimes it's heartbreaking ... They destroyed even the music school in Kharkiv, which was one of the best.”

As for what he hopes the audience will take away from the Feb. 9 concert, Vynnytsky said "it depends on the audience. I will do my best of course."

Asked if he sees himself as a cultural ambassador, he said, "Each of us is kind of an ambassador. Each of us in the U.S., we work hard to share our knowledge of Ukrainian culture and we do many benefit concerts doing everything we can do to be like ambassadors and explain what's going on in Ukraine."

Regarding his hopes for the future of Ukraine, "We just pray for peace, and sometimes victory also," he said. "For peace you have to fight."

National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, with guest piainist Volodymyr Vynnytsky — presented by Music Worcester

When: 8 p.m. Feb. 9

Where: Mechanics Hall, 321 Main St., Worcester

How much: $45 to $89; students, $17.50; youth (18 and under), $7.50. musicworcester.org

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine coming to Mechanics Hall