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FULL Concert Against the War in Ukraine Monheim 2025 Oksana Lyniv, Olha Dyadiv, Andrii Bondarenko
Information on the Performance
- Work Title: Concert Against the War in Ukraine
- Composer: various
- Libretto: various
- Venue & Opera Company: Aula am Berliner Ring, Monheim, Germany
- Recorded: February 24, 2025
- Type: Concert Live
- Singers: Olha Dyadiv, Andrii Bondarenko, Hayley Bullock
- Conductor: Oksana Lyniv
- Orchestra: Kyiv Symphony Orchestra
- Stage Director:
- Costume Designer:
Information about the Recording
- Published by: DW Classical Music
- Date Published: 2025
- Format: Streaming
- Quality Video: 4 Audio:4
- Subtitles: nosubs
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THIS PERFORMANCE
Sounds of grief, sounds of hope. February 24, 2025, marked the third anniversary of the Russian attack on Ukraine. Over the past three years, the war has brought destruction, violence and fear to the country. Thousands have been killed or injured. On the anniversary of the outbreak of war, the Kyiv Symphony Orchestra presented a concert program that musically reflects recent events. The conductor was the Ukrainian Oksana Lyniv, who had just been appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the orchestra. The concert took place in the Aula am Berliner Ring in Monheim.
00:00 EVGENI ORKIN (*1977): Five Interrupted Lullabies (2024)
14:04 YURI LANIUK (*1957): “Grieving Thorn” for soprano and chamber orchestra (1991)
33:51 VICTORIA POLEVA (*1962): “Bucha. Lacrimosa” for violin and chamber orchestra (2022)
43:56 EVGENI ORKIN (*1977): “Requiem for a Poet” for baritone and orchestra (2024)
1:07:58 LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770-1827): Overture to “Egmont”, Op. 84a
The concert opens with a symphonic work commissioned by Oksana Lyniv, which evokes a harrowing night in Odessa in March 2024, when a rocket attack claimed the lives of four infants and a baby. In “Five Interrupted Lullabies”, Ukrainian composer Evgeni Orkin reflects on the unimaginable grief that war brings.
“Grieving Thorn” is the imaginary soliloquy of a thorn bush, which knows that its branches are to be placed on the head of the suffering Jesus as a crown of thorns. In his composition from 1991, Yuri Laniuks (*1957) focuses on the deeply felt grief of the thorn bush. The thorn bush is a symbol of human suffering, but also of people’s willingness to make sacrifices. The lyrics come from the Ukrainian poet Bohdan Ihor Antonych (1909-1937).
In her piece “Bucha. Lacrimosa” for violin and orchestra, Viktoria Poleva (*1962) musically gives expression to the boundless atrocities and war crimes that took place in the town of Bucha, near Kyiv, in spring 2022. Ukrainian investigators say more than 400 bodies were found showing signs of torture and violent death after Russian forces retreated from the area.
“Requiem for a Poet” is another piece composed by Evgeni Orkin. It deals with the last hours of soldier and writer Maxim Krivtsov, who was killed in an attack at the front on the day his first book was published in January 2023.
The concert concludes with Ludwig van Beethoven’s overture to Goethe’s tragedy “Egmont”, an expression of hope for an early end to the war. The overture stands symbolically for the idea that the violence of political oppression will be overcome by the ideas of freedom and self-determination. The overture culminates in a joyous celebration of victory over tyranny.