Ukraine - "The Roads of Friendship. Ravenna-Kiev"
«The idea was born around 20 years ago, in Sarajevo» says Riccardo Muti, «as we were all moved and touched by the tragedy happening there. We wanted to bring a sign of brotherhood from Ravenna and realised that music would be the best way to do this. Together with over 100 Italian musicians we travelled by military plane across the Adriatic and performed in a city that was still being destroyed by bombs. This was the start of a journey that, in the following years, took us to extraordinary places and gave us the opportunity to perform with musicians from different cultures and regions. It is an annual pilgrimage that reminds us of the universality of the musical language and the common bonds between us all».
And the letter from the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine underlines that «such a relevant project will be a keystone in the cultural life of our countries, in the light of the great human and artistic importance of the project "The Roads of Friendship", and aware of the strength of the arts in the assertion of the universal human values».
Ravenna and Kiev are united also in history, through the ties to Constantinople, and both cities are home to World Heritage churches with dazzling mosaics.
On July 1st the concert will take place just in the square overlooked by Saint Sophia’s Cathedral. Sofiyska Square will host the young musicians of the Cherubini Orchestra and the artists of the main opera theatre of the country, the National Opera of Ukraine Taras Shevchenko. The impressive “joined” choir will also include artists of the Credo Chamber Choir and students from the Petro Tchaikovsky National Music Academy and the Mariupol Music Institute, while young musicians of the Municipal Orchestra “Renaissance” of Mariupol’ will play in the big orchestra.
The programme proposes Giuseppe Verdi’s music - from the "Stabat Mater" and "Te Deum" to "Nabucco" - and Aaron Copland’s "Lincoln Portrait", featuring John Malkovich as the narrator.
The two Orchestras will perform the same concert in Ravenna on the 3rd of July.
As a cultural ambassador to the world, Riccardo Muti has always been at the head of Italian orchestras and choirs which have regularly welcomed local musicians in "The Road of Friendship" concert. Among the most unforgettable destinations: Beirut, Jerusalem, Moscow, Yerevan and Istanbul, New York, Cairo, Damascus, Nairobi, Redipuglia, Tokyo, and - in 2017 - Tehran.
The 2018 concert in Kiev has been made possible thanks to the collaboration by, on one hand, the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the Office for cultural activities abroad of Emilia-Romagna Region, on the other, by the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine, the National Opera of Ukraine, the City of Kiev and the City of Mariupol’.