Valentyn Silvestrov is a Ukrainian-born composer who has lived long enough to write nine symphonies and have his music be censored by both Soviet apparatchiks and Putin’s police. He lived in Kyiv for 84 years until this March, when he left the country due to Russia’s invasion.
Silvestrov now lives in exile in Berlin, but he traveled to Norway last week to perform and take part in Oslo’s Ultima Festival. Two programs featured his work: one, with the Oslo Philharmonic performing his Seventh Symphony; another, titled “Ukrainian Rhapsodies,” with a cappella group Nordic Voices and the Gryphon Trio playing a collection of chamber works.
Silvestrov has powerful and expressive hands. He communicates as much with them as he does with his words. In rehearsals, he uses them to show musicians the precise shape and feel of his music. At the piano (where he performed an impromptu variation on the Ukrainian Anthem at the end of the chamber concert) his supple fingerwork was also expressive. After playing the final notes, he held his hands above the keys as if willing the sostenuto to ring out until the exact moment he wished.
I spoke with Silvestrov before these concerts about his music, his country, and his disgust for Vladimir Putin and the war against Ukraine.
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