Ukraine, the Russian mezzo-soprano Chepurnaia: “My song for peace in Sant’Andrea della Valle”

“Art and culture should unite and not divide. I don’t think that Russian artists should be snubbed and erased from theaters, like the great authors from Dostoevsky to Tchajakovsky. It is unfair and incomprehensible. The Russian people did not choose war. , he has no fault. The Russians did not seek this conflict, they did not want it. ” So at the Adnkronos the Russian mezzo-soprano Liudmilla Chepurnaia who will perform tomorrow in the Basilica of Sant’Andrea della Valle in Rome, alongside the Ukrainian soprano Eva Dorofeeva, as part of the 25th edition of the Easter Festival, founded and directed by Enrico Castiglione. They will be accompanied by an orchestra specially formed by Ukrainian and Russian musicians directed by Stefano who will also see among the protagonists the very young soprano Kateryna Chebotova, just 20, who only a few days ago managed to re-embrace her mother in Italy who fled from ‘Ukraine. Liudmilla Chepurniaia was born in the former Soviet Union, in a region that today belongs to the Ukrainian state. “My paternal grandfather is Ukrainian, but on my mother’s side they are all Russians – he adds – I don’t feel I belong either to Russia or to Ukraine. No borders, no separation. Both countries are part of my DNA, of mine. history, of my culture “. And on the ongoing conflict he further explains: “The war did not break out on February 24, it was already underway since 2014. I still have my mother in Russia, I would like to see her again – she confesses – But it is impossible for them to leave the country. 4-year-old girl we managed to escape after the outbreak of the war. Fortunately we had a double passport. But the journey lasted 5 days “. The evening’s program includes a vast repertoire of sacred music with pieces and arias by Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Arcangelo Corelli, Alessandro Stradella, Georges Bizet, Jules Massenet, Pietro Mascagni, César Franck. There will be duets, which will engage Eva Dorofeeva and Liudmilla Chepurnaia together in extracts from Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, alongside the ‘Panis Angelicus’ from the Solemn Mass by César Franck, composer whose 200th anniversary is celebrated this year.