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The guest of the second edition of Armenia International Music Festival is world famous violinist Nikolaj Znaider. The musician familiarized himself with the Armenian classic music art through Aram Khachaturian, as he had performed the maestro’s works.

This is the violinist’s first visit to Armenia, and on Wednesday he shared the stage with the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra for the first time, representing the famous works of Alexey Shor and Johannes Brahms to the audience. The musician’s performance acclaimed the warm greetings of the audience, the organizers of the music festival told Panorama.am. 

The laureate of numerous international competitions, virtuous violinist Nikolaj Znaider is a professional conductor. He has been the guest conductor of Mariinsky Theatre since 2010.

Asked which is more essential for the musician – the role of the conductor or the soloist –Znaider confessed that music is the most beloved phenomenon for him, and it does not matter if he contacts with music as a violinist or as a conductor.

''Naturally it is quite different to perform as a violinist and as a conductor. When you perform as a soloist you must have a responsibility for everyone, which is sometimes difficult, but at the same time it is a pleasure to represent the music as you perceive and imagine it, but, of course in this case the repertoire is limited. When you guide the orchestra as a conductor the repertoire gives you unlimited opportunities,” Znaider says. “The cooperation in different formats is a great pleasure. When you perform as a soloist you play and enjoy, when you perform as a conductor you have communication with the musicians and it is also great, it is kind of experience that you gain.” 

On the sidelines of the Armenia International Music Festival, Nikolaj Znaider represented to the audience the works of both classic and modern composers.

''I like to perform the works of the masters and it is not important if these works were written in baroque, classic or romantic era. It is much more interesting for me to find a real quality in these works. I never want to conclude the works of Brahms, maybe at the concert I conclude it, but for sure I return back to this work after some time: maybe after one week or one month. Music is my life; it is not important if it is classic or contemporary,” confessed the musician.

Znaider named Mozart as his most preferable composer, as for the musician the works of Mozart have an exceptional ability to describe the nature of human being with unique simplicity and in a very beautiful way. He also likes the operas of the great composer. The violinist also mentioned that he likes to play the works of Beethoven, Mahler, Strauss and Wagner.

The Armenia International Music Festival is taking place in Yerevan from 2 to 6 July. It is organized by the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra and the European Foundation for Support of Culture with the support of Armenia’s Ministry of Culture.