The Belarusian State Philharmonic Society is one of the centers of the musical life of our country. Its creative team unites outstanding musicians and artists known in Belarus and abroad, holders of honorary titles, diploma winners and laureates of national and international competitions, who have achieved high professional mastery.
The official opening of the Philharmonic took place on April 25, 1937.
At the beginning of its journey, having no premises of its own, the Philharmonic’s artists worked in conditions unsuitable for rehearsals and lacking the acoustic minimum so necessary for creating new musical ensembles. The first chief conductor of the symphony orchestra of the Belarusian State Philharmonic, the famous teacher and musician Ilya Musin recalled: “The premises of a club served as the Philharmonic’s concert hall. An uncomfortable, empty foyer, and an equally unattractive hall. Instead of a stage, a typical club stage with cloth portals. The acoustics were terrible. It is not surprising that this premises did not help attract listeners.”
But life did not stand still, and the turbulent times demanded change, changing stereotypes and the system of values. The capital’s public filled the uncomfortable halls and craved the music of L. van Beethoven, J.Brahms, P.Tchaikovsky, A.Glazunov; with enthusiasm and sincere surprise they listened to Belarusian folk songs, dances, and works by the first Belarusian Soviet composers performed by the first Philharmonic ensembles.
The Decades of Belarusian Art, regularly held in the republic and beyond its borders, became undoubted evidence of the professional ascent of the artistic ensembles and soloists of the new concert organization. The Folk Instruments Orchestra, the choral capella, artists of the symphony orchestra and the song and dance ensemble were successful in the concert halls of Moscow, Leningrad, and Zheleznovodsk; their tour performances in Crimea and the Caucasus were warmly received. For successes in the development of Belarusian musical art, the Belarusian State Philharmonic was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labour by a Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated June 20, 1940. The artistic ensembles, groups, and soloists of the Philharmonic were full of creative ideas and plans for the future.
The Great Patriotic War (1941–1945) set new tasks: “The main occupation of the Philharmonic for the immediate period shall be considered the creation of a concert brigade to serve the Red Army. Appoint Honored Artist of the BSSR Mikhail Berger as artistic director. Assign him the duties of concertmaster” (Order No.1 of the Belarusian State Philharmonic dated 01.07.1941).
The frontline concert brigade of the Belarusian Philharmonic considered itself the “spiritual reserve of the army.” A virtuoso pianist became a virtuoso accordionist; vocal soloists and reciters composed couplets and genre satirical interludes for the frontline audience. Larisa Aleksandrovskaya, Isidor Bolotin, Rita Mlodek, Alexandra Nikolaeva, Semyon Drechin made their way to the front line and to the partisans along secret forest paths. War dictated new orders, but it could not silence the trembling heart and ringing voice of the great people.
The first post-war concert season opened on September 21, 1946. At the conductor’s stand was the unforgettably expressive, unusual, and temperamental Tatyana Kolomiytseva. Musicians were returning from the front and from evacuation. Some did not return. The Philharmonic library, carefully assembled before the war and lost during the occupation, was reassembled. The cymbaly orchestra was re-created: Iosif Zhinovich, the orchestra’s artistic director, took up the reconstruction of folk cymbaly, wishing to expand the concert range of his orchestra, opened cymbaly classes at the conservatory, and made many arrangements of orchestral works.
Each concert season has its own particularity and its own image. However, its priorities remain unchanged: serious music, lecture and educational activity, the revival of cultural traditions, and the performance of works from various stylistic movements and national composer schools. This has always been the main thing for different generations of musicians and organizers of concert activity – Viktor Dubrovsky, Evgeny Tikotsky, Vitaly Kataev, Yuri Efimov, Anatoly Bogatyrev, Oleg Yanchenko, Yuri Tsiryuk, Georgy Zagorodny, Nikolai Shevchuk, Vasily Bukon, Vladimir Ratobylsky.
In April 1963, the Philharmonic acquired its own building with a concert hall seating 930 in the area of Yakub Kolas Square. A unique organ by the Czech firm Rieger-Kloss with six and a half thousand pipes was installed on the stage. On May 3, the first organ concert took place, opening a new page in the history of organ performance in Belarus. Regularly held organ concerts are still incredibly popular with the public.
The debut of the Minsk Chamber Orchestra, the appearance of the early music ensemble Cantabile, and the folk choreographic ensembles Khoroshki and Kupalinka adorned and shook the cultural environment of the republic. And “Minsk Spring” and “Belarusian Musical Autumn” – festivals that annually enrich the repertoire context of Philharmonic life – became the culminations of the country’s concert seasons.
A new stage in the history of the Belarusian State Philharmonic was marked by its major reconstruction in 2004. The work was carried out at the expense of the republican budget. Only the foundation of the building remained from the former Philharmonic. The updated interior of the Philharmonic corresponded to the most modern standards and technologies. Improving the quality of sound required reducing the number of seats in the hall; it now seats 690. At the same time, another hall, the Small Hall seating 190, was opened in the Philharmonic building, named after the outstanding Belarusian musician Grigory Shirma.
Today, the Belarusian State Philharmonic comprises 13 highly professional creative collectives (3 orchestras, 2 choirs, chamber instrumental and vocal ensembles, folk groups). The Philharmonic also employs soloists of various genres, many of whom are laureates and diploma winners of national and international competitions and holders of honorary titles. Since 2003, the Vladimir Mulyavin Museum has existed at the Belarusian State Philharmonic – a special place that gives visitors the opportunity to come into contact with the work of the leader and members of the famous ensemble Pesnyary.
For many years, the Belarusian State Philharmonic has been one of the favorite places of cultural leisure for Minsk residents and guests of the capital. The bill of the Belarusian State Philharmonic is invariably distinguished by genre diversity that meets the spiritual demands of audiences of different generations.
The multifaceted creative activity of Belarus’s leading concert organization is aimed at strengthening and developing national musical art, as well as discovering and introducing listeners to masterpieces of world musical culture. Performing on the stage of the Belarusian State Philharmonic, which is always open to cooperation with new soloists and creative ensembles, is prestigious and honorable.
