On March 12, 2023, a concert was held in the House of Scientists of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine with the participation of students of the Kyiv State Music Lyceum named after M.V. Lysenko, as well as the well-known singer Iryna Bespalova-Prymak. The program of the concert, called “Love Songs”, featured works by Robert Schumann, Claude Debussy and Edvard Grieg. Lyceum teacher Myroslava Khrypun made an opening speech.
The first number of the concert was Sonata for cello and piano op.36 by Edvard Grieg. This piece was written by the composer in 1882-1883 and dedicated to the composer’s elder brother, the talented cellist Ion Grieg. The artistic images of the sonata, related to Norwegian folklore and imbued with subtle lyricism, were masterfully embodied on stage by students of the KSML named after M.V. Lysenko Margaryta Martiuk (cello) and Mariia Kriukova (piano). Then the audience could enjoy the singing of Iryna Bespalova-Prymak accompanied by Mariia Kriukova, who performed the Four Songs of Claude Debussy and Robert Schumann’s vocal cycle based on Heinrich Heine’s poem “Poet’s Love”. This cycle, composed in the “year of songs” (1840), represents the pinnacle of the composer’s chamber and vocal creativity. The flowering of songwriting is associated with the events of his personal life, because he was finally able to combine fate with his beloved Clara Vick. It is significant that during 1840 Robert Schumann created almost 150 chamber and vocal works, most of which are permeated with the composer’s lyrical feelings.