The shock of the old

By Sunny Hubler

Ilia Korol’s musical horizons were limited in the Soviet Union, but a composer from the 1600s changed all that

The repertoire Ilia Korol studied at the Moscow Conservatory was mostly from the 18th and 19th centuries -- works that you still hear at most symphony concerts today –- but it was hearing something completely different that changed the violinist’s career path.

For Korol, who will conduct the Baroque chamber ensemble Musica Angelia in its next concert at the First Congregational Church of Long Beach on March 8 (and repeat the performance the next day at the First Congregational Church of Los Angeles), the jolt of hearing the compositions of Heinrich Biber opened his eyes to a new kind of music.

Ilia Korol led the strings in Musica Angelica's performance of the Bach St. Matthew Passion last spring. This year the group will perform the acclaimed masterpiece in the First Congregational Church of Long Beach on April 12.

Biber lived from 1644 to 1704 in the Czech town of Kromerz and the Austrian cities of Graz and Salzburg. According to music historian Charles Burney, quoted in Wikipedia, he was the best violin composer of the 17th century, probably due in part to the fact that he was also a phenomenal performer, who could easily reach the difficult sixth and seventh positions on his violin, use multiple stops in challenging polyphonic passages and experiment with open tunings.

“His style was so unpredictable and beautiful and so complicated,” said Korol in a recent Zoom interview from his home in Vienna. Audiences at the Musica Angelica concerts will hear three pieces by Biber in the program, which Korol put together under the title “The Garden of Forking Paths.”

Although it comes from a famous short story by renowned Argente author Jorge Luis Borges, for Korol the title had a special meaning. “It describes the idea that each decision you’re met with brings you to another reality – how much reality can exist at the same time, no one knows.”

Musica Angelica music director Martin Haselböck conducts Ilia Korol in Bach's St. Matthew Passion.

That could also describe Korol’s life. Born and raised in Kiev when the Ukraine was part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), his education and musical choices were controlled by Soviet ideology. Maybe that’s why he relishes the freedom to make choices that he has now.

“One of the only ways to feel free is to create something around you in culture. In Russia, people were very talented and interesting but lived inside a bubble with no possibility to have influence over reality inside the political situation… but inside the planet was a little planet of culture.”

Perhaps because he used to be limited in his choices, musical freedom is important in Korol’s career. “I try always to find something I’ve never played, and that’s been another kind of education,” he said.

He thinks music and all the arts are vital in today’s fractured world. “We cannot live without culture – it’s the most important thing to survive, for humanity to see how different people deal with the world. Culture is part of our survival strategy, because we cannot live without empathy and consciousness. It’s the fundamental ground zero, the beginning of everything.”

That’s not only his performing philosophy. Korol is passing on his musical ideas in classes he teaches at the Academy of Performing Arts in Vienna, the Moscow Conservatory, the Belgrade Music Academy and UCLA. He’s proud that some of his students have gone on to achieve international recognition.

Outside the classroom, he travels the world as a performer and is the concertmaster (first violinist) of the Orchestra Wiener Akademie, Joshua Rifkin’s Bach Ensemble and Real Compañía Ópera de Cámara, a Baroque orchestra in Barcelona, as well as Musica Angelica.

Live music is Korol’s world. When I mentioned that one effect of modern technology seems to be that fewer audiences experience art in real time, he didn’t mince words:

“Art is only human to human. Arts amplify yourself.”

Sunny Hubler is the editor of QC Exclusive Magazine of Charlotte, North Carolina. This feature is underwritten by the Journalism Arts Initiative.

INFO BOX

"The Garden of Forking Paths," concert by Musica Angelica, March 8 at 7:30 p.m. First Congregational Church of Long Beach, 241 Cedar Ave., Long Beach. Patrons are invited to a reception before the concert beginning at 6:30 p.m. The concert is repeated March 9 at 3 p.m. First Congregational Church of Los Angeles, 540 S. Commonwealth Ave., Los Angeles. Following this concert, there will be a reception in the Mayflower Courtyard. Tickets, $43.14 to $85.16, are available at https://www.musicaangelica.org/. Call 562-276-0865 for information.

About Journalism Arts Initiative

Before the decline of the newspaper industry, readers would often learn about nearby theater, music, film, dance and other arts events through feature articles in advance of a performance or opening. Many times, they would later be able to read critics’ reviews.

Because of limited resources, print and online media have scaled back their coverage, but the founders of Journalism Arts Initiative believe that the public is as interested in quality reportage of the local arts scene as it ever was. Journalism Arts Initiative’s goal is to fill some of the gaps by offering the work of both experienced and upcoming writers to reputable print and online media – free of charge. The only requirement is the inclusion of the credit at the end of the feature.

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