Russian Conducting Master Brings Cold War Tragedies to Life
Creatrip Team
a month ago
Elderly maestro Eliahu Inbal, now 90, will conduct the KBS Symphony Orchestra on the 28th at Seoul Arts Center’s Concert Hall, performing Rachmaninoff’s The Isle of the Dead and Shostakovich’s Symphony No.13 “Babi Yar.” Born in 1936 in what became Israel, Inbal lived through World War II and the Cold War and is known for deep readings of Russian repertoire, including Bruckner and Mahler. The program opens with Rachmaninoff’s symphonic poem inspired by Arnold Böcklin’s painting, exploring life, death and inner solitude through a distinctive 5/8 rhythm. Shostakovich’s Symphony No.13 sets Yevgeny Yevtushenko’s poem about Babi Yar (a ravine near Kyiv where large-scale massacres of Jews occurred in 1941) for bass soloist, male chorus and orchestra, confronting anti‑Semitism and human dignity. Local male choirs will join to heighten the work’s tragic impact; organizers say the concert aims not just to showcase Russian music but to face the historical wounds that produced it, with Inbal’s seasoned perspective expected to bring powerful emotional clarity.
