On Wednesday, December 22, at 7 p.m., the St. Petersburg Music House will celebrate the 200th anniversary of Italian composer and virtuoso double bassist Giovanni Bottesini. To celebrate the anniversary, Evgeny Ryzhkov (double bass), a winner of international competitions, will be broadcast on the YouTube channel of the St. Petersburg Music House. He will be performing famous Giovanni Bottesini Variations on Carnival of Venice and Serge Koussevitzky Double Bass Concerto. The virtual concert will open a series of holiday broadcasts for New Year's Eve 2022, which will run through the end of the New Year vacations. Visit our website for a full schedule.
 
His virtuoso command of the biggest stringed instrument brought Bottesini world fame. Touring around the world, in 1866, the Italian was also in St. Petersburg. Rossini called the musician "The double bassists' Paganini" in his recommendation letter. The Golos (rus. Voice) newspaper wrote after his performance, "He astounded us by playing different melodies like a flute, as if a hundred nightingales were trapped in his double bass." Bottesini's creations gave the double bass a new life, showing the world that the "nasty ham," as Rossini called the instrument, could compete in romantic style even with the flute.
 
Evgeny Ryzhkov (double bass) - graduate of the St. Petersburg Conservatory (class of Honored Artist of the Russian Federation, Associate Professor Alexander Shilo). He studied at the Juilliard School in New York in the class of Professor Evgeny Levinson. He won in the International Serge Koussevitzky Double Bass competition  (St. Petersburg, 2013). Since 2021, he is a member of the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra. He is a soloist of the St. Petersburg Music House since 2011.
 
The St. Petersburg House of Music is a federal cultural institution established in 2006 with the aim of preparing Russian young musicians for international competitions and festivals.  It occupies the palace of Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich Romanov on Moika, 122.
The artistic director is the famous cellist, People's Artist of Russia, Professor Sergei Roldugin.

For detailed information please visit us at www.spdm.ru or call +7 812 702-60-96