Russian Accent | Blog of Nadia Sikorsky

The personal relics of the last King of Italy, preserved within the family until today, will be presented to the public in Geneva for the first time. This month, Piguet Hôtel des Ventes will offer at auction a unique collection of orders of chivalry and decorations that belonged to Umberto II (1904-1983). They will be exhibited in the Maison’s salons from 12 to 15 March, before being offered to collectors during the auction week beginning on 16 March.

On 15 March, the outstanding pianist of our time, Evgeny Kissin, will give a recital in Zurich as part of the "Les Grands Interprètes" series presented by the Caecilia agency. The programme may be described as a romantic evolution of the pianistic “self”.

This statement from the Foreword to the poetry collection "How are we meant to survive this", published by Freedom Letters in Russian and English, summarises, in my view, the essence of the collective work of the twenty-six authors represented in it and their eighteen translators. This collection is one of my strongest literary impressions of the past several years.

For four years now, this question, so important to me, has not left the agenda, whether in private conversations, in the international press, or simply in life itself. Allow me to return to the day when I first asked it of myself.

On March 6th, the concert agency Cæcilia presents a recital by the pianist Tsotne Zedginidze, born in 2009. The programme includes works by Beethoven, Schumann, Brahms and… by the young musician himself.

British actor Ralph Fiennes did not exaggerate when he said that he had no intention of departing from the original storyline as he embarked on Eugene Onegin by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, his first operatic production. This directorial venture on the stage of the Paris Opera drew a wide range of reactions, and I took the opportunity to compare my own impressions with those of tenor Bogdan Volkov, the interpreter of Lensky, whose performance left me truly delighted.

For the first time in its history, the Fondation Beyeler in Basel is devoting a monographic exhibition to Paul Cézanne (1839–1906), on view until 25 May 2026.

The participation of the Russian violinist in the festival Les Sommets musicaux lent an event usually free of controversy a faint aura of scandal. Media outlets in several countries seemed interested in little else, which one can only regret. The festival audience, however, came for the music, and the music did not disappoint.