Just as Dostoevsky believed beauty would save the world and Scriabin sought to bring a new spiritual unity to humanity through his music, pianist Irina Lankova hopes that her passion and sense of wonder will make a modest difference in our world.
Isn't it terribly lonely living out here?I ask when, after searching for a long time, I finally arrive at the well-hidden country house in Nodebais where Irina Lankova is expecting me. Ah no, here is the center of the world. My opening line may be completely off the mark, but I have a very pleasant encounter with the woman behind the Max Festival of Tourinnes-la-Grosse in Walloon Brabant. The salon where she receives me is the former rehearsal room of the youth choir that artist {{NOTRANSLATE_1}} Max van der Linden {{NOTRANSLATE_2}}(1922-1999) founded here. Paintings and ceramics are everywhere—the entire interior breathes Max van der Linden, who lived, worked, and created boundlessly on the family domain of Agbiermont his whole life. Lankova never knew Max, Miqui to his friends, during his lifetime—she only arrived in Nodebais 17 years after his death—but she was immediately captivated by this multifaceted, charismatic figure who sparked inspiration in the artist villages in the surrounding area.
The man who made stars out of mud.
(Julos Beaucarne about Max van der Linden)
Eight years ago, Irina Lankova, who is not only a kindred spirit but also, through her husband, a niece by marriage of the late Max van der Linden, launched her own festival. MAX is the musical and younger component of Les Fêtes de la Saint-Martin, an annual art tour in November that focuses on visual arts and, to a lesser extent, theater and music. Just like the art tour and entirely in keeping with the tradition and spirit of bridge-building Max van der Linden, Irina Lankova wants to share the things she cares deeply about with others through this festival. She not only brings quality music from concert halls to the village, but she wants to connect people with each other.
"I am a moment that illuminates eternity"
Inspired by the artists she attracts, artistic director Lankova puts together a diverse concert program ranging from Gregorian chant to polyphony to chamber music for the connoisseur and the budding music lover alike. The thread running through the 2023 edition is the annual theme INFINITY, drawn entirely from the mystical, messianic composer Alexander Scriabin (1871-1915), whose work pianist Irina Lankova will perform on Saturday, September 16 during her piano recital.
Infinity refers both to eternity and to the larger whole, the All, of which everything and everyone is a part. The famous quote by Alexander Scriabin, "I am a moment that illuminates eternity," touches, in her view, on the essence of music and the role of the artist. "On stage I feel connected to the source of music while sharing it with the audience." Just as Max van der Linden managed to create heavenly works from clay, so Irina Lankova tries to bring the finest musicians to the fertile land around Tourinnes-la-Grosse. The project is practically growing all by itself.
Infinity program
Most of the Max Festival's concerts—five over four days—take place in the Romanesque St. Martin's Church of Tourinnes-la-Grosse, which offers excellent acoustics. The festival opens with timeless chamber music by Franz Schubert, Samuel Barber, and Arvo Pärt; yes, the hypnotic 'Spiegel im Spiegel' will not be missing. There is sacred music for Good Friday with soprano Julie Gebhart, mezzo-soprano Naomi Couquet, and the Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie under the direction of Giancarlo De Lorenzo in the Stabat Mater by G.P. Pergolesi, supplemented with music by Francesco Durante and J.S. Bach.
In her only solo recital, pianist Irina Lankova performs Alexander Scriabin, Frédéric Chopin, and Sergei Rachmaninoff, accompanying each piece with personal commentary and offering the audience a guide to listening.
Between light and darkness, at 6 a.m., when the cosmos is a little purer, Cappella Pratensis searches for the eternal in music from the daily schedule of monastic life, from prime to compline. 'Aeterna Semper Quaerens' is a concert for early risers, complete with chaises longues hauled in so you can recline and listen in comfort. Afterward, a hearty breakfast awaits, as 'conviviality' seems to be part of the DNA of this festival du terroir.
Performers: Irina Lankova, Daniel Kogan, Elina Buksha, David Cohen, Joël Christophe, Léa Hennino, Julie Gebhart, Naomi Couquet, Ivan Paduart, Cappella Pratensis, and the Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie.
Practical Information
Programs
Festival pass €100 for the entire festival
Admission: €30, advance booking: €25, under 26 advance booking: €10
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Max van der Linden (b.1922 Nodebais – 1999) was a ceramicist, writer, cellist, music lover, collector, director, photographer... a charismatic figure and bridge-builder who constantly brought people closer together. His entire life was devoted to the arts, and his studio was a waystation for many wanderers and seekers, including many young people. In 1965, he began, together with friends from the village, including singer and writer Julos Beaucarne, the Fêtes de la Saint Martin. Every year in November, this arts festival attracts visitors to the private homes and churches of Tourinnes-la-Grosse, Nodebais, Beauvechain, Nethen, and beyond.
Irina Lankova (b.1977 Michurinsk, Russia) was six years old when she was moved to tears by Rachmaninoff's Elegy. She studied piano at the Gnessine School in Moscow. At eighteen, she moved to Brussels to further her studies with Evgeny Mogilevsky (winner of the Van Cliburn Competition 1964). She later lived and worked in London and Paris, and since 2016 has lived in Nodebais (Walloon Brabant) with her husband, a nephew of Max van der Linden, who plays jazz music in his spare time. She speaks fluent English and French and describes herself not as 'Russian' but as 'Belgian-international.' Despite an impressive concert schedule (Carnegie Hall in New York, Salle Gaveau in Paris, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, ...), this international pianist is remarkably—and oddly—virtually unknown in Flanders.
"Her touch is genuinely poetic, and she works on a large tonal canvas,
conjuring moods and atmospheres with compelling authority"
The Independent, UK
photo of Irina Lankova @ Ger Spendel
photos of Nodebais and Tourinnes-la-Grosse: © Ernst Gülcher
