Today, like the first time I heard Rodion Shchedrin's Poetoria in rehearsal, it made a powerful impression on me. I think Shchedrin is extremely talented. I know his previous works fairly well and like many of them. But I would not pretend, it has sometimes occurred to me that some of his earlier music could have been written differently. Perhaps something could have been missed out here and there. It seemed to me that sometimes Shchedrin did not go deep enough (with regard to both content and musical language), and that his themes were not very serious. But in Poetoria he has matured considerably and become much more profound, and I had the feeling that this work had to be written. I am still under its spell. / I think we have reached a turning point in Shchedrin's creative biography and that from now on he will look at life squarely and portray it philosophically.