On 8 March, the Moscow Virtuosi Orchestra will perform the programme «From Haydn to Piazzolla» on the Barbican Hall stage. On the eve of the festive concert we managed to ask several questions to the head of the orchestra – conductor and violin virtuoso Vladimir Spivakov.

– You have been leading the Moscow Virtuosi Orchestra for over 30 years. Where did it all begin?

– We started in Brezhnev times, it was 1979. At that time, nothing could be created at all, and our emergence was a pure accident. The Olympic Games were held in Moscow, and Lord Killanin came from England. We couldn’t find anyone to perform in the Italian courtyard of the Pushkin Museum that day, and they turned to us. When we finished playing, Lord Killanin was the first to stand, and the rest of the audience followed. The Pravda newspaper published an article entitled «There is such an orchestra». When the Pravda newspaper wrote something, it was a verdict.

– How has the orchestra changed over the years?

– Only three out of the first line-up remained – the double bass player and orchestra director Grigory Kovalevsky, harpsichordist Sergei Bezrodny, and me. And we decided not to part. Then young people came, they brought something new and have been working under my leadership for over 13 years.

– In one of your interviews you said that you choose musicians for the Moscow Virtuosi not only by their level of skill, but also by their spiritual qualities, how is that?

– Music together is not only the ability to play well, but also the ability to hear the other person and hide the shortcomings of both your own and your partner’s. It is a very important quality. And it is only available to people who are devoid of self-centeredness, i.e. capable of communicating, of consensus. Marina Tsvetaeva said remarkably that an orchestra is «a unity of the multitude». And this unity can be achieved not only when there are professional musicians around, but when all of them are people with capital letters.

– Your concert programme includes works from different eras. What do you do when selecting your repertoire?

– The symphony will be performed by Shostakovich, as far as I remember, in memory of the victims of fascism and war. This is music that unites both Russia and England. There are also Jewish themes in this music… This year we performed it in the European Parliament on Holocaust Memorial Day. I also wanted to show some children from my international foundation that supports Ukrainian, Baltic, Azerbaijani, Armenian and Caucasian children. The Russian girl Alexandra Stychkina will be playing a concert by Haydn, because Shostakovich himself loved to combine his music with that of Haydn. Another girl, Daniel Akta, is coming from Israel; by the way, she just got a cello from England, and I gave her a very good French bow.

The orchestra’s soloists will then perform magnificent works by Piazzolla. You see, in these concerts it is possible to show that all «Moscow Virtuosi» are soloists. Any of our people can stand up and play whatever you want. This is why we choose very deep works. Every small work has a whole life in it.

– The press release states that «Moscow Virtuosi» stands out as «a truly European culture of performance».   What is the difference between the European culture of performance and Russian?

– As a rule, Russian musicians specialise in their music – in Russian. But we have played a lot of European music, especially as I have studied it both in books and in various master classes. Also, for example, it is considered that if an orchestra plays in Russia, it plays very loudly. And for Europeans, orchestras play with a more «refined» sound. But this is all very conventional.

– Recently, it has been increasingly said that there is some degradation, a cultural crisis, difficulties in perceiving classical art and a general loss of interest in it. Do you agree with this?

– We have no empty seats at any of our concerts, so it’s hard for me to comment. I know that pop music and what is called a pop song have much more financial possibilities than classical music. In Moscow, the only place where modern composers can be heard is the House of Music.

– You often talk in interviews about your teachers who have provided support. In your opinion, what is the situation with teaching music now?

– I think it’s worse than it used to be. In the Soviet Union, salaries were low, but they worked harder. And in the West, there were more financially equipped teachers, but they worked for hours: from and to, which I never met during my studies. As much as we needed, we studied as much: two or three times a week, we could be left after class, we studied separately. And the teachers did not get extra money for that. And in the West, every hour is money. Nowadays, young people are more focused on this, because, unfortunately, money has become the equivalent of everything in the world. Many talented people have to look for it, to make their own way through it. Maybe there’s nothing wrong with that, too. But more time is spent on searching.

– You play the Stradivarius violin and you value it very much. Is there really some mystical connection between a musician and an instrument?

– Absolutely. I don’t own this tool, people have bought it for me for life. And it’s a wonderful tool. In French, the violin is masculine, «man», so to speak. And in Russian it is, of course, «woman». So it behaves like a woman – jealous, restless, nervous, not forgiving offenses. She gets offended when I do not do enough on her. But sometimes she helps out by the kindness of her soul. So she’s a living being, for me she’s a close friend.

– Did any funny moments happen on stage?

– One day in New York, when I was playing a work for solo violin, a time-ball was started at me. It was the kind of jar of paint that burst on my stomach. But nothing, I survived. And then a couple more times the mobile phones sounded, and I immediately played the same melody on the violin, and the audience laughed and got excited.

– A brilliant way out and a lesson for those who have their phone ringing.

– Yes, ironic.

– Nowadays it’s common to complain about stress and depression, and you have a very busy schedule: you lead two orchestras, create and supervise the House of Music, do the Foundation’s business… Share your personal secret: how to keep up and keep fit?

– The more a person is busy, the less chance they have of sinning. This is the first one. Two: it’s all about organization, exactly, respect for people. Depression is very rare in my life. And when I open the score, listen to it, work on it, I don’t sleep at night, I’m burning with the desire to hear what it will sound like, I meet with musicians, and then the first rehearsal comes and I hear everything I have in mind, in the performance, in the live sound… There is such a contact with the soul of great people, great composers – it’s happiness! There is nothing better for me.

The interview was prepared by Margarita Baskakova.