Vladimir Spivakov, Principal Conductor and Artistic Director of the State Chamber Orchestra «Moscow Virtuosi» and the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia, told the portal «Kultura.RF» about how to achieve success for a novice violinist, how the music audience in Russia and abroad is different and what discoveries were made at the II International Violin Competition in Ufa.

— Vladimir Teodorovich, the International Violin Competition was held in Ufa from 17 to 21 September. More than 700 thousand people watched its internet broadcast on our portal.

— Yes, I thank your portal for opening the doors of the city’s concert hall to so many people. Especially in the city where I was born by happy accident. My father, after two contusions in the Great Patriotic War on the Ukrainian front, found himself in Ufa and worked there as an engineer. I was even presented with a certificate, which said that «Theodore Spivakov worked as a senior foreman in Workshop 1» at the plant producing engines for our bombers. This is the fate. It is very valuable to me.

— What was the second contest remembered for? Which of the young performers was opened this time?

— First, of course, it is necessary to note the rather high level of performers. Now young people are faster than we were born in the USSR. They have more information, and they grab everything with incredible speed. The previous contest in Ufa was won by a 15-year-old boy from Sweden, Daniel Lozakovich. This gave him, one might say, a space launch. He is now playing everywhere, and various companies are fighting to get him to come. In 2019, together with the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia, under my direction, Daniel will be performing solo in the USA. The girl who won the current competition, Maria Duñas from Spain, is also 15 years old.

I noticed her earlier when she was 11 years old. Every year in the capital, under the patronage of the City Hall, the children’s festival «Moscow meets friends» is held. Every year it gathers children from more than 40 countries. I believe that it is necessary to preserve the cultural field, so many children from the former Soviet Union come there as well. And some of these countries are in political confrontation, for example Armenia with Azerbaijan, Russia with Ukraine. But children are not guilty of anything. They come to Moscow and they feel great. You look at them and you think: «What happiness! This is how politicians would treat each other!» And everyone speaks Russian. And some, I myself wonder how it turns out that at such an advanced, kinetic level they understand each other – Chinese children talk to Russians or to children from Uzbekistan. They find a common language very well – this is amazing.

And Maria Duñas came to me through this festival. Records of her performances were sent from Spain to my foundation. The commission watched the video and found the girl to be talented. They showed it to me, I said: «Yes, let him come». Maria Duñas played Manuel de Falla’s Spanish Dance then. She came, I called her to my foreign music room, I said: «Tell me, how do you live? Where do you live?» It turned out that she comes from a large family and lives somewhere near Granada, very modestly. Her mother has several jobs. Dad is out of work. Life isn’t easy everywhere. I asked: «Where are you going to study?» She answered uncertainly. I sent her to Professor Boris Kushnir, who had studied with me at the Moscow State Conservatory under the wonderful Professor Boris Belikov. And she joined him at the Vienna Conservatory. For three years she studied practically for free, although this is not typical of Western teachers. This is more typical of our teachers, who understand that talent needs to be nurtured, helped in every way. And Maria Duñas won the Yuri Yankelevich International Violin Competition in Omsk, where she also received a violin. For young talents, instruments are just a gift from above. After all, her family might never have been able to buy such a violin. And now there is the second one. So now she has some kind of material basis. In addition to a really visible talent.

— Did you immediately notice Maria Duñas in Spain itself?

— When I was in Spain about a year ago at the invitation of Her Majesty Queen Sofia, we gave a charity concert for children in Africa. And the Queen accepted me at intermission. We have good relations with the Royal House of Spain: for three years, together with the Moscow Virtuosi Orchestra, I worked under the patronage of Prince Philip of Asturias, now King. At that concert we performed Mozart’s Coronation Mass. And at halftime Queen Sofia came up with the words of one of the acts of this Mass. I was amazed. And then she added: «When I was a girl in Greece, I sang it in the choir. Ever since then I remember» . We talked for almost all those 20 minutes. And then I told the Queen about Mary Duñas. And later it turned out that a few months later Mary had been invited to come to the palace and play there.

— What rules must a novice violinist follow in order to succeed in the field of music?

— Of course, you must have musical talent first. Then you need to have examples. And obstacles. You need everything in life. And you need a teacher who would be interested in the child, because it’s a very difficult thing to do. After all, small violins sometimes sound just awful – as a rule, children play bad instruments. You need a teacher who is extremely fond of children and his work. And the main thing is that he did not kill the child’s individuality. That’s when something will work. In general, I don’t think that every child should become a genius. I don’t think it depends on us. But it’s a fact that music develops unusually and the child will have a completely different view of the world. Music has everything that is in space. Everything that is in religion. Everything that is in life. And the most important thing is that there is no aggression in music. Just yesterday I remembered the wonderful thought of philosopher Seneca, who said: «Why do we teach our children free arts? Not to give them virtue, but to prepare the soul for the perception of it. Here’s the thing. It was very important to me that after the First International Violin Competition in Ufa, 7.5 thousand children of Bashkortostan went to music schools».

— You started out as a violinist yourself. And when did you realise that your vocation was to be a conductor?

— I haven’t quit the violin, I’m still working on it. I try to play every day. And as they say, I still do it well, because my colleagues at my age are already what they call «not very pulling». I was first given up for the cello. But I was very small, thin and weak, and after two weeks I asked for something easier to give me. That’s how I started to play the violin – you guessed it. And when I think about conducting, I remember a phrase from teacher Svyatoslav Richter and Emil Gilels, Heinrich Gustavovich Neigauz: «Every good pianist should have a conductor sitting in him». In other words, you need to feel the music inside, the structure of the work, and hear different voices and timbres. Capture the inner, vibrant rhythm. And quite early on, I began to feel that there was such a beginning in me. For five years, I learned this from a professional – the wonderful Professor Gusman, a friend of Dmitry Shostakovich, a man who did a lot of very good things. My first debut as a professional conductor took place in Chicago – with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, no more or less – and was very successful.

— Have you ever tried yourself as a composer?

— What you need here is a real gift from God. Dmitry Shostakovich, for example, wakes up in the morning and says: «I had a dream that I wrote a part of a concert or part of a symphony.». He would approach the piano and record music that sounded in his sleep. Composers are very special people. I myself did not go any further to compose «Cadencias» for several concerts of Mozart. I do not have this gift. I have to be born with it.

— Sometimes the composer’s ideas are very difficult to put into practice. Have you ever been unable to perform a piece of music?

— It used to take more time to learn and understand. I am actually very honest about music. If I feel like I’m not succeeding in something or if I don’t understand style, language or anything else, then I have to work hard and for a long time. Even though it has happened that some external factors have influenced me. For example, in Soviet times, many things were forbidden to be performed. I once recorded a work by the French composer Olivier Messiaen. He was a very religious man, and one of his plays was called «Praise the immortality of Christ». It was very beautiful. I learned it and recorded it at the Melody company. But when they saw the title, they said: «Are you out of your mind to play such music?» I say: «What is it? This is a wonderful essay. It’s amazing, spiritual.». — «You play very well, but we will shorten the name». And the recording «Olivier Messiaen. Praise». That’s it, full stop.

— Which of the compositions that the orchestras under your supervision are playing is your favourite?

— Frankly speaking, I always feel good about Russian music. There are so many masterpieces there, and in everyone you discover something new. They are multiscale, deepest compositions filled with passion, love, and a holy spirit. I was brought up on this, so this is my soul, my breath, my life. It is very difficult to single out one composition. Whatever you touch, it all excites and trembles. How can I say this? «I love Rachmaninoff’s Concert No. 2 and less love the Concert No. 4.»? Each concert is beautiful in its own way. In every symphony and even in every play, you will find something that will delight and excite you. The same goes for the music of Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Alexander Skryabin, Sergei Taneyev and Anatoly Lyadov.Each concert is beautiful in its own way. In every symphony and even in every play, you will find something that will delight and excite you. The same goes for the music of Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Alexander Skryabin, Sergei Taneyev and Anatoly Lyadov.

— You speak several foreign languages. How do these skills help in your musical life? Is it important for a modern musician to know foreign languages or to speak music perfectly enough?

— Yes, of course I can explain myself in French, Italian, English, German and Russian, but in order to know the language you need to have more. Of course, foreign languages are important: the world has expanded its borders. Let me give you an example. My youngest daughter, who sings, studied at Berkeley College of Music in Boston. In order to learn a language faster, I advised her to read poems by English and American poets. And a couple of months later I saw the right books next to her cot. And then she wrote a song and calls me on the phone: «Dad, you and I received new applause today. A group of professors from America came to visit us, and since I wanted to enter this school (it’s the best in jazz in the USA), I performed for these guests. First I sang a song by Stevie Wonder, then I played a jazz improvisation, and then I sang my song to poetry by the American poet Robert Frost.». And, of course, when the Americans saw that a Russian girl who speaks brilliant French composed a song and sang it in brilliant English, they applauded her.

— The National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia and the Moscow Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra under your direction often tour. The public in Russia and abroad is different in some respects?

— Often abroad, a concert is a social event. People come in, put on dinner jackets and dresses, suffocate… I once played in Salzburg at the Mozarteum, and when I went on stage I was struck in the nose by such a sharp perfume smell (laughs) — I was even surprised. The situation is slightly different there. And in our country people come for love, for their craving for culture and music. For example, very often I get letters from veterans: «Could you, Vladimir Teodorovich, arrange tickets for us at a reduced price so that we can buy them for sure?». I bring these people in and just put them on stage when I can. Since Moscow Virtuosi is a chamber orchestra, not a symphony orchestra, it is possible to put 80 or even 100 people on stage, including, of course, children from music schools and colleges. «Moscow Virtuosi», soon to be 40, is part of my biography. And they, in turn, are part of the biography of people. Sometimes fate scatters people around the world, they do not see each other, families are separated – and suddenly they meet many years later at our concerts, somewhere in America or Germany. This has already become part of our shared biography.

Tatiana Grigorieva interviewed