Russian pianist Nikita Galaktionov - about performances at Carnegie Hall and the principle of non-participation in competitions

Photo from the personal archive of Nikita Galaktionov

On Saturday, 21 October at Carnegie Hall (Weill Recital Hall), twenty-two-year-old pianist from Russia Nikita Galaktionov will perform his favorite works of P. Tchaikovsky, M. Balakirev and S. Rakhmaninov. Tickets for his concerts in Moscow and abroad are bought up quickly. A month and a half before the musician arrived in New York, the maestro talked to ForumDaily.

- Let's start with the fact that you are playing at Carnegie Hall this time? What kind of concert will it be?

— This time the program consists of works by three great Russian composers: Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov and Balakirev. Well, of course there will be some encores, which - I think - will be pleasing to the American public.

My choice is not accidental. This is a kind of continuation of the tradition. In 1891, Carnegie Hall opened with a concert of Tchaikovsky’s works, while the maestro himself stood behind the conductor’s console. His student Rachmaninov lived in America for many years and 92 times went to this illustrious scene.

I do not rank myself with such great people, but I believe that their music should constantly be heard here, in these beautiful halls, where the walls remember its authors. The work of Miliya Balakirev is less known than his social activities. It was he who headed the famous circle of intellectuals and creative people in the 19th century called “The Mighty Handful”. It was he, a twenty-five-year-old composer without a musical education (at that time there was simply none in Russia), who brought their works to the court by Rimsky-Korsakov, Dargomyzhsky, Mussorgsky.

— Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov are played quite a lot in New York, and not only by Russian pianists, and not only by pianists - it would be more correct to say so.

In principle, these are authors who have ceased to be Russian in the applied sense - they are a legacy of world musical culture. How do you think your playing differs from American and non-American visiting artists?

— A good question that requires some thought. What can I brag about? Regarding Rachmaninov, the fact that I very much understand the language in which he wrote music for the piano. Elementary from all considerations - not for the sake of boasting, but simply a statement of fact - my hands are the same size as his. I understand not only the music itself, but also its plasticity. In our business, technology is inseparable from art, and in this case, some tasks are easier for me to complete... And, of course, I want to tell the public some of my things that I found in this music.

Last year I played in the Golden Hall of our Embassy in Washington. It was a wonderful concert, in which two musicians from Ukraine, two from America and two from Russia took part, which is very politically correct in our difficult times.

I then said: “God bless the day when Russians, Ukrainians and Americans forget about politics for at least a day.” This phrase was later quoted by CNN in a report about this event.

I speak English quite well, so before performing each piece, following the local tradition, I give a short speech-excursion. In front of me sat exclusively American students - a very responsive audience, but far from our culture. I tried to explain to them that Rachmaninov’s “Elegy” is the image of the “mysterious Russian soul” embodied in music. Despite the fact that this is still his early composition... Moreover, his passion for cello can be heard very clearly there... It is very multifaceted. Perhaps at that time I was able to recreate the author's intention. In any case, I played and saw that some people in the hall were even crying.

— What pieces are you planning to play now? Let's start with Rachmaninov?

— There will be “Elegy” 39th opus; two sketches-paintings; also two musical moments: one of them is the famous 4th E minor. Another etude-picture that I have long wanted to perform and show to the American public is the D minor of the 33rd opus.

- And then - Tchaikovsky and Balakirev?

- No. First I will play several numbers from Tchaikovsky’s “Seasons”, and then Balakirev’s “Toccata” will sound - music that is very rarely performed. And his famous adaptation of Glinka’s “Lark”. And at the end - Rachmaninov.

— By what principle did you choose what you were going to play? There are quite a few names in your repertoire.

— For my concerts abroad, I usually do a Russian program. I want foreign audiences to hear an authentic, truly Russian performance.

I will explain. For example, I would never be able to play Indian music, like a real native of India, who heard it from childhood and was raised on these sound combinations. Exactly also every non-Russian music of Russian composers will always perform not quite exactly in the sense that each of us speaks a non-native language with an accent.

— I know that it is important for you to note that you are playing this concert pro bono, without money. That is, tickets are sold, but you personally will not receive a penny for your performance. Is this part of some kind of popularization of Russian culture? Why? Is this some kind of your position - not to take money for American performances?

- This is a position. To some extent, it is due to the fact that I, like any young performer, want as many people as possible to know about me. And charging high ticket prices means narrowing the circle of your listeners. So far I am not as profitable as a new product. Well, popularization, of course. So it turns out to be a performance for the sake of art.”

- Tell me, don’t you have to listen to any reproaches that you are so young, but already quite famous. There aren't many musicians who perform at Carnegie Hall at twenty years old, are there?

“I must say that I almost never have these problems; I have never seen any kind of open envy: “Why is he playing at Carnegie Hall, and I can only dream of such an opportunity?”

And then my path to Carnegie was not strewn with roses. Suffice it to say that at the final exam in my specialty at the Central Music School at the Moscow State Conservatory named after P.I. Tchaikovsky, I received a mark unprecedented in its history - four with a minus. I was not accepted into this very conservatory twice.

Thanks to my teacher - Professor of the Moscow State Conservatory Arkady Sevidov, who, in spite of everything and everyone, taught me privately all these years. Or he could have parted with a hopeless, unfulfilled student. Moreover, immediately after graduating from the Central Music School, we began to give concerts together in different capitals. For me, this is a great honor and a great school. Playing concerts is not taking tests. Different tasks, different skills, different difficulties.

With teacher, pianist Arkady Sevidov. Photo from the personal archive of Nikita Galaktionov

— Do you remember your first impressions? Here you are at Carnegie Hall. You’re only twenty... And?”

“The impression I got the first time was repeated the next time I found myself in this room. I apologize for being pathetic, I had the feeling that I was in a place that could be called a temple of music. Everything that is there favors the music to sound the way it should sound, and for something indescribable to happen to the listener. There are no barriers between the plans of the composer, performer and the public directly. There are no doubts or fears. Here is an artist who has long dreamed of creating something, and here he is given all the tools to do it. And he is so happy about this opportunity that nothing stops him - no doubts, no fears - he just takes everything and does it.

— Did you conduct any research or did someone observe from the audience: what percentage of Americans, what percentage of our former members come to listen to you?

- No, we did not set such a goal. It was very interesting to see people of different nationalities in the hall. I imagined that the audience would be exclusively Russian, but I saw various people: including African Americans and Asians, Americans themselves. Well, Russians, of course.

— Are there any differences in the reaction of the public here from the Russian one? Or from the public in the Baltic countries, for example, which also appear in your posters?

— I had a very interesting experience. Once an American group came to Moscow, dancing in the style of hip-hop. They offered the Moscow public their vision of the Nutcracker ballet. Do you understand? “Nutcracker” in hip-hop style! I clearly remember how our viewer’s brains creaked, because they simply did not understand how this was possible.

Our culture that has developed over the entire existence of Russian classical music simply implies some kind of static character, some kind of monumentality, some other lines of dancers. And a bold interpretation was proposed, in a good way. And, unfortunately, we did not understand this.

And in New York, adults come to the Christmas fairy tale - married couples of 40-45 years old, respectable people - this can be seen from the watches they wear, from their costumes. They sit, drink cola and popcorn and watch a fairy tale with Santa Claus and girls who beautifully dance the cancan. And they feel good! What do I want to say? Probably, after all, the American public is more spontaneous.

- ABOUT! So you are a rather democratic person, how did you get included in the classics?

- Sorry?

— Often musicians who perform classical music are quite strict about everything else except classical music; they refuse to accept anything. And here you are, a man of broad views: you like hip-hop and the freedom of the American public. How did you find yourself in a world where even popularizers of classical music are accepted only once in a while? Observe the reaction of post-Soviet classical pianists to the work of Chinese pianist Lang Lang. After all, he is a very modern person who communicates with the public in a language that they understand. One can evaluate the way he plays in different ways, but how much does he do to ensure that people start listening to the classics again? And how disdainfully serious musicians treat him...

— By the way, I must tell you that I was at the Lang Lang concert. I don’t remember how many years ago it was in Moscow in the Great Hall of the Conservatory.

Then Lang Lang just started to open up to the world and his appearance had the effect of an exploding bomb. Our people are simply stunned by what he does and how he behaves.

I remember that I began to observe the reaction of the listeners and realized that in those moments when the pianist himself was delighted by what he was playing, the whole hall sat with exactly the same insane smile.

Therefore, here, it is probably important to remember the psychology that I was interested in at one time: what is more important is how strong the reaction is, and after that comes whether it is positive or negative. I can say for sure that Lang Lang caused a strong reaction. I think that's what any artist is looking for.

Photo from the personal archive of Nikita Galaktionov

— Do you have any impressions about New York itself? Personally, what do you remember most? What is your New York like? Streets, people, sounds... Does it give the impression of a free city or a “concrete jungle”?

— New York ... City of ambitions. Heights A city where people drink coffee instead of coffee, then drink coffee. Everyone is always somewhere running, trying to make money ... Perhaps, this is a city-symbol of our crazy time for careerists, huge corporations and finances.

I'm not sure that I have a place among this. As in general, in principle, a normal person with his weaknesses, changeable pace of life. However, my opinion is by no means negative. I still was extremely curious to see all this.

People are different. But mostly easy to react. Immediate. Maybe in a sense even a bit like children. In an exceptionally good way.

And since America is a country of immigrants, different nationalities also met. Hindus and Moroccans, Russians, Japanese... I took advantage of the opportunity and communicated with everyone. Marvelous.

Washington was much closer to me and my parents. In it, you remember that birds can sing in the city. Unusual peace and contrast with New York.

Regarding the “free city”... It’s hard to say. It is enough to listen to conversations on the streets, near eateries and in shops to understand that people are still worried about taxes, medicine, everyday problems and everything that is heard in our country.

It's funny, but with the exception of some features of culture, mentality and ideas, formed from stereotypes, I almost stopped to see the difference between people in different countries. Everywhere is life. Albeit with some changes, but similar to the one that is known to me.

— Are there any pianists you would like to be like? Or do you consciously follow your own path, without repeating anyone else’s?

— Of course, my teacher, professor of the Moscow Conservatory, winner of the Fourth Prize of the Fourth P.I. Tchaikovsky Competition, Arkady Sevidov, with whom I have been studying since the 10th grade of the Central Music School, had a huge influence on me. Thanks to him, I finally understood where, what and where in music; why certain things are done; what is the motivation and logic behind this...

Of course, there are pianists of world magnitude who have something to learn, but I do not want to limit myself to anything. Moreover, it is to follow exclusively one person, who for many years will unwittingly shape your style.

If you recognize his work as the only true one, you can become a copy of what has already been revealed to the world. You need to be able to look in different directions and be able to find yours in different ways.

— But can you name a couple of names and say why exactly do you like these colleagues of yours?

“For me, a personal discovery was Luc Debargue, who performed very brilliantly at the last Tchaikovsky competition.”

- What?

— Oh, this is a unique situation: when a person played in jazz bands for a long time and suddenly decided to study classical music professionally. He received only the fourth prize, but became the most invited participant in the competition to concerts in Russia. Sometimes there are complaints about his technique, but in this case, what is more important to me is how he exists in music, how he feels it and how he conveys it to the listener.

I came to the conclusion a long time ago that jazz teaches direct participation in music. Jazz music is shaped by the performer and largely depends on him, but in classical music, unfortunately, the traditions of improvisation have been practically lost. They were in those distant times when composers like Handel and Mozart lived. When the professions of composer and performer were inseparable. Quite often, the musician wrote half of the piece in advance, and improvised the second half right at the concert. Nowadays a classical musician is limited by the scope of the work and the traditions of its performance. And it would be very cool to teach him improvisation.

My diploma will be devoted to this.

I also had an amazing experience when I heard Ivo Pogorelich live. For this reason, we specially went to Estonia. Of course, Ivo Pogorelich is a man with a very difficult fate. As we remember, his life broke down after his wife died. At the concert he performed four Beethoven sonatas. It was both wonderful and creepy at the same time. I understood how accurately everything that Beethoven had intended was executed. And at the same time, all these sonatas, regardless of the parts, the keys, or the instructions in the notes, were about death, about funerals. I looked at Pogorelich and saw that the man had a crack right in the middle, that there was a life before and a life after. And, by the way, the big question is: is there this “life after” for him?

— Nowhere on the Internet are your memories of how you played as a child. So you started early - why? Did you want to play yourself? Parents? How did it go and how did you decide what your profession would be?

— Even before I was born, it was decided that I would be a musician. This is my mother's old dream. At one time, she created two very famous private groups (now they are both state-owned): for Mikhail Pletnev - the Russian National Symphony Orchestra, and for Roman Viktyuk - the theater named after him. Immediately after parting with them, I appeared.

At the age of four they started teaching me music and put me in the gymnastics section. The fact that my parents made the choice of profession for me and even before me was a problem for me for a long time. In the midst of my teenage years, I talked about how I wanted to “give up” playing the piano, since I didn’t choose it myself, and that I wanted to find my calling on my own. Unfortunately or fortunately, there were no worthy alternatives. And later I realized that I am a musician not by profession, but by “brains”. I feel music as brightly and close to my heart and soul as my father, who graduated from the Gnessin Academy in the jazz department as a bassist. Now I can say for sure: I’m where I need to be, I like it, this is my way of both expressing my own inspiration and drawing it.

— Tell me, why, as a matter of principle, unlike all artists starting their careers, do you not participate in international competitions?

— Yes, I don’t take part in competitions. On purpose. At the age of 13, having mistakenly found myself in a group of eighteen-year-old competitors, I became the winner of an international competition in the small Italian town of Corato. I stroked my vanity and that’s it!

More than 300 (!) Competitions for pianists are held annually in the world. Taking into account the 2 and 3 seats, about a thousand pianists acquire laureate titles.

This is some kind of crazy conveyor belt. How can the public choose someone, prefer someone, finally discern someone? How to choose a diamond if you are blinded by a huge number of exactly the same beautiful stones from all sides? At the words “a laureate of international competitions is speaking,” people are already openly yawning. I even yawned when I thought about it.

Well, you can hardly talk about the objectivity of refereeing. I am by no means going to throw a stone at someone’s garden, but I understand perfectly well that it is impossible to speak objectively about music. Elementary taste preferences are very important. This is not a marathon, where everything is obvious: who came running in what number and for what time. In our case, we will say that the runner was not expressively suffocated enough on the last kilometer, and his intonation did not coincide with the rhythm of the sneakers. And so on.

- What do you think - will you defend your diploma in a year and what will you become? Do you want to try yourself in something else outside the classics, given your interest in jazz? Do you know how to compose, have you been given this - to write your own and improvise?

- There will be no studying - there will be more concerts. I love touring. I am one of those artists for whom the stage is a plus. Before going out to see her, I don’t feel faint or frantically nervous. On the contrary, she inspires me, mobilizes me, reveals me...

And the craving for writing is. But I feel that I still need to learn, I do not have enough means of expression to express my thoughts. Of course, there are some gems that this does not stop and that they do everything themselves, regardless of whether they were taught this or not. But this is not me.

Nikita Galaktionov's New York concert will be held in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall

Start at 8 PM

Tickets: $25 to $30

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