Variations on… one string

In the two last days of January, Kyiv hosted such interesting art events as “Bohdana Pivnenko and Her Pupils” (on occasion Mozart’s birth anniversary and the musician’s own birthday) at the concert hall of the National Union of Ukrainian Composers and “Pyotr Tchaikovsky” at the National Philharmonic, where the violinist successfully performed the Russian classic’s famous First Concerto for Violin and Orchestra.

“‘ATHLETES’ RULE THE ROOST IN ART NOW”

“The concert at the union of composers was sort of an account of my pedagogical work. Curiously, the birthdays of Mozart and me coincide on January 27, and I decided to mark both dates,” Pivnenko said. “The idea is ‘Mozart and not only’ because the audience also heard the works of Seitz, Rieding, Kreisler, Wieniawski, and Tchaikovsky. And my pupils were eager to play with an orchestra, moreover, such a noted one as the National Ensemble of Soloists ‘Kyivska Kamerata’ with Valerii Matiukhin at the head. It was a ‘home concert’ of sorts – so that children had a favorable opportunity to perform. There were very many people who came to give me birthday greetings. I told them about each of the performers – various life stories, etc.”

Are you satisfied with the result? Did the children show themselves well?

“In our profession, you never know how you will fare on stage. This is particularly true of children. ‘Athletes’ rule the roost in art all over the world now. I mean those who are ‘faster, higher, stronger,’ like in the Olympic motto. They sound quite good but very often lack something of the most important. You’ve heard one and think: ‘Well, a nice number,’ and immediately forget him, for there are a lot of ‘technicians’ like this now. But, for some reason, we still turn to old masters because each of them had a face of their own and the means of expressions that singled them out. You readily recognize the sound of Jascha Heifetz, Leonid Kogan, David Oistrakh, Yehudi Menuhin... The world has changed now: it’s fast, active, and cool all the way. But if you are a musician, you can’t go in for ‘sport.’ You need a soul. And whether or not you like it is a matter of taste.

“I have a pupil, a 9th-grade schoolgirl, who is a very classy ‘athlete.’ I tell her that people are first of all interested in what she wants to say to them and only then all the rest. I force her to read books and listen to music. I post on Facebook films and TV programs for my pupils to watch. We must remember that we educate them not only as violinists, but also as personalities. This generation knows how to do something that we don’t, but it seems to me they are missing something important.”

How is a musician supposed to behave on stage?

“The more emotionally we play, the more we risk because our vision may not correspond with the audience’s mood. But ‘being right’ is quite a relative thing. While there are some general musical criteria (one must sound clear, rhythmic, and skillful), there are no artistic recipes. You can’t achieve this in a day. Naturally, there are geniuses with inborn capabilities. But in general this is gained by hard work. As for me, I teach at a 10-grade music school, practice every day, and try to show my pupils the example of how things should be done.

“If it is a talent, people always notice this. I view the concert as a process, not as a championship. Whenever I arrange performances of students, I can see them feel more and more confident every time. I never drill them. This is perhaps needed for a competition, but it is important to me at the concert that they show themselves as artists, react to the music and partners, and feel the audience’s mood in order to play better.

“My pupils and I recently went to Zakopane, Poland. There are traditional fiddlers there among the Gorals, much akin to our Hutsuls. Poland has a program of folk and art music integration. We met, and they gave us master classes. I had never seen musicians finding unbounded joy in mingling and playing with their counterparts. Of course, they play a different repertoire, but their immensely genial disposition is incredibly impressive. In the end we staged a concert – their number, our number. I was afraid we would lose, for they really know how to ‘turn on’ the audience, while we only play opuses in a classical manner. I selected a relevant program for each – Brahms, Skoryk, etc.

“I can remember even dancing on the stage. It looked more like a theater. We didn’t lose. They welcomed us sincerely. However, I understood: yes, we can show a level and meet technical requirements, as befits art musicians, but our ultimate goal is to captivate people, to make it interesting for them to listen…

“The audience should rise, as it happened today at the philharmonic. I was so pleased to see the people stand up – this means they liked it. It’s very important. One should feel impressed after the concert.”

Are you satisfied with your performance?

“I like to feel that I can do what I wish with the audience, ‘speak’ to them through the violin. The audience reacted accordingly. You can’t deceive them. My professor Bohodar Kotorovych once said that audiences vote with their feet, i.e., they do or do not go to the concert.”

“THERE IS MORE OF MANEUVER IN CONTEMPORARY MUSIC”

What do you like to play more – contemporary or classical music? For you play practically everything. Some people believe, perhaps quite to the point, that it is in a way easier to perform contemporary music because no one knows how it should sound.

“Every musician should play classical pieces, for he or she grows on this. It is the foundation, and you will degrade little by little without classics. In reality, these pieces are well known in the best performance, and you must always work to try to reach this level. I often tell my pupils a quotation from Alice in Wonderland: ‘We must run as fast as we can, just to stay in place.’ Our job requires that we constantly remain in shape and self-improve.

“There is more of maneuver in contemporary music. It is easier to play it from this viewpoint. But it depends on a personality: if you have something to show to people, you can make contemporary music more interesting and put it across to the listener because you know how you should play to make people accept it. For a performer can ‘bury’ or, on the contrary, breathe life into a modern piece. From this angle, Gidon Kremer is a genius. He knows how to make something out of nothing. For me, he has always been a true role model.

“As Kotorovych used to say, you should fill every note with content. Clearly, you can only do so if you have something to fill it with. I play a lot of Ukrainian music. I think it is one of the best in the world. Our composers are just the most talented.”

Why then are we so little known?

“Because there is such thing as sales markets. If we go abroad and show what we really want and can, we will ruin their entire frame of references. Besides, there should be a corresponding governmental policy. For example, Deutsche Bank is proud to be a patron and a partner of Berlin Philharmonic – it is a matter of prestige, and it spends millions on this. The Bavarian State Opera has Audi as an official partner. The firm generously funds the theater’s productions. They know only too well: no culture, no country. Years later people will not recall the names of some politicians, but they will always remember the outstanding representatives of art and science, for it is these figures that shape the level of a nation.”

“You often perform with the Ukrainian Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Volodymyr Sheiko, as you did on January 28…

“Volodymyr Sheiko once invited me to the concerts of his wonderful TV and radio project ‘Art Stories.’ People liked it very much. Listeners are striving for something exalted, our people are very cultured and spiritually rich, not as primitive as some say they are – the proof of this is today’s full house at the philharmonic. They watched ‘Art Stories’ with pleasure, and I kept track of this program’s ratings. At first Sheiko took up the ‘Baroque Music’ theme, and we played Vivaldi and Albioni. Then it was Lysenko, ‘The Universe of Violin,’ and things went on and on. I can in fact play everything.

“Nowadays, performers cannot confine themselves to a narrow role range. The lighter you are on your feet and the higher your education is, the more you will gain. It was interesting for me to try myself out in different aspects. I was part of Kyiv Soloists from the very beginning, when Kotorovych formed this group in 1996. I stood the fifth, the shortest, there. Then I became a concertmaster. Kotorovych did so much for me, opened so many horizons! I still consider the time when I toured a lot with Kotorovych as golden years. It is invaluable experience. He always said: ‘The artist should have a recognizable face even if somebody does not like it – it’s impossible to be liked by everybody. But somebody is sure to love you.’ He was a genius. Whenever I look over his notes, I understand that we underestimated him. And we miss him so much now.”

Would you tell me about your immediate plans?

“Since December 2016 I’ve been an acting head of the Violin Department at the National Music Academy of Ukraine. When I was invited to do this job, this frightened me. I even thought it was a joke. The department Kotorovych once headed – and I?! But, as a matter of fact, his generation is now departing, and those who belong to the generation between him and me left this country in the 1990s. I was told to try. I thought: ‘If I can do something good and useful, let it be so.’

“As for my concert plans, I will play again at the philharmonic on February 4. Myroslava Kotorovych, Borys Gromov, and I once gave a concert, ‘Paganiniana,’ in memory of Bohodar Kotorovych. So the philharmonic asked whether we would like to repeat the program. Myroslava is sick now, so Gromov, Kostiantyn Lukianiuk, a young talented violinist from Chernivtsi, and I will be playing. Incidentally, Lukianiuk is going soon to the US to take lessons from Oleh Krysa. Nazar Stets will play variations for violin on one string, but on the… double bass. The other participants are Mark Topchii, a very talented guitarist, the winner at several dozens of international competitions, and Kyivska Kamerata with Valerii Matiukhin.

“On February 7, I’ll be playing in Odesa. Kateryna Dziuba, a fantastic sand animation artist, has prepared a very nice project that includes The Seasons by Vivaldi and Piazzolla. I will play Volodymyr Zubytsky’s Besame Mucho. The concert will be held at the Opera House, and I will be accompanied by their orchestra.

“On February 12, Stets and I will play Giovanni Bottesini’s opus for violin and double bass at the opening of the Yevhen Stankovych Competition. There will be another sand animation on February 14 in Lviv, this time with Lviv Virtuosos. Later in the month we will give a concert of contemporary music in Vilnius.

“A sand animation will also be held in Kyiv on March 8 at the Music Academy’s Great Hall. I will also be in concert on March 10 in Zhytomyr to play the music of Stankovych, Sylvestrov, and Skoryk.”

Olha Holynska is a musicologist