The Vladimir Krainev International Music Festival stands out among numerous creative projects that have become traditions in Ukraine because it involves international performing stars. But the main thing is that this festival allows one to witness the birth of new stars. This year’s eight-day event highlighted such acknowledged names as Bolshoi soloist Irina Makarova; laureates of international competitions, such as violinist Oleh Krysa (Ukraine-US), pianist Naum Shtarkman (Russia), Piotr Paleczny (Poland), Klaus Sticken (Germany), the piano duo of Aglika Genova and Luben Dimitrov (Bulgaria), the Prima Vista string quartet, and the Polish double bassist Pawel Panta. Among the regular festival participants were Volodymyr Sirenko’s National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine and the National Philharmonic directed by Mykola Diadiura. Also participating in the festival were some young but creatively mature performers, like the Grand Prix winners of several Vladimir Krainev International Competitions for Young Pianists, including Valeria Mirosh and Dinara Nadzhafova (Ukraine), Tong Bo (China), and Ilya Rashkovsky (Russia). Together with Maestro Krainev and the National Philharmonic, they played double concertos by Bach, Mozart, Mendelssohn, and Poulenc.
This festival marked Vladimir Krainev’s 60th birthday, so the celebrity was in the limelight. Rather than sit back and enjoy his friends’ and pupils’ performance, he shouldered the bulk of festival appearances, performing in four solo and ensemble programs. This was an altogether new Krainev: his usual exceptionally poetic and refined renditions displayed a philosophical depth and simplicity born of years of creative experiences. This simplicity is a hallmark of the maestro’s technique, as well as his manner of communication and lifestyle. He kindly agreed to an interview with The Day.
How did you celebrate your 60th birthday?
V.K.: Very simply. At our Moscow apartment near the Sokol metro station, where my wife Tatyana Tarasova and I have lived for the past twenty-five years, we celebrated with our closest family and friends: my mother and aunt, Tatyana’s mother and sister, and our best friends, people I’ve known for forty years, among them Yevgeny Barankin, a leading music critic and public figure. He is a wise man. Schnittke had great respect for him and used to say ‘go ask the Rabbi.’ He is currently with the Russian Seasons recording company that specializes in CDs. They managed to record several programs with Yevgeny Svetlanov.
Mr. Krainev, why aren’t you being recorded? Only two Chopin CDs of yours have been released. I’m not talking about all those LPs, of course.
V.K.: Perhaps because no one needs them now. There are a few conductors like Svetlanov, and many good pianists, but few musicians among them. If a pianist can play quickly, in a professional and cultured manner, everyone’s happy.
How about transferring your recordings from LPs to CDs?
V.K.: That’s not possible. For a token amount of money some American bought all those recordings that were issued by the Melodia Soviet recording company. He must be publishing and selling them somewhere. We have no copyright.
How was your birthday celebrated in Moscow officially?
V.K.: It was on April 3 at the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory. First, I received the Russian Order “For Outstanding Merits before the Fatherland” from Vladimir Putin, and then the Ukrainian Order “For Outstanding Merits” from Leonid Kuchma. I also received an award from Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov and honorary diplomas from the conservatories and philharmonic societies of Moscow and St. Petersburg. There was a large audience, but we managed to finish with the formalities in fifteen minutes. I wanted to go from the speeches to the music as soon as possible because I’ve dedicated forty years of my life to music. The children who were the winners of the last Krainev competition played in the first part of the concert. They did very well, judging from the audience’s response. The Grand Prix winners performed in the second part. You heard them at the festival’s finale in Kyiv, along with Igor Chetuyev. They performed with me. The soiree ended with an impressive number, when Rashkovsky and Chetuyev sat down at two grand pianos and played Tchaikovsky’s First Concerto, then suddenly struck up Happy Birthday to You. The audience was taken completely by surprise (I thought up this joke while I was in the hospital). I was touched to see them all rise from their seats. In fact, they began to stand after my very first appearance onstage. This was unusual for Moscow. Yuri Bashmet’s 50th birthday was also celebrated very nicely, but my celebration had a more homelike atmosphere, although the audience was larger.
When did you undergo surgery and how long did it take you to get back into concert form?
V.K.: I had my surgery near the end of January and I played at the opening of the competition in Kharkiv on March 19.
Comparing Moscow and Kyiv audiences, you must have been disappointed to see so many empty seats at the Philharmonic Society in the first days of the festival.
V.K.: Concerts that last eight days and feature such performers would have played to packed houses in Moscow. In Kyiv, the reason may have been bad advertising; people didn’t have enough information. Last year, I brought Ayako Uehara, laureate of the 12th Tchaikovsky Competition, to Kyiv, and no one had even heard of her. This time, Polish pianist Piotr Paleczny canceled two concerts in Argentina to perform in Kyiv and ended up playing to a half-empty hall. I don’t understand music buffs that ignore the Dvorak concerto played by Klaus Sticken from Germany. In our country only Richter ever performed it. Especially considering that the tickets weren’t expensive. I found this very strange.
You spent your summer vacations in the Crimea with your wife Tatyana Tarasova, a noted figure skating coach.
V.K.: It was our third year in a row at the Pine Grove Resort in Gurzuf. The doctors told me that my lungs needed the Crimean climate. I am an inveterate smoker. My mind tells me to cut down on cigarettes, but practice proves otherwise. If I am excited or nervous, I start chain- smoking. This time the service in Gurzuf was worse and we heard that the resort had been sold to someone else, and that some of the personnel had already left and others hadn’t started working normally.
We have some pleasant memories, including the Crimean “Stars of the Planet” Festival, which my wife and I attended. It was dedicated to the classics and was emceed by Sviatoslav Belza. Volodymyr Sirenko’s National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine traditionally played during the festival. These are top-notch professionals. Among the performers at the opening concert were my three protОgОs Myrosh, Chetuyev, and Matsuyev. They did well, but I found the program too long, with too many speeches.
Tatyana Tarasova still works in America. How is she doing as a coach?
V.K.: Her pupil Aleksey Yagudin has embarked on a professional career. As you know, young figure skaters tend to remain abroad, especially in the US. Last year Tatyana started training a Japanese girl who had never placed better than fifth. Under my wife’s guidance, she changed her program completely in 2-5 months and became a world champion.
Every year your students at the Hochschule fuer Musik und Theater in Hannover win prestigious competitions. Who is your latest success?
V.K.: There are twenty-five students in my class and I am especially pleased with Ilya Rashkovsky. He won the first prize in Italy. Also, I think the Olena Kolesnichenko and Olena Bobrovskykh duo is an interesting development. Both of them won the Krainev competition in 1994 and recently won an important award at a prestigious music competition in Italy.
In addition to the Krainev competition in Kharkiv, do you sit on the juries of other international competitions?
I’m going to Bydgoszcz in Poland soon. They asked me to sit on the jury of the Ignacy Paderewski Festival (Paleczny will be heading the jury). In December, I’m flying to Sicily to head the jury of a piano duet competition. By the way, my students Aglika Genova and Luben Dimitrov (Bulgaria) won the first prize. This time I will bring Olena Kolesnichenko and Olena Bobrovskykh from Hannover.
Did Kyiv favorite Igor Chetuyev win any other competitions after the Rubinstein victory?
V.K.: He placed fourth in Leeds, although that competition leaves much to be desired.
But you won it back in 1963 and they bore you triumphantly from the hall after the second round.
V.K.: True. But now they sing praises to all kinds of performers. Now the impresario is boss. I think Igor Chetuyev was misjudged. Many people in the audience were stunned to hear the jury’s verdict. A competition can’t be fair when not the best man wins but the impresario’s backstage wheelings and dealings. The things that happen at today’s competitions! Paleczny told me about Sergey Dorensky and the stunts he pulled at the recent Vercelli competition in Italy (by the way, my student Hisako Kawamura won the first prize). He had arranged for his student to pass muster and was flunking his rivals after they scored good points. Dorensky is a known intriguer. Rigging competition results takes talent and he is really talented.
You stay clear of intrigue, don’t you? For example, your student Mykhailo Danchenko (Ukraine) placed second at the 2nd Lysenko International Competition, and you were head of the jury.
V.K.: No one dragged me to the top of the pedestal and I won’t drag anyone, either. If you take up a music career, you have to learn to fight; otherwise you’ll never get to the top. You know, I don’t like competitions, but I have to deal with them, because all our life is competition. Performers compete for their audiences and journalists for their readers.
Mr. Krainev, how do you manage to keep in shape as a performer, considering your hectic schedule? How many hours a day do you practice?
V.K.: Unfortunately, I can’t play the piano every day. After listening to students all day long, you hate the sight of the instrument. But my fingers move all the time subconsciously. I often play four hands with my students or show them a movement. Preparing programs is a different question, of course. Before a festival I practice every day, from 09:00 till 12:00.
Your surgery must have made you cut back on your concert tours.
V.K.: No, why? I played at different festivals in France: in Nancy and before that in Fontainebleau, and in Grange de Melle near Tours. Richter often performed there. I also played in Duszniki, a beautiful Polish town where Chopin took a course of treatment before leaving Poland and settling in Europe. I conducted master classes in Poland.
How did the audiences receive you in Europe?
V.K.: It was great, excellent audiences everywhere. You only have to make them interested. I can’t complain about lack of publicity.
