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Valery Pavlovich Afanasiev. Valery Afanasiev - pianist, writer and philosopher How to understand if a musician is talented

Pianist Valery Afanasiev gave a concert in Great Hall Moscow Conservatory. The musician performed with the Svetlanov State Orchestra conducted by the Latvian maestro Andris Poga. Afanasiev is often called the most unusual figure among the representatives of the Russian piano school. He is artistic, extravagant and managed to win world recognition not only in the performing, but also in the literary field.

Valery Afanasiev dedicated this concert to his teacher Emil Gilels, with whom he once studied at the Moscow Conservatory. In his student years, the pianist's repertoire did not yet include Mozart's last concerto, he learned it already at a mature age, but then in his youth he listened more than once to how Gilels himself played.

“Emil Grigorievich made me love this concert more than some others,” says Valery Afanasiev. - Not only some music tips I remember, but also a way of life. The fact that he did a little bit, he poisoned me a little with it. He could afford it, but I can't."

The pianist even complains that he cannot practice as many hours a day as Richter, for example, rehearsed. However, this did not prevent Afanasiev from becoming the winner of prestigious music shows, for example, the Queen Elizabeth Competition in Brussels. Today he performs with the best orchestras in the world. His work day starts very early.

“I wake up at four o’clock with my cat. He walks in the garden, and I work - such a union, ”Afanasiev notes.

Conductor Andris Poga and with pianist Valery Afanasiev, and with State Orchestra named after Svetlanov performs on the same stage for the first time. He is shocked by the pianist's interpretation.

“I really like his take on Mozart's music. We are used to the fact that a pianist who plays a Mozart concerto plays in a disciplined, correct way, chooses fast pace- everything that Mr. Afanasiev does in reverse, but it is very interesting. He plays Mozart live music, he is looking for colors,” notes the Latvian conductor Andris Poga.

"Musician-philosopher", - so they say about Valery Afanasiev. The personality is unique. He is a pianist, a writer, and a poet. As for him literary works, then he writes them in English and French. He says that he also wanted to write in German, but the language is difficult. Works at the intersection of genres.

“Essays are not real essays, novels are not real novels, so it's all unconventional. I don't care about the genre. I need such a structure, and maybe without a structure,” says Valery Afanasiev.

Afanasiev admits he has just finished big romance on French and is already writing a new one in English. Both in literature and in music, he values harmony most of all.

Subscription No. 119 "Piano Music Evenings"

ON THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BIRTH OF EMIL GILELS

Concert Hall named after S. V. Rachmaninov

Philharmonic-2, 19:00

(piano) /France/

In a programme:

Mozart - Sonata No. 10 in C major, K 330

Sonata No. 11 in A major, K 331

Beethoven - Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 2 No. 1

Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57 ("Appassionata")

Subscription No. 25 of the State Orchestra of Russia named after E.F. Svetlanova

Great Hall of the Conservatory, 19:00

E. F. Svetlanov State Orchestra of Russia

Conductor -

Andris Poga/Latvia/

Soloist -

(piano) /France/

In a programme:

Mozart - Piano Concerto No. 27

Brahms - Symphony No. 4

Having won worldwide recognition not only as a deep musician-philosopher, but also as a writer and poet, Valery Afanasiev, without a doubt, is one of the most unusual contemporary artists. His interpretations invariably attract with special freshness, “non-playfulness”, bright individuality, which means that two philharmonic evenings by Valery Afanasiev, dedicated to the music of Mozart and Beethoven, will become a true discovery. On February 22, the pianist will demonstrate the highest performing skills in solo program; On February 25, the State Orchestra of Russia named after E.F. Svetlanov under the baton of the Latvian maestro Andris Pogi - the famous Fourth Symphony of Brahms will be performed by the ensemble.

- A graduate of the Moscow Conservatory, where his teachers were professors Ya. I. Zak and E. G. Gilels. In 1968, V. Afanasiev became the winner International Competition named after J.S. Bach in Leipzig, and in 1972 he won the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels. Two years later, during a tour of Belgium, he remained permanently in this country. Currently lives in Versailles (France).

Valery Afanasiev is a regular participant in many international festivals; his performances are accompanied by the best orchestras in the world, including the Berlin Philharmonic, the London Royal Philharmonic, Mariinsky Theater. The pianist pays great attention to chamber music making, among his partners are A. Knyazev, G. Kremer, Y. Milkis, G. Nunez, A. Ogrinchuk.

The pianist's repertoire includes works by composers of various eras: from the Viennese classics to J. Krum, S. Reich and F. Glass. Among the authors especially close to him are J. S. Bach, the Viennese classics (W. A. Mozart, L. van Beethoven), Western European romantics (F. Schubert, F. Chopin, F. Liszt, J. Brahms). The musician has recorded over thirty CDs for Denon, Deutsche Grammophon and others. Recent recordings include Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier, Brahms' cycles of pieces (Op. 116-119), Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, Schubert's sonatas and Moments Musical, all concertos, the last three sonatas, Bagatelles and Variations on a Theme of Diabelli" by Beethoven, "Children's Scenes" and "Symphonic Etudes" by Schumann. The musician writes the texts of the booklets for his discs himself. Its purpose is to let the listener understand how the performer penetrates the composer's creative intent.

IN last years V. Afanasiev also performs as a conductor with various orchestras. W. Furtwängler, A. Toscanini, V. Mengelberg, H. Knappertsbusch, B. Walther and O. Klemperer are his examples in the art of conducting.

Valery Afanasiev is also known as a writer. He created 14 novels (nine per English language, five in French), published in France, Russia and Germany, as well as novels, stories, cycles of poems in English, French and Russian, comments on " Divine Comedy» Dante (over 2000 pages!), lectures and essays on music. According to famous writer Sasha Sokolova, V. Afanasiev - the first Russian-speaking writer after V. Nabokov, who writes so brilliantly in a non-native language.

Andris Poga graduated from the J. Vitols Latvian Academy of Music, conducting class. From 2004 to 2005 he studied conducting with Uros Lajovic at the Vienna University of Music and performing arts. As a student, he took part in master classes with Maris Jansons, Seiji Ozawa and Leif Segerstam.

After graduation, the young conductor began to actively cooperate with the orchestras of Latvia: the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, the Latvian national opera, a professional brass band "Riga", which led in 2007-2010. In 2007 Andris Poga was awarded the highest award Latvia in the field of music. In 2010, the young maestro won the 1st prize at the Evgeny Svetlanov International Conducting Competition in Montpellier. The jury members of the competition noted his "impeccable craftsmanship and subtle, serious approach to music in general." Following this success, Andris Poga's conducting skills gained international fame: from 2011 to 2014 he was Paavo Järvi's assistant at the Orchester de Paris, and in 2012 he was appointed assistant conductor of the Boston symphony orchestra, with whom he held a series of concerts in Boston and at the prestigious Tanglewood Festival. Among the orchestras that Andris Poga has collaborated with are the NHK Symphony Orchestra (Tokyo), the New Japanese philharmonic orchestra, Israel Symphony Orchestra, Moscow Symphony Orchestra "Russian Philharmonic", Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, Lyon national orchestra and many others.

Since November 2013, Andris Poga has been music director National Symphony Orchestra of Latvia.

Valery Afanasiev- pianist, conductor, poet, writer, philosopher, one of the most unusual contemporary artists. He was born in Moscow in 1947. He graduated from the Moscow Conservatory, where his teachers were professors Ya. I. Zak and E. G. Gilels. In 1968, V. Afanasiev became the winner of the International J.S. Bach Competition in Leipzig, and in 1972 he won the Queen Elizabeth Competition in Brussels. Two years later, during a tour of Belgium, he remained permanently in this country. Currently lives in Versailles (France).

The pianist regularly performs in Europe, the USA and Japan, and in the last 15 years in Russia - from Sochi and Adler to Irkutsk and Chita. He has repeatedly participated in concerts of the Touring Map of Russia project organized by the Russian Performing Arts Foundation. Valery Afanasiev is a permanent and welcome guest at Moscow concert venues. He has a special relationship with St. Petersburg, the hometown of his parents: in the "northern capital" the pianist plays several concerts a year.

Valery Afanasiev is a member of famous Russian and foreign festivals: "December Evenings" and "Art-November" (Moscow), "Stars of the White Nights" (St. Petersburg), International Festival Arts named after A. D. Sakharov ( Nizhny Novgorod), Salzburg Festival, Colmar International Music Festival (France). The pianist performs with the best orchestras in the world, including the Berlin Philharmonic, the London Royal Philharmonic, the Mariinsky Theater Orchestra, the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra.

In addition to solo performances, V. Afanasiev pays much attention to chamber music. Among his stage partners are A. Knyazev, G. Kremer, Y. Milkis, G. Nunez, A. Ogrinchuk.

The musician has recorded over thirty CDs for Denon, Deutsche Grammophon and others. Among his recent recordings are Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier, Brahms' cycles of pieces (Op. 116-119), Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, Schubert's sonatas and Moments Musical, all concertos, the last three sonatas, Bagatelles and Beethoven's Variations on a Theme of Diabelli, Schumann's "Children's Scenes" and "Symphonic Etudes". The musician writes the texts of the booklets for his discs himself. Its purpose is to let the listener understand how the performer penetrates the composer's creative intent.

In recent years, V. Afanasiev has also performed as a conductor with various orchestras. W. Furtwängler, A. Toscanini, V. Mengelberg, H. Knappertsbusch, B. Walther and O. Klemperer are his examples in the art of conducting.

In 2008, Valery Afanasiev was a member of the jury of the II Moscow International Tchaikovsky Competition. S. T. Richter, and in 2014 opened the 34th International Music Festival “December Evenings of Svyatoslav Richter” with his concert.

Valery Afanasiev is also known as a writer. He created 14 novels (nine in English, five in French) published in France, Russia and Germany, as well as novellas, short stories, cycles of poems in English, French and Russian, comments on Dante's Divine Comedy (more than 2000 pages !), lectures and essays on music. According to the famous writer Sasha Sokolov, V. Afanasiev is the first Russian-speaking writer after V. Nabokov who writes so brilliantly in a non-native language. Two theatrical plays by V. Afanasyev, inspired by Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition and Schumann's Kreisleriana, became theatrical performances in the genre of a special "action" at the intersection of music, theater and literature, in which the author acts both as a pianist and as an actor. The solo performance "Kreislerian" with Valery Afanasiev in the title role was staged at the Moscow theater "School dramatic art" in 2005. Recently, V. Afanasiev presented a composition based on the short story “In the penal colony” by Franz Kafka with music by Morton Feldman “Palais de Mari”.

Now it seems to Russian culture it is impossible for a person to professionally combine literature and classical music. Our compatriot, pianist and writer Valery AFANASIEV is also a refined intellectual, wine connoisseur and collector of old interiors. Afanasiev has been living in Versailles for many years, but from time to time he comes to his homeland, to Moscow. During his last visit he gave an interview to Novye Izvestia.

- What is happening in your life now?

– You see, a certain period of my life is ending for me, I am already 60 years old. And I've actually written a lot - novels, plays, poems, essays - and now I'm polishing them. Now I'm going to write much less. Everything has its time. Thomas Hardy wrote novels, I think, until the age of fifty, then only poetry. Tolstoy finished Anna Karenina around the age of 50.

What about Resurrection?

- This is a slightly different case. And so, in principle, he began to move away from literature at about 50-55 years old. I get pretty much the same. I wrote the last, tenth novel in English for almost ten years and finished the year before last. Now I won't write in English at all. I will pay more attention to music - to play, to expand the repertoire.

- What about your personal life?

- Now it starts. I have never paid due attention to this side of life, and now I have matured for this, because being in some kind of fourth dimension is, of course, good, but when you start just living it is very pleasant. As Montaigne said, do not think about what you have done today, you have lived - and that is enough. Now I understand what life is. I don’t ask myself what I managed today, why I was messing around. The presence of my beloved is quite enough for me so that the day does not go in vain, so that I feel happy.

- If we talk about your performing activities, today's Moscow audience is different from the audience 33 years ago, the time when you left the USSR. And is it different from European and American?

– I will say very simple things, but they make us musicians very upset when we are on stage. No musically civilized city in the world will applaud after parts. Maybe I should be more pompous, but I just can't help but express my surprise.

Has the educational level of the public gone down?

- Yes. I recently played in Odessa, which I love very much in general, and I went there with trepidation. It would seem that one of the musical capitals of the world. In the past, unfortunately. I played the Schubert sonata. After the first part - applause. There was no applause after the second part. After the third, they applauded again. I have never experienced this abroad. Before leaving the USSR, I still traveled quite a lot around the country. I assure you that in the 1960s and 1970s this was not the case anywhere - even in the most remote province.

- And in the 19th century it was a tradition - to applaud between parts.

– I know, even arias were sung between movements. But today is a different tradition. In Russia today there is another bad tradition. These are the hosts of the concerts who announce the program. This is not the case in any country - neither in Japan, nor in the States, nor in Europe. In the 60s, this was not the case in Moscow either, but began in the late 70s. It breaks the mood. I like to create my space on the stage - it is very important to me, and then someone invades it. I'm taking a break. Only I myself can speak on the stage, although I do it very rarely and on special occasions.

The trouble is that the level of the public is completely different now - there is no comparison. I was at one of Sofronitsky's last concerts. The start of the concert was delayed. So the listeners did not talk to each other. There was silence in the hall for 15-20 minutes. It was a completely different hearing. Then they even listened to the silence before the concert. Now this is impossible. In Japan, you never know if they are listening or just sitting politely. But at least silence in the hall is very important. The American public, on the contrary, is afraid of silence.

– Do you continue to collect wines?

- Yes, sure. In Paris, near where I live, the best wine auctions are in the La Vigna store - I feel very good there. And I have about three thousand bottles in my collection at home.

Are French wines the best?

– Yes, although there are good ones in Italy and even in Australia.

- You have so many things to do. Why more wine?

“Just because it makes me happy. Like a hedonist. And what does not deliver - I just do not do it.

- Do you collect antique furniture for the same purpose?

Yes, but I don't have room for her. Because the furniture that I collect in my Versailles apartment - and Louis XV, and Louis XVI, and Charles-Louis too - requires more and more space.

Valery Afanasiev. Photo - Elena Mulina / ITAR-TASS

Valery Afanasiev - about why the winners of the Tchaikovsky Competition are bad and why Coelho's books are "Buddhism for the poor."

The famous Russian pianist Valery Afanasiev, who now lives in Versailles, will give a concert in Berlin on November 19.

On the eve of the performance in the German capital, the artist gave a master class and a concert as part of the Debussy and His Time festival in Moscow, where an Izvestia correspondent met him.

- Your master class is a rare event.

I gave them only four times in my life. The first thing I say is, “If you want to make a career, then go home. And if you want to learn something about music, stay.” Now it's pointless to talk about music, to convince that there are nuances, that you don't have to tear up a phrase, make an emotion out of every measure.

For example, the pianist Lang Lang is the devil knows what. In one phrase, he feels the whole world and beyond space. The audience is happy, squeals with delight, but the music is forgotten. Nobody thinks about it now, with rare exceptions. And if a musician is thinking, then they don't want him. The public wants something else.

- What?

Energy. The public must see the emotions, the ears are already atrophied. We were starved with endless stretch marks, advertising. Recently, one of the biggest concert managers in the world, when asked why he has one bad pianist playing everywhere, replied: “Who is thinking about music now? If only the artist was sexy.

If the same question had been asked to a manager 30 years ago, he would have answered: “Why bad? I like it", and 15 years ago - "Yes, bad, but charisma is important." At the same time, it’s scary not only that mediocrity is now becoming famous, but also that really talented people they can't get anywhere.

How do you know if a musician is talented?

Professionals tend to agree. There are critics whom no one listens to under the pretext that they are failed pianists and do not know how to play themselves. And you need to listen to the critics, they are professional musicians.

The second problem is that people are afraid to speak. Even Horowitz was afraid and praised everyone, although in private conversation he could say that Benedetti Michelangeli was a crazy idiot.

- Are you afraid to speak?

No. It is necessary to serve the music, and in art - the ubiquitous images of the "good guy". For example, I cannot possibly agree with one phrase that Rostropovich said. He was asked which of the orchestras is best to play with, and he replied that each orchestra has its own strong point. All the orchestras immediately felt good: “Ah, we have something, here we played Lyadov’s Baba Yaga the day before yesterday, so in general.”

And I'm not interested in the achievements of mediocrities, even if they suddenly succeeded. But you can really learn from the failures of great artists. Music must be taken seriously. If a blind pianist is playing, and they are in fashion now, don't think that he is blind, listen to the music.

I understand that this is a feat on their part. Invite them to cocktails and tell them how manly and beautiful they are. But you can't go to their concerts just because they're blind. You don't have to use music.

It's a crime that the Tchaikovsky competition was shown on TV with rehearsals. People listen to this poison and think - here it is, the music of the future. It's a stereotype that winners of the Tchaikovsky Competition can't be bad. They can, and for the most part they are bad. Because of corruption, because of sponsors who determine which country should be given an award. If a banner hangs, this does not mean that the concert will be good. This means that there is a sponsor who pays for it.

Are things better in literature now?

Also a nightmare. Everything that is popular now is horror. Coelho is Buddhism for the poor. Murakami - surrealism for the poor: one a parallel world from somewhere jumped out and further 40 pages of mediocre prose. The Da Vinci Code is just a bad book, just like 50 Shades of Grey.

I think that the crime against humanity chapter should be expanded and people who say that music is not important should be tried in The Hague. Many people say that December 21 will be the end of the world. Let's hope that this will be a turning point and people will still return to normal, because we are talking O human dignity. Man, that sounds proud. And when you listen to bad concerts and read bad books, it doesn't sound at all.

- A couple of years ago you said that you would write less.

And I started writing more. Now I have finished a collection of Russian poems - I have decided to publish them every two years. He also wrote a book about Marie Antoinette, a book about Greek philosophy and my trip to Cambodia. In total this year - 4-5 books, in the past - too. I think I'll slow down a bit now. I would like to start writing a book about my withering, gradually someday I will begin to die. It is interesting to record this state.

- Do you believe in fate?

Not really. I have a sober self-esteem, and I can not do what I'm not good at. I wanted to be a mathematician - it didn't work out, I wanted to be a chess champion - a village boy beat me.

But when I heard “Tristan and Isolde” performed by Furtwängler, the music won me over. I even abandoned literature and almost stopped reading, began to play operas from scores - I wanted to be a conductor. Without creativity, my life would be just ridiculous. I probably would not even want to go to restaurants and drink wine.

Do you continue collecting wine?

Now it is more difficult to do this, there are not many old wines left before 1961. Of the new ones, I sometimes buy something, but mostly I drink. Old wines are now insane prices. What I bought for €50 now costs €500-600. My wines will last me another 20 years.

- You do not use a mobile phone. Why?

I don't want to make a commitment. Mobile phone you need to carry it with you, you can’t just answer it like that. And if they call me at home, you can say that I'm not there. Then I call back in a month and say: I was in Egypt, the pyramids are wonderful. And in general, Prokhorov, for example, does not have a mobile phone.

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