How does one become a composer today?
In reality, I never thought about being a composer. In my case it was completely irrational. I remember perfectly the first time I wanted to compose something. I was tired of hearing the same thing from my Walkman and I chose to record something created by myself with instruments that I could play. Read More →
For his Mozart album, Maxim Emelyanychev won an ICMA Award 2019 in the category Solo Instrument. Born in 1988 to a family of musicians, Maxim Emelyanychev first studied conducting at the Nizhny Novgorod Music School then continued his education in the conducting class of Gennady Rozhdestvensky at Moscow’s State Tchaikovsky Conservatory and in the fortepiano and harpsichord class of Maria Uspenskaya. He made his conducting debut at the age of 12 and has since then conducted both baroque and symphonic orchestras. He became chief conductor of Il Pomo d’Oro in 2016 and will be principal conductor of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, effective with the 2019–2020 season. In parallel he pursues a career as pianist and harpsichordist. Olga Kordyukova from Radio Orpheus made the following interview with him.
Please accept my congratulations for the ICMA Award 2019. What does it mean for you?
I am very grateful that the members of the Jury listened to my recording and gave it such a high assessment. It is a great pleasure, thank you very much!
Definitely, musicians play for the sake of music itself and for the sake of the audience coming to the concerts. Recording is something different. Read More →
What did you feel when you received the news about the the ICMA award?
Joy and happiness! To be able to perform with the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra is a great event for any musician. This award should definitely be the impulse for my further development. Read More →
Selon vous, quelle importance occupe cette pièce monumentale dans l’œuvre de Bach?
Pour moi le clavier bien tempéré est l’œuvre la plus importante pour clavier des années de Cöthen, aboutie après les prémices commencés à Weimar dans le Clavier-Büchlein de Friedemann. Elle démontre toutes les qualités de Jean-Sébastien Bach, son désir de pédagogie, sa recherche de forme contrapunctique en jouant avec toutes les combinaisons possibles, les imitations, les miroirs, les canons, les strettes, etc., son talent d’architecte pour construire tout en donnant vie à cette écriture savante, son intelligence, sa curiosité, son audace mais aussi la force de son talent à exprimer les passions et la spiritualité! Read More →
You won the ICMA Award 2019 in the category Concertos with your CD Golden Age – Cello 1925. How did you end up with this program?
I have always been fascinated by the variety of genres during the Twenties. Despite political unease especially during that period, musicians, composers and artists in general dared to be creative more than ever before and even defined a lot of new styles and artistic genres. Read More →
Anaïs Gaudemard, die meisten jungen Musiker, die eine Solo-Karriere anstreben, entscheiden sich für Instrumente wie die Geige, das Cello oder das Klavier. Sie aber haben für sich die Harfe gewählt.
Ja, und ich bin sehr, sehr glücklich mit dieser Entscheidung. Eigentlich habe ich zwei Instrumente parallel studiert, die Harfe und das Klavier. Und irgendwann hat mein Bauchgefühl mir gesagt, dass die Harfe mein Instrument werden soll. Read More →
Wir haben uns ja schon vor zwei Jahren bei Ihrem Piazzolla-Projekt gut unterhalten. Was hat sich bei Ihnen seitdem getan?
Die neue CD, bei der auch wieder der Pianist Benyamin Nuss mitwirkt, markiert eine Zwischenstation, denn wir sind schon wieder an der nächsten Veröffentlichung dran. Wir haben noch viel vor. Ich freue mich, dass sich meine Karriere als solistischer Marimbaspieler so gut weiter entwickelt. Und es ist für mich gut, in Deutschland zu leben und zu arbeiten. Read More →
Obwohl die CD erst ein paar Tage raus ist, gab es schon ein beachtliches Medienecho. Lesen Sie Kritiken?
Ich spiele ja Musik für ein Publikum und bin immer neugierig zu erfahren, was das Publikum denkt. Und die Kritiker sind auf jeden Fall ein Teil des Publikums.
Deswegen ist es für mich immer interessant, in Ruhe alle Reviews zu lesen. Read More →
You have referred to the coming-together of the Trio con Brio Copenhagen as the bringing together of “two pairs”. Meaning, of course, the sisters, Soo-Kyung Hong (cello) and Soo-Jin Hong (violin); and then the husband and wife pair of yourself with Soo-Kyung. How did that evolve?
Of course, the sisters had played together since childhood, then of course a husband-and-wife relationship is special in its own way, and so we all had these dynamics of unique understandings. Read More →
Your CD is called Écoutez!, or Listen! in English. When one hears the sounds on the disc, in fact one can’t do anything but listen. The music is unbelievably varied: energetic and dreamy by turns, and always gripping. How do Debussy, Cage and Takemitsu do this? And how do you manage it yourself, in your interpretations?
The masters achieve it through the art of the unexpected. This may be through their treatment of the instruments themselves, the harmony, the individual notes, or the rhythm, while also maintaining a form. None of the three composers have anything to do with disorganised chaos. There is the A-B-A form with a closing sequence (often seen in Debussy’s music), or John Cage’s short, one-movement sonata form in two parts, which is reminiscent of Domenico Scarlatti. Read More →