- Igor Mikhailovich, what will you please and surprise the audience at the concert dedicated to the closing of the season?
Why should you always expect surprises? Can't you just come and listen to music that never repeats? Even if we play the same piece, it still sounds different from concert to concert. Because both musicians and listeners become different, we think and feel differently. I want to call this program “An Extraordinary Concert”, like the puppeteer Obraztsov. In the Organ Hall there will be performances by organists Ilmira Suleymanova and Elmira Akhmetova, the beloved singer Lyudmila Filippova, the wonderful drummer Alexei Kislov, children's theater. Victory Day recently passed, and we remember the past, our relatives, my dad also served as a military doctor. Part of the concert program will be performed in memory of all war veterans.
- What can we expect from the Organ Hall’s summer poster?
Every appearance on stage of our orchestra is thematically thought out. For example, on June 20 we will present the “Sabantuy” program and perform Tatar music. Artists of the Chelny Tatar Drama Theater will show a staging of “Sketches of Sabantuy” and will perform folklore ensembles“Zaman” from “DK Energetik” and “Elluka” of the Kuzkeevsky House of Culture of the Tukaevsky district.
- Is this the first time such a musical Sabantuy?
I remember once we held an evening of Tatar music at the art college. Three or four people sat in the hall with 300 seats, among them was Fairuza Mustafina, then deputy mayor, she got up on stage and said bitterly: “Where are the Tatars? For them, native music sounds, isn’t it interesting?” Since then the situation has changed.
At the end of 2007, the first international festival classical and folk music"Tatar Renaissance". There is nothing unusual in such a combination - all real music that lives through the centuries came, first of all, from national music. folk music on big stage hardly sounds - only at weddings, get-togethers, amateur groups. We decided to fill this gap by serving it in a mix with the classics. Then I invited Vladimir Spivakov and his chamber orchestra “Moscow Virtuosi” and told him: “There is a condition - you must play Tatar music.” And they performed Zhiganov's seventh symphony. We live in Tatarstan, and we must perform national music.
Photo courtesy of the Naberezhnye Chelny Organ Hall - What about outdoor concerts?
The opening of the new festival site “Summer Evenings in Yelabuga” is scheduled for July 11. I introduced the organizers to the pianist Boris Berezovsky, and then everything started to take off. In addition to Berezovsky’s performance, the Elabuga festival program includes music performed by violist Yuri Bashmet, Russian national orchestra under the direction of Mikhail Pletnev, our orchestra.
90 percent of our concerts are for charity. So on June 10, we will speak for the first time before the prisoners of the colony in Mendeleevsk. We will perform works that they will like. (Laughs). But we definitely won’t play “Murka”!
- Are there any plans for the Chamber Orchestra to tour to regions where you have never been?
We are planning a big one in October-November tour- Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Vladivostok, Khabarovsk, Krasnoyarsk. There is already a preliminary agreement. I would like to perform in many cities, but there are difficulties - they don’t know us much there... I’m sure so far.
Who was invited to perform on October 9 - at the opening of the 30th anniversary season? The deadline, of course, is far away, but you know how to plan several steps ahead.
- (Laughs). If I could, I would have left here already. Of course, we cannot do without some officialdom, but we will try to anniversary party the festive atmosphere dominated. For the first time, the best trumpet player in the world, Sergei Nakaryakov, will come to Chelny. He lives in Paris and agreed after hearing our orchestra play on tape. He gave me a discount on my fee, but it still turns out to be expensive. All invitations are a risk. Our people either want to come to the concert for free, or they need big names like Denis Matsuev, Valery Gergiev.
But on December 5, Vladimir Spivakov and his orchestra “Moscow Virtuosi” will come to congratulate us on our anniversary.
The performance of trumpeter Sergei Nakaryakov is scheduled for October 9. Photo courtesy of the Organ Hall - Is it difficult for musicians to work in the country during the cult of money?
When was it easy? In our uncivilized country, culture, unfortunately, always occupies last place. Of course have big names Bashmet, Spivakov, Gergiev, Matsuev. And no one needs those musicians who live in a city like ours... Thanks to KAMAZ, which always supports us, and we often perform in front of factory workers.
Why so pessimistic? The life of musicians and the city has changed a lot with the opening of the Organ Hall in Chelny. Don't you think so?
The appearance of the Organ Hall is the meaning of our activities. You can play as much as you want, but if there is no stage, then what's the point? What we have now is truly happiness. I love our audience very much, every time I go on stage I am ready to hug and kiss everyone.
- What gift would be the most desired for the orchestra’s anniversary?
We have already received a “gift” - they are taking away what we have: they are trying to reduce the driver’s salary and deprive us of our only bus. They say that we can get there with our tools by public transport. Imagine what it would be like to ride in it with a double bass? But what about touring? We will have to reduce them, because renting a vehicle is troublesome and requires a lot of paperwork.
We would like to see our students at the festive concert - Zhanna Tonaganyan, Artem Kononov, in whom, as a teacher, you invested so much effort, and they you...
-...betrayed, you mean? I have no words to describe these actions. My beloved Zhanna, whom I once met by chance in the courtyard of a music school, saw her hands and brought to class, now lives in London. Once upon a time, the world famous American violinist Yehudi Menuhin listened to her play. I don’t know what she’s doing there now - Zhanna didn’t tell me personally. But they told me that she is constantly fighting with herself in order to erase her Chelny past from her memory. Is this normal? Artem is in Germany, how could an artist leave the orchestra during a difficult period? But now I have wonderful musicians next to me, to whom I am very grateful. They are devoted to me, and I to them. This is more than a teacher and students - we have friendship.
The reason for the interview was the upcoming festival “Summer Evenings in Yelabuga” from July 12 to 16, where the main characters will be pianist Boris Berezovsky and Chamber orchestra Igor Lerman, celebrating his 30th anniversary in 2018.
- Igor, are you a violinist?
Yes, in 1978 he graduated from the Nizhny Novgorod Conservatory in violin class and in 1980 he came to Naberezhnye Chelny, where the School of Arts opened. When did it open educational institution, teachers were usually given apartments. For yesterday's student, having my own corner seemed like a pipe dream, and they actually gave me an apartment. Literally from the first days of my stay in Naberezhnye Chelny, I organized a student chamber orchestra, which was superior in level to the student orchestra and was close to professional.
- You modestly mentioned Yehudi Menuhin, who...
He invited me to teach at the Yehudi Menuhin School, located in Surrey, an hour's drive from London. After graduating from the conservatory, I worked at music school and music school, I thought about taking the path of teaching, because my students were making great progress. Now everyone is a laureate international competitions, held in Ufa, Kazan, Ryazan... All laureates! But in the 1990s, achieving the title of laureate was more difficult. I had to go through a competitive selection just to be allowed into the first round. For this you need good school. Competitions were held in major European cities and Russian capitals, and even if a person only passed the selection for the competition, he had already risen to a higher level of skill.
I noticed a capable girl and began teaching her from scratch at a music school. At the Yehudi Menuhin International Youth Violin Competition, she passed a competitive selection and three rounds, played with the London Symphony Orchestra, became a laureate, and even won a special prize for best performance Bach. After all, Menuhin was considered a luminary, one of the best interpreters of Bach's works, his performance of Bach was considered a standard. After my student won the competition in 1995, Menuhin invited me to teach. Incredible! A teacher and his student from Naberezhnye Chelny successfully compete in Europe with the best violinists from world schools, and not only compete, but also win. Menuhin said: “Change time between Russia and my school.” This was the peak of my teaching career. But... I chose the orchestra. And family circumstances then developed in such a way that I could not leave for England. After which I put myself entirely on the altar of the orchestra.
- How did it all begin?
I created an orchestra from scratch. In Moscow, St. Petersburg or elsewhere big city there is a cultural environment. In Naberezhnye Chelny 30 years ago it was almost absent. In 1988, the city was a gigantic construction site, where people who had come from prison were also working. Even the city authorities associated the word “chamber” exclusively with a prison cell where criminals are kept: “Can you call the orchestra anything else? A small symphony or string orchestra, or even a chamber orchestra... not good.” Musicians know that the concepts " chamber music", "chamber orchestra" actually came from the word "camera" - a small room. But in the minds of the authorities, the word “chamber” was associated exclusively with the criminal world! I tirelessly visited the district party committee and convinced the bosses, who were constantly changing, that the city needed an orchestra. And it was founded. Many factors influenced, one of them was the time of perestroika, when a lot changed in society...
- Was there no orchestra in the city?
What orchestra?! The conservatory's graduates could be counted on one hand! Several music schools School of Music and the cultural department – everything. The creation of the Chamber Orchestra was both a great success and big problem: who will play? Where to find musicians?
- And where did you get them?
I learned it myself. Almost all orchestra players are my students. First a music school, then a college and the Kazan Conservatory, where I teach. Each one took me about twenty years! Some reaching high professional level, went to the West and settled well there. The usual story. But when you realize that training one orchestra member takes a third of your life - and, as it turns out, it is not endless! - it is not easy. Now my most faithful students are in the orchestra, we have a team, and they are excellent instrumentalists, which is appreciated by the world-class soloists who play with us.
Igor Lerman with Alexander Knyazev
-Have you also studied conducting yourself?
No, I did not study conducting. Any professional conductor can say that I have no technique, but I don’t call myself a conductor. I listen to the ensemble and help the musicians play together. Initially we were called the Province Chamber Orchestra. But... with such a name we were not accepted anywhere: “What kind of orchestra? "Provinces"?! So you sit in your province.” They were forced to change the name to “Igor Lerman Chamber Orchestra”. I thought it was immodest to put my name in the title, although it was there initially as the name of the leader. They said: “Few people know Igor Lerman, that’s good, but everyone knows very well what a ‘province’ is – it sounds like anti-advertising.”
- They themselves have a complex of provincials!
Yes, and I like the word “province”! There is something sweet, sincere, hospitable about him. I'm a provincial and I'm not ashamed of it. I was born on the Kuril Islands, on the island of Kunashir, where my father served after the war. He lived wherever he was sent, in small towns in Ukraine - Poltava, Kremenchug. After all, Russia has two capitals, the rest is provinces. And the mentality of my fellow countrymen is like this: “It happened in Moscow!!! It was in St. Petersburg!!!" This is how they talk in Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Naberezhnye Chelny...
Muscovites and St. Petersburg residents are no better than others - neither smarter nor more talented. They were just born and live in capitals. It’s not the place that makes a person, but the other way around, right?
So we want to decorate Yelabuga with a festival. Although the place itself is wonderful! The city miraculously retained the appearance of the merchant province of the first half of the 19th century century. Russians travel abroad, and the beauty native land don't know... B civil war local residents sided with the whites, so Soviet authority gave up on Elabuga, in Brezhnev’s times there was no construction there, thanks to which the city retained its originality! Local residents turned the city into a museum under open air. Each house is an architectural monument. Alas, most educated people Elabuga is known only in connection with the terrible death of Marina Tsvetaeva. But this is not only a place of pilgrimage for philologists to her grave! On the shore of Shishkinsky Ponds lies the estate of the father of the famous Russian artist Ivan Shishkin, who served as the mayor of Yelabuga. The House-Museum of Ivan Shishkin with its rare etchings and the Museum-Estate of the cavalry maiden Nadezhda Durova are interesting. There are a lot of interesting things in Yelabuga. We will hold the festival on the Shishkinsky ponds that bloom in summer. They will build a stage and an amphitheater - spectator rows with a capacity of up to 3,000 seats, covered in case of rain. Yuri Bashmet, Boris Berezovsky, Nikita Borisoglebsky, Alexander Knyazev, Tatyana and Sergey Nikitin will perform - this is a stellar line-up for Elabuga!
And not only for Yelabuga... What is the population there? Do you hope to attract 3,000 spectators every evening?!
The public will come from nearby Naberezhnye Chelny, Nizhnekamsk, Almetyevsk. I would like Muscovites and other Russians to make a hajj in Yelabuga, explore the city-museum and listen to popular classics. In the future we hope to cover different types art and make a festival for everyone - lovers of literature, painting, history, architecture. Elabuga has enormous potential in this sense.
Naberezhnye Chelny, Nizhnekamsk, Almetyevsk are cities of workers, builders, steelworkers, metallurgists, oil workers, miners... Are they interested in classical music?
At first, our orchestra had crazy sold-out crowds! The city of Naberezhnye Chelny was built not only by workers and builders, but also by those who belong to the engineering corps - the scientific and technical intelligentsia. Muscovites, graduates of the capital's universities, accustomed to civilized life, suddenly found themselves... in an absolute cultural vacuum. Of course, they had an urgent need to go to concerts. These people became our main audience. Then we started giving regularly free concerts for KAMAZ workers in gratitude for the fact that the corporation supports us financially. If it weren’t for KAMAZ, the orchestra would not have existed long ago! Gradually we grew our audience. Now the concerts have been attended by several generations: children and even grandchildren of our first listeners. We give Sunday concerts for children and go to nearby towns, where spectators also come from. Our Organ Hall in Naberezhnye Chelny seats 800, and the public is waiting for our concerts.
In the Rachmaninoff Hall in Moscow
- What repertoire policy do you follow? How do you lure listeners into the hall?
The entire repertoire of the chamber orchestra is small: it can be played through, perhaps, in five years... Mainly music of the Baroque era - Bach, Vivaldi, Handel, Corelli. Divertimentos by Mozart and his “Little Night Serenade”, some works by Haydn and his contemporaries, romantics and modern authors. All! What to do if you have been playing for 30 years?.. The repertoire of even the most famous Russian chamber orchestras is narrow: they play the same thing. I decided to expand my repertoire with my own transcriptions. It is possible to win in the competition against other chamber orchestras only thanks to a unique repertoire and interpretations. Perhaps my statement is presumptuous, but I dare to say that not a single chamber orchestra in Russia has such a diverse repertoire. I have done a huge amount of transcriptions. He created an entire anthology of violin pieces and all the iconic works for violin and chamber orchestra. I arranged the piano accompaniments for a string orchestra, which allows me to invite famous violinists. They only say what they would like to perform – Chausson’s “Poem” or the violin pieces of P.I. Tchaikovsky. By the way, many orchestras play my adaptations of Pyotr Ilyich’s plays, but they rarely indicate this, and sometimes even pass them off as their own. Once upon a time, out of the kindness of my heart, I gave away sheet music, but now I don’t do that...
Igor Lerman with Boris Berezovsky. November 2017
With Boris Berezovsky, we played for the first time a transcription of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3 for chamber orchestra. Perhaps my version looks like a parody next to Beethoven's original, but... this work allowed me to get acquainted with the great pianist. Then I transformed Schubert's Trout Quintet into a miniature symphony for piano and strings. Boris liked it so much that we started playing together regularly. And when I also made an arrangement of the famous Brahms piano quintet op. 34, then the pianist and I began not only a musical, but also a human friendship.
I have prepared transcriptions of many works originally written for piano: for example, the cycle “Pictures at an Exhibition” by Mussorgsky, which became famous throughout the world thanks to Ravel’s arrangement for large symphony orchestra. I made a version for chamber orchestra and it impresses audiences wherever we play.
- Well, in November Boris played “Pictures at an Exhibition” with you in Naberezhnye Chelny!
Yes, an encore. I say: “Come on, you will play one piece by Mussorgsky on the piano, and the orchestra will play another from this cycle.” And we had a jam session, performance ping pong. When the courage awakens in the musicians, the audience is delighted! At the “Summer Evenings in Yelabuga” festival, Berezovsky and I will do something similar: he will play piano pieces from the series “Seasons” by P.I. Tchaikovsky, and our team - other pieces of the cycle in my orchestration.
- How did you learn to make transcriptions? At the conservatory? Or did life force you?
Rather, the latter: I wanted to play so much! Don’t repeat Mozart’s divertissements all your life... Transcription is akin to interpretation, a new reading of the work. I put a piece of my “I” into every transcription. Of course, it is impudence on my part to introduce my own musical text into the works of Tchaikovsky, Saint-Saëns, Mussorgsky: who am I, and who are these geniuses?! I try not to violate the composer's intention. The performer also brings his own personality to the work! In my case, this is not only interpretation, but also implementation into form, changing the text, where, as it seems to me, it could sound more interesting. It may be in bad taste, but... that's what I hear.
Igor Lerman with Elena Obraztsova. November 2017
- Which famous soloists performed with your orchestra?
I received great pleasure from working with violinist Viktor Tretyakov. The brilliant cellist Alexander Knyazev, who now also acts as an organist, performed with us as a soloist. By the way, concerts are held in our Organ Hall twice a month organ music: performed by guest performers and local organists. Elena Obraztsova performed with us and spoke enthusiastically about the orchestra members. My dream of playing music with Valentin Berlinsky came true: the legendary cellist and leader of the Borodin Quartet was my idol. Before him, I knew how to play with one soloist - pianist, violinist, cellist, but how to play with a quartet?! And Berlinsky named works written for string quartet and chamber orchestra. It would seem that the result is “butter butter”: a chamber orchestra is the same composition of a string quartet, only increased in number in each group of instruments. It turns out that there is such a genre: the members of a quartet play as soloists and sometimes play tutti with an orchestra. Elgar has an amazing “Introduction and Allegro” for string quartet and orchestra, Lev Knipper has “Radif”, a piece in the Iranian style for quartet and string orchestra. We performed this with the Borodin Quartet. It was with us that one of the maestro’s last performances took place.
Igor Lerman with Valentin Berlinsky
Gradually, I began to expand this repertoire path: I created an anthology of works for quartet and string orchestra, which is definitely not available in any chamber orchestra in the world! Thanks to this repertoire, I invite quartets: an interesting collaboration has developed with the young quartet named after David Oistrakh.
We are friends with Vladimir Spivakov, and the joint performance of “Moscow Virtuosi” with our orchestra was remembered by the public. Of course, then Teodorych reigned on the podium! Spivakov and the “Virtuosi” will congratulate us on our 30th anniversary on December 5, and the anniversary concert season we will open on October 8 in Kazan and October 9 in Naberezhnye Chelny, we will play together with the world famous trumpeter Sergei Nakaryakov.
Photos provided by the press service of the Igor Lerman Chamber Orchestra, Naberezhnye Chelny, Republic of Tatarstan
Artistic director and conductor of the chamber orchestra, artistic director Organ Hall - Igor Lerman. Igor Lerman Chamber Orchestra is one of the best musical groups Russia. The orchestra's repertoire is extensive and multifaceted: from Baroque music to composers of our contemporaries...
The Igor Lerman Chamber Orchestra performed its first program on February 25, 1989. The orchestra has recorded 15 CDs. In addition to transcriptions by the artistic director and conductor, founder of the orchestra Igor Lerman, the recordings include works by Corelli (12 Concerto Grosso, Op. 6), Vivaldi, Bach, Tchaikovsky, Satie, Debussy, Ravel, Bartók, Hindemith, Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Schnittke, Piazzolla and other composers.
In an ensemble with an orchestra in different time performed by: Elena Obraztsova, Nikolai Petrov, Boris Berezovsky, Cyprien Katsaris, Victor Tretyakov, Alexander Knyazev, Quartet. Borodin, chamber orchestra “Moscow Virtuosi” conducted by Vladimir Spivakov and others famous performers and teams.
The repertoire of the Igor Lerman chamber orchestra is extensive and multifaceted, from Baroque music to the composers of our contemporaries. A significant part of it is the transcriptions of the artistic director and conductor.
The orchestra often performs in the cities of Tatarstan and Russia. The band's tours in the Republic of Moldova, Ukraine, Poland, Germany, Spain, concerts within the framework of music festivals in the cities of Russia (St. Petersburg, Kislovodsk, Kaliningrad, Perm), Switzerland, Israel.
Igor Lerman, a talented conductor, teacher, music manager and artistic director of the Organ Hall, celebrates his 60th anniversary on December 8. On the eve of the anniversary, we decided to talk about several little known facts from his biography, which add new touches to the portrait of this an extraordinary person, thanks to which classical music is heard on the big stage in Chelny. Maestro Igor Lerman surrounded by his daughter Eleanor and granddaughters Sophia and Stefania.
1.
From the description, June 14, 1968: “Lerman Igor, student 8 “B” class Kremenchug high school No. 20, Poltava region, not a Komsomol member. The eighth grade graduated with “3” and “4”. The character is unbalanced, hot-tempered. He does well in basic subjects and masters humanities subjects more easily. Interested in literature and music. Systematically participated in school amateur performances. “He dreams of entering a music school.”
2. Igor Mikhailovich came to Chelny in 1980, and here, eight years later, his dream came true - he created a chamber orchestra. He recalls: “Thanks to Mr. Petrushin, the then mayor. He presses the selector button and, turning to the city’s Minister of Finance, says: “Well, give him 25 thousand rubles and let him play in his chamber orchestra.” In search of musicians for the orchestra, the city executive committee advertised in the newspaper " Soviet culture", promising them monthly salaries - 175-200 rubles and housing. The first concert of the chamber orchestra took place on February 25, 1989 in the winter garden of the Energetik Palace of Culture. The ticket cost was 1 ruble, the entire fee was transferred to the orphanage.
3. With everyone famous artists Igor Mikhailovich always makes arrangements for tours himself. Despite the fact that their tours were scheduled several years in advance, he managed to invite pianist Nikolai Petrov, violinist Viktor Tretyakov, violist Yuri Bashmet, cellist Alexander Knyazev and twice (!) the chamber orchestra “Moscow Virtuosi” under the direction of Vladimir Spivakov to Chelny.
“I've been on stage for 43 years, and this is one of the the best orchestras with whom I sang,” singer Elena Obraztsova responded about “Province.” Igor Mikhailovich met her, who arrived by train, in Kazan and in the car of the city mayor. On the way we stopped at a “feeding trough” - in the middle of the path. Seeing the singer, the selling aunties began to point in her direction. Suddenly one shouted: “Obraztsova!” And others, interrupting each other: “Obraztsova! Obraztsova! One of the drivers pressed the horn. Elena Vasilyevna rejoiced like a child: “They still remember.”
4. Igor Lerman was repeatedly invited to work in other cities and even countries. The world famous American violinist tried to lure him away and public figure Yehudi Menuhin. The musician, who is called the violinist of the era, offered him a job at his school. "Do you agree?" - he asked after the competition, hearing Lerman’s student Zhanna Tonaganyan play. Igor Mikhailovich still lives in Chelny. It's been 32 years now.
5. In all his years of work, Igor Mikhailovich has not canceled a single concert, despite any circumstances. Each performance takes away a lot of emotions from him and physical strength- he turns out to be “squeezed out” in the literal sense of the word. He takes three shirts to each concert and changes them during intermission.
6. In addition to leading a chamber orchestra, Igor Mikhailovich teaches at music school No. 5, the College of Arts and the Kazan Conservatory. Now six of his students are studying at the conservatory - musicians from the "Province". Igor Mikhailovich never grades his students. He has Golden Rule- after the lesson, patiently explain “what is good” and “what is bad.”
7. Every year, on May 12, Igor Lerman organizes a concert in the Organ Hall in memory of his father, who died on this day, and all veterans of the Great Patriotic War. Mikhail Yurievich was called up to the Great Patriotic War from the fourth year of the Kyiv Medical Institute. He served as a military doctor and was awarded two Orders of the Red Star and other awards. Mother Shelya Isaakovna was a housewife. Her son dedicated the CD “Concert in the Shtetl” to her, which included Jewish adaptations folk songs and Jewish themes from Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Achron, Bruch. “Concert” opens it favorite piece- “Melody” by Gluck.
8. Quite late, at 54 years old, Igor Mikhailovich got behind the wheel of a car for the first time. Despite this, he settled in perfectly new role motorist.
9. Maestro Lerman’s daughter, Eleonora, graduated from the Kazan Conservatory and plays the violin in a chamber orchestra. She gave her father two granddaughters. The eldest Sophia is already studying in the third grade of Lyceum No. 78. The younger Stefania was born last year on March 1 - the opening day of the Organ Hall. Igor Mikhailovich spends his summer vacation with his granddaughters at the seaside. He swims great different styles- affects the hardening received in childhood, which passed on the Dnieper. It swims very far and may not appear for three hours.
10. The hero of the day’s hobby is a bathhouse with a broom on weekends, free time playing preference and cards with friends. I recently bought an aquarium and am raising fish. He also likes to cook: his signature dish is cottage cheese casserole with dried fruits.