On December 23 <2019>, the birthday of the famous opera and chamber singer Alexander Vedernikov, a concert in his memory will be held on the stage of the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory. «He strikes with power and epic scope in the parts of the Russian classical repertoire. At the same time, it is enough to hear how he sings Schumann or Bach to make sure that the world of music of the great German composers is also internally close to him,» composer Georgy said about Vedernikov Sviridov.
Sviridov’s works will be performed in the concert by the choir and orchestra. But there will be no solo singers on stage this evening. The reason for this decision was explained by the son of the singer and the organizer of the concert, conductor Alexander Vedernikov.
— We worked together on the program of the concert. And we listened very carefully to what our mother Natalia Nikolaevna was saying. And she said: «I don’t want singers in this concert, so that some unnecessary comparisons don’t arise.» Since the work of Georgy Sviridov occupied a large place in the life of Alexander Filippovich, the concert will feature the works of this composer «A Little Triptych» and the cantata «It’s Snowing». With my friend Nikolai Lugansky we will perform Rachmaninov’s Third Concerto. And so that it does not look like some kind of funeral event, something life-affirming should sound, and then we chose «Polovtsian Dance» — from Borodin’s opera «Prince Igor», in which my father sang both Konchak and Galitsky. Usually no one plays such concerts, because usually they do not combine in one concert a soloist, an adult, and a children’s choir. This is considered impractical in modern times. But for us this practical question was not so important.
On December 23 <2019>, the birthday of the famous opera and chamber singer Alexander Vedernikov, a concert in his memory will be held on the stage of the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory. «He strikes with power and epic scope in the parts of the Russian classical repertoire. At the same time, it is enough to hear how he sings Schumann or Bach to make sure that the world of music of the great German composers is also internally close to him,» composer Georgy said about Vedernikov Sviridov.
Sviridov’s works will be performed in the concert by the choir and orchestra. But there will be no solo singers on stage this evening. The reason for this decision was explained by the son of the singer and the organizer of the concert, conductor Alexander Vedernikov.
— We worked together on the program of the concert. And we listened very carefully to what our mother Natalia Nikolaevna was saying. And she said: «I don’t want singers in this concert, so that some unnecessary comparisons don’t arise.» Since the work of Georgy Sviridov occupied a large place in the life of Alexander Filippovich, the concert will feature the works of this composer «A Little Triptych» and the cantata «It’s Snowing». With my friend Nikolai Lugansky we will perform Rachmaninov’s Third Concerto. And so that it does not look like some kind of funeral event, something life-affirming should sound, and then we chose «Polovtsian Dance» — from Borodin’s opera «Prince Igor», in which my father sang both Konchak and Galitsky. Usually no one plays such concerts, because usually they do not combine in one concert a soloist, an adult, and a children’s choir. This is considered impractical in modern times. But for us this practical question was not so important.
Mom devoted a lot of time to pedagogy, and on the part of her father, this caused a certain jealousy
— Your mother is also a musician, she is a pianist and organist.
— Yes, my mother worked with my father, she was his accompanist at one time.
— Natalya Nikolaevna still teaches at the conservatory, heads the organ department. Can you play the organ?
— No I do not know how to. In principle, one could learn, but I do not think that it is necessary. In addition, the organ is an instrument that requires a certain amount of coordination. You have to play with both hands and feet. And this puts you in a completely different coordination situation, which must be specially mastered. Otherwise, all pianists would easily play the organ. Nikolai Lugansky, a great lover of Frank’s music, made a transcription for the piano of this composer’s organ composition. To my question why not perform it on the organ, Nikolai Lvovich replied: «It’s too late to learn.»
— At what age did you realize that your father Alexander Filippovich Vedernikov is a famous bass?
— When I was born, we lived in the center of Moscow in a communal apartment for four — mom, dad, grandmother and me. There was a piano right there, my bed ... Therefore, one might say, I grew up in this. And already at the age of three I decided that I would go into the musical part, although my parents did not make any special efforts for this. Returning to your question, I did not have such that at some point I realized that I was the son of the singer Alexander Vedernikov, because I was in a certain orbit of what my father was doing. And his social circle was, in a sense, very interesting for me, because he communicated more not with his fellow singers, but with composers or artists. Therefore, we had all sorts of interesting people at home. Well, I’m not talking about the fact that when I was still very young, my father began close cooperation with Georgy Vasilyevich Sviridov. And this is what I also observed.
— You became a musician, and your brother an artist...
— Well, in a sense, this was a reflection of the personal nature of Alexander Filippovich. Because he has always been more than just a singer. Father was a creative person of a wide profile. Therefore, it seems to me that, in general, he was pleased that my younger brother became an artist, since my father was actively engaged in this all his life. He left behind a large number of works.
— Mom is also known in the music world...
— Yes, and she is still the head of the organ department at the Moscow Conservatory. On the part of the father, this caused a certain jealousy, because, in his opinion, my mother devoted too much time to pedagogy. My father had a lot to tell and teach, but he was a completely anti-methodological person, so he would never be able to teach in any educational institution. For a short period he taught at the conservatory, but it was not for long.
The moment of transit from the Soviet theater to the non-Soviet theater in the early 90s, the Bolshoi missed
— At what age did you first get into the Bolshoi Theater?
— Probably, I was 6 years old, and it was the play «The Tale of Tsar Saltan». At that age, it is still impossible to understand what impression it made on you. But when a certain next stage of development comes, then all this is not in vain. For example, those things that I learned by heart at the conservatory, I still remember them.
— You received a musical education in Soviet times. How does it differ from the current Russian or what is around the world?
— People who have received a good Soviet musical education have many advantages. I sometimes give master classes. And among the people who come to these master classes, there are really talented musicians, but they do not know some elementary things, because no one has told them.
— Why did you decide to become a conductor? You started out as a pianist.
— It’s very simple. Firstly, I liked playing music, but the piano requires many hours of practice, and I didn’t like it. I could never practice more than an hour a day, it was beyond my capacity. Secondly, I have always been more interested in literature written not for the piano, but for the orchestra or the opera house. Accordingly, I decided that for this I need to become a conductor. I was 10 years old when I came up with this idea.
— You must have been to the Bolshoi Theater when you have already chosen the path of a musician?
— My most active visit to the Bolshoi Theater was during the time when I studied at the music school. This was the most interesting for me. At that moment, I went there almost every day. Then I began to go there much less. And then he stopped altogether.
— Why?
— When you have already felt all the advantages, you begin to understand the shortcomings. And in this maximalist age, the shortcomings obscure the virtues. And I went to the Bolshoi Theater extremely rarely, until the time when I started working there.
— How different was the situation in the theater you came to from the one that was when your father sang there?
— I don’t know what the situation was like there when my father worked there, because I came to listen to the play, nothing more.
— Did Alexander Filippovich tell you something?
— Well, of course he did. Of course, there were some passions, but I didn’t delve deeply into it. I will tell you that, of course, the Bolshoi Theater was and is a very privileged theater. In addition, the Bolshoi missed the moment of transit from the Soviet theater to the non-Soviet theater in the early 1990s. This coincided with the fact that just at the Mariinsky Theater in this sense they took advantage of the moment by 150%. And the Bolshoi Theater continued to rest on its laurels and pretended that nothing was happening around. And when I came there, I was then 37 years old, I had certain limitations both in terms of what I myself could do and in terms of my powers. But it seemed to me that if I could somehow shake this theater and break the isolationist shell, so that different people would come there — directors and singers, then this would already be such a step after which there was no going back.
— Do you mean the repertoire or the troupe?
— I mean that before I came, only those people who are called soloists of the Bolshoi Theater always sang there by 95%. And they put only those who sat there on the director’s rates. And I wanted to make it more open. Accordingly, to bring there a wide variety of people who, by the fact of their appearance, would broaden the horizons of those who dug in there and sat for a long time. In general, this process was successfully launched. Another thing is that everything is highly dependent on the environment. At that moment, when director Iksanov and I worked there, everything that happened at the Bolshoi Theater aroused keen interest in newspapers and society, and everyone looked like a magnifying glass at what was happening there. And now I have the impression that nothing will happen there, because, by and large, everyone does not care.
— Did you leave because you realized that it was impossible to make these changes?
— No, I realized that the main problem at the Bolshoi Theater is the institutional principles on which it is organized in this way. And until you change this, all changes will be subjective, non-systemic. Something can be better, something can be worse, but then you run into the fact that you need to change, roughly speaking, both the management system and the financing system. And it functions like a certain organism, where there are more than 3 thousand people. They are all paid salaries, there is a huge budget. But no one is interested in this money being spent more productively. Yes, in general, this is impossible. If you say: “We don’t need so many people!”, then your money will be immediately taken away, and that’s it. This is how the system is built. I expressed such thoughts that it should turn, to a greater extent, not into a budgetary institution, which is financed through the treasury, but into what is called in Italy a fondazione. That is, this theater should be established by the state, the city and some, perhaps, private individuals. They should jointly finance it, there should be a manager who should report from time to time. Now, no matter what you do, the money will still be given to you. If there is a crisis, they will give a little less.
Sviridov’s works will be performed in the concert by the choir and orchestra. But there will be no solo singers on stage this evening. The reason for this decision was explained by the son of the singer and the organizer of the concert, conductor Alexander Vedernikov.
— We worked together on the program of the concert. And we listened very carefully to what our mother Natalia Nikolaevna was saying. And she said: «I don’t want singers in this concert, so that some unnecessary comparisons don’t arise.» Since the work of Georgy Sviridov occupied a large place in the life of Alexander Filippovich, the concert will feature the works of this composer «A Little Triptych» and the cantata «It’s Snowing». With my friend Nikolai Lugansky we will perform Rachmaninov’s Third Concerto. And so that it does not look like some kind of funeral event, something life-affirming should sound, and then we chose «Polovtsian Dance» — from Borodin’s opera «Prince Igor», in which my father sang both Konchak and Galitsky. Usually no one plays such concerts, because usually they do not combine in one concert a soloist, an adult, and a children’s choir. This is considered impractical in modern times. But for us this practical question was not so important.
On December 23 <2019>, the birthday of the famous opera and chamber singer Alexander Vedernikov, a concert in his memory will be held on the stage of the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory. «He strikes with power and epic scope in the parts of the Russian classical repertoire. At the same time, it is enough to hear how he sings Schumann or Bach to make sure that the world of music of the great German composers is also internally close to him,» composer Georgy said about Vedernikov Sviridov.
Sviridov’s works will be performed in the concert by the choir and orchestra. But there will be no solo singers on stage this evening. The reason for this decision was explained by the son of the singer and the organizer of the concert, conductor Alexander Vedernikov.
— We worked together on the program of the concert. And we listened very carefully to what our mother Natalia Nikolaevna was saying. And she said: «I don’t want singers in this concert, so that some unnecessary comparisons don’t arise.» Since the work of Georgy Sviridov occupied a large place in the life of Alexander Filippovich, the concert will feature the works of this composer «A Little Triptych» and the cantata «It’s Snowing». With my friend Nikolai Lugansky we will perform Rachmaninov’s Third Concerto. And so that it does not look like some kind of funeral event, something life-affirming should sound, and then we chose «Polovtsian Dance» — from Borodin’s opera «Prince Igor», in which my father sang both Konchak and Galitsky. Usually no one plays such concerts, because usually they do not combine in one concert a soloist, an adult, and a children’s choir. This is considered impractical in modern times. But for us this practical question was not so important.
Mom devoted a lot of time to pedagogy, and on the part of her father, this caused a certain jealousy
— Your mother is also a musician, she is a pianist and organist.
— Yes, my mother worked with my father, she was his accompanist at one time.
— Natalya Nikolaevna still teaches at the conservatory, heads the organ department. Can you play the organ?
— No I do not know how to. In principle, one could learn, but I do not think that it is necessary. In addition, the organ is an instrument that requires a certain amount of coordination. You have to play with both hands and feet. And this puts you in a completely different coordination situation, which must be specially mastered. Otherwise, all pianists would easily play the organ. Nikolai Lugansky, a great lover of Frank’s music, made a transcription for the piano of this composer’s organ composition. To my question why not perform it on the organ, Nikolai Lvovich replied: «It’s too late to learn.»
— At what age did you realize that your father Alexander Filippovich Vedernikov is a famous bass?
— When I was born, we lived in the center of Moscow in a communal apartment for four — mom, dad, grandmother and me. There was a piano right there, my bed ... Therefore, one might say, I grew up in this. And already at the age of three I decided that I would go into the musical part, although my parents did not make any special efforts for this. Returning to your question, I did not have such that at some point I realized that I was the son of the singer Alexander Vedernikov, because I was in a certain orbit of what my father was doing. And his social circle was, in a sense, very interesting for me, because he communicated more not with his fellow singers, but with composers or artists. Therefore, we had all sorts of interesting people at home. Well, I’m not talking about the fact that when I was still very young, my father began close cooperation with Georgy Vasilyevich Sviridov. And this is what I also observed.
— You became a musician, and your brother an artist...
— Well, in a sense, this was a reflection of the personal nature of Alexander Filippovich. Because he has always been more than just a singer. Father was a creative person of a wide profile. Therefore, it seems to me that, in general, he was pleased that my younger brother became an artist, since my father was actively engaged in this all his life. He left behind a large number of works.
— Mom is also known in the music world...
— Yes, and she is still the head of the organ department at the Moscow Conservatory. On the part of the father, this caused a certain jealousy, because, in his opinion, my mother devoted too much time to pedagogy. My father had a lot to tell and teach, but he was a completely anti-methodological person, so he would never be able to teach in any educational institution. For a short period he taught at the conservatory, but it was not for long.
The moment of transit from the Soviet theater to the non-Soviet theater in the early 90s, the Bolshoi missed
— At what age did you first get into the Bolshoi Theater?
— Probably, I was 6 years old, and it was the play «The Tale of Tsar Saltan». At that age, it is still impossible to understand what impression it made on you. But when a certain next stage of development comes, then all this is not in vain. For example, those things that I learned by heart at the conservatory, I still remember them.
— You received a musical education in Soviet times. How does it differ from the current Russian or what is around the world?
— People who have received a good Soviet musical education have many advantages. I sometimes give master classes. And among the people who come to these master classes, there are really talented musicians, but they do not know some elementary things, because no one has told them.
— Why did you decide to become a conductor? You started out as a pianist.
— It’s very simple. Firstly, I liked playing music, but the piano requires many hours of practice, and I didn’t like it. I could never practice more than an hour a day, it was beyond my capacity. Secondly, I have always been more interested in literature written not for the piano, but for the orchestra or the opera house. Accordingly, I decided that for this I need to become a conductor. I was 10 years old when I came up with this idea.
— You must have been to the Bolshoi Theater when you have already chosen the path of a musician?
— My most active visit to the Bolshoi Theater was during the time when I studied at the music school. This was the most interesting for me. At that moment, I went there almost every day. Then I began to go there much less. And then he stopped altogether.
— Why?
— When you have already felt all the advantages, you begin to understand the shortcomings. And in this maximalist age, the shortcomings obscure the virtues. And I went to the Bolshoi Theater extremely rarely, until the time when I started working there.
— How different was the situation in the theater you came to from the one that was when your father sang there?
— I don’t know what the situation was like there when my father worked there, because I came to listen to the play, nothing more.
— Did Alexander Filippovich tell you something?
— Well, of course he did. Of course, there were some passions, but I didn’t delve deeply into it. I will tell you that, of course, the Bolshoi Theater was and is a very privileged theater. In addition, the Bolshoi missed the moment of transit from the Soviet theater to the non-Soviet theater in the early 1990s. This coincided with the fact that just at the Mariinsky Theater in this sense they took advantage of the moment by 150%. And the Bolshoi Theater continued to rest on its laurels and pretended that nothing was happening around. And when I came there, I was then 37 years old, I had certain limitations both in terms of what I myself could do and in terms of my powers. But it seemed to me that if I could somehow shake this theater and break the isolationist shell, so that different people would come there — directors and singers, then this would already be such a step after which there was no going back.
— Do you mean the repertoire or the troupe?
— I mean that before I came, only those people who are called soloists of the Bolshoi Theater always sang there by 95%. And they put only those who sat there on the director’s rates. And I wanted to make it more open. Accordingly, to bring there a wide variety of people who, by the fact of their appearance, would broaden the horizons of those who dug in there and sat for a long time. In general, this process was successfully launched. Another thing is that everything is highly dependent on the environment. At that moment, when director Iksanov and I worked there, everything that happened at the Bolshoi Theater aroused keen interest in newspapers and society, and everyone looked like a magnifying glass at what was happening there. And now I have the impression that nothing will happen there, because, by and large, everyone does not care.
— Did you leave because you realized that it was impossible to make these changes?
— No, I realized that the main problem at the Bolshoi Theater is the institutional principles on which it is organized in this way. And until you change this, all changes will be subjective, non-systemic. Something can be better, something can be worse, but then you run into the fact that you need to change, roughly speaking, both the management system and the financing system. And it functions like a certain organism, where there are more than 3 thousand people. They are all paid salaries, there is a huge budget. But no one is interested in this money being spent more productively. Yes, in general, this is impossible. If you say: “We don’t need so many people!”, then your money will be immediately taken away, and that’s it. This is how the system is built. I expressed such thoughts that it should turn, to a greater extent, not into a budgetary institution, which is financed through the treasury, but into what is called in Italy a fondazione. That is, this theater should be established by the state, the city and some, perhaps, private individuals. They should jointly finance it, there should be a manager who should report from time to time. Now, no matter what you do, the money will still be given to you. If there is a crisis, they will give a little less.
Elena POLYAKOVSKAYA,
"Radio Liberty" December 4, 2019
"Radio Liberty" December 4, 2019
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Sadko Opera. The song of the Varangian guest | Alexander Filippovich Vedernikov
Alexander Vedernikov: "I decided to become a conductor at the age of 10"
