Interview after the concert

The JINR Cultural Centre "Mir" hosted a piano concert "Playing four hands" from the series "Steinway invites" in the new "Hall on stage" format. The programme was presented by the winners of international competitions Daria Kovaleva and Yulia Rogachevskaya that together performed piano compositions by F.Schubert, I.Brahms, A.Borodin and S.Rachmaninov on the same piano.

Both pianists are representatives of the classical Russian piano school and with similar pianistic abilities have achieved coherence and organicity in such a difficult form of joint musical performance as a piano ensemble.

Virtuoso technique, perfect mastery of the instrument and a unified artistic understanding of the musical material allows to convey to the listener all the beauty of the compositions performed, showing the richness and versatility of classical piano music.

We talked to Yulia Rogachevskaya about her conservatory years, the intricacies of playing music together, the nuances of a musician's dialogue with the audience and how important openness to the world is for an artist.

Yulia, you are a graduate of the Academic Music College at the Moscow State Conservatory named after P.I.Tchaikovsky and the Moscow State Conservatory named after P.I.Tchaikovsky. Many people dream of studying there. What were the conservatory years like for you?

- When talking about studying at a conservatory, we should understand that musicians go there already possessing sufficient performing skills, but it is within its walls that a musician develops as a person. The Moscow State Conservatory is a unique place where the walls themselves both educate and inspire. I was fortunate to study with outstanding professors in almost all performing subjects and I was able to learn a lot while maintaining my individuality, for which I am eternally grateful to all my teachers. During our studies, we students had a unique opportunity to attend most of the concerts being held in the halls of the conservatory and this auditory "baggage", of course, also played a big role in my musical education. In general, studying at the conservatory is an amazing time when musicians have the opportunity to study all facets of the profession, try themselves in solo and chamber performance, in teaching or accompanist activities and find their own creative path.

You have performed many times in the Great, Small and Rachmaninov Halls of the Moscow Conservatory. What sensations do you experience when you are on these stages at the instrument?

- Perhaps the most unexpected and surprising thing for me was my first appearance on the stage of the Great Hall of the Moscow State Conservatory. Obviously, I had been there many times before as a listener and the hall, like many, evoked sacred awe and admiration. Imagine my surprise when it turned out that from the stage the hall seemed not so huge and very cozy, all fears instantly dissipated and only inspiration remained. By the way, the first time I came to the stage of the Great Hall of the Conservatory was in an ensemble with Daria Kovaleva; we were then studying at the Academic Music School at the Conservatory and took part in the reporting concert. It's always a great pleasure to play on such a stage.

True, I must admit that I cannot remember any inhospitable stage, so I am grateful for every opportunity to perform, regardless of the audience.

I wonder, how much do you need to exercise a day to keep fit?

- All my work, both as an accompanist and as a teacher, is inextricably united to playing the piano, so I don't have to specifically keep fit, but of course I also need to find time for independent practice. In general, I spend from two to eight hours a day at the instrument, of course, sometimes there are weekends, but I can't live without the piano for more than two or three days, I start to get bored.

For a musician, as a creative person, it is important to be open to the world in order to fill the soul with new impressions... What inspires you?

- I am a very impressionable person, so I can be inspired by the most ordinary, at first glance, things - nature, communication with loved ones, listening to music, books, painting... I really love birds, my pet finches sing wonderfully during my classes. So, there are no problems with inspiration, the main thing is to get enough sleep.

The piano concert "Playing four hands" is a joint music-making activity. How would you characterize this area - a four-hand game? What is unique, complex, especially inimitable about it?

- Perhaps, of all types of ensembles, playing four hands presupposes the closest, in every sense of the word, contact between the performers. Musicians are individualists by nature, but here you have to share not just music, but one instrument with your partner. Of course, it gives rise to certain difficulties, or rather even limitations - in this type of music-making, people should suit each other in many respects, otherwise it will simply be impossible to play together. It is no secret that many pianists have very different sounds; this is difficult to explain from a rational point of view, but it is obvious to everyone who attends piano music concerts, especially national ones. Pianists sit at the same piano and it sounds completely different. To play the piano four hands, you need to become, in a sense, a single organism, to find a common sound and this is not available to everyone.

In general, how comfortable is it for you, as a solo artist, to perform with other musicians? How long does it take to play with each other?

- In any ensemble game, everything is like in life - with someone you understand each other perfectly, with others it takes more time and work to get along and sometimes it doesn't work out at all. But Daria and I coincided so much that there was not even a question of playing specially. I remember that already at the first rehearsal I caught myself thinking that I couldn't distinguish where I was playing and where she was, our pianism turned out to be so similar.

Performance is always a dialogue between the musician and the audience. Let's think about how this dialogue develops, what maintains interest in the "conversation"...

- In recent years, I have rarely played traditional concerts; I always try to preface my performance with some introductory word, talk about the music and what I find in it for myself. This lecture-concert format turned out to be very close to me. And I feel that listeners start to perceive music differently, discovering something new for themselves, this is always pleasant. Nowadays, unfortunately, few people listen to classical music and with the help of this format I try to make it more understandable and livelier.

In your opinion, is the search for contact with the public a rather unpredictable process?

- In general, I have a high degree of empathy, I usually feel the mood of the audience well and try to maintain interest in the compositions I perform, but a certain component of unpredictability, of course, is present. One thing I know for sure: if a musician really loves his job and puts his soul into his performance, it cannot go unnoticed, it cannot fail to touch the soul of every listener.

A simple and at the same time complex question: what is your favorite composer and what resonates with you in his music?

- In the life of every performer, at different periods, one wishes to play different music, sometimes I am more drawn to romance, sometimes to classics, but for me the only thing that remains unchanged is my love for J. S. Bach. I can play and listen to this music endlessly and each time find more and more new meanings, reaching a new depth of understanding and comprehension. In Bach's music, like no other for me, there is scope for performing, or rather even interpretive, art.

Yulia, what is an integral part of a live performance for you? How do you usually feel when performing music?

- Every appearance on stage is a special event. What happens during a concert cannot be simulated under any other conditions. It's like going into outer space. Everything feels different - the passage of time, the expression of musical thought, the way music is reflected in the hearts of listeners, this is all a great miracle and incomparable happiness!

Interview by Eleonora Yamaleeva,
Member of the Union of Theater Workers of the Russian Federation
Photo from the personal archive of Yu.Rogachevskaya