Interview


«Message of Radio Orchestra»
«Kievskie Vedomosti» («Kiev News»), 23 April 2010

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Many conductors have changed over here, there were loved ones and not very… How you were welcomed?

If I came here as a blank slate, unknown to everyone this would have been one thing. But on that moment I have already worked in Operetta Theatre for 18 years and 10 of them I worked as Chief Conductor. If you say about relationship with collective, I’ve never being “eaten”, even in hardest times. Collective withstood and always supported me.

Speaking about the level, artistic and moral, is this orchestra higher then Operetta one?

This is National symphonic collective. When tours started, we’ve invited to Orchestra several good musicians from other cities. Ours deputy concertmaster, for example, studied in Austria. We’ve found him in Simpheropol and invited to join our tour in Korea. Tour is a very hard test, a measure, just like in space. It immediately shows how people get along, how quickly they can solve creative problems, which were getting more complicated by the development of our tour "business". The concert halls were more and more prestigious. In the end we’ve reached such a level, we’ve visited places, where the rest of our national orchestras have not been.

For example, in which?

We are the only orchestra from Ukraine, which performed in Luxembourg Philharmonie, in one of the most famous halls in Spain Palau de la Musica (its considered to be on the same level as great Musikverein), Auditorio Nacional in Madrid, and also in Lisbon Coliseu and Coliseu do Porto (Portugal). In Iran we also came ahead of other collectives. 

What should have been done to raise Orchestra, just a “sitting” one, leave alone traveling abroad and to transform it to actively touring organization?

When Vladimir Sirenko was a conductor, Orchestra was well-known and often touring. Collective presented a country, despite of the existence of state and national ones. After he left to State Orchestra 6 years ago it’s all stopped. In art it all depends on personality. Unfortunately, for 6 years with my predecessor Orchestra was on tour one single time. I speak honestly now, because the level of the musicians had to be restored, their habits, everything that composes a life of orchestra is professional, tour and social one. Of course, they checked me for a while, looked what I can do.

Did they were building a plots?

No, of course not. It was immediately taken as a given, because I met with the orchestra as early as 2003, we’ve recorded then “Requiem” by Gabriel Faure together with Boys Choir of National Music Academy, then I organized several commercial performances. We’ve already knew each other. That’s why there were no troubles.

Moreover, we immediately started to record Rachmaninov's “Isle of the Dead”. I have dreamed for a long period to perform and record this very beautiful, but also one of the hardest music piece. We worked hard a lot, but recorded it very qualitatively. Our sound director was Andrei Mokritsky.

Since January 2006 we’ve played 12 concerts in Philharmonic House a year, and from 2007 till 2008 we also toured intensively.

You had a wonderful meeting with Queen Sofia of Spain…

Once, in 2008 while we were in tour on the trip from Barcelona to Madrid we were called and told that our concert will be visited by VIP-persons. I thought they were talking about diplomats, or maybe a mayor… But, gradually phone calls became more frequent and somewhere near the town of Zaragoza we finally knew that our concert will be visited by the Queen Herself and royal retinue. We had to perform Mozart’s “Requiem” and Symphony №40…