VERA GORNOSTAEVA:
SHARING LOVE FOR MUSIC
In early October, Vera Vasilievna Gornostaeva's jubilee was celebrated with the Vera Relay festival at the Moscow Conservatory. The piano festival-parade started on her birthday, October 1, and ended on October 11, bringing together the best pupils of the renowned teacher. Pianists Vadim Kholodenko, Lukas Geniushas, Ksenia Knorre, Polina Osetinskaya, Andrey Gugnin, Andrey Yaroshinsky, Daniil Sayamov, Ekaterina Ganelina, Daria Petrova, Maxim Filippov performed in five magnificent concerts with musical donations, and Alexey Goribol and Khibla Gerzmava took part in the last concert ...
Is it coincidence or destiny to be born on the day of music? “I love music more than I love it. I live in it, it feeds me, in every possible way. And this is what I want to somehow teach the student, ”says Vera Vasilievna herself.
Vera Vasilievna Gornostaeva is a special phenomenon in pianism. A teacher from God, who brought up a galaxy of famous students, an amazing pianist, a talented writer, educator ... Whichever of its hypostases you cannot name, each of them arouses great respect and admiration. At 85, she heads the department of special piano at the Moscow Conservatory, personally works with students and leads an active creative life.
On the birthday of Professor Gornostaeva in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory - there is nowhere for an apple to fall. A sea of flowers, congratulatory telegrams from Dmitry Medvedev, Sergei Sobyanin, voiced by the rector of the conservatory, Alexander Sergeevich Sokolov, congratulations from the rector himself - all this was in the official, "ritual", as Alexander Sergeevich called her, part, and in the musical, Vera Vasilievna was congratulated by her beloved pupils.
The rector of the conservatory immediately stated that he completely agreed with Professor Iokhiles, who gave Vera Vasilievna a wonderful characterization when she was just starting her teaching career, and that was in 1952 ... at the same time, you direct them in the direction in which the pre-sent one blooms in the most magnificent color, - Alexander Sergeevich quoted. - And this amazing talent was revealed in natural harmony with other manifestations of your talent. These are educational activities, cycles of television programs that everyone remembers - "Open Piano", "Conversations at the Piano". And the fact that you presented the Russian school of pianism, which was accepted from Heinrich Gustavovich Neuhaus, and then began to be passed on - this is another relay race. And, of course, your master classes - for us it was an opportunity to tell the whole world about the wealth that the school of Russian pianism keeps. "
The birthday girl herself gave a short, but capacious and touching speech, in which she confessed her love for the conservatory and its rector, talked about the almost hundred-year-old "ernostayev" dynasty of pianists, which began in 1916 (Vera's mother - Yegine Aslanyants, Vera Gornostaeva, her daughter Ksenia Knorre, grandson of Lukas Geniushas). “I cannot calmly think that I am walking along the same corridors along which these people walked - Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, Taneev, Safonov, and in the 20th century also Shostakovich and Khachaturyan,” Vera Vasilievna said. - This is a miracle dear to me - the Moscow Conservatory. And today I confess my love for this temple and I am happy that this musical temple warms me with your warmth ”. And Vera Vasilievna generously distributes her warmth to others. Possessing an amazing pedagogical gift, she continues the work of her brilliant teacher, "Master Heinrich", from year to year releasing bright, original, brilliant pianists with a unique personality, instantly becoming the favorites of the public ...
The format of the article does not allow, alas, to convey all the versatility and depth of Vera Vasilievna's personality. Perhaps this is felt best of all when you read her book "Two Hours After the Concert", because Vera Vasilievna is not only a virtuoso of the piano keyboard, but also of words. You read her essays, articles, essays, notes with great pleasure, enjoying a refined, well-aimed, capacious style. Well, live communication with the "legend" of Russian pianism is an impression for a lifetime ...
About Rostropovich
They took me for an interview called "Crossing Fates" - it simply describes my meetings: with Shostakovich, Gilels, how my father and mother met, what my childhood was like, what Rachmaninov means to me, there is a little story called "My Japan" ... And one more wonderful document called "The Last Letter". This is my letter to Rostropovich.
-Why the latter?
On his last birthday he was invited by Putin to the Kremlin. He was dying and he agreed. I thought about it with horror. And I received an invitation from him on luxurious paper, and I flew to Japan. He was already dying ... How he was dragged there to the Kremlin, I don't know, it's scary to imagine. And when I wrote this last letter, I cried. I can read this document to you, but I will cry ... better not. This is in memory of my relationship with Slava, which played a huge role in my life, and I am writing about this in my letter too. And Natasha, his secretary, called me and said, "Vera Vasilievna, I read the letter to him, he was very happy that you wrote to him" ...
We had such a relationship all our lives, since childhood, Slava's mother Sofia Nikolaevna was friends with my mother. Slavka was still little, he was two years older than me. You see, in my life there were people who were very close to me, like Neuhaus, for example, a huge phenomenon, right? We were practically inseparable with Emil Gilels for nine years, my daughter studied with him. I visited Richter regularly, celebrated the New Year, Christmas. They were all at home, close to me. And all the same, I would not write this to any of them. Even this genius of mine - here he is young ... Henry. Well, Slavka is something special at all. Slavka was practically my age. And all my life since childhood together ... In Penza, I was with him in the evacuation. And she also loved Galya very much. But the intelligentsia did not understand her. She is from the people, Galka. Glory, of course, is the world to me. Andryusha understands me. It was impossible to communicate with him, so as not to burn.
Andrey:
-I got, of course, much less than you. But it's still a blessing to me.
I remember when Slava was 14 years old, and I was 12, we had such a girl, Julia, who always blushed very much, was shy. He takes a tiny tiny cello, introduces himself, kneels down and sings “I love you, Julia! I love you, Julia ... ". The whole corridor laughs, Julia blushes. This is Slavochka. Constantly some kind of jokes. And the jokes are incessant.
Daniel:
-We really miss a man of this magnitude now.
And there is no such thing. Not enough is like saying that now there is not enough Beethoven, Chopin. Glory is a diamond. This is something very special, a new carat. His self-esteem was not at all consistent with his true value. He was very critical of himself.
Andrey:
- Somehow in the Rachmaninov Hall, even before meeting with you, he raised a toast for me ...
When was it “before meeting me”?
Andrey:
-I came to him a year before you. While still in Kiev, simply to Moscow, for two or three days. He heard me in Slavyansk, then I came to Moscow to him, and then he called you. So, he told me this - “I wish you to be a beginner all your life. Look at me - here I am, always a beginner ... ”.
And he called me and said: “Old woman, I have a request for you. There is one boy ... good. Take it please. " How old were you?
Andrey:
-Years 14-15.
Well, he absolutely sincerely considered me to be a very great teacher.
Andrey:
- He's not alone, I must say.
About pedagogy
Now Philip Usov plays the Barcarole of Schubert-Liszt. So I - I even complained to Seryozha - completely crazy. I want to learn the Schubert-Liszt Barcarole ... I can't stop it. I hear it all the time. It seems to me that there is no better music. It is true, absolutely impossible music. And this is what I want to somehow teach the student. And if it succeeds, then my assistant tells me: “Vera Vasilievna, you know, Philip has started to play in a completely different way now. Much better". My daughter scolds me: “You are wasting yourself too. You can not do it this way!". Excessive dedication, excessive energy that I spend on classes with students, it certainly makes me very tired.
Daniel:
-She scolds you, but she works with no less dedication.
- She also has it, yes.
-But if you really love what you do, you cannot do it any other way.
Andrey:
-How is it possible to define boundaries in the business that you love and do? Say, I like to do it until half past four, and then I have lunch?
As much as you like! They will correct the fingering, show where the false notes are, the tempos. This is called professionalism. And I teach unprofessionally. No, I'm a professional in everything, but I don't teach with an emphasis on professionalism, that's for sure. Danya noticed this. Of course, something else is guiding me.
Andrey:
-When I started visiting you, Vera Vasilievna, the first year, we were studying Chopin. It was decided to prepare for the competition in Warsaw in 2005, and we played for two years in a row, only Chopin. We replayed different programs and the lessons were absolutely amazing in that they lasted three hours. Within these three hours there was everything - painting, literature, and poetry. There were amazing images. Vera Vasilievna, of course, played the piano. After one of these lessons, late in the evening I came home and could not help but sleep, I could not sit down, could not lie down ... I went and walked around the house all night. I could not calm down. I can't even explain why. Some completely new space, a new life, opened up for me. And this has happened and is happening all the time. A teacher with a capital letter - after all, he must do this: open people's eyes, open people's hearts, open people's souls, completely new, previously unknown spaces, in music, in life, in creativity. These are such big words. But this is actually the truth. When you leave the lesson and do not feel that you are walking on the ground, you are flying through the air. And you are so happy about this, sometimes dumbfounded, that it turns out that it happens so. This is great happiness.
Irina:
- It happens to me after concerts. Not always, of course. After Gugnin, I remember it happened. He then played in early spring at the Geological Museum, Prokofiev's "Transience" and Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition". This was the first time I listened to him live. Of course, I knew that there was such an Andrei Gugnin, but somehow I concentrated more on Kholodenko. And so I heard him. He shocked me so much then, it was some kind of super-revelation. We left the Museum, it was a fresh March evening, and we flew along Mokhovaya so happy ...
Yes, Andryusha plays Pictures at an Exhibition well. And he plays Prokofiev's Fleetingness very well. This is his trump card - "Transience". I remember this concert - he also played the 7th Sonata. And then he played the encore of the "Forest Tsar" ... Phenomenally played! The fact that his hands are wild, I knew that he would play all this. But where there are lyrical images, I didn't even expect this from him, it was so good.
Irina:
- I was still amazed then: such a young pianist, and such deep Prokofiev meanings ...
He also plays differently. Wants to be an assistant. The guys sometimes go to him, he works with them. With the same Usov he was engaged in the "Forest Tsar". But, here you have to think ...
Irina:
-I think you need to have great patience to study with students.
In general, the emotional costs are very large, if you teach like this, Danya correctly said, Ksyusha also teaches.
Daniel:
-I'm probably doing something wrong, because after working with a student, on the contrary, I get a very strong emotional charge.
Irina:
-It's probably interpenetration. And yet, depending on which student. From someone you get a return, and someone absorbs your charge.
The charge comes not from the student, but from the music. If we, musicians, love her very much, she acts on us as it should be. Here, of course, she charges. Maybe not everything is the same. But in any case, if I start to study a piece of music, I have already entered it, and it starts to take hold of me. Otherwise, you will not be able to teach if it does not excite you at all.
I increasingly think about my profession. Not the first when I gave concerts, but the second when I taught. I believe that not every person who can play the piano very well, who is educated, who graduated from the conservatory and even gives concerts, can become a teacher. It doesn't mean anything yet. In order to teach, you need a completely different, special, separate talent. These are two different talents. And they don't overlap. Sofronitsky was not a teacher. It was not him. He hated going to the conservatory. Sofron did not like to teach at all ..
Daniel:
-So this is a well-known story, when a student in the 29th grade was playing an essay for him, and he stood, leaning against the window frame, and so, scratching the glass, whispering: “Lord, for what? Why do I need this? "
Then he fainted when a pianist played at what Neuhaus called "Squirrel in a Wheel" ... Then he said that he would never come to exams again ... Then he taught at home, as I did. I'm already like Sofronitsky in five minutes. Sofronitsky was a separate phenomenon. He had nothing to do with teaching. The greatest musician.
Irina:
-We have many great musicians. But there are few great teachers.
We do not have the Sofronitskys. There are many musicians, but Sofronitsky is a separate case. And the musicians? Yes, there are many of them, and they can teach. Somehow.
Irina:
-Daniel, do you see yourself as a teacher-teacher?
Daniel:
-Well, at the moment I started this activity quite abruptly.
I just took Danya as an assistant, having believed in him, and in his talent, and in his mind, and in his understanding of music. Now he is looking for himself in this capacity, and he has excellent opportunities for this. My class, of course, is colorful. But there are guys with whom you can work, and good ones. Suffice it to say that now, sorting out from whom to make a cool evening, I suddenly realized that 11 people are quite playing. It's not that common. It happens that it is good for us if there are 5 playing people in the class.
About music and vocation
Daniel:
-From today's musicians Vera Vasilievna seems to me one of the most well-read and erudite people. If you look, there is always a book of some kind on the couch.
Now Akhmatova is lying.
Daniel:
And I cannot live without it. And this is not a drug. This is a need for that spiritual life, which for me is not limited to music. If you want to understand me, this is the most important thing. For me, literature and music are the same. Two phenomena, two spaces in which I dwell. Here is my grandson - he is all in music, he is enchantingly educated, I ask him when I don’t know something. But I'm not going crazy. I just read, read, read, read. And exactly the same husband was sent to me.
Daniel:
-And from this comes your amazing explanations of music to students.
Andrey:
- This is an amazing synthesis of fiction, literature and music ...
Just don’t sing praises to me here)))
Irina:
- I myself remember very well the concert from the subscription "Vera Gornostaeva presents ...", you represented Vadim Kholodenko and Bach ... So much so that the whole hall froze. But the audience was conservative, not from the street ...
And I never specially prepare for this, there is no need for this.
Daniel:
-That's my not "dithyramb" at all, but observation. Now, having started working as an assistant in Vera Vasilievna's class, I understand how important it is to explain musical material in words. In this sense, Vera Vasilievna has no equal.
This is the most difficult thing to do the impossible - to explain the music in words. A pointless exercise.
Daniel:
-When the student arrives, having already learned the text, work on the content begins. And this is where the hardest part begins.
Yes, a person must understand what he is playing about. So he comes out and plays, and I sit, I hear that he does not understand what. Like a speaker who just talks about something. And there are speakers who have thoughts. And the pianists are the same.
Andrey:
-I think, and Danya will support me, that if now the big names of the past, the beginningXXcentury, found themselves in the competitive environment that is now created in piano music, it would be much more difficult. Because the pianistic bar has risen to incredible heights. But the more valuable, the more important, due to the rarity and value, it is the musical component, namely the personal one, that is, the prism through which a person passes what he plays. There are a lot of professionals and much less, as it seems to me, individuals now.
Of course. Even musically. A person must understand the language of music.
Daniel:
- Is it possible to present Sofronitsky or Igumnov among the laureates of the major competition now?
Or Gould? In continuation of Danin’s words, I’ll just tell you that neither Maria Grinberg, nor Maria Yudina, nor Sofronitsky, nor the same Gould are not the pianists of the competition at all! But the pianists of the competition also played beautifully - Richter, however, only one, at the All-Union, but received the first prize, beating everyone, because it was impossible to compete with him. And Gilels, in the same way, at the age of 16, came out and destroyed the entire scheme built in advance (then Igor Aptekarev was planned, Yakov Izrailevich Zak told me, and people of that generation told this story that practically the surname had already been prepared). And suddenly this red-haired boy, 16 years old, came out from Odessa. And that's it! After that, I had to take a break, because the audience just went crazy, and it was completely impossible to continue. And he played then not like the mature Gilels ... He then shocked everyone with his unsurpassed virtuosity and temperament. Then he had a divine sound all his life, of course. Such warmth, such sensual beauty, well, like Horowitz's. They just sound the piano, and that's it. You can't do anything. Then, of course, it was a different time. And, of course, Andryusha said it correctly. The professional level has really risen a lot now.
Vera Vasilievna and students
Vadik (Cholodenko) after the October 1 concert complained for a long time that he had outplayed his right hand, called me upset in the morning, was dissatisfied with himself ... I tell him - now we need to pause. And he - yes, only today I am flying to Tokyo on an evening flight, I have to play Prokofiev's Second Concerto five times. And I say, just what is needed to rest ... Are we going to wait for Andrey, or will he not come?
Irina:
-He has a rehearsal, he said, if he has time, it will do.
Then it is clear, he plays with us now continuously, plays a lot, because he won the first prize in Salt Lake City. I have him like Ilya Muromets - thirty years and three years, as in a Russian fairy tale, he slept. I just didn't do anything. Pathologically. It was impossible to drive him to my class, my assistant was simply exhausted. At the same time, he lives in a neighboring house. Well, so far to go! And before me he studied with Leva Naumov, a brilliant musician, teacher, also a student of Neuhaus, and when he died, Andrei wrote a statement to me. Well, the same school ... I asked him - do you want to see me on a territorial basis? And he - "No, not on the territorial." So he answered quite seriously. And with Leva there was the same story. Once I was at a class evening with Naumov, Andryusha came out, played very well, in my opinion, the Spanish Rhapsody. I am sitting with Irochka, my friend, this is his wife, we studied on the same course all together at Neuhaus. I say: "What a wonderful boy." And she: “Yes, wonderful. And if he still went to Lyova's lessons, he would be absolutely wonderful! " "Why doesn't he go?" - "Absolutely does not walk!" And now it's the same with me. And Naumov is a very important person in terms of the value of a teacher at the Moscow Conservatory. It is Leva, my closest friend. Both Lyova and Ira, they have already passed away ... When he died, the Conservative newspaper asked me to write an article, I wrote it, it was called "Declaration of love." I have loved this man all my life, just all my life. Musician, person, teacher. He was not a pianist. And we were very friendly.
Andrey:
-I'm now watching how, we are talking - as if we are watching an amazing, some kind of expensive and important movie for me. I watch and remember literally every word, every moment ..
What is it?
Andrey:
- Everything. Right now. Thank you, Vera Vasilievna!
Interviewed by Vera Vasilievna GORNOSTAEVA,
Andrey YAROSHINSKY, Daniil SAYAMOV, Irina SHYMCHAK
Photo by Irina SHYMCHAK
Vera Vasilievna Gornostaeva came to performing activity, in her own words "through pedagogy" - the path is not quite usual. More often it happens the other way around: they achieve fame on the concert stage and, as the next step, begin to teach. Examples of this are the biographies of Oborin, Gilels, Flier, Zach and other famous musicians. They go in the opposite direction much less often, the case of Gornostaeva is one of those exceptions that confirm the rule.
Her mother was a music teacher who devoted herself entirely to working with children; "Pediatrician", with her characteristic humorous intonation, speaks of the profession of Gornostaev's mother. “I received my first piano lessons at home,” says the pianist, “then I studied at the Moscow Central Music School with a brilliant teacher and charming person Ekaterina Klavdievna Nikolaeva. At the conservatory, my teacher was Heinrich Gustavovich Neuhaus. "
In 1950, Gornostaeva performed at the international competition of music performers in Prague and won the title of laureate. But after that she came not to the stage of the concert stage, as it would have been natural to expect, but to the Gnesins Musical Pedagogical Institute. A few years later, from 1959, she began working at the Moscow Conservatory; teaches there to this day.
“Usually it is believed that pedagogy creates serious obstacles for concert and performing activities,” says Gornostaeva. “Of course, classes in the classroom are associated with large losses of time. But - let's not forget! - and with great benefit to the teacher. Especially when you are lucky enough to work with a strong, talented student. You have to be at the height of your position, right? - and this means that one must constantly think, seek, delve into, analyze. And don't just search - seek out; after all, it is not the search itself that is important in our profession, the finds are important. I am convinced that it was pedagogy, into which I immersed myself for many years by the will of circumstances, that formed a musician in me, made me who I am ... The time has come when I realized that I didn’t can not playing: it is very difficult to be silent if there is what to tell. From about the beginning of the seventies, I began to perform regularly. Further more; now I travel a lot, tour in various cities, record on records. "
Each concertist (except for the ordinary one, of course) is remarkable in its own way. Gornostaeva is of interest, first of all, how personality- original, characteristic, with a lively and interesting creative face. It is not her pianism that attracts attention by itself; not external performance accessories. Perhaps some of Gornostaeva's students today (or yesterday's) will be able to make a better impression on stage than their teacher. This is the whole point - they, with their confident, strong, dashing virtuosity, will impress winning; it is deeper and more significant.
Once, speaking in print, Gornostaeva said: “Professionalism in art is a means through which a person reveals his inner world. And we always feel the content of this inner world in a collection of poems, in a play by a playwright, and in a solo concert of a pianist. You can hear the level of culture, taste, emotionality, intellect, character " (In the name of Tchaikovsky: Collection of articles and documents about the Third International Tchaikovsky Competition of Musicians - M 1970, p. 209.)... Everything is correct here, every word. Not only roulades or grace, phrasing or pedalization are heard in the concert - only an inexperienced part of the audience thinks so ...
In Gornostaeva the pianist, for example, it is not difficult to "hear" her mind. He is everywhere, on everything his reflection. She undoubtedly owes him the best in her performance. Those, first of all, who perfectly feel the laws of musical expressiveness: knows the piano thoroughly, knows cheg o can be achieved on it and how do it. And how skillfully she uses her pianistic skills! Does she have few colleagues only partially, to one degree or another, realizing what nature has given them to them? Gornostaeva fully reveals her performing abilities - a sign of both strong characters and (most importantly!) Minds of extraordinary. This originality of thinking, its high professional class is especially felt in the best numbers of the pianist's repertoire - mazurkas and waltzes, ballads and Chopin's sonatas, rhapsodies (op. 79) and intermezzos (op. 117 and 119) by Brahms, “Sarcasms” and the cycle “Romeo and Juliet ”by Prokofiev, Preludes by Shostakovich.
There are concertists captivating the audience by force his feelings, burning with passionate enthusiasm, an affectation of the performing speech. Gornostaeva is different. In her stage experiences, the main thing is not quantitative factor (how strong, bright ...), and quality- the one that is reflected in the epithets "refined", "exquisite", "aristocratic", etc. I recall, for example, her Beethoven programs - "Pathetic", "Appassionata", "Moonlight", Seventh or Thirty-second sonatas. No powerful dynamics performed by the artist of this music, no energetic, forceful pressure, no whirling passions. But subtle, refined shades of emotions, a high culture of experience - especially in slow parts, in episodes of a lyric-contemplative nature.
True, the lack of "quantitative" in Gornostaeva's play sometimes makes itself felt. It is not easy for her at the heights of climaxes, in music that requires a dense, rich fortissimo; the artist's purely physical capabilities are limited and at some moments it is noticeable! - she has to overextend her pianistic voice. In the same "Pathetique" by Beethoven, she usually succeeds best of all in the second movement, the calm Adagio. In Pictures at an Exhibition by Mussorgsky by Gornostaeva, the melancholic Old Castle is very good and the Bogatyrskiye Vorota is somewhat less impressive.
And yet, if you mean main in the art of the pianist, we must talk about something else. M. Gorky, talking with B. Asafiev, once noticed; real musicians differ in that they can hear not just music... (Remember Bruno Walter: “Only a musician is only a half-musician.”) Gornostaeva, speaking in Gorky words, is given to hear not only music in the art of music; with this she won the right to a concert stage. She hears “further”, “wider”, “deeper”, as is usually typical of people with a versatile spiritual outlook, rich intellectual needs, a developed figurative-associative sphere - in short, those who, through the prism of music, are able to perceive the world ...
With such a character as that of Gornostaeva, with her active reaction to everything around her, it would hardly be possible to lead a one-sided and secluded lifestyle. There are people who are naturally "contraindicated" to do one thing; they need to alternate creative hobbies, change forms of activity; contrasts of this kind do not bother them in the least, but rather delight them. Throughout her life, Gornostaeva was engaged in various types of labor.
She writes well, quite professionally. For most of her colleagues, this is not an easy task; Gornostaeva has long been attracted and inclined towards him. A person of literary talent, excellently feeling the subtleties of language, she knows how to clothe her thoughts in a lively, graceful, non-standard form. She was repeatedly published in the central press, many of her articles were widely known - "Svyatoslav Richter", "Reflections at the concert hall", "A man graduated from the conservatory", "Will you become an artist?" other.
In his public statements, articles and conversation, Gornostaev touches on a variety of issues. And yet there are topics that excite her more than anyone else. These are, first of all, the stage destinies of creative youth. What prevents the bright, gifted students, of whom there are so many in our educational institutions, that sometimes, does not allow them to grow into great masters? To some extent - the thorns of concert use, some shadowy moments in the organization of the philharmonic life. Gornostaeva, who has traveled and observed a lot, knows about them and with all her directness (she knows how to be direct, if necessary, and harsh) spoke on this score in the article "Does the director of the Philharmonic Society like music?" She, further, is against too early and rapid successes on the concert stage - there are many potential dangers, latent threats in them. When Eteri Anjaparidze, one of her students, received the IV prize at the Tchaikovsky competition at the age of seventeen, Gornostaeva did not consider it superfluous to publicly declare (in the interests of Anjaparidze herself) that this was an “exorbitant award” for her age. “Success,” she once wrote, “must also come in due time. After all, this is a very powerful agent ... " (Gornostaeva V. Will you become an artist? // Soviet culture. 1969 29 par.).
But the most dangerous thing, Vera Vasilievna repeats over and over again, is when they cease to be interested in anything other than craft, pursuing only nearby, sometimes utilitarian goals. Then, according to her, young musicians, “even having an unconditional performing talent, in no way develop into a bright artistic personality, remaining until the end of their days as limited professionals who have lost the freshness and spontaneity of youth over the years, but have not received in return what they need so much. the artist of the ability to think independently, so to speak, of spiritual experience " (Ibid.).
Relatively recently, literary-critical sketches of Mikhail Pletnev and Yuri Bashmet, musicians to whom Gornostaeva treats with great respect, appeared on the pages of the newspaper "Soviet Culture". On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the birth of G. G. Neuhaus, her essay "Master Heinrich" was published, which had a wide resonance in musical circles. An even greater resonance - and even greater controversy - was caused by the article "Who Owns Art", in which Gornostaeva touches on some of the tragic aspects of our musical past ("Soviet Culture", May 12, 1988).
However, not only readers are familiar with Gornostaeva; both radio listeners and TV viewers know her. First of all, thanks to the cycles of musical and educational programs, in which she undertakes a difficult mission to tell about the outstanding composers of the past (Chopin, Schumann, Rachmaninov, Mussorgsky) - or about the works written by them; at the same time she illustrates her speech on the piano. Gornostaeva's TV programs “Introducing the Young” aroused great interest in their time, which gave her the opportunity to acquaint the general public with some of the debutants of today's concert scene. In the 1987/88 season, the television series "Open Piano" became the main one for her.
Finally, Gornostaeva is an indispensable participant in various seminars and conferences on issues of musical performance and pedagogy. She speaks with reports, messages, open lessons. If the opportunity presents itself, it shows the students of their class. And, of course, he answers numerous questions, consults, gives advice. “I have attended similar seminars and symposia (they are called differently) in Weimar, Oslo, Zagreb, Dubrovniki, Bratislava and other European cities. But, frankly speaking, most of all I like such meetings with colleagues in our country - in Sverdlovsk, Tbilisi, Kazan ... And not only because there is a particularly great interest in them, as evidenced by the overcrowded halls, and herself the atmosphere that prevails at such events. The fact is that in our conservatories, the very level of discussion of professional problems, in my opinion, is higher than anywhere else. And this cannot but rejoice ...
I feel like I'm doing more value here than in any other country. Yes, and the language barrier does not arise. "
Sharing the experience of her own pedagogical work, Gornostaeva does not get tired of emphasizing that the main thing is not to impose interpretative decisions on the student. outside, in a directive order. And not to demand that he play the piece under study the way his teacher would play. “The most important thing is to build a performing concept in relation to the individuality of the student, that is, in accordance with his natural characteristics, inclinations, capabilities. For a real teacher, in fact, there is no other way. "
During the long years that she devoted to the pedagogy of Gornostaeva, dozens of students passed through her hands. Not all of them had a chance to win performance competitions, like A. Slobodyanik or E. Andzhaparidze, D. Ioffe or P. Egorov, M. Ermolaev or A. Paley. But all, without exception, communicating with her during the classroom, came into contact with the world of high spiritual and professional culture. And this is the most valuable thing that a student can get from a teacher in art.
Of the concert programs played by Gornostaeva in recent years, some have attracted particular attention. For example, three Chopin sonatas (season 1985/86). Or Schubert's piano miniatures (1987/88 season), which included the rarely performed Musical Moments, Op. 94. The audience met with interest the clavarabend dedicated to Mozart - Fantasy and Sonata in C minor, as well as the Sonata in D major for two pianos, played by Vera Vasilievna together with her daughter, K. Knorre (season 1987/88).
A number of works by Gornostaeva have been restored in her repertoire after a long break - she has reinterpreted them in some way, played in a different way. One can refer in this connection at least to Shostakovich's Preludes.
PI Tchaikovsky attracts her more and more. She played his "Children's Album" more than once in the second half of the eighties, both in television programs and at concerts.
“Love for this composer is probably in my blood. Today I feel that I cannot help playing his music - as it happens, a person cannot but say something, if there is - what ... Some of Tchaikovsky's plays move me almost to tears - the same Sentimental Waltz, with which I have been in love since childhood. Only with great music does this happen: you know it all your life - and all your life you admire it ... "
Remembering Gornostaeva's speeches in recent years, one cannot fail to name one more, perhaps especially important and responsible. It took place in the Small Hall of the Moscow Conservatory in April 1988 as part of the festival dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the birth of G. G. Neuhaus. Gornostaeva played Chopin that evening. And she played surprisingly well ...
“The longer I give concerts, the more I become convinced of the importance of two things,” says Gornostaeva. “First, on what principle does an artist compose his programs, and does he have such principles at all. Secondly, whether he takes into account the specifics of his performing role. Does he know what he is strong in and what he is not, where his area in the piano repertoire, and where - not his.
As for the preparation of programs, the most important thing for me today is to find a certain semantic core in them. It is not only the selection of certain authors or specific works that matters here. What is important is the very combination of them, the sequence in which they are performed at the concert; in other words - a sequence of alternations of musical images, mental states, psychological nuances ... Even the general tonal plan of the pieces that sound one after the other during the evening, and that matters.
Now about what I have termed the performing role. The term, of course, is conditional, approximate, and yet ... Every concert musician should, in my opinion, have some kind of saving instinct that would suggest what is objectively closer to him and what is not. In what he can best express himself, and what he would be better off avoiding. Each of us naturally has a certain "range of performing voice" and it is at least unreasonable not to reckon with this.
Of course, you always want to play a lot - both that, and another, and the third ... The desire is completely natural for every true musician. Well, you can learn anything. However, far from everything should be taken out on the stage. For example, I play at home a variety of compositions - both those that I want to play myself, and those that my students bring to the lessons. However, in the programs of my public speeches, I include only some part of what I have learned. "
Gornostaeva's concerts usually begin with her verbal commentary on the works performed. This has been practiced by Vera Vasilievna for a long time. But in recent years, the word addressed to the audience has perhaps acquired a special meaning for her. By the way, she herself thinks that Gennady Nikolaevich Rozhdestvensky influenced her in some way; his example once again confirmed her in the consciousness of the importance and necessity of this matter.
However, Gornostaeva's conversations with the public have little to do with what others are doing in this regard. For her, the important thing is not the information about the performed works itself, not factual information, not the historical and musicological information. The main thing is to create a certain mood in the hall, to introduce the listeners into the figurative-poetic atmosphere of the music - to “arrange” for its perception, as Vera Vasilievna says. Hence her special manner of addressing the audience - confidential, unconstrained, natural, devoid of the shadow of mentoring, lecturer pathos. There can be hundreds of people in the hall; each of them will have the feeling that Gornostaeva is referring specifically to him, and not to some abstract “third person”. She often recites poetry while talking to the public. And not only because she herself loves them, but for the simple reason that they help her to bring her listeners closer to music.
Of course, Gornostaeva never, under any circumstances, reads from a piece of paper. Her verbal comments on the programs she plays are always improvisation. But the improvisation of a person who clearly and clearly knows what he wants to say.
There is a particular difficulty in the genre of public speaking that Gornostaeva chose for herself. Difficulty transitioning from verbal communication to the audience - to the game and vice versa. “Before it was a serious problem for me,” Vera Vasilievna says. “Then I got used to it a little. But all the same, the one who thinks that it is easy to speak and play, alternating one with the other, is very delusional. "
There is a natural increase: how does Gornostaeva manage to do everything? And, most importantly, how everything is with her it turns out? She is an active, organized, dynamic person - this is the first thing. Second, no less important, she is an excellent specialist, a musician of rich erudition, who has seen a lot, learned, re-read, changed her mind, and, finally, most importantly, she is talented. Not in one thing, local, limited by the framework of "from" and "to"; talented in general - broadly, universally, comprehensively. It is simply impossible not to give her due in this respect ...
On October 1, 2014, on the International Day of Music, the pianist, professor and head of the special piano department of the Moscow Conservatory, People's Artist of the RSFSR Vera Vasilievna Gornostaeva turns 85.
On the eve of the anniversary, Nadezhda Afanasyeva talked to the legend of Russian performing arts.
Dead night. Wilderness of the Soviet Union, evacuation, 1943. The chords of Rachmaninoff's Second Concerto sound. This is a radio recording - the author himself plays, who died several hours ago thousands of kilometers from his homeland. The broadcast of the semi-banned author is a curiosity, he is officially hounded in the press. A fourteen-year-old girl is standing on the floor, barefoot, wearing headphones and crying. When the teacher who woke up at the wrong time soon catches her and punishes her for violating the regime, the girl will vow to perform the Second Concerto at the end of the Conservatory.
And everything will come true. After 9 years, within the walls that applauded Sergei Vasilyevich, the work of his entire life will sound. A grown-up girl Vera Gornostaeva will sit at the piano, in the future she will be a great pianist, professor, head of the special piano department of the Moscow Conservatory and People's Artist of the RSFSR. On October 1, she celebrates her 85th anniversary.
A century-old dynasty based on love for music and Rachmaninov
“He was dear,” Vera Vasilievna begins her story, sitting in a comfortable armchair in her spacious apartment in the center of Moscow.
Her mother entered the best music university of the Russian Empire two years before the emigration of the famous composer. Often encountering a genius in the corridors, she idolized him. I did not miss a single concert, getting tickets by any means.
- One winter day, my mother fell in the street, slipping. A man helped to get up - a tall, long fur coat, a beaver hat. It was Sergei Vasilievich. Shock! In disbelief, my mother looked at him until she realized that she was embarrassing the musician. The most common dialogue took place - did you hurt yourself, do you need help, walk more carefully.
But how much has been said about this small, engraved event in the soon-formed Gornostayev family! Vera Vasilievna's dad, with Ryazan roots, who was madly in love with music, met his neighbor, Vera Vasilievna's mother, a talented Armenian pianist, whose homework he liked so much to listen to.
- Almost 100 years ago, my mother crossed the threshold of the Moscow Conservatory, becoming her student. I followed her, then my daughter, then my grandson ... In 2016, our dynasty will celebrate 100 years within the walls of the Moscow Conservatory, explains Vera Gornostaeva. - Mom was a famous children's teacher, I connected my life with performing and teaching, daughter Ksenia Knorre is a piano teacher at the Conservatory, she has many students in her class. But my grandson Lukas Geniushas made the greatest career of all of us.
"Live to work, not work to live"
Several years of honing skills with the strict Heinrich Neuhaus, several years of adjusting taste at the performances of eminent virtuosos Sofronitsky, Yudina, Grinberg, Gilels and Richter, in which young Vera Gornostaeva ran with her friends ... At the age of 19 she was already a laureate of the competition in Prague. At 20 he starts touring.
“There were few contests then, and there were few winners,” she says. - It was easier to get through. I worked in the Soviet empire. After the victory, I was included in the systems that organized concerts for me in all the republics of the USSR, dozens of cities in Russia. They were not allowed only abroad.
Vera Vasilievna can only guess why the pianist was not allowed to travel abroad after her visits to Norway and Italy.
“Firstly, I didn’t hide my disagreement with the regime,” she says. - It's amazing why I didn't go to a concentration camp. If there was a search in my apartment - immediately arrest. It is full of forbidden literature! Secondly, I attended church. Thirdly, my daughter married Gidon Kremer. Today he is a celebrity. Then - at first he was not allowed to leave, and then he was prohibited from entering, when he took German citizenship. Afraid of my emigration? But I had no intention of leaving the country. My husband Yura Liebhaber and I are devoted to Russia. Nobody understood this.
Even after traveling abroad in 1990 and more than two decades of work in a foreign land, Vera Vasilievna prefers Russia to her.
- I criticize the Motherland, when I live here, I have the right, everything that happens to it affects me. But scold my country in front of me? Not worth it, I'm annoyed.
At the age of 60, Vera Gornostaeva stopped playing the piano.
“That's enough,” she shrugs.
During her life, she starred in 67 programs on television, brought up and continues to educate a galaxy of talented artists. There are 15 people in her class. One or two graduates annually.
- Now I work to the fullest for the love of the piano and pedagogy. It's exciting. You can't do without love. A performer who dreams only of material wealth is not an artist. You have to live in order to work, not work in order to live. I'm happy. And you?
There are never too many pianists
- One official in the field of culture in my presence said that we have too many pianists. Those who do not understand the meaning of our vocation think so, - Vera Vasilievna is indignant. - Pianists are teachers of music schools and colleges. These are accompanists necessary in any class of school, college and conservatory. The pianist is the most demanded musical profession! Are there too many of us? No, we find a use for ourselves.
Bad pianist, not dreaming of becoming Richter
- Young people entering the conservatory dream of a great artistic career - like Richter and Gilels. It's impossible, - Vera Vasilievna sighs, - such talents are rarely born.
A chance for a reversal in the fate of a performer is a victory at one of the four most prestigious competitions in the piano world.
- This is the so-called square - named after Chopin in Warsaw, named after Tchaikovsky in Moscow, named after Queen Elizabeth in Brussels, named after Van Cliburn in Texas, - the teacher bends his fingers.
Those who have failed to break out into leaders adapt to life in another profession.
“A real musician cannot live without his instrument”
- A pianist must love his profession so that it is a necessity. He must be a workaholic. A real musician cannot live without practicing his instrument, - Vera Gornostaeva's gaze involuntarily rushes to the charcoal piano, which is watching her from the center of the room.
- Professionals are those who apply enormous strength and energy, as my teacher used to say - man-hours at the instrument.
An integral part of an artist is a powerful character, believes Vera Vasilievna.
- You can't do without the talent to learn - real receptivity, understanding.
A musician's career also depends on dedication, the ability to fit in, and make connections.
“I don’t really respect these qualities,” the professor frowns.
Moscow Conservatory lives
“This is still the best musical university in the country,” Vera Vasilievna is sure.
Comparisons with foreign institutions are only a plus for her.
- Once in New York I went into the building of the Juilliard School. Architectural nothing, Cheryomushki! The Moscow Conservatory is a miracle. The divine oval of the Great Hall, an oval stage, an amphitheater, oval portraits, an oval courtyard, even the fence around Pyotr Ilyich is oval. The beauty! 4 concert halls, one better than the other. When I was little walking past the Conservatory in the Central Music School, chords of Rachmaninoff's First Concerto fell from the windows at me. I involuntarily slowed down, listened. I was eager to get there ...
Time flies, regimes change, people die and are born. And real music and real musicians are eternal. Happy birthday to Vera Vasilievna Gornostaeva.
Having opened the ninth issue of the magazine "Musical Life" for 1986, you can read there a review of Vera Gornostaeva's unusual Chopin evening in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory: that the time of "pure" performance is running out and that proofs of the legitimacy of this or that fact of performance are required. And here V. Gornostaeva, having chosen the form of the concert, which she herself tested in television talks about music, turns out to be unconventional. Perhaps the word of the solo pianist sounded for the first time in this hall ... And I must say that this unusual synthetic genre turned out to be extremely organic, as well as the program, which includes all three Chopin sonatas. and the pianist's opening "monologue" was correct in tone. It was thanks to the word, which was at the beginning, that the listener entered the atmosphere of Chopin's art even before the performer touched the instrument. The following comments of the pianist - she addressed the audience three times - made me recall the open lessons of Professor Gornostaeva in the conservatory class. After all, those in the know know how rich these lessons are with artistic associations! "
Artistic destinies develop in different ways. For most of the famous pianists, the concert career precedes the teaching career, or at least they develop in parallel. But with Gornostaeva it is almost the opposite. In 1952 she graduated from the Moscow Conservatory, class of G. G. Neuhaus, and until 1955 she studied here as a graduate student. And it so happened that her teaching work began immediately after graduate school: first at the Gnesins Institute (1955-1959), and then at the Moscow Conservatory. But this is not an exception. Another thing is important: Gornostaeva extremely quickly established herself as a first-class educator of pianist youth. In 1963 she received the title of associate professor, in 1971 - professor. The list of her students-laureates is opened by A. Slobodyanik; then S. Kruchin, E. Tatulyan, P. Egorov, D. Ioffe, E. Andzhaparidze, M. Ermolaev joined him.
As you can see, pedagogy to a certain extent distracted Gornostaeva from the concert stage. She began to perform actively (at least in Moscow) only in the second half of the 60s. Her meaningful clavi-bends, whether it be Chopin's monographs, Brahms's concerts or combined programs from the works of Schumann (the pianist turns to him especially often), Beethoven, Schubert, Mussorgsky, Scriabin, Prokofiev, Shostakovich, as a rule, attract the attention of the musical community. This is how G. Tsypin assesses the art of the artist: “With Gornostaeva the pianist ... it is not difficult to“ hear ”her mind. He is everywhere, on everything - his reflection. To him, no doubt, she owes the best in her performance. That, first of all, that comes, when interpreting the music, from the main thing - the figurative-poetic concept of the work, from what is hidden behind the musical text.
She perfectly feels the laws of musical and performing expressiveness - having thoroughly studied the piano, she knows what can be achieved on it and how to do it. At least take a closer look at how skillfully she uses her data. You never know her colleagues, only partially, in one way or another, realizing what nature has given them! Gornostaeva reveals her performing abilities almost one hundred percent - a sign of both strong characters and (most importantly!) Minds of extraordinary. This originality of thinking, its high professional class is especially felt in the best numbers of the pianist's repertoire - mazurkas and waltzes, ballads and Chopin sonatas, rhapsodies (op. 79) and intermezzos (op. 117 and 119) by Brahms, Sarcasms and the cycle Romeo and Juliet "Prokofiev, Shostakovich's Preludes ..."
So, to date, Gornostaeva successfully combines pedagogical activity with concerts. However, she also finds time for literary appearances in the pages of magazines and newspapers, often appears on television screens. In a word, one can agree with the opinion of I. Zetel; "Gornostaeva's creative appearance is marked by integrity, it is not easy to distinguish between performance, pedagogy, journalism. Behind all this, the civic position of the musician is palpable."
Cit. based on the book: Grigoriev L., Platek J. "Contemporary pianists". Moscow, "Soviet Composer", 1990
Source; http: //www.allpianists.ru/gornostaeva.html
The fate of one of the greatest pianists of Russia Vera Vasilievna Gornostaeva was predetermined from birth. Born on the International Day of Music, she devoted her whole life to this beautiful form of art. Today, when Vera Vasilievna is no longer alive, I would like to once again recall her biography.
Childhood and youth
Vera Gornostaeva was born in Moscow on October 1, 1929 in the family of a pianist and an engineer-economist. When the girl was 7 years old, her parents sent her to a music school, opened on the basis of the Moscow Conservatory. The girl's teacher was E. Nikolaeva. After graduating (in 1947) from the music school, young Vera entered the Moscow Conservatory in the class of the outstanding pianist Heinrich Neuhaus. The student was so impressed by her teacher's talent that he always spoke of her as a "unique treasure." After graduating from the conservatory, Vera Vasilievna entered graduate school, where she studied from 1952 to 1955.
Career
The renowned pianist preferred teaching to concert activity. Her first place of work was the Children's Music School, located in the Sverdlovsk region of the capital. Here she worked for a year after graduating from the conservatory (from 1952 to 1953). This was followed by teaching at the Musical Pedagogical Institute. Gnessin, in which Vera Vasilievna Gornostaeva taught students to play the piano for five years.
Already in those days, her colleagues noted that a young woman has a broad outlook, allowing her to see the prospect of talent development in each individual student. She was predicted to be one of the best music teachers in the country, and she lived up to this expectation. For more than 60 years of teaching, the woman has trained many talented pianists, including Marat Gubaidullin, Ivo Pogorelich, Pavel Egorov, Irina Chukovskaya, etc.
In 1959, Vera Gornostaeva, whose biography is considered in this publication, came to work at the department of special piano at her alma mater - the Moscow Conservatory. In addition to her, her mother once studied at this educational institution. From that moment until the end of her life, the pedagogical activity of the pianist will take place within the walls of this educational institution. In 1963, Vera Vasilievna became her associate professor, and after another 6 years (in 1969) - a professor.
National recognition
Gornostaeva has traveled to many countries of the world with her master classes, and everywhere they were held with great success. Her name was well known in Germany, Great Britain, Switzerland, France, USA, Italy. In Japan, the pianist's lessons were even broadcast on central television, and a book was written about her.
Gornostaeva's teaching method was so progressive that the woman was offered a job at the best music universities in the world. But Vera Vasilievna categorically refused to leave the educational institution that had become her own. She stated that she would never leave the conservatory, where such great Russian composers as Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov and Scriabin walked along the corridors.
Concert, television and publishing activities
In 1953, Gornostaeva's first major performance took place in the concert hall of the Moscow Conservatory. After 2 years, Vera Vasilievna was hired as a soloist of the Mosconcert. In 1956, the talented pianist became a laureate and winner of the II prize at the International Competition held in Prague. Since 1988 Gornostaeva has been a soloist of the Moscow Academic Philharmonic Society. In the same year she was awarded the title of People's Artist of the RSFSR.
In the Soviet Union, Vera Vasilievna Gornostaeva was known not only as a pianist and teacher, but also as a TV presenter. She hosted the program "Open Piano" dedicated to classical music. In it, a woman played classical pieces and told the audience about composers. In addition, Gornostaeva owns many publications about famous musicians: S. Richter, M. Pletnev, as well as her favorite teacher G. Neuhause. In 1991, she published a book called 2 Hours After the Concert.
Personal life
Vera Gornostaeva was married to physicist Vadim Knorre (son of the famous Soviet scientist and writer Georgy Knorre). In a marriage with him, her daughter Ksenia was born in 1953, who followed in her mother's footsteps and became a famous pianist. Vera Vasilievna has two adult grandchildren: (a famous actress and TV presenter) and Lukas Geniushas (musician).
The last months of life and death
In October 2014, the Moscow Conservatory hosted the Relay of Faith parade-festival dedicated to the 85th anniversary of Gornostaeva. The renowned pianist was congratulated on her anniversary by her famous students. Rector of the Conservatory A. Sokolov read out telegrams addressed to her from Prime Minister D. Medvedev and Moscow Mayor S. Sobyanin. Vera Gornostaeva shone on the stage and showed with all her appearance that she was ready to continue to work fruitfully, but on January 19, 2015 she was gone. Ksenia Knorre reported the news to reporters the next day.
The famous pianist died in the intensive care unit of a Moscow clinic, where she was taken 3 weeks before her death. Before that, she felt good, was engaged in social and teaching activities. The cause of Vera Gornostaeva's death was never officially announced. An outstanding pianist and teacher was buried in Moscow at the Danilovskoye cemetery.
