Last year, Teodor Currentzis passed the acid test of landing in Spain with his MusicAeterna orchestra. It was the first Russian formation to tour the peninsula - with two different programs in Barcelona - since the war in Ukraine began. But the welcome was more than warm. Tchaikovsky's Pathétique brought by the Greek-Russian director resonated with true passion in the hearts of music lovers in this corner of Europe. In the same way that he will resonate Mozart's Requiem that he offers this time with his ensemble and the hand of Ibercamera. A Requiem that he revealed to her a decade ago, when he recorded it with the Alpha label, as an iconoclastic talent. A charismatic baton who, now in his fifties, clearly dominates the world classic scene.
The tour begins this Sunday at the Aditorio Nacional in Madrid, to continue on Monday in Barcelona, within the Ibercamera cycle, and on Tuesday at the Teatro de la Maestranza in Seville. He arrives equipped with his own choir and is accompanied by the solo voices of soprano Elizaveta Sveshnikova, tenor Egor Semenkov, countertenor Andrey Nemzer and bass Alexey Tikhomirov. Pianist Olga Pashchenko will offer Concerto No. 24 that completes the Mozart program. The teacher answers questions from La Vanguardia and quotes Voltaire speaking about freedom of expression as the absolute value of democracy.
In what spirit do you suggest audiences come to hear your performance of Mozart's Requiem?
The Requiem has one main goal: to give people the opportunity to free themselves from the dark pit of their grief and emerge into another space, calm the pain and dispel the sadness of grief. It restores afflicted people's hope and faith in a different spiritual life, one that somehow intersects with our mortal world.
Is this piece a lament for death?
The Requiem is not about death, it is about life. It is a plea for eternal life, not a lament for death. It is an invocation of people who want to grow in faith to prolong this life.
The beauty of pain, the longing for eternity...
Eternity is a word that we do not fully understand; This concept escapes our attempts to understand it. We all know we are going to die, but we never fully believe it. Only when one of our loved ones dies do we directly face the fact of the inevitability of death and can no longer deny it. And then we need a very powerful energy to pull us out of the vortex of this fundamental disappointment. And this power is faith in another life, the life of our spirit, regardless of the circumstances of physical existence.
What was your first experience with this Mozart like? How old was he?
Of course, like any child who grew up in a family of musicians, I was introduced to Mozart's Requiem at an early age. I don't remember when I learned it, but it seems to me that this music has always been with me. This Requiem has a very complex architecture and it is a daunting task to recreate this amazing musical structure. But therein lies the second difficulty: how not to lose the spiritual essence of this work. To do this, it is important to have faith and love in your heart. When you love and believe in what you are doing, the result will be completely different than when you approach music rationally, even if you have studied every detail of the score.
Without faith there is no Requiem that is worth it?
It only works if you are able to open the hearts of the people who are present in the audience with your performance, if they can move to some other space through this music. If that happens, then the Requiem works too. If the audience in the hall notices only the virtuoso performance of some parts, it means that an excellent technical result was achieved, but the Requiem itself, which is the essence of consolation, did not work.
Have you ever been afraid that your charisma would overshadow the composer?
It is impossible to eclipse the composer. I am the composer's servant. Any performer in general is not even a servant of the composer, but of the composer's idea. If he approaches the performance from a position of superiority of his own ego, there is a very high risk of simply botching the work. You must strictly follow what the composer wrote, thoroughly understand his idea and only then, very carefully, with utmost amazement and respect, explore the various means that you can employ to implement this idea.
In fact, charisma is a Greek word. Χάρισμα means gift. This is what God gives as a gift to a human being, it is not our own achievement or acquisition. And you must understand that this gift has been given to you so that you can use it properly. When people come to a concert, they are looking for something. Let's say they come to listen to Mozart and expect some kind of interpretation from me that will open the closed doors of their perceptions. The public does not go to the director, but to the man with the keys. They are looking for a way to open this door to what until now was inaccessible to them.
Are there any composers you haven't approached yet who want to? Any operas that he hasn't directed and can't wait?
In fact, there are many jobs of this type. My dream is to stage, for example, Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades, Verdi's Otello, Wagner's Götterdämmerung, Zimmerman's Die Soldaten. Now, because I no longer conduct the opera [in Perm] and it is the first three years of my life without it, I act more as a symphonic conductor. Naturally, I feel a certain nostalgia for working on opera productions. But I really believe in the music of our time, the music of modern composers. I think it is our duty to present it to the public and find ways to present it correctly to interest as many people as possible. That's why I work a lot with contemporary composers, I often commission music from them and perform it.
Cinema... What do you think of the relationship between music and cinema?
I believe that the relationship between music and cinema is the most unexplored area of art to date. Opera is one of the most powerful musical genres in terms of its impact on the public and at the same time one of the most vulnerable. A person rarely gets a complete opera experience due to the large number of circumstances that affect the quality of the production. Their impression would even depend on where they sat in the auditorium. The need to perform acting tasks prevents artists from achieving a perfect musical performance. In the concert version, which can save the lost beauty of music, there is no visual scope, which is the second component of the essence of musical theater. Therefore, it seems to me that the interaction between music and cinema has great perspectives. My musicians and I started the Fragments project, for which we recorded iconic opera scenes in the studio, achieving the best sound. We also invite directors to create their own visual incarnation. This is neither a film adaptation of a stage production nor an illustration of the plot through film. This is the author's embodiment of the artist's imagination, not limited by the conventions of theatrical production.
Are you willing to accept a film project in which you play a role?
I'm too pressed for time right now to experiment. And I would like to dedicate the time I have to what I know best. But of course, if a director I love approached me with an offer like that and saw that my participation could really contribute to the project, he wouldn't say “no.”
He confessed to this newspaper that he left Greece for Russia as a true romantic looking for the summer that in the 90s had ceased to exist in high-tech Europe. What kind of summer are you currently experiencing in Russia?
"Summer" is a kind of state found in people's hearts. It has nothing to do with external circumstances. Therefore, I never evaluated the places where I was based on external characteristics or living conditions. I have always sought to meet people, like me, who dream of searching for the true spirit of music, people who, like me, believe that music can truly fulfill its mission of uniting and consoling.
To be or not to be politically positioned. Is this a question you can ask yourself?
Among the hundreds of musicians I work with, there are people of different nationalities, different ages, genders, different beliefs and preferences. I am convinced that they have the right to be themselves. They can have their own opinion – on any topic – and express it, even if it does not coincide with the opinion of the majority. This is your right. They can share the majority opinion, but not add their voice to that of the general mass. This is your right. They may not have any opinion. This is also your right. This is the right of every person. This is the fundamental value of democracy, and its essence was formulated very clearly by Voltaire when he said: "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."
What do you expect from this Spanish tour?
A creative experience that I want to share with the public. What is really important for me is to open my heart to beauty and compassion, and transmit this love to the public to try to calm the emotional wounds that are the reason for our meeting.
