What could have happened for Maxim Vengerov to disappear from the Barcelona stage for three decades? “Nothing, I can't be everywhere. Although I must tell you that I love the city, its architecture and, well, this concert hall [of the Palau de la Música Catalana]. Furthermore, I live in Monaco, six hours away by car,” the famous Jewish-Russian violinist tells La Vanguardia.
There is no excuse, then. The BCN Clàssics series has led to its reunion with the Barcelona public this Tuesday the 17th (8 p.m.) with a recital of sonatas for violin and piano by Clara and Robert Schumann, Brahms, Prokófiev and the Maltese contemporary Alexey Shor. "I will arrive by plane from Shanghai, but on the way back my wife may drive. And then the trouble begins: I have to go to Genoa, as a judge for the Paganini competition, and then I have recitals in London, the United States, South America, Paris, Vienna ..."
Born in the USSR, Vengerov (Novosibirsk, 1974) was one of the children who traveled to Germany during Glasnost, in a student exchange promoted by the Schleswig-Holstein festival in Lübeck. “There were German children who came to Russia, can you believe it? It must have been more interesting for us. The point is that while there the Berlin Wall fell and the two Germanys were reunified. I maintained my Soviet nationality but when the new Russian State was created I no longer got a passport, I continued in the West and lived in many places, until I ended up in Monaco, attracted by the Mediterranean, the climate and the proximity to Italy. Furthermore, from Nice it is easy to travel, you are connected to the big capitals without having to live in one.”
A prodigy of musical parents, at the age of ten Vengerov was already recording albums and winning international competitions, learning with brilliant teachers such as Galina Turchaninova and Zakhar Bron, whom he would later meet again in Lübeck. He therefore comes from the Russian school, in direct line with Shostakovich or Prokofiev...
“Not many of my colleagues have had the privilege of studying and playing with Rostropovich, and with the great conductors… Maazel, Barenboim… That experience is part of my DNA as a musician and I can share it with the public.”
In Barcelona he will play, with Roustem Saitkoulov on the piano, a first part of the program focused on “that triangle of amazing musicians: Clara, revolutionary in her time, independent woman, eight children and her own career... – he remembers. When Brahms arrived, he intervened for better and worse in the couple, generating many changes in the family, which definitely shook Robert, who was the eldest."
The recital begins with Three Romances of Clara, which are, Vengerov adds, three spirits that reflect life, with some quotes from the sonatas that her husband had previously written. And then the Scherzo from the F-A-E Sonata (fa, la and mi in alphabetical nomenclature) that Brahms composed for Joachim, with Schumann and Albert Dietrich taking charge of the other two movements. And finally, Sonata no. 3 in A minor by Robert Schumann, "which is not played much but is connected to Brahms' Scherzo: it is a mix of ideas, although for me Brahms' sonata is a sonata that stands alone," notes the violinist. "Here the composer was already in the sanatorium. He does an extraordinary job, rich in his compositional skills, with a character of total madness in the first movements. But although the audience gives it a beastly impression, I love playing that piece, it is unique".
How do you approach this dance with the piano, the violin being such a different starting point?
“It is a complex combination, because the violin is lyrical, an imitation of the voice, while the piano has a percussive nature. It is an interesting battle between two instruments that have to meet. But this conflict benefits the music, it forces them to complement each other. I always say that in the piano and violin duet, the leadership of the piano, which provides the harmony and rhythmic structure vertically, makes the violin feel like a caged animal, as in the role of the woman in a dance couple. -continues-. That's why I play differently with each pianist: they have an idea of the character. However, the violin is the one who leads in the orchestra and the chamber, so I switch roles. For me music has been a great teacher. It's the same in life: if you always want to lead it is not for the benefit of the universe. When I have to lead I do it, and if I have to follow, I continue. "It is a pleasure, it is a great dignity and a great exercise of trust."
Vengerov has made his foray into the digital market by signing with the Idagio platform. “I want my recordings from the last ten years to be available, accessible from my website as digital downloads with great sound quality. I love it, it allows me to have contact with the public, without an intermediary. And I hope to record a lot in the future. In fact, I've been releasing one or two albums a year since I was ten!”
