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By Olga Fyodorova
…In her cozy Moscow apartment the Conservatory Professor Irina Bochkova
is laying the table and inviting one of her students to dinner…
“Help yourself young man, when I was 20 like you I was always hungry. I’m
not saying I was going after some fancy food, not with the tiny stipend
I was getting living in the conservatory dorm. We were one big family there…
Each was getting something from home to munch on, so we often had real
feats there…”
“I thought you were a Muscovite…”
“No, I come from Kazan, the capital of Tatarstan, it’s about a day’s ride
on train from here… I’ve got many relatives living there who used to send
me all kinds of tasty things. Like, for example, the pies mom made for
me or the famous Tatar chak-ckaks – small pieces of crispy dough covered
with special honey syrup… They were absolutely delicious! I had the whole
dorm squeezing into my room to enjoy the palate-tickling delis…”
“And you also studied there in Kazan?”
“Yes, finished a conservatory music school there and then entered the Conservatory
here in Moscow. I had long heard about Professor Yuri Yankelevich
and was all set to join his and only his class. The years I studied with
him were the happiest in my whole life…”
“Yuri Yankelevich was a living legend; there are many books written about
him and his students are all winners of prestigious international competitions.
I hear you too played in several such contests when you were still a student,
didn’t you?”
“Yes, I was only 23 when I won the first prize at a national competition.
You can’t imagine how happy I was!”
“They say that during the 1960s and 70s national competitions were sort
of an elimination tournament for those willing to play in international
contests…”
“Exactly! That victory won me a ticket to the Tchaikovsky International
Competition, which was then quickly gaining recognition worldwide.
There were just a handful of music competitions in the early Sixties, you
know, let alone such an acclaimed one as the Tchaikovsky contest. Van Cliburn’s
resounding victory at the First Tchaikovsky Competition made the Moscow
showcase a veritable Mecca for players from around the world. That year
there was a huge crowd of hopefuls from virtually everywhere and I was
so nervous! Professor Yankelevich kept cheering me up and his professional
and psychological support helped me a lot! Just like everyone else I was
dreaming about winning gold, but given the competition they had there,
my second place was a real triumph for me too…”
“That’s a wonderful photograph hanging over there… I guess it was made
during that very same competition… I can see there the now legendary pianists
Vladimir Ashkenazi and John Lill, cellist Natalya Shakhovskaya. And this
little fragile girl here, I guess it’s you…”
“Yes, they made this photo right after the awarding ceremony. We were so
happy then…”
“The second prize of the 2nd Tchaikovsky International Competition – it
sounds so beautiful. Frankly speaking, I still think you were a little
disappointed, right?”
“Well… just a little bit… I immediately got down to work preparing
for some other major competition that might come my way. Professor Yankelevich
suggested that I try my luck at the Jacques Thibaud contest in Paris whose
program was so different for what we had here at the Tchaikovsky competition…
There was little time left but I still made up my mind to go…”
“They say their final round is a big problem…”
“Exactly. That’s where I thought my lucky streak was over... The thing
is, each contestant there is supposed to play a mandatory concerto for
violin and orchestra. I knew them all well. All but Lalo’s Spanish Symphony….
And, as you might have already guessed, that’s exactly what they wanted
me to play… I learned about it less than a day before the performance and
was absolutely devastated! I spent the next 24 hours rehearsing. I was
so exhausted that I completely forgot about being nervous! Pulling whatever
energy I still had in me, I walked out on the stage and played it. When
it was all over the audience started applauding like mad and congratulating
me on my victory even though the competition had just begun…”
“I can imagine how you felt when they proclaimed you the winner of the
Jacques Thibaud competition! I guess that win actually paved your way onto
the stage of the world’s premier concert venues…”
“Of course! Competitions play a big, sometimes too big role in the life
of up and coming players… Some have the stamina, some don’t… I was lucky
and so I became part of the so-called musical elite I’ve been playing and
touring extensively ever since and keep doing so now…”
“I often see your name on billboards and wonder how you manage to combine
playing concerts here in Moscow, national and foreign tours with teaching
because you always take so close to heart everything you do… Really, you
treat students as if they were your family! I’m just a first year student
and am a regular guest at your home, always so warm and friendly… We talk
about music, composers and human relations, just about anything! I tell
you about my personal problems and I’m always sure you’ll understand me
and give me a helping hand…”
“You are all my children, you know… And it makes me real happy to have
you all coming here… Professor Yankelevich was like a father to me helping
me so much both professionally and as a human being and now I’m trying
to do the same thing for my students. I’m lucky to have such good students
and I’m happy to give you all my time because I’m also learning from you
and, surprisingly, my teaching helps me to always be in a good professional
form…”
“When I say I’m your student people get jealous and start remembering your
best students, all winners of top-flight international competitions… Well,
I’m afraid I’ve taken up too much of your time and you are playing a concert
tomorrow night… It’s going to be a full house again, I guess and as usual,
your present and former students will all be there too. Good luck and thank
you!”
“Bye-bye!”
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