SOKOLOV INTERVIEW

AUGUST 2019

“Real art is changing, not developing” Blitz interview

The legendary pianist Grigory Sokolov, who hardly speaks to the

press, agreed to give an interview to Kommersant and told Alexey
Mokrousov about his 12-year-old protege, pianist Alexander Dovgan,
and about his own views on geeks as a phenomenon.

- Will you represent other young pianists in Salzburg?

First of all, I had no idea to represent young musicians,

especially at the Salzburg Festival, the format of which does
not involve such concerts. It was just clear to me that
Alexandra Dovgan could already begin a wide concert
activity. For this, her name must be known. The usual way
through winning a major international competition due to
age restrictions would mean another four years of waiting,
which would be a brake on its development. Therefore, she
has already started playing in Europe; she managed to be
represented in Amsterdam and Salzburg.

- Does a performer of this level need contests?

I think no.

- What does Alexandra know how to do something that other young

pianists cannot do?

You can teach a lot, but there are things that cannot be
taught. That is what she can do.

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- Understanding of music comes with experience, or is it laid down
originally, is physiology multiplied by mystery?

Of course, there is a secret in the beginning. Another thing

is that without real work, nothing will work either: a secret
requires embodiment.

- Can you recognize yourself in a 12-year-old child?

“I already forgot how it was.” At the age of 12, I played a

recital at school, then I waited four years, or rather three,
because at first there were all-Russian and all-Union
competitions, and only then the Tchaikovsky competition.

- Is waiting productive for a child?

In such cases, there is no need to slow down and no need to

push, it is important that everything goes in a natural way.

- When concert marketing is involved, naturally it doesn’t work out

anymore.

I mean naturally for a person playing - he does not need to

be slowed down, so, they say, wait specifically for sixteen
years. And do not push forward. If they find out about
Alexander now, we'll see what happens, if she can keep the
concert life in her hands. It all depends on her.

- Early success is a difficult situation for a young performer, at some

point a pause is needed, you have to stop, think, and you ...

I say: do not push! To be able to say no when there are many

offers, choose what I can, what I can’t, what I want, what I
don’t want.

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- Much depends on the environment, especially when the
temptations multiply?

There are always temptations, they can cripple a person at

any age. But it is known that it is necessary to go through
fire, water and copper pipes.

- And how do you understand that this is a game of an adult? For

details?

Judging by the details is wrong. The performer must be

evaluated as a person, in general.

- The image? How he came out, how he sat ...

I do not mean the outside, but the inner world of man.

- The personality is growing, among other things, thanks to culture -

art, literature, a teenager knows little else.

That's right. It would be nice to know and understand

everything. But, for example, if you play music by an
unknown author of the 15th century, which you don’t know
anything about - and nevertheless play it, you understand it,
it is modern, close for you, because music has its own
language that cannot be expressed in words. But real art
has no geography and time.

- How important are experiences and experiences? The young man

has different emotions, a different type of reflection.

A person changes all the time, otherwise there is no sense in

movement. At each age, a person understands everything in
his own way, and if it is interesting to people of a different
age, then there is something to it.

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- I like your definition of a child prodigy in relation to Dovgan - “child
prodigy”, a miracle, you hear, but there is no children here. And how
is a child different from an adult?

I do not know. Here, it happens, you hear a very good

children's game, and say - wonderful, we will listen in a year.
When you listen to Alexandra Dovgan, it does not occur to
you that this is a game of a 12-year-old pianist.

- And as development, is there a difference between early Richter

and late?

It seems to me that real art, like a maxim, should be

completely perfect from the beginning, it is changing, not
developing. Therefore, for example, I do not think that late
Mozart is better than early. Everything changed, Chopin’s
language changed, but his Mazurka is Op. 68 No. 2 (which
you just heard at the concert) is an early work, the 18th in a
row. The numbering is broken, because he ordered the
students to destroy everything unpublished, and they
disobeyed and preserved for us such masterpieces as
Imagination Impromptu, mazurkas ...

- You are talking about composers, I'm talking about performers.

What's the difference?! This is a single art, only different

types of activities, this applies to artists, and poets, and
writers.

-Your understanding of music has not changed over the years?

Constantly changing. But I have no desire to listen to myself,

I only do this when I choose the option that will be published
from several recordings of concerts. We are changing every
day. The same program, in the same room, on the same
instrument, for example, the next day, will be played
differently, and a person with sensitive perception and
subtle hearing, who is in the room, will certainly notice .

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