Dmitri Hvorostovsky

2004. partial english translation (the first 8 minutes, 10 are left and I'll do them later!) Interviewer:And now we are proud to do something that BBC can obviously do every evening: bring to the microphones the protagonists of the concerts transmitted ( he's talking about the BBC Proms 2004). As I was telling you before while we hardly tried to reconquer the connection with London that started really late, we suceeded in noosing Hvorostovsky in his London house, he is living in London since many years,since 1989 when he left his native Russia. We recorded a little part of the interview that, I must say, is only partially about the main point of the evening: the Mussorgsky's Deats songs Cycle.It starts ( the interview)from another topic. You know that Hvorostovsky lef Russia many years ago but comes back periodically to his country for exemple he had a very close relationship with Boris Yeltsin many years ago, there has recently been an official and solemn meeting with President Putin, there was a grand concert on the Red Square with hundreds of careful ears listening to him and than he recently gave an interview to an American newspaper while he was having his tournèe in the USA where he dealt with the problem of patriotism, precisely with the feeling of belonging to a motherland. One of the sentences that stroke me most was this: "According to me nowadays it is no more a crime to express your patriotism to the Holy Mother Russia". This touched me and I started from this for my interview: If and how can we talk about patriotism for a russian artist that has now lived out of his homeland for man years. Dima :( with strong russian accent that I never heard him in english) You're perfectly right.I think that we lost a certain form of patriotism in the '90s after the big changes in our country. I felt that people in my country felt a little embarassed about being russian because economically Russia went really really down.That's why our pride if being one of the world's greatest countries was a bit lost. Also for me personally, travelling all over the world with a russian passport was not easy. Surely we lost our national pride. I: I see! And you say it is needed to find it again... Dima:I feel this country is very rich in traditions ,musical culture...I have memories from my past that bring me to deep refelctions. The time I spent with my grandmother for exemple,who always sang me the war songs, the folclorical songs from W.W.II and this is why I decided to make a CD of this songs. I:We transmitted some days ago an interview with Valery Gergiev that preceded you at the Proms and he said: " Me,like you all that where born in Russia, I worked in many places of the world and can't understand all my compatriots that refuse, or anyway don't pay too much attention to the duty of helping young russian artists that find themselves in dificulty." D: I totally agree with great Maestro Gergiev that really dedicated his life to develope new musical talents in theatres and makes a great work to find and develope this talents and make them known in the world. Also his sister Larissa who founded the Musical Academy for young musicians makes them meet bigs like for exemple the great Renata Scotto that makes masterclasses, maybe one a year but I think more often. They give you the possibility to work with great maestros and to work onstage with other great singers. For me this is an exemple of great dedication. For me as a solist is much more difficult...Now, I was working with these young people one year ago when I gave masterclasses in Finland with Valery Gergiev and others...I still make little classes with them...I understand that it is needed to do much more. I became more bounded to my country with my concerts and that's why I wait a younger public and the meeting on the stage is best I can do...because I'm not a conductor or a teacher...I do not teach yet!

• published: 09 Mar 2011
• views: 5442