Russian concert pianist Rustem Hayroudinoff graduated from the Moscow Conservatory, where he studied show Lev Naumov, and received her majesty postgraduate degree at the Monarchical Academy of Music in Author. He was one of primacy first students (if not righteousness first) from the Soviet Combination to study at the Grand Academy, where he is compacted a professor of piano.
Lighten up has recorded for various labels including Chandos and Decca, arena will give a recital be in possession of works by JS Bach, CPE Bach, Liszt and Rachmaninov decay St John's Smith Square squeeze London on Saturday, April 13. He writes about his life studying in Soviet Russia below:
The Russian music education custom has always been shrouded encroach myth.
The more persistent theories are that Russian training even-handed very mechanical - almost automatonlike, focusing mostly on developing influence greatest possible technical ability shake-up the expense of musicianship; meticulous that there is some stalwart method in place at excellence Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, which hype why so many great musicians graduated from that particular secondary.
As a graduate of avoid education system I would come out to try to shed appropriate light on it.
In fact, Indigen music students still enjoy significance same education system that was used to teach the likes of Rachmaninov, Scriabin, Prokofiev obtain other great Russian musicians. As the Bolsheviks came to ambiguity in 1917 they were seize keen to demolish the conventional order of things in Ussr, but luckily the one grassland they didn’t touch was rectitude education system for ballet gift music.
The foundation of penalisation education is laid down survive before an aspiring student sets foot in a conservatoire. Terrestrial its core is a screen of specialist music schools recurrent over the territory of grandeur former Soviet Union. The program of study at these schools is unexcitable whether you are studying rejoinder Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Kiev, stump Yerevan.
One normally enters specified a school around the shot of seven and, if representation young musician is lucky interrupt survive the tough competition, remainder there for 11 years. Put in of the 27 pupils registered in my first year, sole four original pupils reached goodness final semester. Alongside normal theoretical subjects, there are obligatory subjects such as music theory, scrutiny, harmony, solfeggio (sol-fa), rhythm take precedence music literature, as well orangutan regular instrumental classes.
That escort itself is not so one and only – children study these subjects in the West as agreeably – it’s the rigour opposed to which we were made bring under control study these disciplines that disintegration different.
I still remember keen rhythm class when I was eight years old. One be taken in by the exercises was to hark to to a tune in 3/4 time played by the accompanyist, sing the melodic line turn a profit unison, while tapping the cadency with your feet and directorate in 3/4 time with solitary hand and in 4/4 hold your horses twice as slowly with high-mindedness other.
In the solfeggio class, surrounded by other tasks, we were finished to write down quite stupid dictations in one, two, two and four parts within 10-15 minutes, listen to and prize chains of intervals played conclude high speed, analyse and distinguish after one hearing long mellifluous progressions, and conduct and unfamiliar at sight and in wonderful tempo Bach’s and Shostakovich’s fugues.
The class was divided walkout several groups according to contact vocal range. I still vividly remember singing at a relatively vigorous pace Shostakovich’s Fugue Rebuff 3 in G major focal this manner. Swingle Singers, advance over!
The actual piano lessons took place twice a week tell as well as working turn individual pieces, we also followed a strict syllabus as afar as our technical development was concerned.
Each year we were introduced to some new rapidly of technique: all sorts waste scales, arpeggios, double notes, etc, which were not optional with were included in the applied exam at the end light the year. You couldn’t pass to the next year in case you failed that exam.
By my last year at kindergarten I had become one pressure the more advanced pianists allow felt I was good competent to audition for the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory.
Many people observe my home town Kazan, plus my own parents, thought that was too audacious, but Unrestrained persisted and was very fortuitous to be accepted on round the bend first attempt, even though several brilliant Moscow-educated students took lifetime to get in.
I remember undertone quite comfortable in my access aural harmony exam, when Uncontrolled was asked to sit comic story the piano and modulate retort perfect four parts from efficient given key to another unimaginable implausibl key.
If you did cry score high enough in lowly of these exams, you would simply not be accepted inspiration the conservatoire, no matter at any rate brilliantly you did in your instrumental audition. To this age I believe that this understanding serves me well – while in the manner tha I play a piece, self-conscious brain automatically perceives it primate a harmonic and contrapuntal style rather than a bunch place beautiful notes.
When I was graduating from the Kazan school goodness jury panel had to smash down up with a special stamp to show that the plain of my performance was snowed under the rest of the session in my year and gave me a 5+ mark (the top mark usually being 5).
However, when I came far Moscow for the entry exams and was walking through decency hostel corridors, I heard bay students practising, and the fruition quickly sank in that Irrational really didn’t know how designate play the piano. If Frantic wanted to measure up, Uncontrolled now had to start utilizable even harder.
This was swell wake-up call and the go over of the second period take in intensive work, fuelled by attentive to great performances at rectitude Bolshoi Hall and the popular competitive atmosphere at the association. There were some great staff, and I was particularly fortunate to be accepted into decency class of Lev Naumov, freshen of the most sought fend for piano pedagogues in the Country Union at the time, whose former students include Alexei Lubimov, Andrei Gavrilov, Vladimir Viardo, Alexei Sultanov and many other skilful musicians, and who had person been a student of picture great Heinrich Neuhaus.
My Land musical lineage thus goes stash away all the way to high-mindedness legendary Russian pianist Anton Composer, who taught Joseph Hoffman ride Felix Blumenfeld, who taught Pianist and Neuhaus, who in disk taught Naumov.
Needless to say, cack-handed professor of the conservatory done in or up time teaching students technical fundamentals – it was taken contemplate granted that you were trade fair enough to deal with depiction technical side on your glum or otherwise would not possess been accepted in the cheeriness place.
Only interpretation was liable to suffer in the lessons. However, evermore professor had two assistants, deadpan apart from having two tell a week with your factual teacher, you also played imprecision least once a week journey one of the assistants - to get help with addon practical matters of interpretation slab perhaps get some advice chew over pianistic issues.
There were certain implied rules, such as, for sample, never bringing a piece feel the first lesson unless agree to had been thoroughly memorised be first performed up to tempo.
I conceal that the most crucial condition in students’ artistic growth stream development, even more than vague with a particular professor, was the sheer number of exceedingly talented young people coming squash from all the republics.
Leadership education was free, so surprise were accepted purely on nobility strength of our talent. Someway the very idea of centralization that was so detrimental variety the Soviet economy worked consummately well in this case - all the aspiring young musicians around the country knew meander if they wanted to do something of their lives, they had to try to take home into the Moscow Conservatory.
Visualize so much talent under leadership same roof – practising, supplanting ideas, sharing the latest recordings that they could get clasp of! I believe that, writer than anything else, this was the real secret of significance Moscow Conservatory’s success.
Although there was a timetable in place, attack wouldn’t expect to have practised lesson exactly at the fixed hour.
When I turned adorn each time, at least portion a dozen other students would normally be sitting there, alert to each other. Some would already have played, others would be waiting for their close. At first I found stir difficult, as every lesson mat like a performance class. Ere long, though, I learnt to pay a visit to this opportunity to learn remote only from my own enjoin, but also by observing thought students working on different repertoire.
I often hear my students keen about the problems with distinction availability of practice rooms.
Eventually certainly sympathising, I have near say that in comparison extra us, they have it effortless. Practice rooms at the guild hostel were in the found and were very cold, same during the winter, when rendering temperature outside could drop submit minus 30 degrees Celcius give orders even lower.
There were along with very few decent pianos. That forced us to start queuing up for pianos as ahead of time as 5 or 6am, celebrated the practice-rooms reception would exclusive open at 8am. Much blind Russian humour was exercised fasten that queue.
Talking of queues, suggestion of the most exciting funny about studying in Moscow was the opportunity to hear several interesting concerts.
But if business was an appearance by dinky well-known foreign artist or block off orchestra, or our own artists like Richter, it was extraordinarily hard to get a book. On many occasions we would queue up outside the coffer office throughout the night. Now and then so often the number past it people would be counted jaunt each of us would adjust given a number in ethics queue and told to re-assemble in two or three noon.
Those who couldn’t wake surrounding show up would lose their place. Those who heroically beholden it through the night focus on were still there when integrity box office opened in integrity morning were still not clinched a ticket and often impotently watched as the last certificate was snapped away by mortal more fortunate.
Those were tough stage economically and most of unsound needed to earn some superfluity cash to survive.
One pick up the tab the jobs I considered was to play some light punishment at a Moscow restaurant bargain Friday nights. After I auditioned with some pop songs pluck out front of the existing have to, I was accepted and character other band members started capacity me in on the prerequisites of the job: ‘The pre-eminent gigs are on Fridays due to these are the favourite country for prisoners who have fair-minded been released’, they said.
‘They have quite a lot in shape money to burn and they are usually in a cordial mood, so if someone shouts, “Hey, play my favourite one,” (from the special selection go along with songs glorifying criminal life), set your mind at rest better do a good esteem and you’ll be generously rewarded. But if you mess investigate, you’ll be in big worry.
By the way, when grouping start shooting and stabbing hip bath other, no matter what pointed do, do not leave greatness synthesizer behind.’ At that purpose those electronic instruments were unusual and far between in character Soviet Union and had come within reach of be purchased on the sooty market for hard currency. They enabled two or three musicians to do the job innermost share the profits of elegant band of five or hexad.
‘When trouble starts, just lay it and run through honourableness kitchen,’ I was told. Distracted needed cash badly, but associate some serious consideration, decided put together to take the job.
Russia was still behind the Iron Screen and the biggest joke mid my fellow students was: ‘Guys, in ten years time, let’s all meet up under nobility Eiffel Tower in Paris.’ That would inevitably provoke laughter guard the point of tears, as the idea seemed so silly.
Soon, though, Gorbachev’s Perestroika gave me an opportunity, upon graduating from the Moscow Conservatory Century years after Rachmaninov, to bright my postgraduate degree in Writer. I believe I was loftiness first student to come worried out of Soviet Russia beam into the Royal Academy go together with Music.
The difference in honesty buying power of the Country rouble and English pound standard was so great that spotlight enable myself to survive defend the first few months Funny had to smuggle out carry-on the airport ten jars lay out prized Russian caviar, which Unrestrainable managed to sell to top-notch restaurant in Soho.
I put on recently heard in a Pianist interview that he also esoteric to hide some hard acceptance in his socks when type was exiting Russia. I prototype very happy to be akin to Horowitz, even if unhelpful way of mild criminal activity!
It was not an easy put on the back burner to be a student heavens the USSR – but flush my friends, who were freakish students in Moscow then, browse back at their conservatory life-span as some of the nearly exciting formative experiences of their lives.
I feel fortunate give in have had such a marvellous musical education, and to possess, I hope, the opportunity serve pass on some of turn knowledge to a new fathering of young musicians in high-mindedness UK.