| Exclusive interview with Maestro
Alexander Gavrylyuk before the concert in Sala Netzahualcóyotl
"Music, I think, is the finest creation of
humans"
Exclusive interview with Maestro
Alexander Gavrylyuk before the concert in Sala Netzahualcóyotl
Mexico City, May 19th (© AVS/LIOWLB/Enkidu):
This Friday May 18th, at noon, Dr. Lars Ivar Owesen-Lein Borge, General
Director of Enkidu Magazine, and myself arrived a couple of minutes after
the arranged appointment with the Dirección General de Música [General
Direction of Music] of the National University (UNAM). Once there, the
glass door was closed... we were astonished until someone told us that the
entrance was nearby and then, after asking for the office, we were
immediately flooded and sank into a wave of strengthened energy of a
unique pianist: Maestro Alexander Gavrylyuk.
Even though, I must admit, in
those moments we did not know for sure if it was him, but somehow we just
knew that intuitively while we were arriving to the office of the always
charming Edith Silva, whom took us to Maestro Gavrylyuk. He was, of
course, at the piano.
In the beginning he was shy,
but the good looking young man, Maestro Alexander Gavrylyuk honored us
with some time and words. He was born in 1984 in Kharkov, in what used to
be the Soviet Republic of Ukraine. He has won international awards by his
virtuosity in Senigallia (1996), Kiev (1997 & 1999), Japan (2000),
Israel (2005), to mention a few. He lived in Sidney, Australia, from 1998
to 2006, where he developed his career. In January 2007, he performed his
first solo concerto, due to an invitation by Nikolav Petrov. He has
recorded two CDs and two DVDs. His piano virtuosity takes him this year to
Australia, Canada, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Russia, Taiwan
& the United States.
Here are the words of this
Enkidu Interview with Maestro Alexander Gavrylyuk for you Dear Reader of
Enkidu:
Dr. Lars Ivar Owesen-Lein
Borge: Tell us who is the person behind all this art?
Alexander Gavrylyuk: I think,
first of all it is quite a few, the main one are the composers.
 |
Dr. Lars Ivar Owesen-Lein
Borge: Well, we were thinking about who is the person behind the
performance of this work. We were thinking about you.
Alexander Gavrylyuk: Yeah, I
am obviously the performer and the most important part for me is to
deliver the message the composer wanted to and also to deliver the
message through my own vein, so that message will be from my own
point of view and based on my understanding of the whys of the
people. |
Agustin Villalpando: Who
chooses the repertoire?
Alexander Gavrylyuk: I do.
Agustin Villalpando: In how
many countries have you been performing?
Alexander Gavrylyuk: Almost in
every country. I have been to USA, Canada, the rest of the European
countries, Japan, China, Corea, Australia. But Mexico is actually the
second time I come here. Two months ago I came here for the first time and
this is my second trip to Mexico this year.
Agustin Villalpando: You are
really young if I may say so and you have really being all over the world.
How do you perceive the world in this moment and how is the situation of
music in this moment?
Alexander Gavrylyuk: Today is
a day of commerce, today is a day of advertisement, today is a day of the
media and it has a good side and it has a bad side, of course, like
anything. The good side is that you can get any information you possibly
want from media. You can be 100 per cent informed and you can study or do
anything you like. The bad side is that young people, they get a lot of
wrong information from media and they get a lot of wrong influence from
media, unfortunately. In the recent past, there was no TV and people used
to listen to the radio and in the radio there was classical concerts and
there were operas. Even my mother told me the stories as they did not have
a TV and that is what they used to do as children which was fantastic, I
think. And as I said there are plus and minus in this situation.
In the music world there are
lots of different sides to musicians, there are people who serve the true
purpose of music making, which is very spiritual, it is connected a lot
with communication with people, which really touches the deep sides of the
human soul and making music on that level. And of course there are other
communities of the music industry which follow other ways of musicianship
connected to more earthly things, if I can put it that way.
Agustin Villalpando: Music is
one of the languages that are truly Universal and you have performed in
front of live people. Do you perceive any differences with the music?
Alexander Gavrylyuk: Music is
not the Universal language, but it is much more sophisticated than any
language in this world. It is a language that can describe and brings to
people the sort of feeling that cannot be described by words. No matter
how hard you try, even such people great people like Shakespeare. Even
Shakespeare would not be able to put in words in such a way like music can
because music, I think, is the finest creation of humans.
Dr. Lars Ivar Owesen-Lein
Borge: Do you feel that people from different societies, with different
cultural backgrounds interpret your music differently? Do you find your
audiences from society to society different or do you feel that they more
or less react in similar ways?
Alexander Gavrylyuk: You know,
it is an interesting question because I find that people are similar
everywhere and music touches people absolutely the same. It does not
matter which country, which culture people are and whether they are
musicians, musicologists or not connected to music at all it touches
people the same way, real music.
Agustin Villalpando: Real
music...
Alexander Gavrylyuk: Yeah,
which is not only created by your mind and intelligence but it is created
with your heart, with your soul. It is created when there is a connection
with more deeper levels of communication than just the mental.
Agustin Villalpando: And then
it is re-created by the performer.
Alexander Gavrylyuk: Not every
time because it is very hard to do it every time. There are many
circumstances that need to be just right but at times that happens and
that is the best reward I can possibly think of.
Agustin Villalpando: How long
have you been studying music?
Alexander Gavrylyuk: I first
started when I was seven and I started seriously to play piano when I was
nine.
Agustin Villalpando: What are
your plans for the near future?
Alexander Gavrylyuk: I have
plenty of concerts, I have a lot of new things to learn. I am expanding my
repertoire constantly and also, one of the plans is to try to still have a
life because you know, my fiancée who is most of the time left behind.
You know, it is very hard for us to be apart. I hope that we will manage
to travel together.
Agustin Villalpando: Is she
traveling with you now?
Alexander Gavrylyuk: Not now
but we are currently making plans for her to be able to come with me. I
enjoy music-making and coming to different countries and else but of
course it is hard because I would like to be with her as well, so
hopefully we will manage.
Dr. Lars Ivar Owesen-Lein
Borge: I was wondering what are your greatest influences for the music you
choose in your repertoire. Which music has the greatest impact on you?
Alexander Gavrylyuk: Every
single style and every single epoch of music, of classical music has a
different impact on me and on everyone else. Barroc music, Bach music, for
example, is a global music, it is a music of the Universe, it is spiritual
music, it is very intellectual but it is also like a good basement in a
building. You know, when a building is built, it has to have a good
basement, otherwise the building will collapse. This is how Bach music is,
of course. And Russian music for example, is very close to me, it
influences me very deeply because of everything, I come from Ukraine which
is close to Russia. I think that every single composer influences
differently, of course.
Dr. Lars Ivar Owesen-Lein
Borge: You have a very wide repertoire.
Alexander Gavrylyuk: I try to
make a very contrasting repertoire.
Agustin Villalpando: In this
moment, are you still living in Australia?
Alexander Gavrylyuk: Not
anymore. It was a really fantastic experience. It gave me a lot of new
ideas, new outlooks on life, but Australia is too far. To travel every
time 30 hours... I am still young and I can do it, but later on... I think
I will stay in Europe. I was in Moscow for this time and now I may
probably go somewhere else.
We said goodbye with a
handshake and a smile. Then, while leaving the room and going upstairs, we
were honoured to listen, again, now with a face and a soul, the piano. A
person that was kind enough to allow us to be interrupted by our questions
and chat to you, dear reader of Enkidu. This was the perfect farewell to
our presence there.
On Friday May 18th, 2007,
Maestro Alexander Gavrylyuk started a cicle called “Presencia
Internacional / Música UNAM” [International Presence / Music UNAM] that
covers the months of May until July. The repertoire of the only concert in
Mexico of Maestro Gavrylyuk in the Sala Netzahualcóyotl [Concert Hall
Netzahualcoyotl] included Toccata & fuga BSV 565 (Bach-Busoni),
Sonata K 576 (Mozart), Sonata D 664 op. 120 (Schubert), Études
tableaux (Rachmaninov), Estudio op. 72 n° 11 (Moszkowsky)
& Islamey (Balakirev).
All the programme guide, as
well as information regarding the music activities at UNAM can be found at
www.musicaunam.net or you can
call 5622 7113 (in Spanish).
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