Russian pianist, public figure and composer Irina Nikitina. Known in musical circles as president of the foundation Musical Olympus". Viewers know her as the creator of music for the animated series Leva the Truck, Smart Cars, Smart and the Miracle Bag, etc.
Biography of Irina Nikitina
Irina Anatolyevna Nikitina Born in St. Petersburg, in the family of a famous cellist, Professor Anatoly Nikitin. And her mother is an analytical physicist, former teacher institute.
WITH early age Irina decided that she should become a pianist and persistently walked towards her goal. After school, she entered the St. Petersburg State Conservatory with a degree in piano and graduated in 1987. The study was followed by two more years of practice in the Czech Republic with renowned professors.
Creative career of Irina Nikitina
In the period from 1983 to 1995, Irina was actively engaged in concert activities as a pianist, going on numerous tours around the world. She has won international music competitions in Geneva (1986) and Paris (1986). Released 15 albums.
In 1995, at the initiative of Irina, the International Musical Olympus Foundation was created in St. Petersburg, thanks to which famous foreign musicians(Andras Schiff, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Yo-Yo Ma, Christian Thielemann and others). Irina herself becomes its permanent president. Under the management of Irina, the fund promotes young musical talents both in Russia and abroad.
The first successful project of the foundation was the eponymous international festival, whose concerts are held in St. Petersburg, at the Carnegie Hall in New York, at the Tonhalle in Zurich, at the Berlin Philharmonic and other halls of the world.
Irina Nikitina Hefliger - Laureate National Prize public recognition achievements of women of Russia "Olympia" for 2001 "For great services in popularizing musical art in Russia and support for young Russian talents”. In 2013, at the National Press Center in Washington, Irina Nikitina was awarded the Silver Archer USA Award "For establishing intercultural dialogue, strengthening the culture of partnership on a global scale."
“If we consider various directions from the point of view of energyism, then even scientists have proven that, for example, hard Rock destroys the mind. Therefore, from childhood it is necessary to instill love for classical music because it contributes to the full development of the individual. In some states, a thorough study of classical music is already included in the school curriculum.
In 2014, Irina for the first time takes part in the creation of a children's animated series as a composer. In the future, she continues to engage in this activity.
Member of the Board of Trustees of the International Television Competition young musicians"The Nutcracker" on the TV channel "Culture".
In 2016, Irina Nikitina became the author and host of the Enigma program on classical music on the Kultura TV channel. Irina is visited by such prominent contemporary musicians as violist Yuri Bashmet, conductors Maris Jansons and Vladimir Fedoseev, pianist Daniel Barenboim and many others.
Personal life of Irina Nikitina
The first husband of Irina Anatolyevna was a Russian cellist, conductor, music teacher Sergei Roldugin.
In the early 90s of the XX century, Irina Nikitina moved to live in Switzerland. She was married to a violinist, executive director and artistic director Lucerne Festival Michael Haefliger. In 1991, Nikitina and Hoefliger had a daughter, Annika.
The current husband of Irina Nikitina is a director and general producer TV channel "Culture" Sergey Shumakov.
Filmography of Irina Nikitina
- Smarta and the miracle bag (TV series, 2016 - 2017)
- Car driving school (TV series, 2016 - 2017)
- Smart cars (TV series 2015 - ...)
- Leva the Truck (TV series 2014 - 2016)
Irina Nikitina is the President of the Musical Olympus Foundation, which has been bringing the most prestigious musicians to Russia for many years: Andras Schiff, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Yo-Yo Ma, Vienna Philharmonic with Christian Thielemann.
Another activity of the "Musical Olympus" is the promotion of young laureates of international competitions both in Russia and at the best world venues.
The festival of the same name, which annually gathers new winners from all over the world, was held in St. Petersburg for the 20th time, after which Ekaterina Biryukova met with the president of the foundation.
Since we meet during the Tchaikovsky Competition, the first question is whether its laureates participate in your festival of winners?
Participated. Not every time. But they did. Tchaikovsky is such a competition that stands apart ... He has complicated story… For example, the cellist Istvan Vardai performed with us, whom we fell in love with very much. He took third place at Tchaikovsky, I think, three competitions ago. And I found it to be the most interesting. During this time, he has already won the ARD competition in Munich, now he has received very prestigious award Liszt in Budapest, and in general he has a very large concert activity.
Last year, Ao Li, a Chinese baritone, sang with us, having won Placido Domingo's Operalia, he is now participating in the Tchaikovsky Competition. He is a fantastic singer and the kindest, amazing soul person. We have already managed to show it at Carnegie Hall and once again at the just completed Musical Olympus. He sings in the San Francisco theater. I understand that he was invited to come, the prize is very large, he is very confident in his abilities. I'll be very surprised if he gets anything other than the first.
The current competition is notable for the abundance of well-formed and well-known musicians. I even heard some of the participants from solo concerts in the BZK. Why do you think they need a competition?
The jury is now seated by people who can further move their careers. The director of Carnegie Hall is on the jury of cellists. The director of the Lucerne Festival is on the jury of violinists. The director of the Verbier Festival is on the jury of pianists. These are serious doors. And I think that, probably, many came to the competition for this. Then, not at all. last moment in this life - big prizes. Musicians have a hard time making money. Especially now.
- What has changed in your festival over these 20 years?
Of course, initially the festival was not easy. A whole festival of unknown names! I can say about myself. Here I come to Vienna, or to Berlin, or somewhere else. A good hall, a good orchestra, but I see four unfamiliar names on the poster. Well Kat, honestly, will not go! But in 20 years, I think we have completely overcome this fear of the public.
The public is ready for debuts and trusts the Musical Olympus label. They know they are going for the people who are on the runway in their lives. Receiving an award at a competition is not the end, but the beginning. It's a huge springboard, huge expectations. And as a human being, it is necessary to immediately give them good concerts in good halls with good orchestras. It is very important to show that they are expected.
We have a certain backbone of the public that goes to every concert. We have another such notion - the audience award. And for some, it directly became vitally important - to walk, listen to everyone, put their crosses. The festival also has a permanent western audience, which specially comes to it. For 100 people. There are clubs of friends in New York, in Switzerland, now we are organizing one in Russia.
For me, our festival is such an information teletype tape: what happened in the competitive world during the year. Daishin Kashimoto or Sayaka Shoji, for example, played one competition, won again the next year somewhere else, then a third. Istvan Vardai also brought some new victories every year. And we showed some three to four times. But this is a rare case.
Why am I interested in contests? Of course, the competitive system has its pros and cons. But the fact is that the concert life requires a lot of endurance. Mental, psychological, physical. I'm sitting at a concert in Tokyo, and it doesn't matter to me when and what time the artist arrived from New York. It is important for me that I came to this artist and he has something to tell me. And if a person makes his way through this competitive meat grinder, then he is most likely ready for such work. This is one of the pluses of the competitive system.
- A politically incorrect question. A large number of Oriental names at competitions - is it a problem for you or not?
You know, when people ask me whether I am for the West or for the East, I answer: I am for music. There is, of course, a huge army of Asian musicians. Moreover, if 20 years ago this was ... not exactly jarring, but surprising, now it is no longer surprising at all. Korean, Chinese singers- Katya, how they relate to diction, to pronunciation! How he polish any language!
I remember we invited a Korean girl, Sun Young Seo, by the way, she won the last Tchaikovsky competition. And she writes to me that she really wants to speak with Tatyana's Letter. I have a slight fear and distrust. Korean woman sings "Tatyana's Letter" with an orchestra Mariinsky Theater! I write - maybe something else? But she asked so much that my heart trembled.
In short, a girl came out, and even in such a dress, you know, earlier in the party committees such plush curtains of a dark red color hung, I pressed myself into an armchair. And this lasted exactly until she sang the first two words. The purest Russian language! Every word is felt! I still can't forget it.
- So what are your predictions? classical European music escape in the East?
Classical music will be saved where children will be more involved. There is a clear failure in the European school now, little attention is paid to children. Any school for gifted children causes great social criticism. How do we single someone out? I can say that in Switzerland it is all the time. It's a little easier in Germany. This is not democracy, but pseudo-democracy. You can not do it this way. Children should be educated early. Because what the child does not receive in childhood, he practically will not make up for. I mean technique, the same discipline.
And Asians - yes, very disciplined and efficient. And as soon as they come to Europe - I observe this phenomenon all the time - they keep their best, but also let in the new. They take everything in very quickly. I no longer have the feeling that I had 20-30 years ago that they play someone else's music. They have a motivation - to survive and break out, which the Europeans do not have. And they are not snobs at all. Snobbery among aesthetes is probably good. But snobbery is not the engine of progress.
The main event of the last Moscow season was the arrival of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra organized by the Musical Olympus with Christian Thielemann at the podium with full symphonic cycle Beethoven. I still can't believe that it was.
Since then, the situation has changed a lot - the crisis, sanctions, cautious attitude towards Russia. Would such a project be possible this year?
First of all, I have to say that this project is really a blessing for me. I wanted to bring the Viennese, so that they showed something worthwhile, which we have not heard for a long time. Oddly enough, the cycle of all Beethoven's symphonies, if it sounded with us, was scattered. And so that in a few days a flurry of Beethoven music - of course, this is very strong impression. We became very good friends with Thielemann. This is one of the most complex characters among the current conductors. Intractable, categorical, uncompromising. He is very interesting to me as a musician of absolute honesty. There are few of these left. He is very self-sufficient. I think this prevented him from taking the place of the head of the Berlin Philharmonic. But I didn't get upset for him. Because he has an amazing orchestra - the Dresden Staatskapelle. I just listened to them at the Salzburg Easter Festival. They sound great!
The Moscow tour was very difficult organizationally, when we met, everyone was very tense, but we parted as deeply loving and understanding people. This week has changed everything so much. Thielemann and I spent a lot of time together, went to museums, had a funny lunch on the day when all the restaurants did not accept cards, because the Master Bank was closed, remember?
After a trip to Russia, he wanted to try the Russian repertoire - which he never did at all. And now, at the Easter Festival in Salzburg, he conducted Tchaikovsky's Sixth and Shostakovich's concerto with Nikolai Znaider. Can you imagine what a metamorphosis happened to him!
- Yes, he is a staunch supporter of the Austro-German classics.
I imagine how this Sixth Tchaikovsky would have played here! Probably, she would simply divide listeners into two camps. Hard. He orchestrated it in a way we can't even imagine. Completely destroyed the usual idea of Tchaikovsky.
At a press conference, he immediately stated that Tchaikovsky was not at all such a sentimental composer as he was used to being. Indeed, nowhere was there such a thing that the soul was torn to pieces. This filling, expansion, separation, like on an accordion - this was not there. On the contrary, he dried everything, built it up, by the end of the final there was a feeling of some kind of centrifuge, it seemed that he was almost speeding up. As if a supergolfer took from some first field and through all the fields got into this last hole. You do not understand how this is possible, but it still breaks through you.
We are negotiating with him. Now we are working on the possibility of bringing the Dresden Staatskapelle. We haven't had this orchestra for a very long time. They are in great shape. I think we can do it.
- How do Western artists now react to invitations from Russia?
Absolutely normal. Exactly a year ago, only Evelyn Glennie and I had such a situation, which, to be honest, I faced for the first time in my life. We have a master class during the festival. And, besides, the artists participate in social programs: one group goes to an orphanage, another to Kresty, and a third to a hospice for the elderly. When we just started to organize it, I thought that they would cheat. And then I heard how the amazing French violinist Solene Paidassi, who won the Marguerite Long and Jacques Thibaud competition, played in front of six kids who were already completely in the crib. She played better than at the concert!
So, this year we had master classes by Zakhar Bron and Evelyn Glennie, with whom we have been friends for a long time, they were the first to bring her to Russia. And when we signed an agreement with her a year ago, a force majeure clause suddenly appeared, stating that if the British Foreign Office considers it dangerous to visit Russia at that moment, then we are still obliged to pay her a fee.
Well, I, of course, boiled, it's unthinkable! In general, force majeure is usually natural disasters. Flood, fire. And then her manager got scared, maybe in a year we will have a war, tanks, Maidan. I wrote to them that music is out of politics.
- Do you really think so?
I believe that music, of course, can be tried to be a political lever, and we know a lot of examples of this ...
- ... the whole XX century.
Yes. But. You can, for example, say "We are for peace", or you can say "We are against war." I think it's better to be "for" than "against". Against - this is, let's say, unconstructive.
Valentina Oberemko, AiF: Irina Anatolyevna, you were born with music, as they say: your father is a famous cellist, you have chosen a career as a pianist. And if we talk about people who are far from the classics, then at what age do you need to learn to understand music?
Irina Nikitina: Actually, I dreamed of being a ballerina. But dad said: “Let him play the piano. Ballet is a hell of a job and an early retirement.” That's how I got into music.
I was also greatly influenced by the fact that I was born in Leningrad. I am a true Petersburger in several generations. And I would not have become what I am now if I had been born in Moscow. For me it different planets. St. Petersburg is an absolutely European city, and Moscow is truly Russian, St. Petersburg is more of an introvert, it has mystery, mysticism. Moscow is an extrovert, they love courage and outrageousness.
As for the understanding of music, it is wonderful if the child hears it even in the womb. This is good for the child and for the relationship with him. After all, the atmosphere in which a child grows up shapes his worldview. My daughter grew up like this. I was all in music, after giving birth, right in the ward on a synthesizer in headphones, I learned a program that 6 weeks later I played in Munich in a live broadcast on the Bavarian radio. And the daughter at that time was lying in a children's bag backstage.
At the age of 30, you changed your profession, became a concert organizer, a producer. Why did this turnaround happen?
I broke my finger on my hand - I had to retire as a pianist. But then she came up with an idea. Even when she herself won competitions, she noticed that it is not so easy for young musicians to declare themselves to the world. I came up with the idea of the Musical Olympus festival, which will bring together the winners of competitions held in different countries world in various specialties. This is how the “parade of winners” was formed, as our festival is unofficially called. Like 25 years ago, so now, despite the Internet and social networks, it is very important for an artist’s career, for example, the right concert halls. That is why we give great attention organizations away concerts festivals that are held annually in St. Petersburg, the Berlin Philharmonic, New York's Carnegie Hall, Zurich's Tonhalle, Singapore's Esplanade - halls whose posters speak for themselves.
In 2013, in Washington, DC, you received the award "For the establishment of intercultural dialogue ...". Today, under sanctions, this intercultural dialogue is it harder to install?
Sanctions mainly affect only budgets. I communicate in the field of culture, music, where relations between people are more humane. And we speak a language that cannot be affected by any sanctions - after all, music is either false or not. This rule is the same for the whole world. Yes, Moscow, New York, Tokyo are different cultures, different parts of the world, but concert posters these cities are very similar. They are united by the names of performers, titles of works.
Music therapy
You admitted that in Russia, after turning on the TV, after a while you begin to feel a kind of stupefaction. What do you think is the problem: in the producers or still in the viewer?
First you need to determine for yourself: is television a way of entertainment or a way of knowing? For example, I believe that television is, first of all, knowledge, a window through which you can get to where we are unlikely to get. Russian television came out of the Soviet, where there were wonderful programs - "Kinopanorama", "Music Kiosk", the famous "Cinema Travel Club" or "In the Animal World". These are standards! Previously, programs were unthinkable, where they passionately discuss someone else's life, which today is watched with interest by those who are at odds with their own. It's a shame that we started to create a lot of copies of Western programs aimed specifically at entertainment. As for the viewer, I think it's a mutual problem: the producer wants to please the viewer, and the viewer doesn't want to think.
- But you yourself host the Enigma program on the Kultura TV channel ...
Channel "Culture", which I deeply respect, invited me to create an author's program. It was important for me that for the audience every meeting with my heroes became an event. I have long-term friendships with many of them. But, for example, with the singer Andrea Bocelli we met for the first time. We were warned that the 30 minutes he set aside for filming was the maximum that could be expected. The day before, I watched his interview and was horrified: there is always obvious displeasure on my face, the answers are monosyllabic. But when we met, we talked with him for more than an hour and parted on friendly terms. Or a doctor Concetta Tomaino- a music therapist, a man obsessed with his extraordinary profession: people are treated with music, trying to communicate with very sick patients (Parkinson's disease, for example) using sounds. When the patient loses touch with reality, memory channels are closed, music is the only way to interact with him. This profession needs to be developed in Russia, it really helps, and not only for seriously ill elderly people, but also for children with autism.
- Did you plan to invite Vladimir Putin to the program? After all, you know the president.
I think that the president treats music with obvious understanding and respect. Serious steps are being taken in the country to develop art: new theaters and concert halls have appeared and are being designed, for example, Zaryadye in Moscow or a grandiose project of a new Philharmonic Hall in Yekaterinburg, created by the Architectural Bureau Zaha Hadid from UK. But I guess the president is too busy, so we won't bother him with an interview.
Face control for talent
- Recently, director Nikolai Burlyaev said in AiF that culture should be withdrawn from the market. Do you support?
If it is displayed, everything should be gratis, free. As soon as there is money, it is already a market. The artist was always paid for the performance - both in tsarist times and in Soviet times. Bach wrote to piece of music every week, that was his job. But, despite market relations, he wrote brilliant music. So it's not about the market, it's about moral principles. I was outraged when I knew exactly how much a particular artist was paid abroad, but now he comes to Russia at the invitation of a private person, and for this he is given 10 times more. Having once received a fabulous fee, the artist begins to continue to demand the same money in our country. This market is immoral. If you like an artist - pay him the usual fee, and then say: "Let me give you something." There are festivals, such as the famous Salzburg Festival, where all participants are paid very moderate fees. But the most eminent artists willingly go there, because it is a prestige, the very invitation to Salzburg is already a sign of recognition.
Today, another market trend has emerged, which, unfortunately, creates additional obstacles for musicians. Record companies began to create the image of the artist: he must be sexy, slim, stylish. Of course, especially outstanding talents will make their way, but just a good musician may not get anywhere if his appearance does not meet the standards. There should be no flaws! Eg, Anna Netrebko- one of the amazing brands of our time, everything came together in it: talent, appearance, and character. On the way - singer Aida Garifullina and pianist Daniil Trifonov, but still they are an exception.
You call yourself a man of the world, but once refused to live in Germany because your grandfather died in the war.
When I married my daughter's father, who lived at that time in Munich, I categorically did not want to go there. She invited us all to settle in Switzerland. It was 30 years ago, since then I have traveled to many countries and continents and have friends in almost all corners of the planet. And it's all thanks to the music! After all, musicians are eternal wanderers, touring the world to give people beauty.
Being a man of the world for me means respecting other cultures and finding ways of mutual understanding. That's what we try to do through our musical projects.
President of the Musical Olympus Foundation, which is engaged in cultural projects of national and international scale, - about time and accuracy as concepts of mentality, self-organization and about the moment of that silence that is from God.
How is your relationship developing over time?
I think they are doing much better now than before. Apparently, a certain life experience and baggage affects when you stop rushing.
For me, time is divided in ancient Greek: into chronos and kairos. These are two different times: chronos- chronology, what we fix in minutes, seconds, weeks, months, years ... And then it turns out, relatively speaking, an obituary, an extract: born, died, and what happened.
A kairos- these are key moments in life, when your personal history changes in a second, negatively or positively, but at some point it turns. You can vegetate for a year, two years or 10 years, and then something incredible will appear, and you will already find yourself in a completely different diocese.
My sense of time is trustworthy. That is, feeling the time, you need to trust yourself. I believe that in our youth we are in a hurry: it seems to us that we need to do everything, to get everywhere urgently. I even had such a saying: “I don’t need to sit on two chairs, but lie on five.” But it passes because the quality changes. I sometimes think about time: how interesting, it is not frozen, it is just as chronological, it also passes, but there is a feeling that it has become more complete. The concentration is higher and the intellectual work is completely different and there is no such fuss. I'm running out of time fuss, which actually slowed everything down.
Can you remember your first sense of time? What was it like?
From a young age I was engaged in both yoga and meditation, so the time for me has always been associated with some kind of spiritual practices. I don't accept any religious position, but I have great respect for the fact that the time spent one on one with God is the most significant. This is the moment of that silence, which is from God.
Can a person manage his time?
I cannot say that I am so omnipotent that I can control everything. It's arrogant. But if you have leadership qualities, are a leader, then you are responsible for the distribution of time, yes. Business-minded people know that negotiations won't work until you get a good grasp of the topic or learn another language. So, you need to invest in time. What are you investing your time in? There are force majeure circumstances that cannot be controlled. For everything else, you have to try.
Any work is synchronization. It is necessary to clearly assess the capabilities of people and not force
If a person cannot manage his time, does this somehow characterize him from a negative side?
Do you know how many immensely talented fools there are? This is such a temperament, such a view of the world that has always existed in ballet, in the theater ... I know artists who went into hard drinking, but were very talented. Something unbalanced them, maybe human talents, resources that they could not develop. For a strict business, they may not be suitable.
That is, time resource management is more of a psychological problem?
This problem cannot be revealed in this way: if a person cannot manage time, then he is weak, infirm, or good for nothing. I have other criteria: I am interested in high professionalism and the potential of a person ... interesting, ambiguous, complex person. Life is an ascent, a path that can be observed. And as we know, you can go astray, fall off the mountain, and so on. However, we do not go on a path to fall off the mountain. Especially people who have curiosity, interest, motivation to learn something ... For me, a person can be absolutely at odds with the times, but if I see indifference in his eyes, then this is a sentence for me. Because in some segment or moment this person will no longer come to life, he has comprehended indifference, nothing will affect him. At the same time, indifference should not be confused with a certain wisdom and balance.
Irina Nikitina- musician, laureate of the National Prize for Public Recognition of the Achievements of Women in Russia "Olympia", President of the Musical Olympus Foundation. Born in St. Petersburg. She completed postgraduate studies at the St. Petersburg Conservatory as a pianist, trained in Prague and Bern. She is the winner of international competitions in Geneva, Paris, Osaka. From 1983 to 1995, Irina led an active concert activity. Since 1991, he has been a producer of major international musical projects in Switzerland, Russia, France, Japan. Since 1995 - President of the Musical Olympus Foundation. In 2013, the foundation organized a series of concerts by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in Russia. These tours were named the “Event of 2013”, and Irina Nikitina, as president of the Musical Olympus Foundation, was named “Person of the Year”.
With whom do you feel more comfortable, easier, more convenient to work with?
It is generally accepted that bohemia is optional. But look: in theaters, performances, concerts, rehearsals begin at the exact time. This bohemia, which is called a disorganized clan, has absolutely clear, incredibly precise, organized people. As for business, they probably have the same thing.
Since I travel a lot, I saw people of different mentalities. In general, time and accuracy are concepts of mentality. In Switzerland, relatively speaking, it has its own mentality. Dentist, musician and businessman - they will all be born with Swiss watches in their heads. With second hand. And if you come to individual countries Africa, you will come across the fact that they have two concepts of time: day and night. That is, breakfast in our understanding is from 8 to 10 in the morning, and for them it can be at one, two, or three days. But if you work on a project in Africa, then you need to get used to their mentality. And the Russians have their own characteristic a little laxity, but, believe me, it is very individual. Everything depends on the mentality.
Do you have your own synchronizer, did you have to learn time management?
Time management is the disposal of not only your time, but also the time of your environment, your partners. I'm on this part big way passed. I was born disorganized, scattered, and now ... I don’t want to say that I have become a fan, but I have developed a sense of time very much. To be late is almost impossible. My daughter is even “worse”: she doesn’t come on time, but always 5 minutes earlier.
For me, a person can be absolutely at odds with the times, but if I see that he has indifference in his eyes, then for me this is a sentence.
Of course, I studied. I believe that I have no right to be late for a meeting, this is disrespect, because the person who is waiting for me really has a whole day scheduled to the minute. Do not think that nothing will change in the 15-10 minutes that you delay. I think that it is indecent to make yourself wait and be late even for a meeting with friends.
What helps you manage time?
If something is absolutely impossible to miss, then a regular alarm clock helps me. When he is able to remind that I have to call someone, take a pill, then I can easily set the alarm. Why fill your head with unnecessary information? And of course, there are papers, diaries. I don't really like all these electronic products, I like tactile sensations. I write everything down.
How long do you usually plan for?
A year or three ahead. By the way, I remember a moment, about 20 years ago, when I talked about planning for 6-7 months, people looked at me like I was crazy, because in the 1990s there was no concept that you need to think six months ahead. Now we have learned.
You came to time management by experience. What are the conclusions?
My mistake was that I am very fast, active, my speed is impressive. And I demanded about the same from people, and then asked: how? Haven't done it yet? And over time, I realized that people have completely different speeds, and it is important to determine who has what pace and rhythm. There are people who speak slowly and you don't have the patience to listen. Maybe they think fast, but that's how they express themselves. You also need to understand this, look at how convenient it is for you. Because any work is synchronization. It is necessary to clearly assess the capabilities of people and not force if you understand that they will not cope. Everyone has a different temperature - someone has 36.2, someone has 35.8, and someone has almost 37. All this is the norm, but even fractions of degrees are huge difference. It is better to clearly assess the capabilities of people and not rush them, realizing that they may not be able to cope, get into a "nervous", panic, fuss.
Who would you call your time management teacher?
Perhaps I'm self-taught. Of course, I read some books, choosing interesting ones as authors. successful people. Much has been written about time management. different books, so many different methods are described, and all because people are very individual, therefore both schools and approaches are individual. My experience is also very personal.
Interview: Svetlana Morozova
Photos: Julia Pchelintseva
How many callings can one life hold? As many as you like, if you are an incorrigible optimist, like IRINA NIKITINA. She is the founder and president of the Musical Olympus Foundation, director of the Musical Olympus international music festival, organizer of the St. Petersburg Johann Strauss Ball, a world-famous musician, producer, impresario, teacher, magazine editor. And if you remember that Irina is also a wife, mother, hostess big house, student of the Moscow international university And...
TO THE SOUND OF THE CELLO
Irina herself always knew that she would be a pianist. Father - famous cellist, professor Anatoly Nikitin. Mom, a physicist-analyst, disappeared at the institute. And about her childhood, Irina only remembers that her parents were never at home. IN musical ability Irina's father believed little - they taught music, but future star the girl was not seen, which helped her a lot. “If I had a parental scenario programmed for good luck, I don’t know how my life would have turned out. After all, most often children become hostages of parental ambitions. And I did it myself.”
Irina was raised by her grandmother - a former college student. But Irina's grandfather was missing - one was missing, the other died in the war. “Learning the stories of the families of my friends, I always noted: but her grandfather is alive, he didn’t die like mine. Since then, older people have a special sympathy for me. After all, often youth has nothing to do with individuality - we imitate, protest, but we don’t know who we really are. For example, I have a friend of eighty-two years old, George Hermann, professor of applied mathematics at Stanford University. As with him, I rarely laugh in my life, and one can only wish for his courage and wit for young men " .
It is not surprising that Irina married a man who was eleven years older. The first cello of a certain theater Sergei Roldugin was already famous in St. Petersburg and, as is usually the case, not a very wealthy person. From the Moika street from the spacious parent's apartment Irina moved to a room in a communal apartment. It turned out to be a marriage of friends who are interested in being together. Sergey did a lot for her to take place as a musician. “He repeated to me so often: you can do it, that I eventually believed in myself. Concerts began, victories at competitions, performances abroad, I really became a sought-after concert pianist. But for the two of us, this was not all. For true love one must be a mature person, be responsible for oneself and accept and forgive the one who is near. You need to clearly know what you want and can do: either only take, or only give, or develop together. And we become dependent on circumstances, most often we don’t need them, but we don’t have the determination to refuse them. "Irina was able to. In addition, an amazing person appeared in her life.
TALENTS AND FANS
In 1986, when Irina received a special prize at an international competition in Geneva, her performance was broadcast on Swiss radio. Thousands of people listened to it, but one, who accidentally turned on the receiver in his car, turned out to be the director of the Youth Music Festival. And then he decided that he needed this pianist. But since these were Soviet times and it was not so easy to invite an artist, Michael Hoefliger had to apply to the State Concert. He was told over and over again that Irina and her cellist partner were seriously ill, they had left for some unknown place, were busy on other tours - well, everything that was said then, in order not to give way to the young and talented. Fortunately, Michael Hoefliger had a truly manic stubbornness and a year later met the duo at the Geneva airport. “I didn’t know a word of German then, except for Gutentag, but lovers quickly learn to understand each other.” However, Irina did not react to the feelings of the unexpected impresario for several years.
By this time, her career was already developing very successfully: the Grand Prix at international competition in Paris in 1987, CDs, tours, concerts in prestigious halls. But, Irina smiles, as soon as success became programmable, she lost interest in it. "I do everything in life as long as there is inspiration." This means that while there are real difficulties that must be overcome every day and hour. Another would stop there and cultivate success. And Irina was attracted by new horizons. By this point she had decided that if she could play the piano well, she should learn to play the harpsichord. The opportunity presented itself in Prague, and without hesitation, Irina loaded a dozen unread books and a microwave oven into the "nine" and went to conquer the harpsichord. Even then, in addition to the piano, which used to be the first and only master of time, her life included a car, diving, a motorcycle, a helicopter ... "The only thing missing is an airplane ..." Irina answers quite seriously: "I have an airplane in my plans for a long time. I'm interested in trying everything. At the same time, I'm not an extreme person - my risks are always calculated. "
Except those related to creativity. "The profession of a pianist is very creative, but you still perform someone else's work, no matter how you try to interpret it." And Irina wanted to be the leader herself. "I realized that I had lived my life in the world of the piano and I urgently needed to look for something new."
But while she continued to travel around Europe, concerts multiplied, musicologists wrote serious articles about Irina. And next to her, somehow unexpectedly, but surprisingly in time, an ardent romantic appeared, for whom she was a dream of a lifetime. “If my partner and I had a concert in Milan, he “accidentally” ended up at the airport. The same story was repeated in Hamburg, in Paris, in London. I didn’t think too much about it, because I had never been among the girls, which no matter what, dreaming of "marrying the West."
When it came to explanations and a decision had to be made, Nikitina's career was already firmly connected with Switzerland. Her triumph took place in Geneva, here she had fans, friends who perfectly understood that Irina was not just a girl from Russia, without a name and certain occupations, but famous musician. Michael Haefliger lived in Germany, but for her it was unacceptable. “Probably this is from childhood: I thought about my grandfather, who died at the front, and in general about how much grief the Second World War brought to millions of people. In short, either Germany or me!"
In Lucerne, where the Haefliger family now lives, the best music hall Europe, the pearl of modern western architecture works of the famous Jean Nouvel. There are the most interesting musical evenings, the audience comes to concerts from all over Europe. And all this interest arose in just a few years. As soon as Michael Haefliger became director of one of the most significant music festivals peace. After all, Irina wanted to live in Switzerland.
PARADE OF WINNERS
Only a person who does not know her at all can think that respectable Lucerne has become a safe haven for Irina. Back in 1992, she organized the Relief Fund music school for gifted children in St. Petersburg, which she graduated herself. The help was concrete: repairs, tools, school desks, notes, scholarships. At that time, not only Irina's native school suffered from lack of money and indifference. In the Great Hall of the Philharmonic, sometimes no more than forty listeners turned out to be among the public - a deadly number for a performer. "I myself was in such a situation and I remember the feeling of a dreary chill when you see an empty hall. And then I decided to organize a festival." And since 1996, the international festival "Musical Olympus" under the motto "Parade of Winners" has been presenting the best young musicians from all over the world in St. Petersburg. How do you manage to collect them? Irina laughs: “It’s better to ask how to find out about them? We know Domingo, Pavarotti, Caballe ... But they were once young and unknown to anyone, and someone represented them too. Therefore, my year is divided into three parts : Switzerland, Russia - and the whole world.In Switzerland, it's Davos, where every year I participate in the World Economic Forum, Lucerne, where my family lives: my husband, who has enough worries about organizing the festival in Lucerne without me, and ten-year-old daughter Anika "She, of course, studies music, but I, remembering my parents with gratitude, do not prepare her for a super career. I will stay at home in St. Petersburg for a while, and then I start traveling all over the planet. I try not to miss a single competition, wherever it is passed - in South America or Australia. Russia is no exception - this year we have three Russian names, and this is a great success."
AMONG THE NOISY BALL
"For the first time I got to one of the famous Viennese balls in 1999, when the whole world celebrated the centenary of Johann Strauss. And what about our St. Petersburg, where the great Austrian violinist and composer gave brilliant concerts? Why not give a ball in his honor in St. Petersburg? I was told : you're crazy, it's a feast during the plague! And I answered: the plague will pass, but the balls will remain. No sooner said than done: having arrived in Vienna, Irina went to Mr. Helmut Zilk, the former burgomaster of Vienna, around whom cultural life Veins literally seethed. “When, after two months of correspondence and the siege of a high office, I finally got an audience, I was told: “Dear lady, you have fifteen minutes. There will be no other time. "It should be noted here that Irina never introduces herself as" Mrs. Hoefliger ", and this would open the most inaccessible doors for her, the wife of the director of one of the largest European music festivals. No, she is everywhere Irina Nikitina. So hitting like a private person without a single official letter to Mr. Tsilk and having a quarter of an hour to present the case, she listened for thirteen minutes to his sentimental recollections of how he danced the waltz with Mrs. Sobchak in St. Petersburg, how wonderfully he was received, how ... I explained in a wild tongue twister why I was here. Five minutes later, he was already talking with the leadership of the Austrian airline, with the Ministry of Culture, with the impresario, with restaurants, with ... The leitmotif was: "Support everywhere and in everything." I left him in a half hours from almost finished project. It was a fairy tale." And in 1999 in marble hall The Museum of Ethnography with the support of the city of Vienna hosted the first "Ball of Johann Strauss" in St. Petersburg. Its chairman was Nikita Mikhalkov, the guests had fun until the morning. Then the balls moved to Catherine Palace and each time opened with a new plot. Last year, playing out the events of the ball at Count Orlovsky, the hall was filled with characters of the magnificent " bat". Irina herself says that what matters to her is not wine and refreshments, which can be the same everywhere, but the atmosphere and courage. In Russia, they have a special property. As well as the goal: after all, Irina started this project in order to create an international Cultural Center in memory of the famous Pavlovsky "Station", destroyed by the Nazis. Orchestras, costumes, artists, guests of honor - how to master all this? "I still feel like a kind of magician who, in front of an astonished audience, makes bright show. But in fact, in his hands he has nothing but an ordinary piece of matter.
EXQUISITE KITSCH
This is nothing but the name of a new project by Irina Nikitina. After the festival and balls in St. Petersburg, it became clear that the "Express line St. Petersburg - Moscow" is inevitable. "Moscow is called a business center, forgetting that it is a truly cultural city. Petersburg is considered the center of culture, although there is little money here, without which culture cannot live. And I realized that a bridge is needed between the two capitals."
"Express line St. Petersburg - Moscow" is four series of concerts, four programs. The first is "Refined kitsch". Those who have already visited the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory at the concerts of the world-famous trio Plau Bash Jacques Loussier remember that tickets were asked from the Manege to the Nikitsky Gates. The next experience, the first concert in Russia of the king of the gypsy violin (super virtuoso, played with Yehudi Menuhin!) Roby Lakatosh turned out to be even more successful: the audience stood up in unison, although the name of the performer did not say much to half of the audience before the concert.
To commerce new project has nothing to do - no impresario will undertake to calculate the success of kitsch, even if it is exquisite. "For me, something else is much more important: I invite the public to choose the best of what is in the world. This is not necessarily a proven classic or world name. Of course, it is more convenient to organize concerts with Bashmet or Repin, whom I highly appreciate. But besides them, the world is full of talents. And Russia should know them." So soon we are waiting for the program: "Parade of Orchestras", "Coryphaeus" and "Maestro Conductor". The list of performers is brilliant, there is less and less time for the implementation of the project, and our conversation takes on the pace of a blitz.
ELLE What do you do in case of failure?
Irina Nikitina Nothing. It's like day and night, which should be in a person's life.
ELLE What can upset you?
I.N. Vanity - we are often in a hurry, unable to distinguish the important from the empty. People - if they do not pass the test of power or money.
ELLE What is an obstacle for you?
I.N. Mood. Fatigue. Well-being. In any case, I'm taking a timeout.
ELLE If you are "at zero", what helps?
I.N. Yoga - I do it every day.
ELLE What is your rhythm of life?
I.N. One lives in mono, the other in stereo, the third in Dolby. I constantly vary them - every day in my life there are different people, interests, images, philosophies.
ELLE How many notebooks do you have?
I.N. There is no small female - it's pointless, One common computer and five mobile phones with memory. And all of them regularly "give up" from the abundance of information, often dying in the bathroom or swimming pool. Recently, I live according to the principle of "here and now", not trying to win everyone and do everything in one day. It is necessary to live easily, with pleasure - after all, you can enjoy just a fresh bun in the morning.
ELLE What is the worst thing for you?
I.N. Fear. Envy. Jealousy.
ELLE What can make you happy?
I.N. Sun. Water. Peace. You can't rush all the time. An unread book plus an armchair is a real pleasure.
ELLE When you go home from the airport to your husband, what do you think about?
I.N. It's good that we rarely see each other - it keeps feelings from the ordinary. What would be nice to buy fresh asparagus, chablis and cook dinner for two. And how good it is to have love in our lives.
