VIRTUAL DIVA, HONORED ARTIST OF RUSSIA, PERSONALITY OF MANY COVERS OF LEADING FOREIGN GLOSSY PUBLICATIONS, MOTHER OF THREE CHILDREN, ELEGANT AND STRICT BEAUTY, EXCEEDING.
Everyone knows that this is her stage name. What is hiding behind him? In order to uncover the secret of her popularity and to interview her, Western publications are in line. And it’s not worth dreaming about finding her in her free time, which is completely devoted to her family. However, I was lucky. At the height of the tourist season in Dubai, I met Valeria, and her husband and producer Joseph Prigogine, and with their whole friendly and cheerful family.
Hello, Valeria. I would like to start our conversation with your anniversary concert in the Kremlin, where you performed Russian romances to the accompaniment of a symphony orchestra. How was this idea born, and how complicated was its implementation?
It did not start all of a sudden. My very first album, released in 1992, was completely dedicated to Russian romances. I then tried to read them in a new way, in my interpretation. I made such arrangements that did not at all resemble traditional, canonical ideas about romance. After that album, I had a lot of fans - people who loved this music in my performance. Years passed, but all this time, no matter what I did, whatever songs I sang, I was asked at each concert to perform one or two romances and asked when my concert with Russian romances would take place again. And since this year was the anniversary of my creative activity, we decided to turn again to this ageless genre, since we did not want to go along the banal path and arrange just a concert with many invited guests. Although, I am a person who likes to look forward and think about the future. And it seemed to me and it seems that it’s too early to draw any conclusions ...
In general, thinking about the concert, it became clear to me that the time was right for romance. Now people are a little tired of the hackneyed rhythms, technical sounds, the format ... Here, by the way, is again an explanation of why suddenly, for no reason, the genre of chanson has become so popular. It seems that, by and large, this is such a dummy, though in an interesting wrapper, but ordinary people take it with joy. Why? Yes, because I want something real, truthful, some kind of living word. Not just leg music and some lightweight lyrics ...
Of course, deciding on a similar project, we understood its ambiguity, and even the danger somewhere. Anyway, I'm an artist of a popular genre, and it is not known how my regular audience could react to the new repertoire. But today I can say with confidence that, first of all, we ourselves received tremendous aesthetic pleasure. The project turned out to be simply amazing from a musical point of view and, in general, it was not quite a concert of the philharmonic genre.
Anyway, it turned out a completely different tone, because I always sing romances in my own way, plus other music sounded in the concert. And all this accompanied by 140 musicians from the symphony orchestra. I performed in the concert old songs of Soviet times and several new ones, those that fit into the general context.
We have been working on this concert for over a year. Some arrangements, which simply did not exist, were worth it! After all, Russian romances were written for chamber performance. We also rehearsed for a very long time, checking every sound, listening to how it would fall aesthetically, how it would coincide with the voice. Then they rehearsed with an orchestra from St. Petersburg, then the choir rehearsed separately, the orchestra separately. My musicians also participated in all this. It was difficult to! But so interesting.
You are a brave woman. Only a few of today's popular performers decide to work with a full-fledged orchestra ...
You see, today there has been a certain trend on the stage - many are trying to play with the orchestra. But what does it mean? This is when live sounds are superimposed on certain definite ready-made arrangements — strings or syntheses — and the orchestra is engaged. But these are just blotches. Of the recent works of contemporary pop singers, I don’t remember who would have played the entire concert with the orchestra.
We did not have a single registered sound. Why was the orchestra fully involved in my program? Yes, simply because we wanted to use all the features and all the colors of real symphonic music. Of course, all this complicated the task. And for the record, and for the stage embodiment. We recorded with our own unique studio in Moscow. We have amazing masters of their craft! In a word, we wanted to do something right and good. Sometimes it seems that such experiments do not find a full response. Maybe not necessary. However, I think the grateful audience was able to appreciate our work.
Elsewhere, apart from the Kremlin Palace, did you give this concert?
Yes. In addition to the Kremlin, we worked out this concert twice - in St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg. And both times with great success, for which I am grateful to the organizers of our tour. In Yekaterinburg, for example, there is such a, in a good sense of the word, crazy organizer who is ready to experiment and works only with artists that he likes. And he did not lose. The audience took the concert with a bang! There was a full house. A week before the concert, we sent all the instruments to the Urals with a trailer, the whole staff of the orchestra arrived! Of course, in a way, it was an adventure. Unfortunately, not all of our guests were able to get out. So, Raymond Pauls could not come. But then David Tukhmanov and Joseph Davydovich Kobzon arrived, with whom we sang. It was very important for me to make such a concert, it turned out to be some kind of epoch-making and became special for me, because it is impossible to repeat this. Such projects are always much more complicated than even the most difficult pop concerts. And I am proud of the success of my anniversary project!
Valeria - You are a singer with a unique voice range. For me, as a viewer and listener, your participation in the television show "Phantom of the Opera" on Channel One was a revelation. What has this experience become for you?
This project is a separate story. I was interested to take part in it. In no case do I pretend to be the laurels of an opera singer, I have a completely different education and a different school. For the first time in my life, I came into contact with a repertoire that I never performed and it would be unlikely that I would have never completed this project if it had not been.
I liked working with opera arias in my own way, trying to perform them in my own recognizable manner. In my opinion, in general, this project turned out to be very useful in terms of the distribution and popularization of classical music. Spectators who go to concerts of pop artists usually do not visit halls where classical music is performed.
After I performed the aria of Delilah from the Saint-Saens opera of the same name in the first program, my fans immediately wrote to me on Twitter: “How great!”
And the next day on the channel "Culture" show the same opera as a whole! Imagine! People at least found out who Saint-Saens was, and then began to search on YouTube for various performances of the same opera. That is, a chain reaction has begun.
And I am glad that thanks to our project, at least a few people came in touch with the classics. This is already great! Of course, the academics turned their nose and said: "Well, what are you? It's not that performance!" But we did not claim to go to their camp. We simply attracted the attention of a wide audience and listener to the opera genre.
And that was right. Now, unfortunately, there is no other way. Even classical musicians try to come up with some kind of tricks, in an attempt to attract the attention of an inexperienced viewer.
But the same classical musicians, representatives of the old school, generally believe that nothing new can happen in music, and indeed in art in general. Do you agree with that?
I would probably agree. Sometimes, in truth, it seems that it’s impossible to come up with anything new, that all the creative resources in the world have been used up. Everything has long been said, played-replayed, sung-rehearsed.
And all this is understandable. Now, if we look back at the 1990s, when we were just raising a new pop wave in Russia, it seemed to us that we began to do something real, worthwhile, and this has a place on the air, and someone is interested in it! And that we are approaching the West! But in fact, no, nothing particularly happened. On the contrary, records stopped selling. Everywhere. And with the advent of the Internet, and in general, the phenomenon of the sale of discs came to naught. And it became clear to everyone that any serious art needs financial support. That is, artists, regardless of genre, simply need money.
But where to get them? Now all the artists are in full self-sufficiency and self-financing. What I earned at concerts, traveling around cities and villages, that I invested in myself and my team, I got it. Large-scale projects, such as what we have done in the Kremlin, are always unprofitable. It is impossible to recoup them. You can only get moral satisfaction from quality work and the joy brought to the audience.
It’s good that my Kremlin Anniversary Concert can be purchased on disk. We worked for three months to record it in proper quality. And they just released the disc to the market. I hope he finds his listener.
It turns out that no one is ready to help artists?
We do not have such structures. In the West, there used to be companies that, using certain “hooks” and well-known show business strategies, could spin up a new pop star from scratch. But now they have practically none of this, none of these professionals are left. Both in Russia and in Western countries today everything is put on a commercial footing. If one project "shot" and collected money, then he immediately appears a clone, and not one.
By and large, now it is completely unclear where to move. It seems to me that many have completely gone to the technological side of music, of course, because it is faster and cheaper. And I'm internally already so tired of all this that I want the opposite, something real. Maybe something wrong is happening to me, I don’t know. But modern music in general does not bother me.
I go only to classical concerts and listen only to music performed by pianists, violinists and orchestras. None of the contemporary works inspire my enthusiasm, they do not have tears in my eyes, which means that they are not able to touch the soul strings. Yes, I can still listen to Sting's old stuff. But these are all the same 1990s. Then the stage was still art. Maybe I am behind the times and don’t understand something. I still love to listen to Michael Jackson, and I think that everything that happens on the stage today has already been done by him. And the fact that new "stars" are trying to cast from the stage are just weak variations "on the topic" ...
What kind of music do your children listen to?
All that is now. And much of what I do not accept is “cool” for them. Although, of course, not everything is so bad. For example, there was a case when we did a joint tour in England with “Simply Red”, and I, my daughter Anya, and she was then 16, persuaded me to go to a concert together. Barely, conspiring with a girlfriend, they went. Of course, dissatisfied, and in advance already in opposition to everything that happens on stage ... And, lo and behold! She returned home and could not even speak. She screamed and ran into so much trouble that she got a voice! She was in a state of complete euphoria and delight!
That concert was a real discovery for her in the world of music. Sometimes it seems to me that it is necessary to start with the musical education of children. For example, in our country there are many talented children and adolescents.
Russia is just a forge of talent. But to my great regret, they are supported either by such famous artists as Denis Matsuev, Yuri Bashmet and Vladimir Spivakov on their own initiative, or none at all. Only parents and teachers. But our children are a national treasure of the country.
Even few people know about the Nutcracker contest for children's creativity, because they don’t write about it anywhere, although it is supported by the Culture channel .... I don’t even know a country where talented children - musicians, artists, singers - are supported at the state level.
I learned that your youngest son Arseny received two Grand Prix at the competition of young performers in Madrid. How did you instill in your children a love of music?
A personal example, I guess. And then, genes. You can’t get anywhere from them. In my childhood I didn’t even have much choice - I grew up in a family of musicians. And it never crossed my mind that I could become someone else. All of my relatives were engaged in a wide variety of musical directions: who is a button player, who is a saxophonist, who is a theorist or teacher. What is another profession? What are you speaking about? The only fluctuation was between the professions of a pianist and a pop singer. I chose singing and pop. However, since my mother is a great pianist, I also masterly played the piano for a pop singer. But it was interesting to me.
In the case of Arseny, I think something similar happened. He has a wonderful ear and very flexible fingers. I once showed him one piece on the piano, he quickly remembered and played it. Everyone gasped! It seems to me that from the very beginning he simply liked to make an impression and to hear laudatory comments addressed to him. Apparently so! But then he began to disassemble various plays, Rachmaninov, Scriabin, and finally, he just felt the pleasure of learning to play.
He has his own way and his attitude to the world of music. When he hears someone else’s game, he can say that it’s wrong and he will play better. I like it about him.
Valeria, for me you are a phenomenal woman. And a wonderful artist, a lot and hard working, and a mother of three children. What is the secret of your inner strength?
You know, I have nothing but work and family. This is my strength. I believe that I am a strict mother, although, my children do not think so, in my opinion. Of course, conflicts and strange situations happen. It happens differently in life. But I am sure that there is no need to try to resolve any dispute or quarrel immediately. This is a reasonable approach and, probably, a secret! Being a very emotional person, I believe that at certain points in life, emotions can become the worst of advisers. Especially when it comes to children.
Your life was not cloudless, and this is a well-known fact. According to your autobiographical story, a feature film was even shot on the Rossiya TV channel. How did this collaboration happen?
I published an autobiographical book, "And Life, and Tears, and Love" in 2007, and the TV channel "Russia" bought from me the rights to its adaptation. We worked together on the script, I liked something, but something not. In general, this was a project of the channel, and they made a film designed for their viewers. Shoot this movie I, it would have turned out completely different. "Russia" came out with a melodrama, but in life it was, after all, a thriller.
Why did I tell you everything? After the divorce, through the newspapermen, so much dirt and untruth was poured over me that I needed to somehow defend myself and try to explain to everyone why I ran away from my husband with three children. At first, I was proudly silent and endured attacks. But the stream of lies did not stop. Children by that time went to school, around me were parents, friends and relatives who knew that I had survived over 10 years of marriage.And one fine day, my neighbor in the country, the widow of Yuri Vizbor, Nina Filimonovna told me, after reading my first frank interview in Komsomolskaya Pravda: "Lera, for whom did you say all this? All these veiled hints and images you can only understand deeply intelligent public. We must speak directly, as it is. " So in all subsequent interviews, I began to tell the whole truth, and figuratively speaking, I led the "party of offended women." It turns out there are so many! And then my book came out, in which I just picked up and talked about everything. And not only about the sad, because in my life there was a lot of joyful, funny and pleasant. Believe me, I consider my life happy!
Does it ever hurt you that you are recognized and awarded abroad and try not to notice success in your work at home? Really, if a pop singer is not surrounded by scandals, then there is nothing to tell about her?
It's a shame or not, but this is the time now. "Yellow" PR. The success of the artist, few people care. When it was bad for me, everyone wrote about it, and when it's good - what is there to write about? Journalists often come up with fables themselves, pulling some facts from the biography. Now he is also actively using social networks. I have a blog on Twitter, and lay people take advantage of what appears there, inflating into entire articles. I am philosophical about a lot of what is happening in my life. Unfortunately, Russia has not yet learned to rejoice in achievements and to be proud of the successes of others. It’s not customary for us to be successful. At best, they will envy, at worst, slander.
What are you working on now?
In parallel with intense concert activity, I take part in the Ukrainian musical television project Voice of the Country. Every Sunday for this you need to be in Kiev, as rehearsals and recordings of the show go live. This is a very interesting project. The selection for participation in it is carried out among hundreds of people who want to do it, and we are experts, we don’t see them, we only hear singing, and then, turning around, we sometimes understand that a person’s voice and appearance do not always coincide. There are no age restrictions in this contest, which means that everyone has a chance! This is a very interesting and honest TV show. His music producer - Konstantin Meladze, who connected the best musicians to him, invited an interesting team to the jury. And most importantly - everything goes live! This is just great!
What gives you strength and support in your work?
My family. I am pleased with the successes of my children and the absence of misfortunes among relatives and friends. Of course, my love for my work, because it is sincere and mutual.
The only thing today is a large repertoire deficit. Few write good songs today. Therefore, we are open to any suggestions, and not only from well-known authors. And at concerts I love to sing everything I love. Because singing to me means living.
Thank you for your time. We wish you to create, love and sing, to the joy of everyone.
