Future Classic Women Awards – Svetlana Smolina 310723

Hello and welcome to the 5th edition of Future Classic Women Awards with me, Stefania Passamonte, on Women's Radio Station, the program where we search for the most amazing new female artists on the classical panorama. Today on Future Classic Women Awards, we have a very special guest, amazing pianist, concert pianist, Svetlana Semolina. Good morning, Svetlana. Good morning, Stefania. I'm so happy to be here today. Well, Svetlana flew into London from Italy, so first of all, tell us what you were doing in Italy. Svetlana lives in America. She is the president of an incredible festival. She's going to tell us everything. And we're having a wonderful broadcast here outside St. Pancras International. So very, very, very on the, on the move this morning. So let's, let's tell us, um, Svetlana, what were you doing? Where are you coming from? And why are you passing by from London, I guess? Uh, yes, I'm coming from two wonderful festivals, one in, uh, in Spain. We played in Burgos at International Festival, uh, Brahms trio program and also some chamber music violin sonatas program with wonderful musicians from Lithuania, from Israel, from actually California where I live. So that was run by Ephraim Briskin from Manhattan, New York, and after that I went to Florence to play with fantastic violinist from Florence, Beatrice Bianchi. We played with her other violin sonatas, and as well I played a concert, a solo recital, and I did some master classes at the Florence Conservatory of Music where I met chair, and I had a wonderful time with the faculty there, and Tomorrow I'm flying back home and my plane was luckily from London. And I also have a private student here who I'm gonna see tonight and give a lesson. So we just found mutual time. So happy to meet you. That's absolutely, I might say, madness of our life as musician, you know. I mean, what is fantastic is that we are over the COVID And I mean, how was it for for you. You're always on the go, you know. What were you doing when COVID happened? Um, first I lost about 96 concerts, and then when this number hit me, I, I kind of got really, really depressed because I really cannot imagine my life without stage. So I just started learning new, new projects. So I learned many great new pieces that I'm actually playing now. One of them is "Chausson Double Concerto" and some other, of course, programs I learned, but mainly I was just practicing and trying to think how to live without music for a while. So— Well, you know, I love the fact that you were practicing and programming for the future, actually. So that's beautiful, positive attitude. You know, the women's radio station is about as well mental health, and this program in particular is focused on music and women in music and their careers and the up and down of being a musician, a woman musician in this wild jungle, I might say. But it's beautiful, you know, what you said, that you just focused and thought, you know, let's learn something new, let's see what we can do when this will be over. So, um, now that this is over, I mean, you're back full on performing and touring. Um, do you miss the quiet time? Oh, not at all. I hope it will never come back. Come back. And yeah, I'm so glad to— actually, during COVID I just moved to California from New York, so actually I, I became a part of Music Women's Club in Los Angeles. And wait, I didn't know there is a women music club. I, I like that. Yes, you should come and I will introduce you to all our wonderful ladies. They're all artists or musicians and it's absolutely phenomenal to know each of them. They're incredible individuals. So I invite you to come to see us. And yeah, now I'm just enjoying some of the concerts concerts that I'm gonna play, for example, next month I'm going to a tour to Brazil, to Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. Those are concerts from 2020. So every time I do some concerts here and now, it's still from the COVID year. So it makes me think how lucky we are to be back performing and traveling and seeing friends. I think this is, this is very important inspiration for in the life of any artist. Well, you and me, Svetlana, we've known for quite some time. Actually, we met during COVID because I launched the London Performing Academy of Music, and you performed with a dear friend of mine who is a professor, visiting professor of LPMAM because he's based in Los Angeles, that is Roberto Cani. And so you became a visiting professor of LPMAM. Now these are the summer holidays, so unfortunately we couldn't organize something this very time and you're passing too quickly, but next time definitely. So what I wanted to ask you is how and when did you arrive to— were you born in New York, for example, or you arrived in New York? How was it to move from Europe to America? How is the life in America? And you're touring here, you're going everywhere in the world. Is there any favorite place that you might see yourself in 10 years' time? From 10 years from now, it's hard to say, but I see myself very much in Italy. I think it is my favorite country, actually, because I won my first international piano competition in Italy when I was just 14, and it was Città di Senigallia. And since then, I came to Italy almost every summer, except the COVID years. And yeah, so I would love to live in Italy actually in 10 years. Any favorite city in Italy? You know, I'm really a person of the moment, so I tend to fall in love with what I do at a certain day and a certain moment. And for me now, it's probably Genoa, where I was just yesterday, and I I was taken privately to see a Paganini violin. That's my other obsession. I love violins and I saw this incredible instrument and it absolutely mesmerized me. I just was imagining how this incredible artist played on it and I almost saw him playing while I was looking at violin. Well, actually, our friend Roberto Cani, he won the Paganini competition. I mean, And Roberto plays— I'm not sure which instrument, but you know, you and me, we're pianists. Are you as jealous as I am of violinists that play these historical instruments, while for us normal, we just need to play a brand new Steinway, if you like? Yes, I'm very jealous. And another reason I'm jealous is with how many things they can do with one note while they're doing the note, actually. So all this nuancing, from pianississimo to fortissimo, and they can change it while they're holding the same note. I'm so jealous. And of course, the instruments are phenomenal. I know Roberto playing one of the violin is Del Gesù as well as Nicola Paganini had, and another one he had a Strad. So of course, when you have in hands those instruments, well, you need to know how to play violin a little bit, but at least 50% will be done by the instrument. So we get also lucky. To get a great instrument on stage, but we don't have such an old instrument. So in a way, I feel when you with the instrument that was made in 1760, you hold the history in your hand, and that's, that's another inspirational immediately to give you a kick in your performance. Absolutely. Well, to me, you know, I'm very much spiritual, and I believe the spirit of this great virtues of a violinist is left, you know, inside the instrument. So when you play, somehow you get their spirit inhabiting your fingers, you know, and get something out of this world. This is something— I don't know. I mean, I saw that you recorded— I say Rachmaninoff Sonata that you recorded on Horowitz piano. So Horowitz is one of my greatest, biggest love of my life, inspiration. Yes, it was quite a fantastic experience. I was invited to play a recital in Steinway series, and they told me the piano will be Horowitz, Vladimir Horowitz piano. And so then I immediately had a crazy idea to record the sonata immediately because I love playing this piece. And when I came to play this piano, it was absolutely phenomenal and how many more musical things I could achieve on this instrument which I had in my imagination but which were not sometimes happening with the instruments, you know, in practice rooms or even at home. And so I was mesmerized and I only played this section of sonata twice through and the recording was done. And actually, this sonata is very much inspired by Faust, Goethe, yes. And the third movement which we're going to use is actually about Faust flying to the mountain where the Night of the Witches and Satan is coming to speak to him. So in a way, I see that when I play that sonata, I sold my soul a little bit to the Satan. Oh my gosh, that's amazing! And probably you had Orbit helping you recording it in just 2 takes. I mean, that's just unbelievable. So let's listen to Rachmaninoff Sonata No. 1 in D minor, the third movement, performed by our guest of Future Classic Women Awards, Svetlana Semolina. Wonderful! And this was Rachmaninoff Sonata No. 1 in D minor performed on the Horowitz piano by our incredible guest Svetlana Semolina. Now, Svetlana, I mean, I love Faust. There are so many stories actually inspired by Faust, you know, and I don't know, do you Do you also play, for example, the Liszt Sonata? Because that's very much inspired by Faust as well. It's in my incoming project. I would say by end of this year I can say yes. I read your mind. Actually, it's a long time I wanted to play. I know that sonata by heart, but I never played it. I don't know if I will ever do it. Somehow life bring you to other programs and other things to do. It's crazy. Is there anything in the, you know, we say the dream in your drawer, you know, that you would like to do that you've not done yet? Probably this sonata, and I also would like to play a Beethoven Emperor Concerto and Number 4. Those are the two concertos which I never done yet, and so these are on my dream list. And Probably that— more Brahms. I love Brahms. Every time I play Brahms, I think it's just pure love on the stage. Incredible composer. Okay, tough question. Do you prefer Brahms No. 1 or Brahms No. 2 Concerto? Brahms No. 1 since I played it many times. Brahms 2 is on my list as well. I too play No. 1. Okay, other big question. Chopin number 1 or Chopin number 2? Number 1. Which is number 2? That is the same for me. Okay, that's great. All right, so tell us, you know, we didn't come back, you know, on how is your life in America. So do you prefer New York or Los Angeles? Oh, these are like Venus and Mars. It's like a woman and a man. You cannot compare two, but I think us as a human nature, we always look for something new, innovation, something we never experienced before that brings us excitement, right? So that was when I moved from New York where I lived for 12 years, I wanted to change something and now with California I realize it's a different state of mind you live. It's more relaxing. It's more convenient, it's more comfortable. I never get complaints from neighbors for my practicing. I can practice 2 in the morning, that's a plus, right? Beautiful nature, you can get to the beach in like 15 minutes. In 2 hours you can do alpine skiing, mountains, snow, you name it. You can do a lot of hiking, so it's really good for the eye, California. But I miss the energy of New York. I felt it took me about 6 months to miss it because that's actually, that's what I didn't like at the end of my stay in New York because it was just, I felt it was like a vampire city, like it was taking away all my energy and I couldn't get enough energy back. So at some point you're just like, okay, it's enough, I have to move out. But now I really, really miss New York as a special city. I think same as London or any big city, it has its special vibe, and when you leave it, you, you kind of miss it. So I, I come quite often, like 3, 4 times a year now to East Coast, play concerts. I will stop in New York or Philadelphia where I have a festival. So yeah, well, you know, you're very right. I mean, I've lived in London for 20 years now, and, uh, it is a special place— almost 21 years in September— and it is a very special special place, as you say. And, um, the fact is I've been in New York as well, and I can feel somehow the energy and all the music activities that are happening around it. Um, Los Angeles, California, as you said, is more an outdoor place because they have this incredible outdoors. Everything is also much more spread out. And, uh, but you get the Grammys there, you get the Oscars there, so you have some fun things there. And I, I have a pending project with Warner Brothers in September, so that's exciting to be there for that. Can't wait to know about it. Is it top secret yet? Yes, a little bit, but I'll tell you once it's done. Then you have to come back and then we talk about it. I can't wait. So tell us a little bit about your Philadelphia Festival. How was that born? Um, so I run a piano program at this festival for past 11 years, and it's happening every year in summer. We have two sessions in June and July, and so basically it's a big festival where we invite a lot of Philadelphia Orchestra musicians who play in orchestra, concert maestros, conductors, so, and we have also opera, singers as a faculty. And so it's a 2-week program in June and 2-week program in July where students get from 8 to 10 daily activities, lessons, master classes, conducting, you name it. Like, they do private lessons, they do master classes, group lessons, they come to faculty recitals, where of course we perform. They come to see concerts played by Philadelphia Orchestra, who are the present teachers. It's very, always very special to see, you know, Yannick conducting, for example, and see your teacher on the first violin chair and hear this mesmerizing music at Mann Center. And it's always outdoors, so usually they play 18:12 and all the students are very excited. And we run a little part of this program in Miami in December, and actually I think next summer we gonna come to Italy and maybe another place in Europe. I cannot tell you yet, but we are expanding to European destinations, the festival. And we have about 400 students every session, more or less, about 3 orchestra depending on the age. Like Orchestra 1, 2, 3, but it's quite a big program. Well, it sounds fantastic. Now, I used to have a similar program in Italy, and I remember it was very exciting for— because it's a full immersion, basically. So you're there morning till evening, and it's just— it's like the place where it was, it was Porto Gruaro, my academy, and the city would be just inundated by musicians, and you would only have musicians at the restaurants, at the cafes. We would all meet each other, knew each other, play in the street, and then go. And so it's very demanding as well because the professors were teaching and performing, so you have to rehearse, etc. So I mean, how do you come out of 2 weeks of intensive course like this? I usually take 5 days of sleeping after that because during festival I never sleep because, you know, after teaching you start practicing and then you're As you say, you have to perform, and we also have two competitions, one solo for students and one concerto competition, which usually I also sometimes judge or prepare students. So after that, I usually— usually July 4th comes as a vacation, so I'm just going to the beach for a day. It should be enough, like one day off, and then I go to next summer festivals. Amazing, amazing. Okay, so now The next piece we're going to listen to is Chopin, the Prelude, Opus 28, the numbers 15 and 16. Would you like to tell us something about this recording? Yes, this is special project which we did in connection with University of Michigan and my professor there, Arthur Green. We recorded complete Chopin works for iTunes for Chopin Project. Project label. So this was done in New York by the recording by— oh my God, and I should remember the guy's name, it will come to me— but very famous recording studio in New York. Yeah, so I also recorded some nocturnes for it, ballads. And so what I would like to ask you, do you prefer Rachmaninoff or It's like Los Angeles, New York. I mean, I love it. If you compare the two, it's like Chopin is from where the piano started. It's the heart of our instrument. And Rachmaninoff, I can say though that Chopin is, I see more as a pianistic composer and Rachmaninoff more as a symphonist. Like when I play Rachmaninoff, I always imagine I'm playing a symphony orchestra or at least like he fought very symphonically, although he's a God pianist, right? He's my idol besides Horace, but for Chopin, that's where the soul of the piano comes through, the bel canto singing, and you know, it's just incredible what you can do with the sound in Chopin. That's always fascinating me because I know that us as a pianist, Pianist, to be able to avoid percussiveness of the instrument and make it sound like a human voice is the biggest compliment a pianist can get. So that's my goal when I play Chopin. Well, and the preludes are some of the most demanding pieces ever because somehow it's a collection, it's the Opus 28 of 24 preludes that he composed with in mind the 24 Preludes and Fugues by Bach. Everyone was admiring Bach. It was a reviving of his incredible mastering of the tonalities and the well-tempered clavier. And he just, you know, transfigured the form of the prelude in these little gems. And today we're gonna listen to two very special ones, the number 15 and the number 16, performed by our guest of Future Classic Women Awards, Svetlana Semo lina. And this was Chopin Prelude, Op. 28, Nos. 15 and 16, performed by our our guest, international concert pianist Svetlana Semolina. Um, Svetlana, um, you know, I have a, a very special question I always ask. So first of all, how did you decide— did you know when you were a child that you would become an international concert pianist? Were you dreaming about this, or it just happened? No, it came naturally to me. My mom is a theory professor And so she was in music, so I heard music, but she's not in the performance. So I had the instrument at home, and my mom used to take me after kindergarten to her school where I would hang out with, you know, the faculty. And I started playing instrument, you know, just by having fun and pressing keys. And she said, okay, you can try. But actually, she never told me like, do it seriously, oh, practice 6 hours a day. I never had that. So it came kind of naturally for me as I started playing concerts and winning some competitions. I also did a double major. I had, I went to a special science and math lyceum together with the music school. So I was very heavily into science as well and math, and I had good grades. So my professors loved me there and they they said, "Oh, you have to go to university with math," but no, like, as I was growing up, I understood that my heart is actually to share my music with the listeners, and that connection, that synergy you get on a concert is really incomparable, and I couldn't find that feeling anywhere else but while I was performing, so I knew in my mind that, you know, that's what I'm I wanted to all my life because it's just pure bliss to be on stage. Well, this is, you know, it's the first time I hear this, and that's exactly the reason why I became a concert pianist as well. I had this feeling that I had to share this passion for music. I had to share this, you know, incredible power that is music with the audience. And yeah, and that's exactly why I ended up being a concert pianist and not a music lawyer or a journalist or whatever else I was about to do as well. So that's beautiful. Now I'll ask you something else. What was the most exciting place you performed so far? Probably it's hard to pinpoint one. Probably Carnegie Hall was one of the venues. That's not too bad, I would say. Covent Garden here in London, I played once. Many, many European, Asian festivals. Yeah, so for me, every concert is actually special. I don't care whether it's a famous hall name or just venue. For me, I think, again, I I believe that our mission is to give you 150% when you are performing because you never know whose life it can change, you know. There could be a small kid coming to your concert and he would want to be a musician after that, or there would be a sad person in the hall and you can make him happy and smile after the concert. And I think that's the beauty of music. It's not about You know, where you play, it's about whom you're sharing with and what do people get after your recital. So I think that's a wonderful answer. Now I have a tricky one because, okay, we talk about the beauty of performing, the beauty of being on stage, etc. Now, is there any embarrassing moment of going on stage that you can share? Funny moment? I don't know, we had people forgetting The shoes, having the performance with sports shoes under the concert gown. I don't know, something like that. Or like going to the wrong date to the concert, you know, thinking, I don't know, many dates and then arriving the day wrong. Oh, God, so many things now come to my mind. I think it's not the most embarrassing, but I think most scary kind of moment on stage I ever had. We've had a— with my beloved Professor Alexander Torazzi, we run a Scrabbing Festival in New York. And we had this idea to run it with the lights, the Scrabbing lights. So I was playing Scrabbing B Minor Fantasy, Opus 28. And somehow the dress rehearsal, the lighting guy didn't come. He just told us, okay, you're gonna get that blue-violet light that you're gonna change into dark purple and etc. So, very Hurston the Piano but without lights. So, when I came on stage, it was really dark, like as your jacket. It was like kind of black stage. I was like, okay, I can find my piano. So I sat at the piano and I get this— Question: why are you dressed in black as well? No, I think I had a white dress. I had a white dress, but nobody could see it. So I get this really, really tiny light beam, which is dark purple color, on my keyboard. And it's so, it's so little light that I almost cannot distinguish white or black keys. So I'm like, okay, I start the fantasy. And then, you know, it starts quite easy and and it's not technically challenging yet, but then he goes into this crazy left-hand part where he was obsessed with, right, at that time. And I only realized that the light is not going to change. I was expecting to see a brighter light on my keyboard, and actually it never came. So I almost played that fantasy without seeing the piano. Thanks God, you know, I always followed the Svetoslav Richter advice you have to practice without lights just in case, you know, something happens with lighting, you can finish your concert. Oh my gosh, I've never done that. I'm gonna do it now. I mean, there was once upon a time, I remember this, this idea you had to play with a bandage on your eyes, you know, to see if you could just find your place without looking at it. And I remember I had— I was very lucky to meet a wonderful Professor who was blind, and he was borrowing me his piano in his studio so I could practice for a competition. I was on holiday, and he taught me, you know, he told me how he was teaching his students by putting his hand on top of them and slapping them when they were wrong. It was crazy. But yeah, I mean, you're right. Have you— so you, you really practice without the light? Yeah, I mean, I think I believe if you block the visual part, you will sense and hear everything much better. So I'm a very sensual person, so less visual, I would say. So, yeah. So another big question then, you know, I'm sure you might have nightmares like I do, and like all us pianists do, that is to forget. And there is now a wave of performing with the music, actually. So do you like performing with the music? It's difficult because sometimes, you know, you have too many notes and it's basically physically not possible to look at the music and look at your hands. But, you know, having the music there is sort of a safety net. Do you like that or not? I do not like to have music. I try to, even when I play chamber programs, I try to memorize the pieces. Even when I play with violin, or I won also 2 piano competitions in Miami, and I remember all 4 rounds, it was required by the competition to do by memory, which is quite challenging. And, but once you, like, break that moment where you can be free from the score, it's incredible how much more connection you can hear between the intervals and notes. So I think it's very liberating, actually, not to look at the score. So I always try to practice as much as I can or prepare as much as I can so I don't have to be connected with that visual— I think it's blocking in your mind. But, of course, if you play very contemporary stuff or like some contemporary, you know, chamber music, it's important to just to have it because God knows what happens to you or your partner. So at least you have some reference. But I once, I remember, I probably the hardest ever piece I played and I had to memorize was Shostakovich's First Sonata. It's really atonal. And I had 3 weeks to learn it. And I was shocked when I went the first few days to practice room and I was like, how the hell am I going to memorize this piece? And it's funny that I was reading about this piece and he was actually composing it while he was at the Chopin Competition where he got a diploma and a 6th prize, I believe. And he wrote this atonal Sonata, which is completely— was like a— he was like a rebel, in a rebel state of mind, to playing this melodious Chopin competition round. So actually that piece I memorized by intervals because it's impossible to— there is nothing logical in that piece. But actually you tell me you're very strong in mathematics, so I think that might help. Maybe that's the only time that math helped me in the Like literally, I could divide each voice and I memorized it by intervals because like some of the pages you see 3 lines instead of 2 lines on that sonata and it's a sonata. So that's very crazy. All right. So last part of, you know, we're already at the end. This time flies. So we're going to perform, we're going to play on our interview of Future Classical Women Awards. Your recording of Balakirev's Islamey. Now, this is considered one of the most difficult pieces, piano pieces ever written, so much that I think Ravel, he composed Scarbo from Gaspard de la Nuit inspired by Balakirev, wanted to do something, you know, even more difficult. So it is extremely difficult, but it's not as long as Islamey. Tell us a little bit, what's your relationship with this piece, and when you recorded, and what do you think about it? I was asked to learn actually this piece for a concert we did in Tel Aviv, which was kind of an interesting venue to play this piece first time. So I played— I actually don't find this piece technically challenging. I think it's It's very comfortably written in a way. Once you learn it, it stays in your hands. It's interesting, like some of the pieces by Schumann or Tchaikovsky or Prokofiev that I play, I completely forget. And it's like a blank list to start. But this piece kind of stays in your fingers. So I don't think once you get a certain level in your musical life, and you know how to deal with your instruments, this piece actually is not bad to play, and it's fun. And again, it's inspired by orchestral version. So, I— and of course, he composed it so quick because he fell in love with Caucasian region of Georgia where he went. So, it's in a way very inspirational, oriental, dance piece, and I think if you think about the beauty of the region and the women that he saw and all the dances that— and he had the king singing serenades for him when he was there. So if you think a little bit beyond what's technical in this piece, it's actually a very exciting piece to play, and I'm going to play it next month in from a recital in Brazil. I'm finishing my program with this and Carmen Fantasy. So I often like to put this piece as the last piece on the program. It always gets good welcoming to the encore. Wonderful. So let's finish our interview with this fantastic piece by Balakirev called Islamey, performed by Svetlana Semolina. How beautiful this was! Balakirev's Islamey performed by our students, by our performer, special guest of Future Classical Women Awards. Svetlana Semolina. If you have any questions that you would like to ask to our guest or nomination for our future Classic Women Awards, please email presenters@womensradiostation.com or tweet us @WomensRadioSDN. Again, a very big thanks to our guest Svetlana Semolina for the great chat and the beautiful music play today. Thank you so much, Stefania. I look forward to meet your students and hopefully teach soon for your Performing Academy. Ah, it will be wonderful. In the bubble, we're gonna have you back at Future Classic Women Awards, you know, when your project with Warner Bros comes out. We're very curious about that. You've been listening to Future Classic Women Awards on Women's Radio Station, live every day, 10 PM and 10 AM London time. And if you would like to listen to it again or catch up on our previous programs, you can head to my presenter's page. Stefania Passamonte, Future Classic Women Awards on womensradio.com. Thank you for listening.