Feb 27th 2024

Olga Jegunova interview: ‘Letting music do its magic’

by Michael Johnson

Michael Johnson is a music critic with particular interest in piano. 

Johnson worked as a reporter and editor in New York, Moscow, Paris and London over his journalism career. He covered European technology for Business Week for five years, and served nine years as chief editor of International Management magazine and was chief editor of the French technology weekly 01 Informatique. He also spent four years as Moscow correspondent of The Associated Press. He is the author of five books.

Michael Johnson is based in Bordeaux. Besides English and French he is also fluent in Russian.

You can order Michael Johnson's most recent book, a bilingual book, French and English, with drawings by Johnson:

“Portraitures and caricatures:  Conductors, Pianist, Composers”

 here.

 

Latvian-born pianist Olga Jegunova was uneasy about the big issues of the day – wars, climate change, anxiety, aggression – and decided to create an album to bring some calm back into modern life. She writes in her booklet for the CD “Slow”(Prima Classic, Prima029) “I invite you to SLOW down and allow music to do its magic.”

Her selection of introspective pieces begins with familiar airs of Liszt, Bach, Satie, and Pärt, but with some delightful surprises, namely Giya Kancheli’s “King Lear”. She then swings into contemporary works, some of which she commissioned for this CD. The contrasts are stylistically diverse but not jolting.

Olga’s sensitivity as an artist is as evident in her choice of repertoire as in her delicate interpretations. In this clip, she performs 

Pēteris Vask's White Scenery (Bālta ainava) at Salle Cortot, Paris:

“Russian traditions are so important to me” she said in our interview. Yet she has not tackled Russian repertoire yet. “I need to be ready, to be mature enough and skilled enough,” she said. “Furthermore, I don’t really have the identity” because of her interational training and now her lifestyle, first settling with her family in London and now living in the south of France.

Beginning her studies in her native Latvia, she earned a master’s degree at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hamburg, then studied at the Royal School of Music in London and the British Royal Northern Colllege of Music. Following an intense program of training, she launched the charity Open Music Foundation, which aims to support talented music students of any age and ability. Today she describes herself as both a concert pianist and an organizer of educational projects and  philanthropic work.

In a long telephone interview, she explained the origins of her new CD and her own growth as an artist.

 

Question. Do you come from a musical family?

Answer. There was a lot of music in my family beginning from childhood. My mother had a career as a professional pianist and later became one of the best piano teachers in Latvia. My grandfather was an amateur musician.

Q. How did your mother influence you?

A. She combined games and piano playing and I didn’t see where she was going with this. In the end, I realized she had seriously trapped me into piano (laughs). Now with my own two children, I try the same approach but it’s quite difficult to be in entertainment mode when you have to deal with serious matters like rhythm and dynamics.

olga 3
Olga Jegunova, photo by Tatjana Vlasova

Q. Your new album “Slow” seems well-conceived for this time in history – dealing with all the turbulence surrounding us. I believe you are the first pianist to look at the world and say “Stop”.

A. I did not set out to be first, but it’s true, with this music I invite people to slow down, breathe out, contemplate, and simply be more present in the moment.

Q. What was your thinking behind these twelve related pieces?

A. It was a very intuitive decision. I had so many questions in mind. Are we doing the right thing? Are we making the right decisions? Are the decisions born out of compassion, love or narcissistic selfishness and anger? My album may not be so much a statement as a question mark.

Q. Some pianophiles say the CD could be useful for meditation, therapy or even healing.

A. Indeed, that is the kind of feedback I am getting. But this music doesn’t belong to me any more, therefore I cannot label it with any purpose. It has taken on a life of its own. I can’t say how it affects the life of other people. Will it be therapeutic or will it have another effect? Time will tell.

Q. You open your CD with a short piece from Giya Kancheli’s “King Lear”. What attracted you?

A. I met Kancheli in London and found him preoccupied with the chaos in the world. We talked about war, humanity and the mission of music. He was suffering, and I felt his pain. And when I heard his “King Lear” piano composition, I heard a moment of love, of sunshine and hope.

Q. Did you build your SLOW album on Kancheli’s thoughts, his attitude?

A. It’s possible. But he was very pessimistic, very concerned about the political and social situations. Being the mother of two young children, being an artist, I simply cannot afford to see the world through this dark prism. I cultivate a discipline of happiness. It's very important not to dive into darkness, into pessimism.

Q. Are you the kind of pianist whose interpretations are intuitive, or do you mark up every measure and analyze every phrase to death?

A. It is both. The very first impression of a piece, the very first acquaintance with the music, is rather intuitive, then the work begins. I weigh every phrase, every nuance, every rubato until the composition becomes part of me. Once the structure is built, the text read and analyzed, I allow the intuition to help me shape the interpretation. So it is very much a three-part approach: intuition, analysis and intuition again.

Q. Are you still working with a teacher?

A. Not on this project. This is the first time ever I have not relied on anyone else. It is done by me, apart from the music and composers. It was difficult; it took courage, to trust my own judgement while not afraid to be judged.  Finally I am very happy I did it on my own. It’s like a live performance. No editing. You can hear small sounds in the background, even the pedal movements, breathing, my presence.

Q. You are very controlled at the keyboard. You do not throw yourself around, wag your head or bounce on the piano bench. You do not wear miniskirts or seven-inch heels.

A. I could, but then my focus of attention would shift slightly. And that’s not the purpose of my work. If you are hinting at Yuja Wang, don’t expect criticism. I celebrate her talent, her courage. She can do whatever she wants. Let’s not look too much at the packaging, let’s look inside. Remember Antoine de Saint Exupéry, who said, “It is only with the heart that one can see clearly. What is essential is invisible to the eye.” I would only add that the essential can also be heard in the music.

Q. Do you work closely with any living composers? Luca Tieppo dedicated his Meditations to you. Did you commission that piece and work with him to get into finished form?

A. Yes. The last piece on the CD, A Salty Breeze Over the Reeds by Raphael Lucas, is also a commission for the CD. I am already working on a new album and will be collaborating with more living composers. I find it so interesting to see how they work and how they “hear” our world.

Q. Where did your Brian Field connection come from?

A. The Field piece near the end was also a commission. The American composer Brian Field reached out and encouraged me to play his second movement of his piano cycle Three Passions of the tortured planet, called Glaciers. The name speaks for itself. We talked about climate change.

Q. You show no sign of exploiting your Russian heritage. Have you completely Anglicized yourself?

A. What do you mean by Russian heritage?

Q. There are many attempts to define our differences but generally we in the West seem to want to separate the Russian School as a different sound -- bigger, louder.

A. I completely disagree. It’s such a misconception of the Russian School and Russian music. I am incredibly proud to be a representative of this so-called Russian school. Of course when I was growing up in Latvia I was exposed to Russian teachers. I went to Moscow for master classes and many Russian teachers came to Latvia. Russian traditions in classical music are so important to me.

Q. What about the important names of Russian pianists over the past 150 years?

A. If you listen to recordings by Yudina, by Sofronitzky and  Gilels, you will see the finesse, the delicacy of the sound, the voicing, the structure, the phrasing are so important. And respect for the text of the composer, of course. This is what I call the Russian School. “Loud and fast” is not about the nationality. It must be related to certain personal insecurities.

Q. What stops you from including Russian composers in your repertoire?

A. I feel I am not yet ready to record Russian music but I certainly will come to it one day. I need to find a space within me to resonate. I need to be ready, to be mature enough and skilled enough. Furthermore, I don’t really have the identity. I have lived and worked in Latvia, in Germany, in England, in France. I don’t really know who I am. I still need to find my repertoire, my composers – myself, really.

 

END

 


This article is brought to you by the author who owns the copyright to the text.

Should you want to support the author’s creative work you can use the PayPal “Donate” button below.

Your donation is a transaction between you and the author. The proceeds go directly to the author’s PayPal account in full less PayPal’s commission.

Facts & Arts neither receives information about you, nor of your donation, nor does Facts & Arts receive a commission.

Facts & Arts does not pay the author, nor takes paid by the author, for the posting of the author's material on Facts & Arts. Facts & Arts finances its operations by selling advertising space.

 

 

Browse articles by author

More Music Reviews

Nov 13th 2024
EXTRACT: "It was British composer Michael Nyman who in the late 1960s coined the term musical minimalism, the application of limited materials borrowed from ideas of modern architecture, literature and improvisational performance. Today, thanks to John Cage, Philip Glass, Terry Riley, Steve Reich, La Monte Young and others, musical minimalism has found a secure place among composers and performers. Defining it is a slippery exercise, however, as it means different styles to different musicians. I nominate Cage as the ultimate simplifier."
Oct 7th 2024
EXTRACT: "Oppens stands apart from today’s keyboard virtuosos by her four decades of discovering and commissioning new works. These contributions to the repertory ensure her a permanent place in pantheon of modern music. But she is also recognized as a powerful performer who tackles the thorniest of new pieces. As she said in our interview, she remembers hearing the difficult works of Julian Hemphill for the first time and thinking 'This is for me!'  Composers who have been commissioned by her or who have written works for her include such leading lights as Frederic Rzewski, William Bolcom, Elliott Carter, John Corigliano, John Harbison, Julius Hemphill, Peter Lieberson, Conlon Nancarrow, Tobias Picker, Christian Wolff  and Charles Wuorinen.”
Jul 5th 2024
EXTRACTS: "The Conservative Party, which was finally pronounced dead from multiple unnatural causes on July 5 2024, was born in 1832." ---- " Strange as it might now appear, the party was once very popular and respected, even by its opponents. Educated at Eton and Oxford, it established a reputation for governing competence which allowed it to bounce back from serious setbacks, notably the landslide Labour victory of 1945." ---- "The end of the cold war debunked the notion that the Conservatives had restored Britain’s former global status. Unwilling to acknowledge their country’s subservience to the United States, the party’s dominant nationalist faction could now only rage against reality by identifying the European Union, and post-war immigration, as the twin culprits for the depletion of British political influence and cultural uniformity." ---- "The Conservative party has presented a sorry spectacle to sympathetic observers in its undignified post-Brexit dying days. It became prone to hallucinations, first believing that Boris Johnson could be a successful prime minister then replacing him with Liz Truss."
Jun 17th 2024
EXTRACT: "Question: Isn’t piano study a big problem in the USA, with all the electronic games and distractions from music lessons? ---- Answer: The problem is also in Europe. We have lost a lot of quality, in terms of knowledge behind the music. The schools do not make the transmission from the composers to us. We owe that to the composers. And it’s very sad because now we focus on goals and competition, and competition does not go well with art.
Jun 9th 2024
EXTRACT: "Question: Isn’t it true, as the musicologist Kyle Gann says, that one cannot judge immediately what’s good or bad in contemporary music? We must wait 20 years. Answer: Yes, look at Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring”. It caused a scandal. It was booed and rejected by everyone. Now it’s standard in the concert hall. In jazz, I think it’s not 20 years, but more like 50 years before we know what has worked or not. One has to step back and reflect on whether we have brought something new."
Mar 9th 2024
EXTRACT: "In a way, every experience you have, every book you read, every movie you watch, every place you visit, every encounter you have, every moment you spend with friends or family, they leave a mark on you and direct you indirectly and therefore leave their mark on your playing.", says Boris Giltburg in Michael Johnson's and Frances Wilson's new book 'Lifting the Lid: Interviews with Concert Pianists', now available on Amazon.
Feb 27th 2024
EXTRACT: "Question: Some pianophiles say the CD could be useful for meditation, therapy or even healing. ---- Answer: Indeed, that is the kind of feedback I am getting. But this music doesn’t belong to me any more, therefore I cannot label it with any purpose. It has taken on a life of its own. I can’t say how it affects the life of other people. Will it be therapeutic or will it have another effect? Time will tell."
Dec 4th 2023
EXTRACT: "Seated in a quiet corner of a Bordeaux hotel last week, we had an interview – more a casual chat – about her life, her Soviet Russian origins, her career, her future."
Nov 27th 2023
EXTRACT: "Schiff creates an atmosphere that we 'seniors' remember from the old days. No clowning, no bouncing on the bench, no outlandish clothing. He dresses in a black smock, black trousers, black shoes, topped off with a mane of pure white hair. His manners, his grateful bowing, are très Old Europe. ---- Schiff keeps control of his two hours onstage. He believes that dignity goes with the great music on the program and he scarcely moves as he plays."
Nov 19th 2023
EXTRACT: "  Boston-based guitarist, band leader and composer Phil Sargent is not about churning out endless CDs. In fact his ten-year recording gap, just ended, had his fans wondering where he was. But in New York and Boston, he tells me, he has never stopped working with other groups while composing and actively teaching young and mature talent. Although not always visible, he seems to be a confirmed workaholic, even practicing five hours a day. Yes, virtuosos also need to practice. ---- And now he is back. His new CD, 'Sons'....."
Nov 19th 2023
EXTRACT: "There is a renewed fascination with the memory-stimulating and healing powers of music. This resurgence can primarily be attributed to recent breakthroughs in neuroscientific research, which have substantiated music’s therapeutic properties such as emotional regulation and brain re-engagement. This has led to a growing integration of music therapy with conventional mental health treatments."
Sep 28th 2023
EXTRACT: "British psychotherapist, Michael Lawson, who has worked with several prodigies and former prodigies, calculates there may be as many as 200,000 piano prodigies active in the world today. “In a sense, they are not that rare,” he says in our interview below. Lawson is author of International Acclaim: The Steinfeld Legacy a new novel of the great pianists of the 19th and early 20th centuries in which the prodigy phenomenon is described in some detail."
Sep 17th 2023
EXTRACT: "Like so many stories about relationships told over an extended time, Past Lives uncovers the twists and turns, the “what ifs” and the manifold choices that lead to two people wondering whether they were meant to be together."
Sep 12th 2023
EXTRACT: " OrpheusPDX, a new company founded by Christopher Mattaliano in Portland, Oregon, concluded its second season with a brilliant and thought-provoking production of Nico Muhly’s “Dark Sisters,” at Lincoln Hall (August 24), exploring and exposing relationships in a polygamous sect and the courage of one sister-wife to leave it. With Stephen Karam’s libretto inspired by memoirs of women who have left the FLDS (Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints) and the 2008 raid of the YFZ Ranch by the FBI, “Dark Sisters” was delivered with spot-on directing by Kristine McIntyre and riveting performances by an exceptional cast."
Aug 30th 2023
EXTRACT: "Wagner’s operas are well known to be budget busters, and lack of funds is probably one of the main reasons that Seattle Opera has not mounted the Ring Cycle in since 2013. After Speight Jenkins retired from his post as General Director in 2014, the company delivered The Flying Dutchman (2016) and Tristan und Isolde (2022), the latter under its current General Director, Christina Scheppelmann. Now starting its 60th season, Seattle Opera celebrated with Das Rheingold, but that can be seen as a bittersweet moment since Scheppelmann is moving on to take over La Monnaie/De Munt in Brussels at the end of the 2023-2024 season."
Jul 6th 2023
EXTRACT: " More than a hundred recordings have been made of his suite of 14 light pieces he called “The Carnival of the Animals”, and a range of his other works remain in the standard repertoire."
Jun 18th 2023
EXTRACT: "Conservatories and university music departments are filling up with fee-paying Asians as their parents pressure them to succeed in the West. Piano competitions around the world, now numbering about 800, are open to this new wave of Asian players. They are winning top prizes and they are building careers in Europe and the U.S.  Too often, according to some teachers, young Americans prefer computer games, the latest movies, rock bands, sports, or other less-demanding activities. The Asians are happy to fill the vacuum."
May 30th 2023
EXTRACT: "Three of Europe’s longtime leaders in contemporary jazz, now in their senior years, have just launched a CD of twelve  pieces that shows what a lifetime of sharing ideas in music can really produce." “New Stories” (Frémeaux et Associés) by the French trio of pianist and composer Hervé Sellin, bassist Jean-Paul Celea and drummer Daniel Humair is remarkable for improvisations so synchronized that the listener can feel the music come together from three angles in real time. The tracks were mostly composed or improvised by Sellin."
Mar 28th 2023
EXTRACT: "The young ex-dancer from Italy first burst upon the piano scene three years ago with 20 of her hand-picked Scarlatti sonatas. Now comes her second CD (Academy Classical Music) even more original and powerful, performing six of Baldassare Galuppi’s 18th century sonatas. Margherita Torretta‘s early training as a dancer gives her playing a swaying, graceful air while she maintains Alberti bass for control of the rhythm, momentum and especially continuity. Her ornamentation is boosted with some of her own improvisations, producing a fresher feel. It’s a magic combination."
Mar 24th 2023
EXTRACT: "Driven by a sense of mission and determination over several years, French pianist Lydia Jardon has completed a rare cycle of nine piano sonatas by Nikolai Miaskovsky. Her new CD  of numbers 6, 7 and 8 completes the task and offers a particularly rich sample of Russian experience in the worst of times. Miaskovsky may be only vaguely remembered today but he was a leader in the Soviet music world until the end of World War II. He left a wide range of engaging sonatas that have been brought back to life by Mme. Jardon on her own label AR Ré-Sé (AR 2022-1)."