Beloved Friend

This fall, Russian-born conductor Semyon Bychkov inaugurated a multi-season, international project devoted to Tchaikovsky, Beloved Friend. It began with a concert series with the BBC Symphony in October, and will continue with the NY Philharmonic’s three-week festival, “Beloved Friend: Tchaikovsky and His World,” in January and February of next year. In September, Russian Life Editor Paul Richardson caught up with Bychkov via Skype, at his home in France.

How long have you been conducting. Is it over 40 years now?

It is longer than that. I am over 60 now, and began conducting at 17, with the choir in Leningrad.

And how many times in those 40+ years would you say you have conducted Tchaikovsky?

He has been a presence throughout all those many years.

So we can just say a lot, then?

Yes, many times.

And what brought you “back” to Tchaikovsky with this Beloved Friend project?

It was a coming together of many things. First there was a request to conduct Tchaikovsky in New York… then the request to record the full cycle of his symphonies [with Decca]… and then I wanted to conduct this with the BBC… So it all sort of came together.

It’s like that sometimes in the arts…

Yes, when it rains, it pours.

Why is it you feel that Tchaikovsky resonates so well with Americans?

I recently read that someone did a study and found that Tchaikovsky was one of the three most performed composers in the states. Why? Well because I think that Americans are no more immune to beauty than anyone else.

Do you ever tire of conducting him?

Of course not. He has been a part of my life since I started my music career, and he has never ceased to be a source of extraordinary feelings.

What makes his music so much loved is the sincerity of it and the breadth of expression. The music speaks to everyone’s heart, because of its melodic gift, but not only that, because it is so full of drama and energy. It will touch people regardless of what they know about Tchaikovsky. It is very immediate and accessible to everyone.

Of course, there is always the danger that, because something is “popular,” it is not of the greatest quality… But that is certainly not the case with Tchaikovsky, because while his melodies are memorable and beautiful, that is not the only thing that is important. It is his capacity to write music that sounds simple but is not. One could compare it with Mozart.

So where are the Tchaikovskys and Mozarts of today?

They are out there. Some of them are there but we just don’t know them yet. Sometimes it takes mankind time to recognize them.

As someone who left the USSR because it limited your artistic expression, and who now travels back there often, how do you feel current crackdowns are affecting classical music? Or are they at all?

The classical world can never be immune to the life of society, because it is a part of it. Music is dependent upon how people live; it is very much a reflection of society. In Russia, music has historically been subsidized, and thus it can never be truly independent… Because if you depend on something, there will always be limitations – we know that from history. Today it is no different.

Yet every time I find myself in Russia, I am continually amazed that the country is so talented and so sensitive to art. No politics can ever take that away from people.

And, of course, when you have this great legacy and this great artistic tradition, it is something that will stay well beyond the life of any particular generation. It will continue as long as mankind exists. Music is something which has a permanent, lasting value. And that is the miracle of the art itself.