Alexander Paley, Irina Chukovskaya, Alexander Slobodnyak, Ivo Pogorelich, Lukas Geniusas... these and many other wonderful pianists had one mentor - Vera Vasilievna Gornostaeva.
The creative destiny of Vera Vasilievna is unusual. She was born into an intelligent family in the capital and showed musical abilities early. Her first teacher was her mother, a pianist teacher and conservatory graduate. Carefully following her daughter's musical development, she noticed the girl's extraordinary talent, and at the age of seven, Vera began studying at the Central Music School at the Moscow Conservatory in the class of Ekaterina Klavdievna Nikolaeva. After graduating from school, she became a student at the Moscow Conservatory, where her mentor was Heinrich Neuhaus. The famous pianist appreciated the student’s talent, calling her “a unique treasure.” In 1950, Vera won an international performing competition in Prague... It would seem that what would follow was a brilliant career as a virtuoso concert pianist. But Vera Gornostaeva makes a different decision.
Even during her postgraduate years, Gornostaeva began teaching. In the first year she worked at a music school, which was located in the Sverdlovsk district of the capital. Over the next five years, Gornostaeva taught at the Institute. Gnesins, after which she came to the Moscow Conservatory. She taught at this educational institution all her life. Even when Vera Vasilievna became a famous teacher and could work in any of the best music educational institutions in the world, she did not want to part with the Moscow Conservatory.
From the very beginning of her teaching career, which lasted more than six decades, Gornostaeva established herself as a wise mentor, capable of discerning the development prospects of any student. Each work that a particular student mastered was interpreted creatively. Not all of her students became laureates of international competitions (after all, a teacher - even as talented as Gornostaeva - cannot compensate for what nature did not provide) - but they became excellent teachers, researchers, and performers. As for the students’ competitive victories, for Gornostaeva they were never an end in themselves - moreover, Vera Vasilievna was convinced that they were not always beneficial. For example, when her student, seventeen-year-old Eteri Andzhaparidze, won fourth prize at the International Competition. P.I. Tchaikovsky, Vera Vasilievna considered this result prohibitively high: “ Success must come in its own time, she said. – After all, this is a very powerful remedy.».
The main thing she warned young musicians against was the danger of “isolating themselves” within the confines of their craft, concentrating on achieving nearby goals. This was not a threat to Vera Vasilievna herself - she always showed herself to be an active, multi-talented person with a wide range of interests, and teaching is only a part of her creative life, although a very important one.
There is an opinion among musicians that a person who devotes himself to teaching immediately after graduating from a university is doomed to “die” as a concert musician - after all, to maintain his performing form, classes are necessary, for which a person who is completely “devoted” to teaching has neither time nor strength (for this reason, musicians either combine teaching and performing activities, or begin teaching after they leave the stage). The fate of Vera Gornostaeva is a brilliant refutation of this stereotype. She never contrasted teaching and performing - on the contrary, she believed that working with students (especially gifted ones) gives a lot to a musician. After a few years of teaching, she felt that she had something to say to the public, and from the second half of the 1960s. She begins active concert activity.
Gornostaeva the pianist captivated the audience not with a demonstration of virtuosity or even passion, but with the intelligence of her performance, the depth and sophistication of each interpretation. Much attention from the public was attracted by her monographic concerts dedicated to the work of and, combined programs that included works by and other composers.
Vera Gornostaeva's activities were not limited to teaching and performing. She had literary talent. Newspapers and magazines published her essays about contemporary musicians, as well as articles on current topics: “A man graduated from a conservatory,” “Does the director of a philharmonic society love music?”, “Reflections at the concert hall.” Vera Vasilyevna also showed herself as a TV presenter - she hosted the music programs “Introducing the Young” and “Open Piano”.
Gornostaeva’s pedagogical talent was appreciated abroad. Her master classes were held in various countries, and in Japan they were even broadcast on television.
Vera Gornostaeva continued her teaching activities until her death in 2015.
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On October 1, 2014, on International Music Day, pianist, professor and head of the department of special piano at the Moscow Conservatory, People's Artist of the RSFSR Vera Vasilievna Gornostaeva turns 85 years old.
On the eve of the anniversary, Nadezhda Afanasyeva spoke with the legend of Russian performing arts.
Dead night. The wilderness of the Soviet Union, evacuation, 1943. The chords of Rachmaninov's Second Concerto sound. This is a radio recording - played by the author himself, who died thousands of kilometers from his homeland a few hours ago. The broadcast of a semi-banned author is a curiosity; he is officially hounded in the press. A fourteen-year-old girl stands barefoot on the floor with headphones on and sobs. When she is soon caught by the teacher who woke up at the wrong time and punished for breaking the rules, the girl vows to perform the Second Concerto upon graduation from the Conservatory.
And everything will come true. After 9 years, the work of his entire life will be heard within the walls that applauded Sergei Vasilyevich. The matured girl Vera Gornostaeva will sit at the piano; in the future she will be a great pianist, professor, head of the department of special piano at the Moscow Conservatory and People's Artist of the RSFSR. On October 1 she celebrates her 85th birthday.
A hundred-year dynasty based on the love of music and Rachmaninov
“He was like family,” Vera Vasilievna begins the story, sitting in a comfortable chair in her spacious apartment in the center of Moscow.
Her mother entered the best music university in the Russian Empire two years before the famous composer emigrated. Often encountering the brilliant man in the corridors, she idolized him. She didn’t miss a single concert, getting tickets by any means necessary.
“One winter day, my mother fell and slipped on the street. A tall man, a long fur coat, and a beaver hat helped him stand up. It was Sergei Vasilievich. Shock! Not believing her eyes, my mother looked at him until she realized what was embarrassing the musician. The most ordinary dialogue took place - were you hurt badly, do you need help, walk more carefully.
But how much has been said about this small, memorable event in the soon-to-be-formed Gornostaev family! Vera Vasilievna's dad, with Ryazan roots, madly loved music, met his neighbor - Vera Vasilievna's mother, a talented Armenian pianist, whose home lessons he so enjoyed listening to.
– Almost 100 years ago, my mother crossed the threshold of the Moscow Conservatory, becoming its student. Following her, I, then my daughter, then my grandson... In 2016, our dynasty will mark 100 years within the walls of the Moscow Conservatory, explains Vera Gornostaeva. – My mother was a famous children’s teacher, I connected my life with performing and teaching, my daughter Ksenia Knorre is a piano teacher at the Conservatory, she has many students in her class. But my grandson Lukas Geniušas has had the greatest career of all of us.
“Live to work, not work to live”
Several years of honing her skills with the strict Heinrich Neuhaus, several years of adjusting her taste at the performances of eminent virtuosos Sofronitsky, Yudina, Grinberg, Gilels and Richter, in which young Vera Gornostaeva ran with her friends... At the age of 19 she was already a laureate of a competition in Prague. At 20 he starts touring.
“There were few competitions then, and few winners,” she says. - It was easier to get through. I worked in the Soviet empire. After the victory, I was included in the systems that organized concerts for me in all republics of the USSR and dozens of Russian cities. They were only not allowed to go abroad.
Vera Vasilievna can only guess about why the pianist was declared prohibited from traveling abroad after her visits to Norway and Italy.
“First of all, I didn’t hide my disagreement with the regime,” she says. “It’s surprising why I didn’t go to a concentration camp.” If there was a search in my apartment, there would be an immediate arrest. It's full of prohibited literature! Secondly, I attended church. Thirdly, my daughter married Gidon Kremer. Today he is a celebrity. Then - at first he was restricted from traveling, and then - prohibited from entering, when he accepted German citizenship. Were you afraid of my emigration? But I had no intention of leaving the country. My husband Yura Libhaber and I are devoted to Russia. Nobody understood this.
Even after traveling abroad in 1990 and working abroad for more than two decades, Vera Vasilievna prefers Russia to her.
– I criticize the Motherland when I live here, I have the right, everything that happens to it affects me. But to curse my country in front of me? No, I'm getting annoyed.
At the age of 60, Vera Gornostaeva stopped playing the piano.
“That’s enough,” she shrugs.
During her life, she starred in 67 television programs, raised and continues to educate a galaxy of talented artists. There are 15 people in her class. One or two are released annually.
– Now I work to the fullest for the sake of my love for the piano and pedagogy. It's exciting. You can't do without love. A performer who dreams only of material wealth is not an artist. You have to live to work, not work to live. I'm happy. And you?
There can never be too many pianists
“One cultural official told me that we have too many pianists. This is what those who do not understand the meaning of our calling think,” Vera Vasilievna is indignant. – Pianists are teachers of music schools and colleges. These are accompanists needed in any class of school, college and conservatory. Pianist is the most in-demand musical profession! Are there too many of us? No, we find a use for ourselves.
A bad pianist who doesn't dream of becoming Richter
– Young people entering the conservatory dream of a great artistic career – like Richter and Gilels. This is impossible,” Vera Vasilyevna sighs, “such talents are rarely born.”
A chance for a turnaround in a performer’s fate is a victory at one of the four most prestigious competitions in the piano world.
“This is the so-called square - named after Chopin in Warsaw, named after Tchaikovsky in Moscow, named after Queen Elizabeth in Brussels, named after Van Cliburn in Texas,” the teacher bends his fingers.
Those who were unable to become leaders adapt to life in another profession.
“A real musician cannot live without his instrument”
– A pianist must love his profession so much that it is a necessity. He must be a workaholic. A real musician cannot live without practicing his instrument,” Vera Gornostaeva’s gaze involuntarily rushes to the coal piano, which is watching her from the center of the room.
– Professionals become those who put in enormous strength and energy, as my teacher said – man-hours at the instrument.
An integral part of an artist is a powerful character, believes Vera Vasilievna.
– You can’t do without the talent to learn – real receptivity, understanding.
A musician’s career also depends on determination, the ability to adapt, and make connections.
“I don’t really respect these qualities,” the professor frowns.
The Moscow Conservatory lives
“This is still the best music university in the country,” Vera Vasilievna is sure.
Comparisons with foreign establishments are only a plus for her.
“Once in New York I walked into the Juilliard School building. Architectural nothingness, Cheryomushki! The Moscow Conservatory is a miracle. The divine oval of the Great Hall, the oval stage, the amphitheater, oval portraits, the oval courtyard, even the fence around Pyotr Ilyich is oval. Beauty! 4 concert halls, each better than the other. When I was a little girl walking past the Conservatory at the Central Music School, the chords of Rachmaninov’s First Concerto fell on me from the windows. I involuntarily slowed down and listened. I was eager to get there...
Time flies, regimes change, people die and are born. But real music and real musicians are eternal. Congratulations to Vera Vasilyevna Gornostaeva on her anniversary.
The fate of one of the greatest pianists of Russia, Vera Vasilievna Gornostaeva, was predetermined from birth. Born on International Music Day, she devoted her entire life to this beautiful art form. Today, when Vera Vasilievna is no longer alive, I would like to remember her biography once again.
Childhood and youth
Vera Gornostaeva was born in Moscow on October 1, 1929 in the family of a pianist and economic engineer. When the girl was 7 years old, her parents sent her to a music school opened on the basis of the Moscow Conservatory. The girl’s teacher was E. Nikolaeva. After graduating (in 1947) from music school, young Vera entered the Moscow Conservatory in the class of the outstanding pianist Heinrich Neuhaus. The student so impressed her teacher with her talent that he always spoke of her as a “unique treasure.” After graduating from the conservatory, Vera Vasilievna entered graduate school, where she studied from 1952 to 1955.
Career
The renowned pianist chose teaching over concert work. Her first place of work was the Children's Music School, located in the Sverdlovsk district of the capital. Here she worked for a year after graduating from the conservatory (from 1952 to 1953). This was followed by teaching activity at the Musical Pedagogical Institute named after. Gnesins, in which Vera Vasilievna Gornostaeva taught students to play the piano for five years.
Already in those days, her colleagues noted that the young woman had a broad outlook, allowing her to see the prospects for the development of talent in each individual student. She was predicted to be one of the best music teachers in the country, and she lived up to this expectation. Over more than 60 years of teaching, the woman has trained many talented pianists, including Marat Gubaidullin, Ivo Pogorelich, Pavel Egorov, Irina Chukovskaya, etc.
In 1959, Vera Gornostaeva, whose biography is discussed in this publication, came to work at the department of special piano at her alma mater - the Moscow Conservatory. In addition to her, her mother also once studied at this educational institution. From this moment until the end of her life, the pianist’s teaching activities will take place within the walls of this educational institution. In 1963, Vera Vasilievna became her associate professor, and after another 6 years (in 1969) - a professor.
National recognition
Gornostaeva traveled to many countries around the world with her master classes, and everywhere they were a great success. Her name was well known in Germany, Great Britain, Switzerland, France, USA, and Italy. In Japan, the pianist's lessons were even broadcast on national television, and a book was written about her.
Gornostaeva’s teaching methods were so progressive that the woman was offered work in the best music universities on the planet. But Vera Vasilievna categorically refused to leave the educational institution that had become her home. She declared that she would never leave the conservatory, along whose corridors such great Russian composers as Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov and Scriabin walked.
Concert, television and publishing activities
In 1953, Gornostaeva’s first big performance took place in the concert hall of the Moscow Conservatory. After 2 years, Vera Vasilievna was hired as a soloist of the Mosconcert. In 1956, the talented pianist became a laureate and winner of the 2nd prize at the International Competition held in Prague. Since 1988, Gornostaeva has been a soloist of the capital's Academic Philharmonic. In the same year she was awarded the title of People's Artist of the RSFSR.
In the Soviet Union, Vera Vasilievna Gornostaeva was known not only as a pianist and teacher, but also as a TV presenter. She hosted the “Open Piano” program, dedicated to classical music. In it, a woman played classical works and told the audience about the composers. In addition, Gornostaeva owns many publications about famous musicians: S. Richter, M. Pletnev, as well as her favorite teacher G. Neuhaus. In 1991, she published a book called 2 Hours After the Concert.
Personal life
Vera Gornostaeva was married to physicist Vadim Knorre (son of the famous Soviet scientist and writer Georgy Knorre). Married to him in 1953, she had a daughter, Ksenia, who followed in her mother’s footsteps and became a famous pianist. Vera Vasilievna has two adult grandchildren: (famous actress and television presenter) and Lukas Geniusas (musician).
Last months of life and death
In October 2014, the solemn parade-festival “Relay of Faith”, dedicated to the 85th anniversary of Gornostaeva, was held at the Moscow Conservatory. The famous pianist was congratulated on her anniversary by her famous students. The rector of the conservatory, A. Sokolov, read out telegrams addressed to her from Prime Minister D. Medvedev and Moscow Mayor S. Sobyanin. Vera Gornostaeva shone on stage and showed with all her appearance that she was ready to continue working fruitfully, but on January 19, 2015 she passed away. The news about this was reported to reporters by Ksenia Knorre the next day.
The famous pianist died in the intensive care unit of a Moscow clinic, where she was taken 3 weeks before her death. Before that, she felt well and was engaged in social and teaching activities. The cause of Vera Gornostaeva’s death was never officially announced. The outstanding pianist and teacher was buried in Moscow at the Danilovsky cemetery.
Having opened the ninth issue of the magazine “Musical Life” for 1986, you can read there a review of Vera Gornostaeva’s unusual Chopin evening in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory: “One of the trends that has emerged over the past five to ten years in the concert genre speaks more and more insistently of , that the time of "pure" performance is passing and that proof of the legitimacy of this or that fact of performance is required. After all, how many - not even works - entire "creations" are waiting to be cleansed not from the dust of centuries, but from frequent use! The biography of a work, the biography of a style becomes a necessary condition for performance. And here V. Gornostaeva, having chosen the form of the concert, which she herself tested in television conversations about music, turns out to be unconventional. Perhaps the word of the solo pianist was heard for the first time in this hall... And it must be said that this unusual synthetic genre turned out to be unusually organic. As, indeed, was the program, which included all three Chopin sonatas. The pianist’s opening “monologue” was especially sensitive to the music and true in tone. It was thanks to the word that came at the beginning that the listener was involved in the atmosphere of Chopin’s art even before the performer touched the instrument. The following comments from the pianist - she addressed the audience three times - made me remember Professor Gornostaeva’s open lessons in the conservatory class. After all, those who know know how rich these lessons are in artistic associations!”
Artistic destinies develop differently. For most famous pianists, their concert career precedes their teaching career, or at least they develop in parallel. But with Gornostaeva it’s almost the opposite. In 1952, she graduated from the Moscow Conservatory in the class of G. G. Neuhaus and until 1955 she studied in graduate school here. And it just so happened that her teaching work began immediately after graduate school: first at the Gnessin Institute (1955-1959), and then at the Moscow Conservatory. But this is not an exception yet. Another thing is important: Gornostaeva extremely quickly established herself as a first-class educator of young pianists. In 1963 she received the title of associate professor, in 1971 - professor. The list of her laureate students opens with A. Slobodyanik; then S. Kruchin, E. Tatulyan, P. Egorov, D. Ioffe, E. Andzhaparidze, M. Ermolaev joined him.
As you can see, pedagogy to a certain extent distracted Gornostaeva from the concert stage. She began to actively perform (at least in Moscow) only in the second half of the 60s. Her meaningful clavierabends, be they monographic Chopin and Brahms concertos or combined programs from works by Schumann (the pianist turns to him especially often), Beethoven, Schubert, Mussorgsky, Scriabin, Prokofiev, Shostakovich, as a rule, attract the attention of the musical community. This is how G. Tsypin evaluates the artist’s art: “Gornostaeva the pianist... it’s not difficult to “hear” her mind. He is everywhere, his reflection is on everything. She undoubtedly owes him the best in her performance. First of all, when interpreting music, it comes from the main thing - the figurative and poetic concept of the work, from what is hidden behind the musical text.
She has a great sense of the laws of musical performance expressiveness - having thoroughly studied the piano, she knows what can be achieved on it and how to do it. Just take a closer look at how skillfully she uses her data. You never know how many colleagues she has who are only partially, to one degree or another, realizing what nature has given them! Gornostaeva reveals her performing abilities almost one hundred percent - a sign of both strong characters and (most importantly!) extraordinary minds. This originality of thinking and its high professional class are especially felt in the best numbers of the pianist’s repertoire - mazurkas and waltzes, ballads and sonatas by Chopin, rhapsodies (Op. 79) and intermezzos (Op. 117 and 119) by Brahms, “Sarcasm” and the cycle “Romeo and Juliet by Prokofiev, Preludes by Shostakovich..."
So, to date, Gornostaeva successfully combines teaching activities with concert performances. However, she also finds time for literary appearances on the pages of magazines and newspapers, and often appears on television screens. In a word, we can agree with the opinion of I. Zetel; “Gornostaeva’s creative image is marked by integrity; it is not easy to distinguish between performance, pedagogy, and journalism. Behind all this, the musician’s civic position is palpable.”
Quote Based on the book: Grigoriev L., Platek J. “Modern pianists”. Moscow, "Soviet Composer", 1990
Source; http://www.allpianists.ru/gornostaeva.html
Vera Vasilyevna Gornostaeva came to performing, in her own words, “through pedagogy” - a not entirely ordinary path. More often, the opposite happens: they achieve fame on the concert stage and, as a next step, begin to teach. Examples of this are the biographies of Oborin, Gilels, Flier, Zach and other famous musicians. People go in the opposite direction much less often; the case of Gornostaeva is one of those exceptions that confirm the rule.
Her mother was a music teacher who devoted herself entirely to working with children; “pediatrician teacher,” with her characteristic humorous intonation, speaks about the profession of Gornostaev’s mother. “I received my first piano lessons at home,” says the pianist, “then I studied at the Moscow Central Music School with a brilliant teacher and a most charming person, Ekaterina Klavdievna Nikolaeva. At the conservatory my teacher was Genrikh Gustavovich Neuhaus.”
In 1950, Gornostaeva performed at an international competition of performing musicians in Prague and won the title of laureate. But after that she came not to the stage of the concert stage, as would be natural to expect, but to the Gnessin Musical Pedagogical Institute. A few years later, from 1959, she began working at the Moscow Conservatory; He still teaches there today.
“It is usually believed that pedagogy creates serious obstacles to concert and performing activities,” says Gornostaeva. “Of course, classes in the classroom are associated with large losses of time. But let's not forget! - and with very great benefit for the one who teaches. Especially when you are lucky enough to work with a strong, talented student. You have to rise to the occasion, right? - and this means we must constantly think, search, delve into, analyze. And don't just search - search for; in the end, it is not the search itself that is important in our profession, it is the findings that are important. I am convinced that it was pedagogy, in which, by force of circumstances, I immersed myself for many years, it shaped me into a musician, made me who I am... The time came when I realized that I was not Can do not play: it is very difficult to remain silent if there is What say. Around the beginning of the seventies, I began to perform regularly. Further more; Now I travel a lot, tour in various cities, record records.”
Each concert performer (except for the ordinary one, of course) is remarkable in his own way. Gornostaeva is intriguing, first of all, how personality- original, characteristic, with a lively and interesting creative personality. It is not her pianism itself that attracts attention; not external performance accessories. Perhaps some of today's (or yesterday's) students of Gornostaeva will be able to make a better impression on stage than their teacher. This is the whole point - they, with their confident, strong, dashing virtuosity, will impress more winning; it is deeper and more significant.
Once, speaking in print, Gornostaeva said: “Professionalism in art is a means through which a person reveals his inner world. And we always feel the content of this inner world in a collection of poems, in a play by a playwright, and in a solo concert by a pianist. You can hear the level of culture, taste, emotionality, intelligence, character.” (Nameed after Tchaikovsky: Collection of articles and documents about the Third International Competition of Performing Musicians named after P. I. Tchaikovsky. - M 1970. P. 209.). Everything here is true, every word. What is heard in a concert is not only roulades or graces, phrasing or pedaling - only an inexperienced part of the audience believes this... But something else is also heard...
With Gornostaeva the pianist, for example, it is not difficult to “hear” her mind. He is everywhere, his reflection is on everything. She undoubtedly owes him the best in her performance. First of all, because he perfectly feels the laws of musical expressiveness: he knows the piano thoroughly, knows what o you can achieve on it and How do it. And how skillfully she uses her pianistic abilities! Does she have many colleagues who are only partially realizing, to one degree or another, what nature has given them? Gornostaeva fully reveals her performing abilities - a sign of both strong characters and (most importantly!) extraordinary minds. This originality of thinking and its high professional class are especially felt in the best numbers of the pianist’s repertoire - mazurkas and waltzes, ballads and sonatas by Chopin, rhapsodies (Op. 79) and intermezzos (Op. 117 and 119) by Brahms, “Sarcasm” and the cycle “Romeo and Juliet by Prokofiev, Preludes by Shostakovich.
There are concert performers who captivate the audience by force your feelings, burning with passion, affectation of performing speech. For Gornostaeva it’s different. In her stage experiences the main thing is not quantitative factor (how strong, bright...), and qualitative- one that is reflected in the epithets “refined”, “exquisite”, “aristocratic”, etc. One comes to mind, for example, her Beethoven programs - “Pathetique”, “Appassionata”, “Moonlight”, Seventh or Thirty-second Sonatas. There is no powerful dynamics in the artist’s performance of this music, no energetic, forceful pressure, no whirlwind passions. But there are subtle, refined shades of emotions, a high culture of experience - especially in the slow parts, in episodes of a lyrical and contemplative nature.
True, the lack of “quantitative” in Gornostaeva’s game sometimes still makes itself felt. It is not easy for her at the heights of climaxes, in music that requires a dense, rich fortissimo; The artist’s purely physical capabilities are limited and at some moments it’s noticeable! - she has to overexert her pianistic voice. In the same “Pathetique” by Beethoven, she usually succeeds most of all in the second movement, the calm Adagio. In Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition,” Gornostaeva’s melancholic “Old Castle” is very good and “Bogatyr Gate” is somewhat less impressive.
And yet, if you keep in mind The main thing in the art of a pianist, we must talk about something else. M. Gorky, talking with B. Asafiev, once remarked; What makes real musicians different is that they know how to hear not just music. (Let us remember Bruno Walter: “Only a musician is only a half-musician.”) Gornostaeva, in Gorky’s words, is given the gift of hearing more than just music in the art of music; This is how she won the right to the concert stage. She hears “further”, “wider”, “deeper”, as is usually characteristic of people with a diverse spiritual outlook, rich intellectual needs, a developed figurative-associative sphere - in short, those who know how to perceive the world through the prism of music...
With a character like Gornostaeva’s, with her active reaction to everything around her, it would hardly be possible to lead a one-sided and closed lifestyle. There are people who are naturally “contraindicated” from doing one thing; they need to alternate creative hobbies, change forms of activity; contrasts of this kind do not confuse them at all, but rather delight them. Throughout her life, Gornostaeva was engaged in various types of work.
She writes well and quite professionally. For most of her colleagues, this is not an easy task; Gornostaeva had long been attracted to him and had an inclination. A literary gifted person with an excellent sense of the subtleties of language, she knows how to put her thoughts into a lively, elegant, non-standard form. She was repeatedly published in the central press, many of her articles became widely known - “Svyatoslav Richter”, “Reflections at the Concert Hall”, “A Man Graduated from the Conservatory”, “Will You Become an Artist?” and others.
In her public statements, articles and conversations, Gornostaeva touches on a wide variety of issues. And yet there are topics that concern her more than all others. These are, first of all, the stage destinies of creative youth. What prevents bright, gifted students, of whom there are so many in our educational institutions, what sometimes prevents them from growing into great masters? To some extent - the thorns of concert life, some shadow moments in the organization of philharmonic life. Gornostaeva, who has traveled and observed a lot, knows about them and with all directness (she knows how to be direct, if necessary, and sharp) spoke on this matter in the article “Does the director of the Philharmonic like music?” She, further, is against too early and rapid successes on the concert stage - they contain many potential dangers, hidden threats. When Eteri Andzhaparidze, one of her students, received the 4th prize at the Tchaikovsky competition at the age of seventeen, Gornostaeva did not consider it superfluous to publicly declare (in the interests of Andzhaparidze herself) that this was an “exorbitantly high” award for her age. “Success,” she once wrote, “should also come in its own time. This is a very powerful remedy..." (Gornostaeva V. Will you become an artist? // Soviet culture. 1969 29 par.).
But the most dangerous thing, Vera Vasilievna repeats again and again, is when they cease to be interested in anything other than the craft, pursuing only immediate, sometimes utilitarian goals. Then, according to her, young musicians, “even having unconditional performing talent, do not develop into a bright artistic personality, and remain until the end of their days limited professionals who have already lost the freshness and spontaneity of youth over the years, but have not received the much-needed the artist has the ability to think independently, so to speak, spiritual experience" (Ibid.).
Relatively recently, literary and critical sketches by her of Mikhail Pletnev and Yuri Bashmet, musicians whom Gornostaeva treats with great respect, appeared on the pages of the newspaper “Soviet Culture”. On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the birth of G. G. Neuhaus, her essay “Master Heinrich” was published, which had a wide resonance in musical circles. An even greater resonance - and even greater controversy - was caused by the article “Who Owns the Art,” in which Gornostaeva touches on some tragic aspects of our musical past (“Soviet Culture,” May 12, 1988).
However, not only readers are familiar with Gornostaeva; both radio listeners and television viewers know it. First of all, thanks to the series of musical and educational programs in which she takes on the difficult mission of telling about outstanding composers of the past (Chopin, Schumann, Rachmaninov, Mussorgsky) or about the works written by them; at the same time she illustrates her speech on the piano. At one time, Gornostaeva’s television program “Introducing the Young” aroused great interest, giving her the opportunity to introduce the general public to some of the debutants on today’s concert stage. In the 1987/88 season, her main focus was the television series “Open Piano”.
Finally, Gornostaeva is an indispensable participant in various seminars and conferences on issues of musical performance and pedagogy. She gives presentations, messages, and open lessons. If the opportunity arises, he shows the students in his class. And, of course, he answers numerous questions, advises, and gives advice. “I have attended similar seminars and symposia (they are called differently) in Weimar, Oslo, Zagreb, Dubrovnik, Bratislava and other European cities. But, frankly speaking, most of all I like such meetings with colleagues in our country - in Sverdlovsk, Tbilisi, Kazan... And not only because there is especially great interest in them here, as evidenced by the crowded halls and the the atmosphere that reigns at such events. The fact is that here, in our conservatories, the very level of discussion of professional problems, in my opinion, is higher than anywhere else. And this cannot but please...
I feel like I'm more useful here than in any other country. And there is no language barrier.”
Sharing the experience of her own pedagogical work, Gornostaeva never tires of emphasizing that the main thing is not to impose interpretive decisions on the student from outside, in a directive manner. And do not demand that he play the piece he is learning the way his teacher would play it. “The most important thing is to build a performance concept in relation to the student’s individuality, that is, in accordance with his natural characteristics, inclinations, and capabilities. For a real teacher, in fact, there is no other way.”
Over the many years that Gornostaeva devoted herself to pedagogy, dozens of students passed through her hands. Not all of them had the opportunity to win performing competitions, like A. Slobodyanik or E. Andzhaparidze, D. Ioffe or P. Egorov, M. Ermolaev or A. Paley. But without exception, communicating with her during class, they came into contact with the world of high spiritual and professional culture. And this is the most valuable thing a student can receive from a teacher in art.
Of the concert programs played by Gornostaeva in recent years, some have attracted special attention. For example, three sonatas by Chopin (season 1985/86). Or - Schubert's piano miniatures (season 1987/88), which included the rarely performed Musical Moments, Op. 94. The audience greeted with interest the clavierabend dedicated to Mozart - Fantasia and Sonata in C minor, as well as the Sonata in D major for two pianos, played by Vera Vasilyevna together with her daughter, K. Knorre (season 1987/88).
Gornostaeva reinstated a number of works in her repertoire after a long break - in some ways she rethought them and played them differently. One can refer in this connection to at least Shostakovich’s Preludes.
P.I. Tchaikovsky attracts her more and more to himself. She played his “Children’s Album” more than once in the second half of the eighties, both on television and at concerts
“Love for this composer is probably in my blood. Today I feel that I cannot help but play his music - as, sometimes, a person cannot help but say something, if there is - what... Some of Tchaikovsky’s plays touch me almost to tears - the same “Sentimental Waltz”, which I have been in love with since childhood. This only happens with great music: you’ve known it all your life, and you’ve admired it all your life...”
Remembering Gornostaeva’s performances in recent years, one cannot help but mention one more, perhaps especially important and responsible. It took place in the Small Hall of the Moscow Conservatory in April 1988 as part of the festival dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the birth of G. G. Neuhaus. Gornostaeva played Chopin that evening. And she played amazingly well...
“The longer I give concerts, the more I am convinced of the importance of two things,” says Gornostaeva. “Firstly, on what principle does the artist draw up his programs, and does he even have principles of this kind. Secondly, does he take into account the specifics of his performing role? Does he know what he is strong in and what he is not, where his area in the piano repertoire, and where - not his.
As for drawing up programs, the most important thing for me today is to find a certain core of meaning in them. What matters here is not only the selection of certain authors or specific works. The very combination of them, the sequence in which they are performed at the concert is important; in other words - the sequence of alternations of musical images, mental states, psychological nuances... Even the general tonal plan of the works sounding one after another during the evening also matters.
Now about what I have designated by the term performing role. The term, of course, is conditional, approximate, and yet... Every concert musician should, in my opinion, have some kind of saving instinct that would tell him what is objectively closer to him and what is not. What he can best express himself in, and what he would be better off avoiding. Each of us naturally has a certain “range of performing voice” and it is at least unreasonable not to take this into account.
Of course, you always want to play a lot of things - this, that, and the third... The desire is completely natural for every real musician. Well, you can learn everything. But not everything needs to be brought to the stage. For example, I play a wide variety of compositions at home - both those that I want to play myself and those that my students bring to lessons. However, I include only some part of what I have learned in my public speaking programs.”
Gornostaeva's concerts usually begin with her verbal commentary on the works being performed. This has been practiced by Vera Vasilyevna for a long time. But in recent years, the word addressed to listeners has, perhaps, acquired special meaning for her. By the way, she herself believes that she was influenced in some way by Gennady Nikolaevich Rozhdestvensky; his example once again confirmed her in the awareness of the importance and necessity of this matter.
However, Gornostaeva’s conversations with the public have little in common with what others are doing in this regard. What is important for her is not the information about the works performed, not factual information, not historical and musicological information. The main thing is to create a certain mood in the hall, to introduce listeners into the figurative and poetic atmosphere of the music - to “predispose” it to its perception, as Vera Vasilyevna says. Hence her special manner of addressing the audience - confidential, relaxed and natural, devoid of any hint of mentoring or lecturer pathos. There may be hundreds of people in the room; Each of them will have the feeling that Gornostaeva is addressing him specifically, and not some abstract “third party.” She often reads poetry while talking to the public. And not just because she loves them herself, but for the simple reason that they help her bring listeners closer to music.
Of course, Gornostaeva never, under any circumstances, reads from a piece of paper. Her verbal comments on the programs being used are always improvised. But the improvisation of a person who knows very clearly and clearly what he wants to say.
There is a particular difficulty in the genre of public speaking that Gornostaeva has chosen for herself. The difficulty of transitions from verbal address to the audience - to the game and back. “This used to be a serious problem for me,” says Vera Vasilyevna. “Then I got used to it a little. But still, anyone who thinks that talking and playing, alternating one with the other, is easy, is very mistaken.”
A natural increase arises: how does Gornostaeva manage to do everything? And, most importantly, how is everything with her? it turns out? She is an active, organized, dynamic person - this is the first thing. Second, no less significant, she is an excellent specialist, a musician of rich erudition, who has seen, learned, re-read, changed her mind, and, finally, most importantly, she is talented. Not in one thing, local, limited by the framework of “from” and “to”; talented in general - broadly, universally, comprehensively. It’s simply impossible not to give her credit in this regard...