A Mikhail Pochekin lo conocí una fría mañana de nieve en Madrid. Era febrero de 2018 y tenía que cubrir para la revista Scherzo —mi primera colaboración, de hecho— el recital que Pochekin ofrecía junto al grandísimo pianista Yuri Favorin —sus interpretaciones de Prokófiev no tienen parangón— en la Fundación Juan March. Al terminar el recital, acudí al camerino y Pochekin, con esa mirada de ojos de gato tan profunda como sus interpretaciones musicales, me habló con admiración de su hermano Iván, con quien acababa de grabar un cedé que me regaló para que lo escuchara. Y eso hice: escucharlo atentamente y con deleite. Tras meses de gira por Rusia y Europa, el destino volvió a unirnos en Becerril de la Sierra, donde los padres de Pochekin viven desde hace muchos años. Mikhail me invitó a ver el taller de su padre, Yuri Pochekin, lutier de renombre internacional que acaba de cumplir 70 años. De ese pequeño taller de la sierra madrileña han salido buena parte de los violines con los que los hermanos Pochekin ofrecen sus recitales. Mikhail Pochekin es un violinista de musicalidad emocionante, de técnica impresionante y de profunda visión interpretativa; inteligente —habla ruso, español, inglés y alemán—, campechano y entusiasta. Tiene las cosas muy claras y uno de sus objetivos es acercar la música clásica a todo tipo de personas.
Mikhail Pochekin ha crecido rodeado de música: su padre, lutier; su madre, Elena Pochekina, profesora de violín; su hermano mayor, Iván, violista y violinista de prestigio internacional. Mikhail habla con admiración de Jascha Heifetz a quien considera el rey del violín. Y con admiración también habla de su hermano, a quien considera un virtuoso y con quien tiene un dúo desde hace ya seis o siete años. Ambos hermanos son muy distintos, pero cuando tocan juntos se produce esa mágica alquimia musical que les hace sonar como una unidad, una forma de ser única: dos contrarios en uno. No obstante, el cedé que grabaron para el sello Melodya se titula “Los hermanos Pochekin, la unidad de los contrarios” —The Pochekin Brothers, The Unity of Opposites—, con dúos para viola y violín de Michael Haydn y Mozart y dúos para dos violines de Reinhold Glière y Prokófiev. Quien no conozca la música de Glière, se sorprenderá al escuchar los 12 dúos —exquisitos como si de una colección de melodiosas acuarelas se tratara— que aparecen en este cedé.
Sin embargo, el proyecto más importante de Mikhail Pochekin hasta el momento es Bach. Acaba de grabar la integral de sonatas y partitas para violín del compositor alemán que pronto aparecerá en un doble cedé. Interpretar estas obras es un reto para cualquier violinista, y para Mikhail ha sido también un camino largo y difícil en el que ha ido descubriendo su propia voz: primero aprendes a tocar unas obras de extrema dificultad, luego las haces tuyas y, después, tu corazón se adueña de ellas y la música crece contigo. Mikhail opina que la música clásica permanecerá siempre con nosotros: “Bach no existe físicamente desde 1750, pero su música existirá mientras haya seres humanos en este planeta. La música no solo nos hace disfrutar, sino también pensar sobre la vida, sobre la eternidad”. De algún modo, los músicos tienen el privilegio y el don de estar siempre tocando la eternidad. Las personas somos especiales por artistas como Bach, Mozart, Schubert, Shakespeare, Pushkin, Rafael. Y es eso, precisamente, lo que nos diferencia de los animales.
Tú, lector, que hasta aquí has llegado, si alguna vez tienes la suerte de ver tocar en directo a Mikhail Pochekin, acércate y habla con él, déjate engatusar con su mirada profunda. Comprobarás que detrás del artista que toca la eternidad y emociona con sonidos, hay también un ser humano, como tú y yo, de conversación amena que habla con palabras y es cercano y es amigo.
Michael Thallium
Global & Greatness Coach
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I first met Mikhail Pochekin on a cold Sunday morning of snow in Madrid. It was back in February 2018 and I had to cover for the Spanish music magazine Scherzo —actually my first collaboration— Pochekin’s recital accompanied by the great pianist Yury Favorin —his Prokofiev’s interpretations have no equal— at Fundación Juan March. When the recital was over, I made for the artist’s dressing room and Mikhail, with those cat eyes of his, as profound as profound his music performances are, talked about his brother Ivan with admiration. They both had just recorded a CD and he gave me a copy as a present to listen to. And that was what I did: listening to it attentively and with delight. After some months touring around Russia and Europe, destiny made us meet again in Becerril de la Sierra, a little town near Madrid, Spain, where Pochekin’s parents have been living for some years already. Mikhail invited me to see his dad’s workshop. Yuri Pochekin is an internationally renowned luthier who has just turned 70 this year. Most of the violins with which the Pochekin brothers play at their recitals have come out of this little workshop. Mikhail Pochekin is a violinist of exciting musicality, impressive technique and deep musical insight; intelligent —he speaks Russian, Spanish, English and German—, friendly and enthusiastic. When it comes down to music, things are clear to him. One of his aims is to bring classical music closer to people of all walks of life.
Mikhail Pochekin has grown up surrounded by music: his dad, a luthier; his mum, Elena Pochekina, a violin teacher; his elder brother, Iván, a violist and violinist of international prestige. Mikhail speaks with admiration about Jascha Heifetz, whom he considers “The King of Violin”. Mikhail also speaks with admiration about his brother, whom he considers a virtuoso. They both have played as a duet for six or seven years now. They are very different from each other, but when they play together, a magical music alchemy takes place and they sound as a unity, as a unique way of being: two opposites in one. Actually, their CD on music label Melodya is called The Pochekin Brothers, The Unity of Opposites, a set of duets for viola and violin by Michael Haydn and Mozart and duets for two violins by Reinhold Glière and Prokófiev. For those of you who do not know Glière’s music, you will be surprised by his 12 duets, exquisite as if they were a collection of musical aquarelles.
However, Mikhail Pochekin’s most important project so far is Bach. He has just recorded the whole sonatas and partitas for violin by the German composer, which will be soon released as a double CD. Playing these works is a challenge for any violinist. And it has been a long and difficult way for Mikhail as well. He has been discovering his own voice over the years: “first you learn theis extremely difficult pieces, then you make them your own and then your heart takes over them and the music grows within you”, he says. Mikhail thinks classical music will always stay with us: “Bach does not physically exist since 1750, but his music will exist as long as there are human beings on this planet Earth. We do not only enjoy music, music also makes us think about life, think about eternity. Somehow, we musicians are always playing eternity. And we people are especial thanks to artists like Bach, Mozart, Schubert, Shakespeare, Pushkin or Rafael. And this is what makes us different from animals.”
You, dear reader, if you have just read these lines, and if you ever have the chance to see Mikhail Pochekin play live, come up to him —don’t be shy— and talk to him, let his profound cat eyes take over you. You will see that behind the artist who plays eternity and moves you with sounds, there is also a human being like you and me, a human being who loves to talk with words, someone who is close and friendly.
Michael Thallium
Global & Greatness Coach
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