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Music From The Hands We Can See. And The One We Can't.
Ani Kavafian
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Ask the Artists of the Chamber Music Society which colleague they feel the closest to in musical terms, and more than likely they'll name the musician who's been part of the group the longest: Ani Kavafian. Ah-NEE Ka-VA-fi-an, an Artist Member since 1979, was born in Istanbul to Armenian parents. Her father was first chair violist with the Istanbul State Symphony and her mother played in its first violin section. The Kavafian family arrived in the United States when Ani was 9. She was later awarded an Avery Fisher Prize and became a Young Concert Artist. She has appeared at the White House three times and has been featured on several television specials. A soloist with virtually all of America's leading orchestras, she gave the world premiere performances of Tod Machover's Concerto for Hyper Violin and Orchestra and Henri Lazarof's Concerto for Violin and String Orchestra. Ms. Kavafian is on the faculties of the Manhattan School of Music and Mannes College of Music. Her husband, Bernard Mindich, is an artist; their son Matthew, 12, studies cello. Ms. Kavafian's sister, Ida, is also an Artist Member of Chamber Music Society. After making these comments Ms. Kavafian rushed off to attend her son's graduation from elementary school.
"My mother was born and raised in Turkey and my father was born in Bulgaria. He moved after the 1914-15 genocide when 1.5 million Armenians were killed. We never really felt the tensions between Armenians and Turks until the year we moved; the Cyprus riots targeted Armenians as well as Greeks. We spoke only Armenian in the house; when we came to this country I had to take a three-month course in English and then went into the third grade. This is a tough language! It was very difficult for me, but being thrown into that situation was exactly what I needed and by the end of the year it was okay. I'm so thankful that we came to this country; it seemed like life started here.
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"I'm so thankful that we came to this country; it seemed like life started here."
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"Until age nine I thought I was going to be a pianist, but I used to put my ear to my mother's practice room door so I could hear her play the violin. I had a chance to take five lessons on the violin for 15 dollars from a wonderful viola teacher, who in fact is now my stepfather; he gave Ida and me our first violin lessons ever.
"I've had the Muir-Mackenzie Stradivarius for about 16 years. It belonged to a duke and an earl; I have the pedigree in my safe. When I came to the Society I had a very nice Landolfi but it wasn't enough of a powerhouse to play with Walter Trampler's Amati and Jamie Laredo's Strad and Jamie Buswell's Strad. I needed to buy something really special. I looked around quite a while and found this instrument. It hasn't been chiseled away, the wood is complete and full and it has only two or three patches inside, which is amazing for a 1736 instrument. I played it for a week, didn't fall in love with it and wanted to take it back; René Morel convinced me that it had a future and he was right. It had belonged to a wonderful violinist who hadn't played it for a long time so it was a little bit closed; the pores needed to be played out. It sounds wonderful these days; I am so thrilled -- I'm in love with this instrument!
"Oistrakh's Brahms Concerto was an early favorite of mine. He was absolutely unbelievable and to this day I love his sound. Also Heifetz's Korngold Violin Concerto; it's a beautiful piece that I finally attempted to play a couple of years ago and I'm really enjoying myself, but it's hard to get Heifetz's sound out of my ear.
"I studied with Mishakoff for about five years; he was an amazing no-nonsense teacher. Once, he complained that I was playing out of tune. He took my violin, untuned the pegs a little bit and played the piece that I was playing perfectly in tune, returned the instrument to me untuned and said, 'No excuses.' No matter what your open strings are doing you should be able to adjust. I had a very small sound when I came to New York -- pretty but very small -- and Mr. Galamian gave me my sound. He and Sally Thomas worked on me for almost eight years, and Miss Thomas gave me my technical foundation by drilling me.
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"Something much more powerful than I was in control."
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"The Barber Concerto is one of my favorites. On the wish list of things to do is Berg, Shostakovich's First and the Second Bartók. The Schick Concerto is very beautiful. I play quite a few Khachaturians since he was a Russian Armenian; they like that in the ads! The composer I feel I bring my best to is Mozart. All these others are fun but when I play Mozart I feel very confident and secure. There's an innocence about the music that you have to come to by being incredibly musical and technically very clean. I love Mendelssohn, who is similar to Mozart in that there's an ease and a flow and a beauty to the music. I'm sure that later on I'm going to feel very good about Beethoven as well. It's pure beauty -- there's no bull, no overextended romanticism -- and you need good solid technique to be able to play it without succumbing to nerves. If you scratch a little bit in Korngold, Brahms, Sibelius, it's forgiven, but not in Mozart and Beethoven.
"Playing with Ida is about as pleasurable as anything I do. There's no rivalry between us; we're proud of each other. We can whip each other up or tone each other down because there's an inexplicable connection. There might be no indication of a diminuendo or a ritard in the music but you hear your partner moving towards that end and it sounds like a damn good idea so you think, Okay, I like that, let's do it. Music making of the highest order occurs when you can be completely separate from yourself; not think about yourself and your sound but of the duo's sound. The best chamber music is made that way, with complete trust in your colleagues. It has to do with respect for the people you're playing with. Ida and I lived together for quite a number of years and we had the best of times. I miss those days. In truth we're very different people. I respect her for being able to say what's on her mind without trying to soft-peddle.
"I waited a long time before having children -- my 30s -- and I was emotionally ready. My whole pregnancy, especially after the first month, was just jubilation. I couldn't wait till Matthew was born. No concert, no music, no moment in my professional life has meant anything close to that! My little boy's birth was a miracle; God was present. I can remember the feeling that something else much more powerful than I was in control, and it was kind of frightening and wonderful at the same time.
"I'm very busy and I'm always worried that I'm not giving enough to Matthew and Bernie, but there's so much love in the house it can't be all bad. If I were to describe them in musical terms, Bernie would be a contemporary piece. He loves the Shostakovich Eighth Quartet; he wants to do a painting based on it. Matthew is a very beautiful child; it would have to be something romantically inclined and very sensuously beautiful but innocent. Maybe Mozart's B-Flat Divertimento, with its gorgeous and soulful second movement. For me, maybe it's presumptuous but Bach comes to mind because I like to be very focused with a singular purpose but incredibly complex like one of his fugues; easy to listen to and without too much bull. Mozart and Mendelssohn would have to be part of my internal music too. I really like life and I want to try to live a long time, unlike those guys.
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"I really like life and I want to try to live a long time."
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"Being a teacher has responsibilities beyond the teaching hour. I'm going to curb my teaching in the next few years because I want to be a mom and a wife when I'm home and not a violinist and a teacher. I'll come back to it because I consider it part of my duty as a performer to teach what I've learned. My favorite place to be is with my family at home. Second most favorite place would be Tuscany, especially in July and August when they're turning the ground and the hills are different colors.
"Sometimes the beauty of music overwhelms me -- I can't believe I'm a part of it and all of a sudden I get goose bumps. It's something divine, I'm sure. The end of the first movement of the Mendelssohn A-major Quintet is so exquisite it sends a chill down my spine almost every time; to be part of the sound is chilling in itself. I believe that my talent is God-given; I'm sure it doesn't just come from me.
"Being the senior member of the Chamber Music Society is one of my biggest achievements. In school I used to think this was the absolute best possible place to make music: the most wonderful people, the most wonderful hall. People say, You've got the best job in the business, and I think they're right. I enjoy music making at the Society because it's always a little bit different. A guest might come in and we'll adjust to the guest -- and when we play a piece it might be different this year than it was five years ago, which makes you grow as a musician. I still want to keep up my solo playing -- it helps me be a better chamber music player, and vice versa.
"I'd like to play with the Chicago Symphony before I die! It was a great experience to play with Philadelphia and Cleveland, and I'm playing with Detroit next year, but I really want to play with Chicago; I like their sound. It's a little bit raucous but it's really powerful and wonderful and inspiring."
Ideal person to have dinner with tonight:
"My dad. I miss my dad. He died in '64 and he doesn't know what Ida and I achieved, and he would appreciate it so much. If I could tell him all the things that have happened I'd feel better."
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