Estonian composer Arvo Pärt lavishes praise on jailed Russian businessman

Symphony dedicated to Mikhail Khodorkovsky to have European première in Helsinki

print this

By Vesa Sirén
     
      “He is a genius, amazing, a great talent, who has a warm heart and a pure vision.”
      This is how Estonian composer Arvo Pärt describes jailed Russian businessman Mikhail Khodorkovsky, to whom he has dedicated his fourth symphony (Los Angeles).
      The European première was in Helsinki on Thursday, April 16th, just a few months after the world’s first performance, which was conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen in Los Angeles.
     
“All of the bad things that you have read about Khodorkovsky is propaganda put out by the Russian state”, Pärt declares.
      “I have not met Khodorkovsky, but I know his pure vision already from the German years”, says the 73-year-old composer, who also has a home in Berlin.
      He compares the Russian legal system with those in North Korea and Iran. “Those who are in power dictate the decisions”, Pärt says.
      He hopes that his symphony will somehow reach the prison in Siberia, and says that the symphony is dedicated to all oppressed people in Russia.
     
This seems strange. Pärt is known as a composer of ostensibly simple and genuinely spiritual music, which can be heard in films, such as Les amants du Pont-Neuf, There Will Be Blood, and The Thin Red Line.
      Pärt’s image is that of a devout Christian who avoids publicity, but in recent years he seems to have become politicised.
      He dedicated the performances of his works to the memory of journalist Anna Politkovskaya soon after her murder.
      “That isn’t politics. We do not think about politics when we think about the crucifixion of Jesus. What those in power did to Politkovskaya and to Khodorkovsky is shocking, but our minds are always filled with pity and sympathy for the victims, instead of politics.”
      But didn’t Pärt say in Los Angeles that Khodorkovsky would be a better president than Vladimir Putin?
      “I was slightly misquoted. I don’t talk politics.”
     
Pärt goes on with his fiery sermon.
      “Oppressors should also be pitied. They are already in hell, whereas the victims can also end up in heaven. Oppressors suffer more than we can imagine, sooner or later.”
      He emphasises personal responsibility.
      “Unfortunately the great Russian people are idle and paralysed. They merely repeat what is said from above. Like Pontius Pilate they wash their hands. Naturally, each one of us is sinful, but we can try to change ourselves. The 'flu is contagious, but good deeds can also spread.”
     
His fourth symphony rings out with longing and sympathy with simple means.
      How was it suitable to be conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen, who is known as a master of complex music?
      “Brilliant. Only someone who deeply understands the music could conduct so well.”
      As a younger man, Salonen made a crack about “Baltic clowns” in reference to the neo-simplistic style of Pärt and his colleagues.
      After gaining experience, Salonen regretted saying that, and recorded Pärt’s music already five years ago.
      “We were all young once. I greatly admire Salonen”, Pärt says.
     
The symphony is both difficult and easy for the listener, Pärt believes.
      “It is slow music: 40 minutes without much action”, he says, speaking in German, which he peppers with some words of English, Russian, Estonian, and Finnish.
      “It is a tabula rasa, an empty slate, which the listener needs to let get filled by opening up himself.”
      It is all of 38 years since his previous symphony.
      “A symphony is a way of life. why would I not write a symphony, if that is what I feel like doing?” Pärt asks.
     
In the background lies a key experience from 2002.
      In London’s Tate Modern, Pärt saw Marsyas, a giant sculpture of steel and PVC by Anish Kapoor.
      The work takes as its subject matter a mythical satyr who, with his flute, hubristically challenges Apollo himself to a musical competition. Marsyras loses the contest and Apollo skins the satyr.
      “The sculpture was the hide of Marsyas, stretched to a length of 150 metres”, Pärt explains.
      “It made a great impression on me. I thought that I am not yet ready to die. I thought about what I would need to change in myself, and how I should fix relations with people close to me and far from me. The human heart knows exactly what still needs to be done.”
      Therefore, Pärt knew, for instance, that he had to write a fourth symphony and to dedicate it to the imprisoned businessman.
      “The Marsyas legend was transformed into the modern day. Did Khodorkovsky play better, which made it necessary to punish him?”
      In some versions of the myth, Apollo defeats the satyr with the help of biased judges, in this case the Muses.
     
In addition to having homes in Germany and Britain, Arvo Pärt also has a place in Estonia. Does he feel that he is a patriot.
      “Not in a nationalistic or fanatical way, but certainly, in my own fashion”, he says.
      And what about Estonia’s current situation?
      “Quite all right. And everyone can start making a change for the better inside himself.”
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 16.4.2009
     
     
Arvo Pärt's 4th Symphony was presented by the Helsinki Philharmonic, cond. Cem Mansur, in Finlandia Hall on April 16th.

More on this subject:
 Listening to Finnish radio gave creative spark to future composer

Links:
  Los Angeles Times reviews premiere of Arvo Pärt´s "Los Angeles" Symphony

VESA SIRÉN / Helsingin Sanomat
vesa.siren@hs.fi