While Saturday's "classical" concerts are playing in the capital's Upper Town, Alexander Khumal, the chief conductor of the Sanorus band, has been invited to the meeting. With one of the most representative young Belarusian musicians, behind whose shoulders (and on his shoulders) including the Rotterdam Conservatory and an extraordinary international experience, we talked about the field of academic music in Belarus and the perception of classical music by the public.

- Last Saturday, the Sanorus band performed at the Classics at the Town Hall festival, where the best bands give open-air concerts, and the audience can listen to academic music for free. Of course, such a popular format is able to increase the number of fans of the classics and beautify city life, but does it not devalue in the minds of people academic, "elite" music?

- Open air concerts of classical music are popular all over the world, first of all in the USA, where picnics with orchestras are organized every weekend in big and small cities - mostly wind, sometimes symphonic, it can be just recitals. This format has declared itself for a long time, but the know-how remains for Belarus: in our cities you rarely hear live music, which, of course, affects their perception. I do not agree that such events can attract to the classics, it seems to me, of those who hear music on the street, consciously only a couple of people will go to the concert hall, and then at the level of arithmetic error. Such concerts for people are, first of all, a pleasant pastime, which is not bad, because you can not just walk, but also benefit from the walk. If you open Dostoevsky's book on a train or on a plane, time on the road will not be in vain, and it will not devalue the writer. Classical music also will not depreciate through an air concert: it is generally self-sufficient and does not need to entice people. Pop, pop and rock music should attract, but real things shouldn't. This book does not "shout": "Take me and read" - you reach for it, open it and start reading, for example, "War and Peace".

- That is, the concept of "industry" and classical music are incompatible?

- All over the world, academic music, like any other, is part of show business: people invest in its development and make money on it. But if we talk about the structural attitude to music - it does not need promotion. Bach's works, some of the best and most interesting in the world, were not performed for a hundred years after his death - they were simply forgotten and eventually found in the corners of old libraries.

- In Belarus, the concept of "industry" has something to do with the field of classical music?

- Although I am more of a layman when it comes to the Belarusian market, I can say that it is at its infancy - this applies to both classical and popular music. I do not understand how we are going to compete with the whole world, if we can not stand comparisons even with Ukraine and Russia. Popular music is easier to perceive, it is fast food music, it does not need to be "cooked" and "digested", so it is easier to take in circulation and get a financial return. But we go to good restaurants, where a good chef prepares good food especially for us, so although it is more difficult with academic music, people around the world also make money on it. Our problem is that there are almost no cultural managers in the country, and the few who are involved in music often promote not culture but themselves, so in addition to the role of manager they act as experts, although they may have no idea about music.

- A lot of classics in our lives remain in the background - in advertising, ringtones, as an unobtrusive accompaniment to various events. Don't you think that against the background of it more than in conscious consumption?

- I compare it with "smart" quotes from literary works on social networks - excerpts from Chekhov or Antoine de Saint-Exupery like "We are responsible for those who have been tamed." These quotes are taken out of context, nowadays it is easier to read one phrase and run around on business, because to find it, you need to overcome a whole book. Classical music in the background sounds like a quote and has nothing to do with the full piece. The statement of the famous writer may remain in your head for the next hour, but it will fly away soon, you will forget it, it will not be of any use to your life. Same with classical music: the ringtone will blend in with the noise of the crowd, and thanks to the symphony you will experience the whole story.

- We don't have many places where classics are performed: one philharmonic, two musical theaters, several festivals and separate initiatives. The band "Sanorus" once played "Moon Piero" by Schonberg, which sounded for the first time in our country. How fully does what is performed in Belarus reflect the layer of academic music?

 

- Professional teams are guided not only by what they want to play: the cornerstone is the financial issue, that is, the calculation of those who buy tickets. "Moon Pierrot" is an arch-complex work, I thought the performance would be a failure, but it was attended by so many people that we organized a second and played again in front of a full house. Here you need to have the courage and take risks, and, for example, in Moscow, where I work a lot, no one is associated with risk: the organizers must be sure that the audience will come to the concert, so guided by the usual repertoire and invite stars. Contemporary academic music is also played in Moscow, but in most cases - once again Tchaikovsky, once again Verdi, cha