FL: Could you say something about the connections between the musical languages of Shostakovich and Weinberg?
GK: They both have a similar language. Therefore, many myths and misunderstandings arose – that Weinberg was a secondary Shostakovich, that Weinberg was a student of Shostakovich, or that he imitated Shostakovich – none of this is true.
Weinberg has his own, distinct signature. I feel like him and Shostakovich were so close to each other as good friends and colleagues that they influenced one another. You can find traces of Shostakovich in Weinberg scores, and you can find traces of Weinberg in Shostakovich scores. Each of them was an independent composer, each of them had his own voice.
FL: Could you define his musical language?
GK: You see, I’m not a musicologist, I’m only a performer trying to make sounds alive. But I can say this: Weinberg’s music is not only serious and deep, but also very honest and sincere. There is no speculation in his music. His work is very profound. I’m not trying to compare Weinberg and Shostakovich to say that the latter is less profound. I think that in music history there is enough space for many composers and undoubtedly Weinberg is one of the 20th century’s best.
FL: Which Weinberg piece do you consider to be the best?
GK: Music is not the Olympics. There are no winners and losers. I can’t go into mathematics and say: this and this piece is number 14 or 1 in my repertoire.
FL: Of course. But I was interested in your personal, emotional preference.
GK: What I can say is that unfortunately there’s a lot of Weinberg’s music I can’t play because it’s written for other instruments or it’s symphonic, operatic. Last month I listened to his opera The Idiot in Saint Petersburg’s Mariinsky Theatre. It’s a great piece. The Passenger is undoubtedly one of his most wonderful works. The Piano Quintet is a wonderful piece of chamber music. So is the String Trio, and Concertino for Violin and String Orchestra. The Kaddish symphony is one of the most powerful symphonies of the 20th century. It’s breathtaking, almost as if Mahler had written an eleventh symphony. Weinberg left so many opuses, for example The Gypsy Bible, Jewish Songs, the Children’s pieces – they are all wonderful. So many sonatas – sonatas for cello, sonatas for violin, sonatas for piano, for piano and cello, for piano and violin...This is such a fruitful ground for discoveries!
FL: Which piece do you like performing the most?
GK: I’m privileged to say that I’ve played about 20 pieces by Weinberg. As a violinist, I would say his violin sonatas are nearly as strong as Bartók’s Sonata for Solo Violin, which is considered the peak of solo violin music in the 20th century.
Now I’m learning Sonata No 1 and No 2 for Violin Solo. I plan to record them. Very often I play Sonata No 5 and No 6 for Violin and Piano together with wonderful pianists such as Martha Argerich, Daniil Trifonov and Georgijs Osokins. Osokins and I will perform No 6 in Warsaw. The Piano Trio is a fantastic piece of music and I’m glad that it just was released with Sonata No 5 for Violin and Piano (Op. 136bis) and Three Pieces for Violin and Piano which he wrote when he was only 15 years old, while still living in Warsaw.