“I THOUGHT ‘I AM GOING TO DO anything else but music’...”
Violinist Vladimir Jablokov on how his love of music began… By Keeley Ryan
Violinistvladimir Jablokov has opened up about bringing a unique take onvivaldi’s Four Seasons to the stage next month — and what audiences can expect from the performances. Vladimir Jablokov - 4 Seasons Explained will be taking place on May 24 and May 25 at the Bord Gais Energy Theatre, where he will be joined by the 45-piece RTE Concert Orchestra.
His youngest brother,viktor Jablokov, arranged and orchestrated the work — and will be conducting the concert.
The second half of the show willviktor joined by his brother, Anton, to perform a range of popular songs — including Hava Nagila, Bella Ciao, a theme from The Godfather, Those Were The Days and Bohemian Rhapsody.
And Jablokov recalled to Chic how his own love of music began — and how he was following“in the footsteps of both of my parents”.
He said,“it came from three, four generations of classical musicians in the family. I started to play violin when I was about five. I continued, in the footsteps of my both of my parents.
“I was asked the question only once though, when I was five, would I like to be a professional violinist.
“As a result of that, whatever happened in between, I rebelled against the classical music, and I just thought, ‘I’m going to do anything else but music’ and left for Ireland is nearly 20 years ago, at this stage.
“Circumstances brought me to
Grafton Street to play some music, because I was trying to pr ove my parents wrong — and ringing them two weeks into my adventure [to say] that I need more money, or I need to come back to the university was not an option.
“So, I picked up the violin. And from there, I just realised that I do want to do music. I love it — but I want to do it my way.”
The violinist added that he was“so grateful to my parents for actually keeping me in the music”, but felt he “wouldn’t have had enough patience to actually finish my studies”.
He continued,“it’s now for the first time that I’m actually digging into quite serious classical work. I was doing a lot of Viennese music, with a classical twist, [and music] with my brother, Anton, and so on.
“Throughout the years, there’s been a bit of a crossover. But I’m really excited about this arrangement. I think it’s something that will go far.”
Vivaldi’s Four Seasons will be celebrating the 300th anniversary of its first edition next year — but 4 Seasons Explained will see it given a 21st century reboot, with contemporary instruments and orchestra.
There will also be a visual interpretation of the 300-yearold sonnets that originally inspired this iconic music.
Jablokov opened up about what audiences can expect from the show next month.
He said,“i’m used to working with my other brother, Anton, since we were kids. He worked with me in Ireland here as well, he would fly over from Switzerland many times.
“But Viktor, who is my youngest brother, arranged this composition of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons with a 45 piece orchestra.
“We’re using instruments that were not used in it, but we’re giving a very traditional way of the composition.
“So, we’re not changing that much in the structure of it or in the harmony of it, because we feel that we couldn’t do it better than thevivaldi did himself.
“But adding the sound of the orchestra people are used to hearing from the movie soundtracks will bring this work much closer to people’s ears. And that’s why we’re calling it Four Seasons Explained.
“The wind machine, for example — that kind of instrument didn’t even exist in Vivaldi’s time. And we have the thunder sheet, and we’re using the big bass drum for some effects.
“I’m very excited. We’re adding all the visuals on the screen to this, and timed lighting.”
Jablokov told how the project is a long time in the making, and how they have been on it“for two years at this stage”.
He said,“it does take time to develop it and bring it to the stage.
“We started with just four people on the stage, a quartet to test to see if the visual aspects work. We decided it does, but we wanted to change the visual aspect and go with a full orchestra — which was the final [set-up].”
The musician told how they presented it last year at the Bord Gais Energy Theatre, but there were some things that needed to be changed — including the visuals from the show, which were scrapped.
He said,“we were adjusting the lighting, because we took it a little bit of a step too far.
“That’s what you do if you’re trying something new. Sometimes, you actually have to go a little bit farther and really analyse — we’re not starting from scratch, but we’re learning from what we had and we’re working on the worldwide production to hopefully tour the world.”
Jablokov also shared some of his favourite moments from the musical journey so far.
He said,“the Christmas show, my favourite part about that is that we all meet as a family. We’re spread all over Europe.
“After nineteen and a half years in Ireland, we still manage to meet every December. That family aspect is the most genuine sort of happiness on the stage.
“But, you know, I have to say that I’m really excited — we’re doing the Four Seasons in the first half of the show, but we’re going into all of our favourite songs in our repertoire.
“Anton is flying in from Switzerland, and doing al the favourites for people to sing along, clap along and so much more.
“And also, there’s going to be a lot more personal stories and engagement and interaction with the audience.”
Vladimir Jablokov — 4 Seasons Explained will be taking place at the Bord Gais Energy Theatre on May 24 and May 25. For more information or tickets, visit www. bordgaisenergytheatre.ie.
AS A RESULT I REBELLED AGAINST CLASSICAL MUSIC”