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We have only fresh and savory news! November 2013 | № 11 (122) DO NOT MISS: November 1 Birthday of ‘Korchma’ on Profsoyuznaya Street November 28 Birthday of ‘Korchma’ on Mokhovaya Street More news and photos at www.tarasbulba.us e U v o [email protected] k l r a h Project manager – Yuri Beloyvan i it n [email protected] i w an e c ad uisine – m Djivan Gasparyan is a living legend on the World music scene Janusz Leon WiśnieWski: “i will never sink to pornography“ itaLian Cuisine Fish Diamonds, Frutti di Mare, and Melon with Prosciutto tHe GReat Cooks Georges auguste escoffier: king of French Cuisine DELIVERY OF HOMEMADE UKRAINIAN FOOD AND HOTLINE 6+ www.tarasbulba.us (212) 510-75-10 2 | guest guest | 3 where violinists compete with violinists… That contest brought 1,800 offered me to play it. I agreed, I said, “Why wait, let’s record it musicians from 70 countries. But I won it. And I received a 600-year- right now!” He looked at me in astonishment, but he agreed. old statuette. When I returned home, everybody was hugging me and There was also this girl in a studio, a very tall, beautiful girl DjivAn GAspAryAn: crying… I collaborated with the best artists in the world: Sting, Peter with blue eyes. She had to sing, no words, just her voice. So Gabriel, Andreas Vollenweider, Boris Grebenshchikov… I’m sitting in one room, and she’s in another. I’m playing and she’s singing. She’s singing so well that I start wondering how “i pAwneD stAlin’s wAtcH to buy – You won your fame as a young boy… Can you tell us the story she could improvise so promptly. When we finished I saw she about Stalin’s watch? had been crying. She told me, “My mother is Armenian and – It was back in 1947, it was my first performance in Moscow. my father’s American. When the Turks were persecuting us, I remember Stalin well; he was sitting, holding a glass of wine in my family fled to the US. When I was listening to you, I beer AnD meAt puffs” his hand. He liked my recital so much that he gave me his Pobeda remembered the story my grandfather told me…” She was watch. I didn’t save it though, I was young and my friends kept crying and I felt tears swelling in my eyes too… And Hans nagging me, “What’s the use of a watch, Djivan, come one, sell it!” said, “Now, Uncle Djivan, this is an Armenian film.” Djivan Gasparyan is a living legend There were four of us. It was in the years of postwar famine, so I What can I say, life has passed me by like a day. I on the world music scene. He is a pawned the watch to buy four beers and four meat puffs. We had have barely had time to open and shut the door. Like a a blast. minute… People need to learn to be kind, to stop hurting self-taught musician who celebrates one another, to stop being angry… Naked we come into the – How old were you when you first played the duduk? world and naked we leave it… Armenian culture and the duduk around – I was eight and I’ve been playing ever since. I taught myself the globe. He has played with Boris by listening to older masters play. Later I graduated from the – Why are all your melodies so sad? conservatory, but I first learned to play it on my own. – It must be the Armenian soul, because every 50-80 Grebenshchikov, Michael Brook, Sting… years Armenian people were persecuted, murdered, and – I’ve heard that you haven’t parted with your duduk for robbed. Once Armenia used to be a large country, now He is the author of musical scores for forty years. Is this true? it’s very small – no more than three million people. It’s dozens of movies, and his Gladiator – Absolutely! probably less than that now… theme won him a Grammy Award. – Is it your lucky charm? – Have you tried Ukrainian food on your stay in – Actually, I own many instruments and I cherish each Ukraine? Djivan Gasparyan was born in a small and every one like my own baby, because each instrument – I like the red Ukrainian borsht. It’s famous village outside Yerevan into a poor sounds different. I alone can tell the difference. Look (he around the world. Even when I return to the US, I pulls the instruments out of his bag), I have three duduks. ask for it at home. I like it with sour cream! It’s a very family, but he proved that talent and They are the same pitch, but they sound different. They are good hangover cure in the morning after a party (he made from an apricot tree. It takes time to make them. laughs). perseverance can work miracles. In an The wood needs to dry on its own, and it takes three to four years to exclusive interview to Bulba NEWS, he dry. Then you let it float in water and you drill holes in the lighter part – the – What hard drinks do you like? upper part that surfaces to the top. These are professional instruments, not the – I like good cognac. But if it’s unavailable, I can settle for vodka. But talks about his tours, collaboration with souvenir ones that you can buy for $10-15 a piece. I’ve been playing this duduk everything tastes different these days. Everyone is chasing profit and foregoing for forty years, this one for twenty, and this one fifteen. quality. As long as it sells! But we should be careful about what we eat. Synthetic famous composers, and his sad melodies. could be shoes, sweaters, or pants, but food should be good and natural. You He also recommends Ukrainian borsht as – Why does it have to be the apricot tree? cannot make business on bad food. Unfortunately, only a few people understand – Because other trees can’t sound like that. I’ve tried and tried but all in this – most just want to earn money. Money is evil. It kills. a hangover cure. vain. Perhaps because an apricot fruit has been a symbol of Armenia from time Text: Stepan Hrytsiuk immemorial. But Georgians also claim their rights to it, as do the Turks. Photo: Yuriy Helytovych But if it’s so, where are their musicians? If it is your instrument, there surely have to be musicians! – We know that you prefer to be called Uncle The stage was roofed, but three thousand seats were – Uncle Djivan, how did you record the music theme for the Gladiator Djivan and people around the world call you that. in the open air. I had to play there, but suddenly it movie? We are grateful for the opportunity to meet you started to rain: one of those downpours that they get – I received an invitation from composer Hans Zimmer whom I hadn’t since you are on a very tight touring schedule and in Japan. So I’m sitting there, drinking my tea and met before. I went to Hollywood and brought my duduk with me to the About him: very difficult to catch – your duduk plays live in the thinking, “No one will turn up in such weather…” studio. So he says to me, “Djivan, I know your deal very well. I know that US, Europe, Japan… How often do you play at home, Then the director comes and says, “Uncle Djivan, you need a drink before you play…” And I say, “That’s true.” I can normally in the former Soviet Union, in countries like Russia, we are starting in 20 minutes!” So I ask, “Hasn’t the have a shot or two. So Hans says, “I have a surprise for you,” and “I have always dreamt of composing Ukraine, or Belarus? concert been cancelled?” He says, “It has been sold I guessed it must be a bottle of good cognac. We music for Djivan Gasparyan. I think he’s – I do my best to be able to perform here. During out!” Then I enter the stage and see a whole throng stepped into a room and, indeed, there was one of the most brilliant artists in the world. the Soviet time, it happened much more often of people with umbrellas. They stood there under Armenian brandy and fruits He produces a one-of-a-kind sound which because we had to accomplish a plan. I remember we umbrellas for two hours and listened to me play! waiting for us. The lingers in your memory.” were obliged to give two or three hundred concerts This is an incredible story. It still gives me shivers. composer started every year. We toured all the Soviet republics. But many people don’t even know my name. That’s telling me he Hans Zimmer, Today, naturally, I can go wherever I want to. I mostly in Russia, I’m sort of a celebrity in Europe was writing composer for Gladiator. have a manager who makes the arrangements for and the US… music for me to perform. In the last decade I toured Russia, Gladiator Ukraine, and Belarus quite extensively. It brings – It would seem fame didn’t come easily to you? and “Gasparyan turns all his performances back memories because in the past, under the Soviet into captivating, melancholic, passionate, Union, we used to be one family. Now each country – That’s right; I have played twenty thousand nostalgic and reverential dramas.” has its own character and ambitions.

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