RUSSIAN ORGANIST
((Banner: Holy Acoustics))
((Reporter: Elena Wolf))
((Camera: Max Avloshenko))
((Map: New York, New York City))
((NATS))
((MARIA RAYZVASSER, Organist))
When I was small and spent summers in our country home, I was looking at the grass and flowers and thinking that life isn’t here, you know? It’s somewhere there, and what is happening here is some sort of a preparation. And when I came to New York, I suddenly realized, that’s it! This is where life is happening, here and now. It’s so condensed and it’s where I belong.
((NATS))
((MARIA RAYZVASSER, Organist))
What should I play? Something mischievous?'
((NATS))
((MARIA RAYZVASSER, Organist))
When I was six, I was sent to a music school, like any other kid from a good intellectual family. And I wasn’t happy about it. I didn’t like sitting in front of the big black box with keys. I was quite resourcefully torturing my teacher and my mom, of course. But when I turned 12, something clicked. I decided I wanted two things from life: to read ‘The Count of Monte Cristo’ and to play Bach.
((NATS))
((MARIA RAYZVASSER, Organist))
When I encountered the organ for the first time, saw an empty church and sat down at this thing, I said, “Wow! Can I touch this?” I was totally euphoric at first. I kept repeating, “Hello, my name is Masha. I play the organ.”
((NATS))
((MARIA RA YZVASSER, Organist))
I love coming to churches, especially when they are closed and empty in the evenings, when it is dark and there is no one there. There’s something very special about them. You come in, go to the loft. It’s a little spooky there. I spend some time alone with this creature there.
((NATS))
((MARIA RAYZVASSER, Organist))
These are special organ shoes. Everything is thought through. A leather sole that’s quite thin. It allows you to feel the pedalboard, and has a special heel which allows you to play with your toe or with the heel. In order to play very fast, you go like this, tip, tip, tip.
((NATS))
((MARIA RAYZVASSER, Organist))
Even though I am a professional piano player and I have conservatory training, it was, to be honest, quite hard to figure all this out: how this thing works, how to deal with it. I became desperate so many times. I thought I’d never be able to learn it. I remember I was on a bus and I burst into tears because I dedicated so much energy to it, but still was failing and I thought I’d never get the hang of it. ((NATS))
((MARIA RAYZVASSER, Organist))
This is a unique organ, truly historic. I came here to try and play because I was curious, and I fell in love a little bit. When you play the organ, you don’t just play the musical instrument. You also play the interior. Here, for example, the acoustics are amazing. You play something and you hear the echo that lingers for a few seconds. We can produce powerful sounds, and then this sound will ‘whoosh,’ flying inside the cathedral for a little while.
((NATS))
((MARIA RAYZVASSER, Organist))
It’s about music for me, not about religion, though they are very intertwined. We just give the same things different names. It’s important for people to have a place where they can come. Because when big important things happen, things we have no power over, when countries try to blow each other up, what can we do? We can hide in our own affairs. We can water our garden, write poetry, make jam or play the organ. I really think it helps us to survive.
((NATS))
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