Music | Father-daughter duo set for classical recital tonight

Mischa and Lily Maisky

Father and daughter duo, Mischa and Lily Maisky, are set to take the stage of the Macao Cultural Centre’s (CCM) Grand Auditorium tonight, for a recital of several renowned classical works, including some from Gabriel Fauré, César Franck and Astor Piazzolla.

Described by CCM as “a true heir of Russia’s delicate poetic and technical brilliance,” the 68-year-old, Latvian-born Mischa Maisky was the sole disciple of master cellists Mstislav Rostropovich and Gregor Piatigorsky.

Proudly donning a traditional Chinese silk jacket (a minap) that Mischa Maisky told the Times he purchased in Shanghai, the renowned cellist yesterday recalled his dozens of performances in East Asia, debuting in the region during a concert in Hong Kong in 1974, and visiting Macau just once before in 2003. “It’s nice, right?” he asked, in reference to the jacket.

The 68-year-old’s history is an unusual one. Although he was born in Latvia, Mischa Maisky received most of his formal musical education in Soviet Russia; a fact to which he says he is ultimately grateful. After his later repatriation to Israel, the first-rate musician turned his attention to the major music centers of the world, including London, Paris, Berlin, Vienna, New York and Tokyo.

Having toured and lived in many places around the globe, Mischa Maisky holds himself to be a “citizen of the world.”

“I say [that I am a] ‘Citizen of the World’ as I feel this way,” he replied yesterday when asked on the matter. “But I also have many factors that prove this; I’ve lived in many, many places. I think this [mix of culture] is very healthy.”

“The personality of a musician is influenced by his or her life experiences. I was lucky, in a way, to grow up in the Soviet Union as I received an excellent musical education,” explained the cellist. “At the time, and strangely on a daily basis, I used to bump into great musicians [in the USSR]. It’s quite unbelievable really.”

However, his years living in the Soviet Union – which Mischa Maisky frequently terms his “first life” – also came at a cost.

“The other side of the coin was that in the last few years of my ‘first life’ in the Soviet Union, I was arrested and sent to labor camps, spent time in a mental hospital to avoid military service… I didn’t see my cello for years [at one point].”

Despite the hardships, the musician settled with an optimistic note on the fact the he remains “grateful to [his] destiny for having received that history,” as it has inevitably shaped his style and ability as a performer.

It may have also been the key differential that has set him apart from his colleagues who have also mastered their respective instruments. His experiences act as a sort of emotional reserve, providing a limitless source of vigor that Mischa Maisky is able to draw upon and convey through his work.

“There are thousands of musicians who master this level and play their instruments perfectly. [… What differentiates them] are the philosophical elements that go past what people can just hear – that which goes past [one’s] ears and reaches the mind. This is a higher emotional element which is a heart-to-heart [connection],” he explained.

Mischa Maisky’s daughter, Lily Maisky, plays the piano and has received critical acclaim in her own right, described by The Scotsman newspaper as “an equal partner in a gritty and thrilling performance.”

When asked about what it is like to work with such a renowned musician as her father, Lily Maisky held her own without evidencing that she feels in any way overshadowed.

“It’s a great privilege to play with my father… it’s very natural,” she said yesterday, “We tried it [first] at a dinner party and we found it so easy and natural, so we just started doing it in concert. We don’t even need to rehearse that much.”

East Asian children on the rise as musicians

Mischa Maisky also remarked yesterday on the boom of East Asian children in the global orchestra scene. While recognizing that the populations of China, South Korea and Japan are significant – and therefore it is no surprise that these countries are fielding huge numbers of talented musicians – Maisky said that he has been overwhelmed by the changes he has observed within the last few decades. Maisky first visited Asia in 1974, but would not make it to Beijing until 1999. After many more concerts in the Chinese capital, the cellist told reporters yesterday that “the change in [the number of] talented Chinese musicians has been extraordinary – both in the professionalism of orchestras and the opera halls that have mushroomed [sprung up] since my first visit.”