Қазақша
Русский
Without false modesty, Kazakh man Eldar Saparayev can be considered one of the best cellists in the world. He is the winner of international competitions in Switzerland, Croatia, Italy, Germany. He has performed in concert venues all over the world. Now Saparaev lives in Germany, teaches at the Ljubljana Academy of Arts in Slovenia and the Kazakh National University of Arts. He performs chamber music at his festivals in Germany and Switzerland, has his own fund to support young performers, gives solo concerts and conducts orchestras.
For many of his achievements, the musician modestly thanks Lady Luck. However, whatever one may say, you can write off the hard work of the musician.
Road to Bright Future
Eldar's drank in this love of art, as they say, with his mother's milk.
"My mother played the violin and was a ballerina, from my early childhood she took me with her to the Almaty Opera and Ballet Theater. Dad is a cellist. I remember, he had a white cello case he proudly carried around Almaty, and many turned around at him. I didn't want to go to ballet because I was embarrassed by concert clothes," laughs Eldar. "Although I love ballet very much, I chose the path of a musician. I got into the Bayseitova Almaty music school for gifted children and, like my father, began to study the cello."
PHOTO from personal archive
Eldar laughs as he recalls that, he fell in love with the instrument immediately, but laziness slightly hindered the development of talent at an early age. He clarifies, as a young cellist, he had to be forced to play. Everything changed in adolescence, during city and nationwide competitions - he wanted not just to play well, but to become the best. Then his interest in art intensified, and so much so that Eldar did not miss a single concert not only in Almaty, but also in the country, visited exhibitions and museums – in short, all events related to art and creativity. Because of this, friends called Eldar "omnipresent". The musician himself no longer saw further growth prospects in the country.
"I felt "restless", because I already knew everything in Kazakhstan: all musicians, artists, and teachers. The only one who somehow interested me was the great musician Vyacheslav Turkestanovich Uzbekov, who taught chamber music. Brilliant musician, who studied in St. Petersburg during Shostakovich's time, met many great composers and told me a lot about them. I've been studying with him since I was 15. He was the only thing keeping me in Kazakhstan, but I understood that I had to go somewhere," Eldar recalls. "I wanted to feel the spirit of European musicians - Beethoven, Bach."
Eldar believes that luck plays a big role in the world of music: if you are noticed, it becomes easier to build a career. Therefore, it happened with his relocation to Europe, which happened thanks to one fateful case.
"In 1999, I was invited to a master course in Austria - Ayman Musakhodzhayeva (Kazakh violinist, rector of the Kazakh National University of Arts - F) took me there. The master course itself was not interesting to me, but at that time I already wanted to leave the country. After the master course, there was a final concert where I played in a small church, after which a Spaniard came up to me and said to me: "Eldar, this is not your stage. You have to perform in big venues!". And he invited me to come in a month for another master course in Vienna to his friend, a professor at the Zurich University of the Arts. I arrived, the professor listened to me and invited me to study in Zurich. Three months later, I was already a student at the Higher School of Music in Zurich, and I enrolled in through a grant and without entrance exams," Eldar says proudly.
After graduating from school, Saparaev stayed in Switzerland and began to refine his talent. As Eldar says, he has visited all corners of the planet with his instrument, even once played a concert in the most remote inhabited place on Earth – an island Tristan da Cunha, whose residents heard live music for the first time in its history.
After the concert on the island of Tristan da Cunha
PHOTO from personal archive
In addition to solo concerts, Eldar was lucky to perform on the same stage with outstanding musicians. He played with the legendary Romanian pianist Radu Lupu; the world-famous violinist Dmitry Sitkovetsky, with whom they toured, crossing two oceans; worked on the symphonic poem Don Quixote under the direction of the Austrian cellist and conductor Heinrich Schiff, as well as on Haydn's cello concerto with maestro Reinard Goebel.
Eldar Saparaev with Dmitry Sitkovetsky after a concert in Cape Town
PHOTO from personal archive
Igniting Others
During the 23 years in Europe, Eldar Saparaev received three higher educations, with a "Conductor" degree. Moreover, Saparaev started to conduct because of an injury that significantly affected the musician's career.
"Ten years ago, my career was in full swing, I traveled all over the world and played concerts, but one day I felt a strong pain in my shoulder. It turned out that the ligaments were torn. The doctors recommended a surgery, but I refused. The doctors said that I would not be able to play as before and advised me to change my profession. Then I decided to become a professional conductor. Eventually, I fixed my arm, but kept the idea of becoming a conductor. I entered the Lugano Conservatory in Switzerland and graduated," says Eldar.
Conducting the Astana Opera Orchestra
PHOTO from personal archive
After the graduation, Saparayev was fortunate to conduct the North Czech Philharmonic, Budapest Symphony, Kazakhstan State Philharmonic Orchestras, as well as the Astana Opera Orchestra. Eldar is a member of the foundation of the French conductor Wilhelm Furtwengler and work to promote and disseminate the legacy of this musician.
"The most difficult thing in conducting is that your instrument is people, with their own mood and character, and you need to bring these people together and achieve results. The conductor must have a tough enough character to convince people to do what you need," Eldar explains. "But I like to lead musicians.
Eldar says, as a conductor he gave concerts almost every week. But he also did not give up his beloved cello and often performed simultaneously in two roles: as a cellist and conductor. This continued until the beginning of the pandemic.
When the quarantine put the whole world on pause, Eldar Saparayev's house was in Switzerland. The emergency closure of the borders played a cruel joke with the musician – he could not return in time and had to isolate himself in Germany, in the city of Constance. But such a combination of circumstances benefited both the musician himself and the residents of the city, because they witnessed the world's first balcony concert series, which Saparaev arranged in the first week of quarantine.
PHOTO from personal archive
"Since I was left homeless in Germany, I asked my sponsors in Constance to stay in their hotel. They allowed me, and I was left alone in a 12-storey building. More than a hundred rooms - and everything is at my disposal! What an expanse!" Eldar laughs. "Then, out of boredom, I started going out on one of the balconies of the hotel every day and playing a Bach suite. The acoustics were great, because the hotel was surrounded by three multi-storey residential buildings, which formed a kind of amphitheater. People went out on their balconies every night, and I played to them from the hotel balcony.
Information about balcony concerts instantly spread throughout the small town, and Eldar was invited to play in other areas of Constance. There were also concerts on the roofs, for example, on the roof of the synagogue, where Eldar with a guest accordion player performed works from the Fiddler on the Roof musical. He also held a charity concert on the border of Germany with Switzerland. During that one, a film crew arrived from Stuttgart and made a short film about the Kazakh musician, which was later shown on German television. Then, as Eldar says, he did not think about profit and gave all his street concerts for free, but in the end he gained more than money: new friends and, of course, recognition.
As Saparaev says, a lot has changed during the coronavirus. Now musician lives with his family in Constanta and teaches cello at the State University in Ljubljana and at the Kazakh National Academy of Arts.
However, the main brainchild of the musician is the concert series of chamber music Klassik Konstanz and the eponymous foundation for the support of young performers.
"Chamber music is the most pleasant and interesting direction for performers, because you meet other musicians, play music with them, exchange experience and energy. At some point I realized that it is very rare to play with whom I want, and I thought about creating my own concert eries to invite world-famous musicians to my house. From the very first concert, I began to invite young talented musicians to introduce them to the prominent ones, so they can play with them and gain experience," says our hero.
Eldar explains that many talented people have little chance of contacting celebrities. To get noticed and invited to the big stage, you not only have to be talented, but also to assert yourself. Many gifted musicians do not know how to do it, since they devote their whole lives to the instrument, rather than building a personal brand.
PHOTO from personal archive
Eldar finds talented children in schools, some of them are recommended by his colleagues.
"I have a small fund, but we do not help children on a one-time basis, we guide them until they grow up." For example, the youngest ward of our foundation was only 5 years old, and last year, when he was 10 years old, he went to Croatia for a competition and won his first award. I still follow his career, support, and help him," Eldar shared.
Golden Order
Klassik Konstanz is not the only project in which Eldar Saparaev takes an active part. He is also a co-organizer of the Global Music Partnership (GMP) located in New York. Together with partners (who are also Kazakhs, by the way) Eldar organizes various concerts and festivals, promotes American GMP projects in Europe.
In May 2023, Eldar took part in a charity concert of symphonic music "Sounds of the Good" in Zurich, which was organized by Kazakh producer Anuar Yesirkepov and the Ak-Zhol– M public foundation with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan and the Embassy of Kazakhstan in Switzerland. The concert was dedicated to the Children's Day and drew attention to the problems of children with disabilities and assistance to the rehabilitation center.
PHOTO from personal archive
Saparayev also closely cooperates with the Embassy of Kazakhstan in Croatia. Together with Ambassador Tolezhan Barlybayev, they held several events, including chamber concerts, the opening of the Abay monument, and creative evenings. For his contribution to the culture of Kazakhstan outside the Republic, Eldar Saparayev was awarded the Golden Order of Abay from the TURKSOY organization.
Author: Daria Andreeva