Swiss Review 3/2018

19 Swiss Review / May 2018 / No.3 she warns: “Nothing ever runs smoothly with me as the tour guide.” Kopatchinskaja regrets the lack of vibrancy on the classical music scene and the fact that much has remained the same for centuries. “A concert should change the lives of everyone in the audience a little,” she points out. She believes classical concerts today are often like visiting a mausoleumof dead composers. “People go to look at the corpses. They are expected to sit there in a dignifiedmanner andmove as little as possible.” “Repetitions of the same thing do not appeal to me,” says themusical interpreter. “If that is what youwant, then listen to a CD. I’m not a copying machine.” Profound and willing to take risks Patricia Kopatchinskaja is a deter- mined campaigner against pigeon- holes in the mind and templates in classical music. Art is never about what you already know. She strongly believes that “artmust raise questions and turn things on their head”. The messages of this profound musician who likes to take risks are now being heard. In addition to this year’s Grammy, in 2017 she also picked up the Swiss Grand Prix forMusic, one of the highest accolades in her profes- sion. Kopatchinskaja attends interna- tional festivals, composes, makes re- cordings and plays chamber music and concerts with the best orchestras in the world. In autumn 2018, she will also take over the highly regarded Camerata Bern as its artistic director. Where does her creativity, deep sense of musicality and artistic talent come from? Patricia Kopatchinskaja does not take long to answer this. She in- herited her stubborn nature and pas- sion fromher father Viktor Kopatchin- ski, a virtuoso cymbals player, and her composure and intensity while per- forming from her mother, who is a vi- olinist. The environment she grew up in keeps her grounded. Kopatchinskaja was born in Chis- inau in Moldova, one of the poorest countries in Europe. She had a diffi- cult but happy childhood and recalls the idyllic village where she grew up amongst hens and cornfields with her grandparents while her parents toured the Soviet Union as profes- sional folk musicians. Her father was a highly successful musician but not a partymember and, as the occupying forces inMoldova constantly changed, the family never knew what the fu- ture held. “My father was not allowed to go abroad. That’s whywe fled.” They emigrated to Vienna where she and her family lived in terrible poverty. However, the young violinist had a lucky break. A scholarship allowed her to come to Berne where she feels safe and secure. She believes the city plays an important part in her work and for her soul, which sometimes needs tranquillity. “Berne is sedate and slow-paced. I’m never distracted here and can focus onmy work. Until I set off again.” Patricia Kopatchins- kaja has entered the pantheon of clas- sical musicians. She has reached the very top. However, she has not achieved all of her goals just yet. Her restless soul continually drives her in search of newmusical secrets. “That’s what I live for.” MARIANNE MÜHLEMANN IS CULTURE EDITOR AT THE “DER BUND” NEWSPAPER Patricia Kopatchinskaja Patricia Kopatchinskaja, born in 1977, grew up in a family of musicians in Chisinau, Moldova. The family emigrated to Austria in 1989. Kopatchins- kaja studied the violin and composition in Vienna before moving to Berne in 1998 thanks to a scholarship. She has received many awards, winning the Henryk Szeryng Competition in Mexico in 2000, the International Credit Suisse Group Young Artist Award in 2002 and the German Radio Prize for Outstanding Talent in 2006. She also won the Swiss Grand Prix for Music endowed with 100,000 Swiss francs in 2017 and a Grammy Award in the Best Chamber Music Performance category in January 2018. She is also known to the wider public thanks to Swiss customs offi- cials who confiscated her valuable Guarneri violin, which was a loan, making news headlines. Kopatchinskaja is married to the former neurolo- gist and author Lukas Fierz. They have a daughter together and live in Berne. In autumn 2018, Kopatchinskaja will take over the Camerata Bern as its new artistic director. MM A determined campaigner against pigeonholes in the mind and templates in classical music: Patricia Kopatchinskaja Photo: Keystone