Art historian Mikhail Kazinik has gained worldwide fame for his ability to delve into the deepest secrets of the creativity of geniuses and share his discoveries with audiences. He shares this knowledge with millions of people around the world through his concerts, TV and radio programs, and books. In the West, he is known as the «Apostle of Culture.» He is the author of more than 60 films about world musical culture and a host on radio stations such as «Orpheus,» «Silver Rain,» Chicago’s United for Good, Australia’s SBS, «Voice of Russia,» and others.

He has traveled almost the entire world with his lecture-concerts. The main goal of his work is: «to reveal the innate genius of listeners and readers through art, their incredible ability to perceive the cosmic energy that gave birth to Bach and Shakespeare, Mozart and… each of us.» «I believe in the genius of Humans on the Planet» is the maestro’s main postulate. Ahead of his concerts on May 25 and 26, Mikhail Kazinik shared his thoughts on his Yerevan tour and more.

You find the meaning of human existence in music, particularly classical music, and you assert that it influences a person’s appearance, smooths out wrinkles, and even shapes cerebral blood circulation. What is the greatness of music? Why do poetry, painting, or other forms of art pale in comparison to music?

Everything is very simple. Humanity is formed in what is called a verbal and non-verbal atmosphere. The verbal part consists of rough ideas, mundane words that exist in various languages. As for the non-verbal world, it consists of subtle matters. Among them, poetry is semi-verbal. On one hand, it still uses words, but on the other hand, we cannot speak in poetic language in everyday speech. What is music? It is the only non-verbal form of art. That is, it rises to the highest level, the level of the unspoken, akin to God, who did not speak in words. How did God communicate with the world, with Adam and Eve? Non-verbally, through energy, through wave energy. And what is music? It is wave energy, a giant ratio of stability and instability, consonance and dissonance, a vast system of resolution. I have written in my books that musical form, for example, the sonata form, is the highest form that reigns supreme over everything because the sonata form is the only one that brings music closer to verbalization.

If I’m not mistaken, you project the sonata form even onto the business sphere.

Yes, yes. And I do so using the example of the fairy tale of Pierrot, «Little Red Riding Hood.» Recently, I had a meeting with international businessmen. I asked them, who is the dominant character in «Little Red Riding Hood»? Only those who had listened to me before easily said «the grandmother,» because everyone else undoubtedly said «the wolf,» «Little Red Riding Hood,» and so on. I asked them: my friends, what is the project called? «Pies for Grandmother.» So, who is Little Red Riding Hood? It is what in sonata form is called the main theme, which will go to the grandmother. The plan of going to the grandmother, the exposition. That is, Little Red Riding Hood, through the linking passage, the path connecting Little Red Riding Hood, her mother, and the grandmother, will go to the grandmother with the pies. And this is already the development, that is, the project is now being developed. If there were no Wolf, it would be a simple ternary form. But the appearance of the Wolf is what sponsors the sonata form, in reality… Returning to the question of music. Remember what Nietzsche said? «Without music, life would be a mistake.» Nothing more to add.

You once said that if a country, when planning its budget, would put «culture» as the number one priority, all other sectors would automatically rise by many percent. Why hasn’t this strategy been implemented yet?

I can’t speak for all the countries in the world, but those I know are mired in corruption. Their main idea is to make money on everything. They don’t need to earn points or accolades from making a sick person healthier or from preventing disease rather than treating it. They don’t need to know that a person immersed in music will guaranteedly not become a criminal. Under the influence of Beethoven’s 32 sonatas, both piano and ten violin, the quartets of Haydn, Mozart, and much more, a person can’t turn to a life of crime. In reality, war is only possible in an uneducated society. For example, country «A» goes to fight country «B» and begins to destroy it. This is primarily a sign that country «A» knows neither the culture of country «B» nor its own because from the perspective of high culture, a person is a universe, and the destruction of each person is a crime of colossal magnitude. A person is designed brilliantly. But we skillfully rid the child of this brilliance. Do you understand?

So, do you think that parents consciously suppress the genius in a child?

Partially consciously, and I’ll explain why. The thing is, a genius child is very difficult for an adult to handle. Because the adult, in their time, was deprived of many things. And when a child thinks differently, the adult suppresses them with authority, with force. The child intuitively feels that they are small and defenseless, that they must follow the adult, otherwise they will either get a smack, not get a treat, or not go to the circus. And parents guide the child in their own direction, in the vision they have. I’ll give an example from Sweden, where I partly live now. My grandchildren first studied in a Waldorf school, then in the famous Latin school with music and a stunning level of teaching, and then in university. Neither I, nor their parents, nor anyone paid a single Swedish krona for their education. That is, not only did we not spend money on their education, but the state gave us money, you see? It’s an indescribable feeling. And they received the highest possible education in Sweden. I intended to build such a school in Armenia but saw that Armenia was completely unprepared, to my great disappointment.

Of course, you know Armenia as an ancient country with its rich cultural heritage, customs, and traditions, but unfortunately, the existential question has now become dominant…

I know it very well because the Jewish people, whom I represent, and the Armenians have historically moved in parallel. When the destruction of us begins, the destruction of you begins. I therefore always associate the Armenian people with the Jewish people. The same isolated nature, the same unique religion, the same antiquity that no one else has.

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