Stmark the date: March 14 at the Verdi Conservatory in Milan, for the season of the Società del Quartetto. Misha Mullov-Abbado will be with his mother, the Russian violinist Victoria Mullovawith a concert that will please everyone also for variety: Bach e Prokofiev, John McLaughlin and Schumann, Jobim and Shalom Chanoch.“We started studying the program for the first time in 2017,” says the double bass player and composer. «The public debut was in 2019».
A solo for her
Misha Mullov-Abbado with his mother, Viktoria Mullova.
The lineup says a lot about them. “It took us several months to select the pieces, evaluating both those we both know and those that work best with the combination of our instruments, but – above all – with the focus on the music that, as a family, we would listen to together”. Among his original compositions chosen for the evening, as well as blue deer, Little astronaut And Shanti Bell could not miss Brazilwhich he had written as a violin solo “for Viktoria” (so calls the mother).
Jazz passion
Jazz lover (in 2014 he was awarded the Kenny Wheeler Jazz Prize), Misha Mullov-Abbado sets no limits to musical experiences: «I believe the crossovers is a very important part of making art: by combining what is familiar and what is not, we make people feel things they have never heard before». The merit of this mental openness? Once again there is something in between the mother, although she has an image more linked to the classical repertoire, so much so that she was chosen (in the role of herself) by Paolo Sorrentino for Youth – Youth. «She is an open-minded musician and has always encouraged us (Mullova has two other daughters: Katia, with violinist Alan Brind, and Nadia, with her current husband, cellist Matthew Barley, ed) to try out whatever designs we had before deciding it couldn’t work.”
Where does it draw inspiration from? «For each piece the source is different: sometimes it’s my mood, sometimes what I’m listening to, sometimes it’s the situations I find myself in while traveling or facing an emotionally demanding period»
“My Father Claudius”
Misha Mullov-Abbado with his mother, Viktoria Mullova.
Growing up in London in a house full of music, he didn’t consider himself predestined right away. «I think awareness came when I was 12, when I started studying at Royal College of Music every Saturday”. And the father’s influence has nothing to do with it: «In truth, I knew him quite little. indeed, almost not at all »he explains. “We got a little closer in the last couple of years before his death, but even then I only went to see him once alone… But we always enjoyed discussing music and I have fond memories of listening to the recordings at home his, in Bologna».
The toughest challenges you had to face? «Growing up with a complicated family situation, not knowing my father was difficult, as was dealing with his death. I also lost a child about five years ago, and the experience still affects me today.”
“Me and Italy”
Claudio Abbado was involved in social causes. Does the artist have a responsibility or should he be free and answerable only to the Muses? “Both things are true. Anyone with a voice in the world has an opportunity to use it – I always appreciate those who put in the effort. But only if he does it for a genuine and honest interest, not because he is a victim of pressure…».
What does Italy represent for you? «Complicated to explain, since I didn’t grow up with anyone from my Italian family… But I have traveled the country far and wide (some relatives on my mother’s side live here). Sometimes I joke that I’m “the worst Italian ever”: I speak the language badly and I don’t like the sun and the beaches. My favorite place is Rome, the historic center. I had a lot of fun when I held concerts there».
“I’m getting married”
What do you like to do in your spare time? «Being with friends and with my partner, Bridget (we’re getting married this year!), traveling in mountainous areas, possibly by train». But she will always have to leave space for her mother who loves playing in their duo: «I’m happy to have learned improvisation, new techniques, new languages from Misha» she commented Mullova, who recorded an album with her son in 2020, Music We Love». «Playing a new repertoire with him is nourishment for me».
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