"People joke that my game is the only 'muttering' they're willing to tolerate."
Ivan Kokorin, a young soloist with the Bolshoi Theater Orchestra, has become a star of "The Nutcracker" on social media thanks to dozens of videos of his expressive manner of playing the tambourine and castanets in the orchestra pit, filmed by spectators during performances. The Net jokes that because of him the prices for the most popular New Year's ballet are so high, and girls ask the artist out on dates. Ivan Kokorin told Izvestia in an interview about where the millions of views came from, how colleagues react to it, and also exclusively played a fragment from The Nutcracker on a tambourine.
"I started filming my tambourine playing."
- This New Year's Eve season, you unexpectedly became the star of "The Nutcracker" on social media thanks to your expressive tambourine and castanet playing. Audiences post dozens of different videos that have millions of views. What do you think of this sudden fame?
- On December 21, my friend and I decided to make a video of playing the castanets. I published it, and the next morning it had 10-15 thousand views. I thought, "Come on!" I went to the page, and there were so many marks in stories and comments! By the evening, I had 100,000 views. Everyone told me that I had to record something else right away. I started filming my tambourine playing.
And there was a boom: everyone started posting something, making reposts. One of the viewers, Ksenia, also posted a video of my expressive playing on her page, which she shot during the performance - now it has 2.5 million views. I thanked her afterwards, and I'm grateful to everyone who does this. I found out a few days ago that there is also a video of me playing castanets and tambourine on TikTok, and it too has gotten about 1 million views. It's great that there is such interest in the Bolshoi Theater, art and my work! I'm happy in general that all this can now be shown to people, that they now enjoy it all and are energized by it. Many percussionists publish in social networks the part from "The Nutcracker", do my chips and tricks.
- How many "Nutcrackers" on your account these days?
- It's hard to count, but 15-20 "Nutcrackers" were definitely just in two weeks.
- Has the audience's reaction in the auditorium changed in any way now?
- Yes! The other day at the "Nutcracker" a few people came up. There was a woman with a little daughter, she said: "We are your subscribers! We came especially to look at you!" And the girl, such a little princess, first came up, and then hid behind the edge. I said, "Where are you hiding? Do you want to play the tambourine?" And she got shy and ran away. It's nice to have people come and get to know me. I'm always open.
- There are a lot of jokes on social networks about you being the culprit behind the high prices for "The Nutcracker". Any favorite comments? What do they write personally?
- I especially like the joke that this is the only "muttering" that people are willing to tolerate. Once wrote: "We will make author's coffee for Kokorin or coffee with tambourine". Something like that. It was kind of a barista thing. There's a huge amount of awesome posts, so much fun! I try to spend a huge amount of time every day to reply to everyone, but I don't have time, of course. So if I haven't reached anyone, I apologize.
I've been advised to hire a manager for this, but I don't want to. People ask me about the tambourine, about the notes, and, of course, people will be more interested if I tell them myself. These are very nice messages. It motivates me now! Some people write: "Ivan, the main thing is that you don't have star disease!" I don't have it, because the most important thing here is music, creativity. I have a huge number of ideas, projects that can now be realized. My inner child is now happy, and I, an adult, will do it.
- Girls call you for dates?
- By the way, this is very unusual, usually a man does it! There are girls who invite you out for coffee. But, unfortunately, I don't have time for that now. I want to do my concerts, work offers - there is no time. I have my own ensemble DrumArtMusic. Now I've been invited to give a solo concert with an orchestra - I can't tell you more about it yet. I have a lot of material to learn. I'm single. Relationships and family are great, and I want that. But I think God will lead me to my soulmate. Fate is a cool thing!
"It's great to have the orchestra under such a spotlight."
- And how did your colleagues react to the fact that the video with you has gone viral on the web? Not jealous?
- Honestly, they're happy! They also want to play, someone puts a camera, shoots. We're all laughing, we're all having fun. Of course, they joke: "Oh, star, can I have coffee with you?" Some directors come in: "Oh, are you Ivan on the tambourine?" I've always been really cool with everybody. And it's a kind of energy that energizes everybody. It's great to have the orchestra under such a spotlight.
- Did the management of the theater encourage you in any way?
- The main thing for me is the love of the audience, the love that I have inside me, which for many years was hidden, and now I can give it to people. I was afraid they might say, "Don't shoot it!" But no, everybody's happy. You're a musician, you open up, you create something beautiful. And we don't get mad, we don't get spoiled. If they encourage us, of course, it's just a nice human thing.
- In general, there was no serious conversation?
- No. But I think it's possible that Valery Abisalovich Gergiev has already been shown the video, because there are so many views! If they call him back, I think they'll just be pleased and praise him. This is creativity! I'm on fire! I just give what I have inside, and people like it.
- I was trying to understand what is the formula for the success of this story? Why did the videos, as they call it, catch on? I think, on the one hand, the incredible popularity of "The Nutcracker" and, in addition, the fact that the focus of attention suddenly shifts from the stage to the orchestra pit to an attractive young man with a seemingly simple instrument. You yourself joked about this - you called one of the videos a tambourine dance. But it's not as easy as it may seem, is it?
- Of course, it's very difficult. It's a complicated instrument in terms of playing, technique. There are a lot of techniques. You have to play what is written in the notes, listen to the orchestra, watch the conductor. It's a huge process of brainwork. And, of course, there has to be mastery, when some freedom comes and you can afford to do something more than you have to do. And I guess in my case the time has come when I know the instrument so much, feel the instrument, that I can afford to do that. And about all my expression, it's from childhood. It's just the way I feel about music. I can't even always, sometimes, repeat something of my own, because it's not a learned technique, it's a feeling, a drive.
- There is traditionally a wild frenzy around "The Nutcracker" on New Year's Eve and crazy prices. How justified is all this?
- This is a production by Grigorovich, a genius of geniuses! This is Tchaikovsky's music, which brings tears to your eyes, gives you goosebumps. It's beautiful theater, beautiful music, beautiful ballet and beautiful sets. It's also a New Year's mood. It's really nice that people want to get in, and it's a shame that not everyone can. But it happens. This is the main theater of the country. This year there was an auction. I think there were more opportunities. Even people I know said they were able to buy tickets at an adequate price. So something's changing. That's great!
"When Valery Gergiev took over the theater, a lot of projects appeared."
- And what, apart from The Nutcracker, do you recommend to those who didn't get in? And what productions are you involved in?
- I probably play in all the productions that are in the theater. Mostly ballet. I like it better myself, because there are more drums, expression, drive - you can't get bored. I like "Spartacus" - there I just catch the spirit and can show all my skills. There's even a drum solo in there, by the way, when the male corps de ballet dances. "Ivan the Terrible" is a masterpiece. I also really like "The Legend of Love" with its oriental music, which works magic on me. It's very beautiful and awe-inspiring. If you see it and listen to it, you will fall in love once and for all and walk away a different person. "Swan Lake," of course, is also a fantastic story. And "La Bayadere" has incredible shadows. Another love of mine is "Don Quixote." There are a lot of castanets, the parterre is usually delighted and peeks into the orchestra pit.
If we're talking about opera, "La Bohème," "Tosca," "Khovanshchina." And I personally like "Boris Godunov" very much. I recommend it to all my friends, because the costumes there are amazing - just a masterpiece! And what a chorus, what action! It's wonderful!
- Is it difficult for an artist to get into the Bolshoi Theater?
- In 2016, I passed the competition for the stage orchestra, among ourselves we call it the gang. This group is behind the stage and is responsible for different sounds - the wind, an open window, a knock on the door. There were three rounds and about 25 people per place. In the first round, you play solo pieces on different instruments. In the second, there were orchestral extracts from symphonic works. These are difficult pieces in which you can show skill. Usually in the third round you play with an orchestra, but I didn't make it to the final - they took me without it. Then they tried me in the orchestra for a year, and in 2017 I became a soloist.
- That's the career growth - up to the tambourine! (Laughs).
- Yes, and my friends joked: "You first got into some gang, and then into the pit. What's going on with you? What kind of life do you have? This is not a career growth, you, on the contrary, somehow went down." (Laughs).
It was a dream come true! When I entered, played the competition for the Bolshoi Theater, I got a call and was told, "Ivan Vadimovich, we congratulate you - now you're in a big family." These are not just words. It really is a big family. Everyone is important there - cleaners, artists, directors, those who mount the stage.
- How often do new musicians get into the orchestra?
- Competitions don't happen very often. But after Valery Abisalovich Gergiev took over the theater, there were a lot of projects and people were hired for different positions bit by bit. Many cool classical productions came to us - "Ruslan and Lyudmila", "Khovanshchina", "Eugene Onegin". He restores and promotes what belongs to the golden heritage of Russia. And there is a lot of symphonic music. It's powerful, strong - there's a lot to play. And it's more interesting for the musicians themselves. Some people have been playing "Spartacus" for decades, and here, imagine, a Shostakovich symphony! It's interesting, especially for young people. There's also been a lot of touring. When would I have been in Vologda? And here I stood in the street and sang, while no one was watching: "Where is my dark-eyed girl? Where? In Vologda-here-here-here, in Vologda-here."
- And what kind of music is on the playlist of a young man with an academic education?
- When I come home, I really like to be in silence! (Laughs.)
