Special Talk with Riyoko Ikeda and Teiko Maehashi, Volume 2

Click here for Volume 1 → Special Talk with Riyoko Ikeda and Teiko Maehashi, Volume 1

Riyoko Ikeda
Riyoko Ikeda is a manga artist, author, and vocalist. She made her debut in 1967 with Bara Yashiki no Shojo (The Maiden of the Rose Mansion)In 1972, her series The Rose of Versailles began running in Margaret, the shôjô manga magazine published by Shueisha The series sparked a craze and became a social phenomenon. In 1980, she won the Japan Cartoonists Association Award of Excellence for The Window of Orpheus. In 1995, at the age of 47, after having published numerous manga works, she enrolled in Tokyo College of Music’s Department of Vocal Music.Since graduating, she has been performing as a soprano singer and has appeared in opera productions. She was awarded France's prestigious Legion of Honour in 2009. In August 2021, a new opera created by Ikeda, Nemuru Otoko (The Sleeping Man), was performed in Finland. Her latest book, Ikeda Riyoko Dai1 kashuu:Sabishiki Hone (Riyoko Ikeda's First Songbook:Lonely Bones), which contains her thoughts in the form of tanka poetry and essays, is now on sale.

Official Website
http://www.ikeda-riyoko-pro.com/

Teiko Maehashi
Teiko Maehashi is one of Japan's leading international violinists. After studying with Anna Ono at the age of five, she enrolled in to the Leningrad Conservatory at the age of 17 to study with Mikhail Vaiman. In addition to other world-renown orchestras and artists, she has performed with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. She continues to entrance many audiences with her graceful and sophisticated playing. In recent years, she has been giving recitals throughout Japan with programs filled with widely loved music. In 2004, she received the Japanese Art Academy Prize. She was awarded the Purple Ribbon Medal in the spring of 2011, and the Order of the Sacred Treasure, Gold Rays with Rosette in the spring of 2017. She plays on a Del Gesu Guarneri violin made in 1736.

Official Website
https://teikomaehashi-violin.com/

Projecting Life's Experiences through Sound and Art

Maehashi　Depictions of how violins are held are wonderful in The Window of Orpheus. I am not sure if it is my place to even say this, but the instruments are incredibly well-drawn, too.
Ikeda　In high school, I played the trumpet in the brass band, so I am used to being surrounded by instruments. When I was creating The Window of Orpheus, I bought inexpensive instruments, like a violin and a flute, so that I could look at actual examples when I was drawing them. When it came to depicting how the instruments were played, I went to see musicians performing. Pianos are relatively easy to draw. The keyboard is straight, right? It's all straight lines, and it's just black keys and white keys, so that is quite easy, but violins are indeed difficult to draw.

(From Volume 6 of the paperback edition of The Window of Orpheus)

Maehashi　I'm not sure how to word this and this may not make sense, but to me a violin will look like a violin if you get the shape right. But the way that you draw a violin gives the viewer the impression that the sound is coming out of the instrument that is depicted. I feel your illustrations capture the essence of the violin. This is why I think you did a fantastic job.
Ikeda　Wow, thank you. It makes me feel confident for the first time (laughs).
Maehashi　Do you use any particular types of art supplies when you draw?
Ikeda　 I'm not particular about the art supplies I use. People who enjoy manga ask me many questions such as "What kind of pens do you use?" But I'll literally use anything as long as it's easy to draw with.
Maehashi　I see. And you've been able to produce amazing work that way.
Ikeda　You're too kind. What I think is that all the books and the cultural experiences that my parents have passed down to me as far back as I can remember have all become part of my artistic expression, as I believe is probably the case for you, too.
Maehashi　Is there anything in your thought processes that has changed over the past 40 or 50 years?
Ikeda　During my career as a manga artist, my finger joints have become less mobile as I have gotten older, so I do not take on serialized manga work anymore. I've been writing tanka poems since I was in junior high school, and last year I published my first collection of them. Even though the genres seem completely different, I think it all comes from the same desire to create.

(From Volume 7 of The Rose of Versailles: Complete Edition)

Maehashi　That's wonderful. I'm involved in recreation, as opposed to creation. It's about reproducing what the composer has already created, so it not about creating something new.
Ikeda　But I think that personalized life experiences always come out in a performance.
Maehashi　I understand and think so, as well. For better or for worse, the performer's character and humanity become enmeshed in the sound and the art.
Ikeda　I've been thinking lately that is what life is all about. It was a big epiphany.

The community in the dormitory of the conservatory was a microcosm of the Soviet Union at the time

Ikeda　I collect classical music records. For instance, when I am quite sad and struggling, I listen to Beethoven's violin concertos.
Maehashi　Really?
Ikeda　I've listened to these records so repeatedly that I've actually worn them out. While creating manga, I played the piano and listened to a lot of music, and that's what I ended up with. In the work, a character says that in the case of the piano, everything is based on arpeggios. And then there's Bach.
Maehashi　I believe that's true.
Ikeda　I wonder if Bach's unaccompanied music and Beethoven will finally reach me.
Maehashi　That is the ultimate. And regarding the piano, when I was in the Soviet Union, the education was really wonderful, and the teachers were of a different level when I think about it now. But there weren't many people who could practice on their own piano.
Ikeda　It really was like that back then
Maehashi　Even the pianos at the conservatory were in a terrible state, with keys missing. They weren't tuned, either. But even then, it was Russians who were winning the international competitions. Even in such a disadvantaged environment, they had an unfathomable mental strength, in addition to physical strength, which combines I think to foster their incredible power.

(From Volume 7 of the paperback edition of The Window of Orpheus)

Ikeda　It is the same literature. When I was in junior high school, I decided to read all the works by Dostoevsky, and I was very much into the Soviet Union. I still like to say that　the intellectuals of that era loved the Soviet Union (laughs). It is the 15 republics that made up the Soviet Union. Especially in the Baltic countries, there was strong German influence, and I think that these factors can come together to create unfathomable power.
Maehashi　I lived in the dormitory of the conservatory for three years, and it was really a microcosm of the Soviet Union at that time. Talented musicians from all over the Baltic States, Ukraine, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, and other countries were selected to represent their countries at the Leningrad Conservatory or Moscow Conservatory. We spoke different languages, followed different religions, and ate different food. We were separated into groups of boys and girls, but we all lived next door to each other, and we were all young, so things happened that we can't talk about here (laughs). People got married when they were quite young, too. In addition, even in the dormitory, there were many people who had left their children with their parents back home while they studied.
Ikeda　When it comes to figure skating and other sports with many artistic elements, Russia is still dominant.
Maehashi　I think there were a lot of physically gifted people, and there was also an education system. In Mikhail Vaiman's class where I studied in Leningrad, there were about 14 students, and it was an open lesson. It wasn't one-on-one sessions like in Japan or the US, so anyone could come and listen to the lessons. I did not other students listening to music that I'm still practicing, but it's part of the training. It's like, if you have the courage to play there, then when you get on stage, it's no big deal. Also, most of the violin pieces require piano accompaniment, so I had a dedicated pianist who was always willing to practice with me. My teacher was the kind of woman who had been working since she was a student, and she was proud of what she had done with her life. There is a deep layer of support that is not visible on the surface, and there is a systematic structure for all aspects of education. I didn't enter the conservatory just because I liked it but because I was interested in it, and at that time it was the fork in the road between life and death. If you didn't make it there, you would never make it, so we all studied very hard.

Ikeda　But at that time, it was not an open country, and it's amazing that you jumped in at the age of 17.
Maehashi　I think about that myself (laughs). I think I was really very fortunate. I wasn't particularly talented.
Ikeda　That's not true!
Maehashi　No, really. It was a government-funded program, so I didn't pay to go there. To this day, I still can't believe it. I wondered how I could have had three years of such an incredible education. In fact, at that time, I changed methods because of the opportunity I had been given. Then there was a point when I couldn't play anymore. I wanted to be a soloist, but I knew this would be very difficult. Then I thought, "This kind of education is hard to come by, so maybe I can pass down what I've learned," so I did what I was told to do using their methods. But it seemed like I was always crying (laughs).
Ikeda　Really (laughs)?
Maehashi　I think that's why they were like, "If it's too hard, you don't have to do it." The teacher was very kind, I think he was in his mid-thirties, and everyone was incredibly mature now that I come to think about it. The oldest boy in the class, a 23-year-old violinist named Sascha who was married, was very kind to me. I went there to study, so my activities were limited to going back and forth between school and the dormitory, and I knew very little about the city. Then, before I left for Japan, Sascha showed me around all day and took lots of pictures for me. I still have this photo. Can you see it? This is me at 17, and this is the Church of the Savior on Blood.I was looking at Orpheus, and you drew the exact same building.

Ikeda　That's right!
Maehashi　He took pictures of us at various places like this and said, "Teiko, when you grow up, please remember this time we spent together." It's not something a 23-year-old usually mentions. With such kind classmates, I was able to live freely without supervision.

"Are you going portray the Russian Revolution in a positive light? Or will you portray it negatively?"

Ikeda　When I went to the Soviet Union for the first time, a guard accompanied us.
Maehashi　What year was that?
Ikeda　 It was after The Rose of Versailles had ended, so it was around 1974. I registered with Intourist, and it came with a guard. The Far East bureau chief of Intourist at the time was quite a scary woman, but I told her, "Actually, I'm thinking of depicting the Russian Revolution." She then asked me, "Are you going to portray the Russian Revolution in a positive light? Or are you going to portray it negatively?" I said, "I will portray it positively." So she gave me permission to go to places where ordinary tourists normally could not visit. For example, I was taken to where the revolutionaries had printed leaflets in a secret underground bunker. Of course, I was being monitored, but they were very kind to me.

（From Volume 6 of the paperback edition of The Window of Orpheus）

Maehashi　It was still Leningrad, right?
Ikeda　 Of course. It was winter, and as you said, and the grey atmosphere was very pronounced. I was told that the buildings, like the Smolny Institute for Noble Maidens, were designed to look their best in snow.
Maehashi　That’s right. Winter was really something.
Ikeda　I liked winter the best. But when it came to food, there were no raw vegetables for a salad, for example.
Maehashi　They were really short on vegetables then. You stayed at a hotel, right?
Ikeda　I did. If you stayed in a hotel in the Soviet Union back then, you will not be afraid to staying in any other hotel.
Maehashi　But it sounds like you stayed at a rather nice place.
Ikeda　No, no! Of course, the hot water didn't work, the heating didn't work, there were drafts are coming in, and the bed was broken.
Maehashi　Really?!
Ikeda　I even said that I would sleep in the bathroom because it was the warmest place. In those days, there were concierge ladies who worked hard on each floor, and they would get you hot water. It's nostalgic to think about. I still prefer the Soviet era.
Maehashi　 It's a completely different country now. I sometimes watch TV programs about Russia now, and it's hard to believe that it's the same country anymore on account of how much has changed.
Ikeda　After it became the Russian Federation, there was a festival called the White Nights Festival, right? I was on a TV program to interview Valery Gergiev and the Italian conductor Gianandrea Noseda. The country had become very Americanized. There were motorboats speeding through the canals of St. Petersburg. Maybe young people desired these type of things.

Maehashi　In that era, for ordinary people, America was the land of dreams. They weren't getting any information, so it was hard to know what to make of it. Then, after a certain point, we started receiving information from Europe and America. There was money, but they didn't understand the meaning of money, right? Then, things changed completely. Nowadays, there's a serious wealth gap. That is the sum of it, I believe.
Ikeda　When I went to the Soviet Union for the first time, people would come up to me when I was walking around the city. They asked me if I had US dollars. They wanted to exchange money.
Maehashi　Right.
Ikeda　 I wonder what their aim was.
Maehashi　At that time, there were places called dollar stores, right? You could buy little things with US dollars. People basically wanted things that other people didn't have, and I guess they realized for the first time the fact that they could do these things with money. When I say they realized it, I mean everything changed after that era. Even good teachers were competing for professorships at conservatories in Germany and other European countries where life was more stable than in Moscow or Leningrad. But now those days are over, and people are wanting to return to Moscow one by one.
Ikeda　I'm guessing it's the level of artistry. I think the level is very high, including the education system, even after it became the Russian Federation.

(From Volume 7 of the paperback edition of The Window of Orpheus)

Maehashi　 I wonder why that is the case, I really do. I think that it's their tradition, and I also think that the unique power of Slavic Russian music and literature draws people to it. For example, I think Tchaikovsky is at the very heart of the Russian people, but the violin concerto is technically very difficult.
In the past, when I was thinking about how to play during my lessons, Mr. Vaiman asked me, "Have you seen Tchaikovsky's operas?" I responded, "What? Tchaikovsky wrote opera?" I was so ignorant. Then he told me to go see Eugene Onegin. The three movements of the violin concerto are just like that. Like the scene of Tatyana's letter. To understand Russian music, you have to learn it from a completely different angle as well, and it is connected to literature, and in addition you need to understand the culture as well. Since I was an international student, I was encouraged to experience as much of Russia as I could, so I spent more than half of my week at the Mariinsky Theatre watching ballet and opera performances.

Continued in Volume 3
(Composition: Aya Okamura)