Ara Malikian: "One feels the war and I believe that it is present in my music"

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Ara Malikian

(Beirut, 1968) smiles shyly.

Her curly hair barely moves in the morning breeze.

She has her hands in her pockets and her gaze inevitably strays to a dozen photographers and cameras searching for her as she poses in one of the 1,500 trees in the

.

The colors and plants of this enclave have inspired him to create a musical proposal that will flood the space, from May 19, in a new edition of the Musical Walks.

"The ideal music for this energy generated by the Botanical Garden is that of

," he says.

The 18th-century Italian composer, he explains, was a pioneer in translating everything he heard in nature into music, and a clear example of this was the

concerts .

"They mimic the sound of birds, wind and leaves. It's wonderful and so I thought it was the perfect music for this project."

Malikian in the presentation of his project ALBERTO DI LOLLI

Malikian arrived in

, by chance, 22 years ago.

"I came for a very strange reason; the apartment where I lived in Germany burned down and I lost everything except my violin," she says.

While they were rebuilding her home, she decided to spend the summer in the Spanish capital.

But the energy of the city and its people, "open and very hospitable", captivated her to the point that she didn't want to leave anymore.

"It's true that every time I return to Madrid I feel like I'm coming home."

Today's testimonies from

remind him of many of the things he felt when he was just a child.

He grew up in Lebanon, between bombs and rumblings, very close to death.

Once he was able to escape that reality he sought to forget it.

It hasn't been easy because the

is felt and he finds it, unwittingly, in her music.

"Although I don't control it, there is aggressiveness," he reflects.

When he was young he lost his mind practicing with his

, he could do it for up to 12 hours without breaks.

Today he rehearses every day, without exception, but he has learned to set limits.

He knows that many times he has been called

a musical

"Obviously I don't believe them," she says with a laugh.

He has "a lot of road" and also "a lot of failure" that has helped him to have "his feet well on the ground".

With a calm and slow tone, the

Lebanese

, only to reinvent himself and work because the concern that his illusion and inspiration will end is always present.

You gave your first concert when you were 12 years old, when did you find your own style? I think I'm still looking for it. You've said in several interviews that you didn't have a childhood because you grew up in the middle of the war in Lebanon.

What memories of your childhood do you see reflected in the testimonies that come to us from Ukraine today?

It is true that I recognize many things that I felt.

Spending days and weeks in cellars and shelters.

It was like a double life that you had, you lived in the basements and suddenly they said: "That's it, they can go up."

You reached the surface and it seemed that everything was normal, but it wasn't because you realized the damage from the last bombardment and you felt lucky if a bomb hadn't entered your house or if an acquaintance or relative hadn't died.

And that was life.

In my case,

when I got out of the war I stopped talking about it from one day to the next, it no longer existed for me.

Now I speak it because they ask me.

But that means that in my subconscious what I wanted was to forget it as soon as possible. What music does war have? War has music and in fact there are many composers who have an era inspired by war, like Shostakovich or Prokofiev.

They are composers who have been very touched by the darkness and decadence of war, and that is reflected in the music.

A very dark and depressing music, but also very beautiful.

One feels the war and I believe that it is also present in my music.

Although I do not control it, there is aggressiveness.

When I compose, from time to time, he inadvertently takes me there. Today you have a son.

What decisions did your parents make that you didn't make before? Many.

The truth is that the way my parents were, they had nothing to do with the way I am.

But not only in my case, I think it has to do with society and the times in which we live.

What I see most differently is that, that today I don't have to teach my son to survive.

I want him to live happily.

Today I work so that he has a happy childhood, that he plays and enjoys his friends. Your partner Nata Moreno said that for the documentary she made about your life she had 79 hours of footage and that despite herself she had to leave many things out.

What experiences that were recorded are not seen in the feature film?

Many but you have to ask her, I don't know.

When she made the documentary I said: 'Who is going to be interested in a documentary about me?'

She was making her life pretty impossible for her.

She was doing it almost without saying anything to me and in fact the interviews she did with me were practically in a few hours.

One day she told me: "I need four hours, tell me when and dedicate them to me."

She crushed me because it is true that it is difficult for me to talk about the past.

They had them classified in an attempt to forget them and she took them out of me.

At times it was like therapy.

It was hard but also very nice, because I think I needed it.

I needed to remember these things so I could enjoy what I have today even more.

Malikian presenting the Musical WalksALBERTO DI LOLLI

After so many years of experience, what is the secret to continue captivating the public? The truth is that it is difficult to know the secret.

In fact, there is always the concern that what I have now is going to end;

My illusion and my inspiration are going to end.

.

The secret is to reinvent yourself.

Thinking that what works for you now will not work for you tomorrow.

Every day I find a style and the next day I think that this style is no longer valid and I have to look for another. When they tell you that you are a musical genius, what do you think but do not say? They tell me a lot: "What a genius! you are a genious!".

Obviously, I don't believe them (laughs).

But when you go on stage -and I do it a lot because that's what I do for a living-, so many people applaud you, they stand up and praise you... that's not good for the ego.

And you say: will I be a genius?

.

I've been on a lot of road and I've also had a lot of failure.

I have my feet well on the ground, I know who I am.

I am in love with my profession, but I also know my weaknesses perfectly. What is the cost of success? Success takes away time for things you want to do with your son, with your family.

To walk in a Botanical Garden, for example, but it also gives you many things.

It gives you satisfaction, especially on stage.

It gives you sensations that life does not give you.

.

It's not a question of success or not, it's just getting on stage.

I compare it to a state of meditation, going into a trance.

When I'm there I make music at the same time as I meditate.

It's not the same if I do it at home, I enjoy music but on stage I think there is a magical thing that happens when you have a back and forth with 10,000, 1,000 or 100 people... They send you that energy and with the energy that you receive you try to inspire yourself, give it back.

It is an inexplicable thing.

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