Fifteen years ago, when you took your first steps in business, how did you imagine your company in the future?
I am not a dreamer. I had a set of principles both then and now. It is important that there are no personnel problems. I'm not trying to earn money wherever possible. Agreements must be kept. Even losing money, we always did everything that was written in the contract and the rider. Thus, good contacts were established with major world players. And now PMI are the only ones in St. Petersburg who can afford to bring artists like The Rolling Stones, Lady Gaga and Madonna.
Where did you study?
Nowhere especially: it did not grow together with the school, and they were expelled from the technical school. For a simple reason: dyslexia and dysgraphia. Because of this, I have not read a single book in my life, only in mathematics I went ahead of the whole class. And in transitional age ran away from home due to family problems. At the age of fourteen he got a job as a butcher. Even then I wanted to become a businessman, to work for myself.
When did your first major success happen?
My older brother called to his firm. I, solely out of a sense of contradiction, in order to prove that everything is in order with me, began to arrange some kind of performances, parties. It ended predictably for St. Petersburg in the 1990s - with a broken head. When six months later I came to my senses, I thought about what to do next, but I realized that I only know how to organize concerts. The first time I felt I was on the right track was with Aerosmith. Sales were going well, but Steven Tyler broke his leg and the tour was cancelled. And the next was the super-successful import of Depeche Mode.
Are you fundamentally not moving to Moscow?
PMI, of course, has an office there, but I don't like to be in this city. A pro-American style of communication and life has developed there: everyone is in a hurry somewhere. I don’t accept America either, I didn’t manage to love it. I ended up in Miami quite recently - about the same as I visited Sochi.
Where do you like it?
In Italy, there people are alive and real. But in general, I try not to go to proven places. The more varied the better.
“Neither I nor anyone else has the right to dictate to Madonna what to sing, what to say”
PMI is a solid corporation: radio stations, Internet services, promotional agency. What else is missing from this structure?
Both PMI and the city are missing a big modern hall. In St. Petersburg, you cannot arrange a concert by Eric Clapton or Joe Cocker. In terms of sound, these are chamber stories - sports arenas disappear. And BKZ "Oktyabrsky" will not work because of the small capacity. We are now trying to build such a hall - the Alla Pugacheva Song Theater on the Smolenka embankment, a huge complex.
For concerts of Pugacheva and her friends?
No. This is only a conditional name, and Alla Borisovna, who participates in the project as a businessman, was against such a wording. The international company Live Nation is involved. We do without budget money and are building the country's first large concert hall that will operate without state subsidies. The matter will not be limited to music: it will be possible to bring Cirque du Soleil there, a huge exhibition space will appear.
Why did you choose the project of English architects?
It would be strange to build a Gothic style near the Primorskaya metro station. The architectural firm Populous is authoritative, it has designed the Olympic Stadium in London, Wembley Arena, the O2 concert hall in Dublin, which ours will be very similar to.
To him, after all, they are now making claims on altitude?
There are people who want only five-story buildings to be built. Although the same "ship" houses along Smolenka, which previously caused outrage, now do not annoy anyone. I think we will explain the importance of the project and the problem will be solved.
Why did you decide to open a restaurant?
I know a lot about wine, I like to eat delicious food. The PMIbar project is more for itself. I just want people to get used to proper food. We plan to make sets with wine: not expensive, but correct combinations. We will have our own enoteca with unpromoted brands, Champagne Lounge Bar with hundreds of champagnes. We offer a promising chef, this is Ivan Berezutsky, the best sommelier - Yulia Khaibulina. Yes, gourmet, but democratic! Also, people might want to see music stars that will appear in our restaurant.
Does the activity of a prominent fighter against Western artists, deputy Milonov, bother you a lot?
Everyone understands that the goals of Milonov and the organization that sued Madonna are only PR and nothing more. These are win-win topics: religion, sexual orientation. Well, they want to spend their lives on nonsense - so be it. Only the child is not clear: neither I personally, nor anyone else from Planet Plus has the right to dictate to Madonna what to sing, what to say from the stage. The same, by the way, applies to Boris Moiseev, and Vika Tsyganova, and any artist.
Along with Planet Plus, PMI includes, in particular, the ticket operator Kassir.ru, creative network Yatalant.ru. As a youth, Finkelstein tried to move to Netherlands but soon returned. The Song Theater Hall will accommodate 14 thousand spectators. Pugacheva and her daughter Kristina Orbakaite are co-investors of the project. Finkelstein was a pioneer touring business in Russia: for the first time, guest performers began to bring concert equipment with them.
Text: Egor Galenko, Radif Kashapov
Photo: Oleg Butkovsky
FINKELSTEIN Evgeny Yulievich (b. 1972, Moscow), - Russian guitarist, laureate international competitions, professor, head of department classical guitar at the State Classical Academy. Maimonides in Moscow. At the age of 11, he began to study classical guitar with A.K. Frauchi. In 1991 he graduated from the Moscow School of Music them. October revolution, where he studied with the composer and guitarist Nikita Koshkin. In 1996 Evgeny Finkelstein graduated from Russian Academy music named after the Gnesins in the class of Professor Alexander Frauchi. From March 1996 to August 1997 he studied with Kamill Arturovich Frauchi. He completed his postgraduate studies under A. K. Frauchi. He is a laureate of the III International Competition "Guitar in Russia" (Voronezh, 1995), the I Moscow International Competition of Classical Guitar (1995), the IV International Competition "Guitar Spring" (Belgium, 1996).
E. Yu. Finkelstein gives solo concerts in the best concert halls Moscow, St. Petersburg, Siberia, Urals, Far East, post-Soviet countries (Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and others), as well as Germany, France, Czech Republic, Great Britain, Austria, Korea, Cyprus, China and others. and Rakhmaninovsky halls of Moscow State Conservatory, Great Hall St. Petersburg State Academic Chapel, Holyval Music Hall in Oxford, Moscow International House of Music. Collaborates with such collectives and performers as "Soloists of Moscow", Yuri Bashmet. With great success in the Small Hall of the Moscow State Conservatory, a concert of the chamber orchestra "Soloists of Moscow" was held, in which Evgeny Finkel-stein and Yuri Bashmet performed A. Vivaldi's double concerto in D minor for viola, guitar and strings. For a number of years he has been taking part in the Music Academy of the CIS countries under the patronage of Yuri Bashmet (Samara), where he gives solo concerts and conducts master classes. Evgeny Finkelstein took part in Nikolai Petrov's Musical Kremlin festival in 2011.
E. Finkelstein is also involved in teaching activities. Since 1994, he has been teaching the guitar class at the State Classical Academy. Maimonides in Moscow. In 2000 he received the title of Associate Professor, in 2012 - Professor of the Higher Attestation Commission. He became the first Russian professor of the department of classical guitar: it is known that the department of classical guitar in Russia exists only in the State Academy of Music. Maimonides, in all other universities of Russia the classical six-string guitar"lives" at the department of folk instruments. Many students of Evgeny Finkelstein became laureates of international classical guitar competitions.
Evgeny Finkelstein is invited to the jury of international guitar competitions: "Guitar Virtuosi" ( St. Petersburg), international competition. Alexandra Frauchi in Moscow, international classical guitar competition in Riga, international competition in Tallinn and others.
The German music publishing house "Acoustic Music Records" released three discs by Evgeny Finkelstein. The first disc - "The Fall of the Birds. Russian Guitar Music" - was released in 2002. It includes works by N. Koshkin, S. Rudnev and G. Belyaev. The album received many rave reviews from the press.
"Evgeny Finkelstein is obsessed. He is an artist, heart and soul devoted to music and guitar, captivating the hearts of his listeners. At the age of 22, he was entrusted with teaching a guitar class at the Academy in Moscow. E. Finkelstein's performance is distinguished by brilliant virtuosity, combined with amazing musical expressiveness. The "Fall of the Birds" disc contains pieces by contemporary Russian composers-guitarists who know and use the possibilities of their instrument perfectly.The figurative, exciting work of Nikita Koshkin's "The Fall of the Birds" will be a real discovery for many listeners - also for those who usually do not accept music, written in modern language.
Finkelstein's congenial interpretation is based on the performer's longstanding friendship with each of the composers. Finkelstein masterfully handles all technically complex elements. We'll hear a lot more about this artist."Acoustic Music
Catalog 2003.The second disc - "Sonata" - with music by J. S. Bach, S. L. Weiss, G. Muffat and M. Giuliani was released in June 2004.
"Following his excellent debut disc "The Fall of the Birds", which displays the features of Russian modern guitar music, young virtuoso guitarist Evgeny Finkel-shtein presents an impressive new recording. It presents works different eras– from baroque to modernity, Eugene's own compositions. The first piece on the disc is Overture by the remarkable lutenist Silvius Leopold Weiss. Further, Finkelstein continues his appeal to the Baroque era with an outstanding interpretation of J.S. Bach's Sonata in D minor for harpsichord; in his arrangement for guitar, he combines two editions of Bach's own version of this sonata - for harpsichord and violin. Finkelstein appears as a bold virtuoso, presenting to the audience the variations of Mauro Giuliani - a work that sets high technical requirements to the performer. By choosing the almost unknown Passacaglia in A major for lute by organist Georg Muffat, the musician not only demonstrates his excellent musical taste, but also introduces listeners to a wonderful piece. The prelude and waltz "In Memory of Segovia" by Nikita Koshkin and two of the guitarist's own compositions complete the disc program in a melodious and lyrical manner."
Acoustic Music
Catalog 2005, p. 60-61.The third disc is "Lachrimae". It includes lute works by John Dowland, Robert de Wiese, Giovanni Zamboni, arranged for classical guitar by Evgeny Finkelstein.
Evgeny Finkelstein's recordings are heard on the Orpheus radio station, the Bavarian Radio, the Kultura radio station, the Kultura TV channel, and the City FM radio. Evgeny Finkelstein gives master classes at festivals in Russia, Ukraine, Germany, Poland, England.
Evgeny Grigorievich, at the end of 2011, legal problems with land plot allocated for Theater Alla Pugacheva, ended. At what stage is the project today?
Pre-project work is underway now. We need to analyze the market in order to understand what kind of venue St. Petersburg needs to be in demand and be able to compete with other venues not only at the city level, but also at the all-Russian, and maybe even at the European level. A transformer site will be built that can accommodate from 2,000 to 14,000 people. A contractor has now been selected - the British company Populus, which has built 120 venues, including the O2 Arena in London. The agency calculates the project.
A few years ago the project was estimated at $250 million. What is its cost today?
Say the exact number it's difficult now. Approximately $ 400 million - it all depends on the coordination of the project with the city authorities.
Can there be such significant changes?
Of course. For example, because of the parking lot. The difference between the construction of surface or underground parking varies from $20 million to $40 million. And this is a very significant difference. For example, an arena in London cost $100 million, but it did not have a parking lot. We probably won't be able to do without it. In general, we are unlikely to meet the 120,000 m2 allocated for the concert complex today, simply because, according to Russian standards, such halls, as planned, should have a lot of parking spaces. So it is necessary to consider with the authorities the possibility of increasing the allocated space or reducing the number of parking spaces. We are ready for amendments, but the project must be profitable. In the near future we will show exactly how the future concert venue will look like. But you can not expect that the costs will quickly pay off. About 200 events are planned to be held at our arena every year.
What is the construction timeline now?
According to the investment project we have to finish the construction in 4 years. We have a lot of time, considering that exactly the same site in London was built in 58 weeks. There is nothing complicated there, you just need to do all the calculations.
Plans to introduce site along with the launch of the central section of the Western High-Speed Diameter passing through Vasilyevsky Island (according to the latest data, its commissioning has been postponed to 2015. - Ed.). Without this transport hub, getting to Vasilyevsky Island, where the concert complex will be located, will be very problematic for all viewers. Also, the subway will always be at the service of the audience, which is a 7-minute walk from the site. By the way, in London, where the O2 Arena has no parking, everyone uses public transport and deal with it.
Did you conduct any preliminary search for investors?
Until the pre-project is finally calculated, this makes no sense. But I think it will attract the attention of many large investors. This is how the O2 Arena project was implemented. O2 is a brand of a mobile operator. Today, his customers have arena ticket benefits, discounts, special rights to book certain seats for concerts, etc.
What is the status of your other development projects?
In the building on the Moika, in which we wanted to build a hotel, it was decided to open a business center. At the end of January, the entire corporation moves there. The change in the purpose of the building is due to the very strong seasonality of the hotel business.
Have you given up on the idea of opening a hotel? You own both land and real estate.
In our city, the hotel business is a risky business. Yes, from mid-May to August the hotels are 100% full. But from autumn to spring - a failure. In order to have year-round occupancy, for example, as in Prague or Cannes, you need to hold a lot of events that would attract tourists to the city. And the prices should be lower than those on the market now. Staying at a hotel in St. Petersburg is much more expensive than in the same Prague.
Makes the problem worse the fact that we are also not in a resort area, and the cost of a visa to Russia is very high compared to other countries. But the main thing is that it is still not so easy to get a visa to Russia. I say this as someone who has gone through this nightmare. We, firstly, face these difficulties when we bring foreign artists, and secondly, I judge by personal experience. When I lived in the Netherlands, I didn't have Russian passport. And when I decided to restore it, I had to go through many procedures at the Russian consulate. Of course, this is not a city problem, but a national one. And it needs to be addressed at the federal level.
That is, you no longer expect the tourism boom that you talked about a few years ago?
I expect. I'm even sure he will. But when exactly this will happen, given the recent world events, it is difficult to say. For tourism to develop, we need laws at the federal level, not at the city level.
Yes, something is being done in St. Petersburg. For example, cruise passengers were allowed to stay in the city for 72 hours without a visa. As a result, the number of ships entering St. Petersburg and people visiting the city increased by at least 30% over the year. But this is not enough. I repeat once again: the problem needs to be solved at the federal level.
Year and a half ago you purchased the Institute of Beauty and a sanatorium in Karelia, although you announced itrecently. In this purchase, a banal interest in land and real estate, or are you reallygoing into this business?
At first there was, as you say, a banal interest. But after a more detailed study of this area, we decided that we could also deal with this direction. We want to create a beauty institute in the full sense of the word. That is, it will not be one direction, but a complex of services from and to. We have already bought a building for polyclinic No. 37, which is located together with the institute. We plan to start renovation soon.
Does this mean that you, like many businessmen, are close to the topic of eternal youth?
Yes, this topic is close to me, given the stress, constant business meetings, etc. That is why I bought a sanatorium in Petrozavodsk. In general, I am familiar with the work of detox clinics, I have been to India, Thailand, Austria, Switzerland.
For you, the main type of business is promotion? How much has it changed since you started it study?
It has become easier. When you know how to do it and there is a professional team, then everything goes smoothly. But promotion is more of a hobby than a business for me. As a business, it is quite dangerous, ungrateful, risky, although doing it is more interesting than any other business. On the this moment there is a lot of competition in the promotion business, there is an overpayment for artists - crazy money. AT last years not only domestic, but also world-class artists stopped coming on tour solely to promote the new album. And many world stars go to St. Petersburg, as our city has a strategically more advantageous position compared to Moscow. From here to Estonia is a stone's throw, and then - Europe. Here's your tour. After all, the optimal distance between cities on a tour is 200-300 km. I believe that without the Northern Capital there would be no Moscow concert market.
How do you choose artists?
I've been nobody for a long time I don't choose. We know which artists are launching the tour, and based on this we decide who should be brought. And this has long been done not by me, but by the leaders of Russian and foreign projects.
What are you interested in today?
Actually, I'm a person which ignites quickly and cools down just as quickly. Perhaps now I devote more time to the national ticket operator Kassir.ru. Today it is the largest ticket operator in Russia: the annual turnover is 3 billion rubles, and every day the turnover in St. Petersburg alone increases by 250%.
Aren't you afraid to have so many non-core businesses?
My businesses can be non-core only if I am such a structure as or. Nevertheless, the companies that are now part of our corporation appeared on the basis of the idea of business promotion.
We have been promoting business. To increase the turnover of concerts, a radio station was needed - today there are six of them. Then a full cycle advertising agency was needed - PMI-Media appeared. It was necessary to sell tickets - they created Kassir.ru. Need concert venues- it is planned to build a whole concert complex (I mean the Pugacheva Theater). Then we began to develop development projects. I don't consider myself a builder, I'm just a businessman, for whom one niche - the promotional business - has long become cramped. So if you dig deep, all businesses are interconnected.
What are your feelings about what is happening in the country today? Are you not going to leave?
I'm not going anywhere. Unlike many, I have already lived abroad and know what emigration is. We have no future there. We need to talk about what we want to change here, and not leave, and people working in power must understand how to do better for the country, and not for themselves personally.
As a person who has lived abroad for quite a long time, I can say that suitcase moods are characteristic of people who have never lived there. You can fight with all the disadvantages of today's life. There would be a desire.
Eugene, you have a not very common, but rather well-known surname. Petersburg Institute Applied Astronomy of the Russian Academy of Sciences for a long time was headed by the recently deceased astrophysicist Andrey Finkelstein. In musical circles, your full namesake Evgeny Finkelstein is known. Is there between you family ties And what does family mean to you?
With Andrey Finkelstein We are not relatives and did not know each other. But with Evgeny Finkelstein, also, by the way, not a relative, was interesting story. One day the bell rings and they say to me: "Hello, I'm Evgeny Finkelstein." "Very funny," I reply. "No, I'm really your namesake, a guitarist, I'm calling you to finally get to know each other, otherwise I'm already tired of answering requests to get tickets for a star coming to Russia, since I'm not the head of PMI." "You know, I, too," I answer, "are tired of the questions, when will I finally post some city with my tour." That's how we got to know each other. And there word for word - there were common interests, such as raising children. Family is very important to me. After all, I have a wife and two children - a girl and a boy, and I, of course, care about their future.
Biography
Evgeny Finkelstein was born in 1970 in Fergana. After leaving school, he left for Holland, together with his brother Vadim (now the head of the M-1 league of fighting without rules and the owner of the Flying Dutchman restaurant) was engaged in the export of products. Returning to Russia in the early 1990s, he organized the Planetarium club, where foreign stars performed: Scooter, U-96, Robert Miles and others. In 1998 he created the Planet Plus promotion company. In 2002, PMI Corporation was formed. Today it includes the Planet Plus promotion company, the PMI-Radio group of radio stations (Russian Radio, Dfm, Maximum, Monte Carlo, Piter FM), Love Radio St. Petersburg, ticket operator Kassir.ru, advertising agency PMI-Media, the first creative network Yatalant.ru, the S-Continental group of companies (tourism), the PMI-Development company, the Alla Pugacheva Theater development project, the Beauty Institute on Gorokhovaya , IT-company "Infinitek".
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| Evgeny Yulievich Finkelstein | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Evgeny Yulievich Finkelstein |
| Date of Birth | June 6(1972-06-06 ) (46 years old) |
| Place of Birth | Moscow |
| Country | Russia |
| Professions | guitarist, professor, head of the department of classical guitar GKA them. Maimonides |
| Tools | classical guitar |
| finkelstein-guitar.com | |
Evgeny Yulievich Finkelstein(born in 1972, Moscow) - Russian musician (classical guitar), laureate of international competitions, professor, head of the department of classical guitar at the Moscow State Classical Academy. Maimonides. The performances of Yevgeny Finkelstein are distinguished by an unusually beautiful sound, subtlety and expressiveness of performance, diversity and sophistication of the repertoire. These qualities, multiplied by the filigree technique, make an unforgettable impression on the listeners.
Yevgeny Finkelstein was born in Moscow in 1999. He studied with outstanding Russian musicians Alexander Frauchi, Camille Frauchi, Nikita Koshkin, Alexander Gitman, graduated from the Russian Academy of Music. Gnesinykh (1996) and postgraduate studies with Alexander Frauchi (GKA im. Maimonides, 1999).
“Performed by Evgeny Finkelstein, the spirituality with which he conveys his exquisite program to the listener, combined with amazingly beautiful sound, is striking. It's perfect craftsmanship."
OVB Culture
“Eugene Finkelstein has an extraordinary expressive power. His performance surprises with its imagery”
Schwabische Zeitung
“A virtuoso guitarist of a very special kind performed before us: it was the noblest Russian art”
Oberbayerisches Volksblatt
“Finkelstein combines brilliant virtuosity with precise, lovingly calibrated art of interpretation. It was perfect music."
Westfalen Post
Evgeny Finkelstein- an outstanding Russian guitarist. His performances are distinguished by an unusually beautiful sound, subtlety and expressiveness of performance, diversity and sophistication of the repertoire. These qualities, coupled with refined technique and filigree, make an indelible impression on the listeners.
Yevgeny's arrangements of Russians sound penetrating and poignant. folk songs filled with drama contemporary works for classical guitar by Russian composers - Nikita Koshkin, Gennady Belyaev, recorded on a CD in Germany. The uniqueness of this disc was especially noted in the English magazine "Classical Guitar".
Purity, harmony and sublimity distinguish Eugene's performance of J. S. Bach's works. Eugene's performance was called "absolute music" by music critics in German newspapers ("Schwäbisch Haller Blatt", "Schwäbische Zeitung", "Westfalen Post" and others).
Evgeny Finkelstein gives solo concerts in the Small Hall of the Conservatory in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Vienna, Berlin, Munich, Oxford and other cities of Russia and Europe. Evgeny collaborates with such groups and performers as Moscow Soloists, Yuri Bashmet. Evgeny Finkelstein participated in VII International winter art festival of Yuri Bashmet in Sochi, taking place simultaneously with the 2014 Olympics. At the closing of the Festival, the guitarist brilliantly performed the Adagio from the concert of J. Rodrigo "Aranjuez" accompanied by the Moscow Soloists Orchestra under the direction of Yuri Bashmet (conductor - Yuri Bashmet). Evgeny takes part in the Music Academy of the CIS countries under the patronage of Yuri Bashmet (Samara), where he gives solo concerts and conducts master classes. The concert of the Moscow Soloists chamber orchestra was a great success, in which Evgeny Finkelstein and Yuri Bashmet performed A. Vivaldi's double concerto in D minor for viola, guitar and strings. Evgeny Finkelstein took part in Nikolai Petrov's Musical Kremlin festival in 2011.
Evgeny Finkelstein was born in 1972 in Moscow. He studied with outstanding Russian musicians Alexander Frauchi, Camille Frauchi, Nikita Koshkin, Alexander Gitman, graduated from the Russian Academy of Music. Gnesins and graduate school. He is a laureate of international competitions in Moscow, Belgium.
Evgeny Finkelshtein is a professor, head of the classical guitar department at the State Classical Academy in Moscow. Many of Evgeny's students have won the titles of laureates of international competitions. E. Finkelstein has recorded several CDs in Germany, gives concerts in Russia and Europe.