Freedom.

Violinist Victoria Mullova left the USSR twenty years ago. The last twelve years she has spent in London with her husband and three children. By coincidence she performed her first solo concert in the Large Hall of the Moscow Conservatory during the Second Easter festival. And now, the one-time winner of the Tchaikovsky competition has finally managed to perform on stage at her alma mater.

Always a welcomed guest at the largest of music festivals, Victoria Mullova performs with the most well-known orchestras and conductors in the world. Originally a classical violinist, she is constantly expanding her fields of expertise: from experimenting with jazz interpretations to complete dedication to authentic performances of baroque music; and recently she made her debut as a conductor.

Victoria’s parents still live in Zhukovsky outside Moscow, and on her rare trips to Russia that is where she spends most of her time. But she still manages to catch a glimpse of how Moscow has changed since the days when, as a girl, she would first walk twenty minutes to the train station, then ride an hour on the train, plus a little more in the Metro, before arriving with her violin at the Central Music School, and in later years, at the Conservatory.

Following Mullova’s emigration – just after she had won the Tchaikovsky competition – and the scandal which ensued upon her failure to return from a tour in Finland, her parents went through serious difficulties. “My mother and father were called in to the corresponding authorities, where they were excluded from the Communist party and almost had their jobs taken from them. They were happy for me, but we had no idea, when we’d ever see each other again,” recalls Victoria.

The decision to emigrate was spurred by a hunger for freedom and the desire to be master of one’s own fate. “The main thing was just to get out. I just wanted one thing – freedom.

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