Christian Baldini: Conocí a Alejandro Civilotti hace quizás una década, en un concierto que yo estaba dirigiendo en Buenos Aires junto a la Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional. Allí, afortunadamente tuvimos en el programa una pieza de Alejandro (Elegía por Julia Ponce, de Lavapiés). Querido Alejandro, será un placer dirigir el estreno en los Estados Unidos de tu obra para cello y orquesta Auris Concertum, junto al gran Eduardo Vassallo y la UC Davis Symphony Orchestra. Cuéntame por favor, cómo comenzó la génesis de esta pieza? Sé que está relacionada al implante coclear que has recibido, y su dedicación a Su Majestad la Reina Sofía también viene relacionada a su ayuda para garantizar que esta operación sucediera. Me encantaría que nos cuentes el fondo de todo esto.
Alejandro Civilotti:Ante todo gracias por recordar el concierto en que nos conocimos y estrenamos Elegía por Julia Ponce. Es un gran recuerdo para mí también!
Respecto a Auris Concertum:
Esta obra fue escrita en el lapsus entre el momento en que me llaman de la Fundación García Ibáñes a instancias de la Casa Real, para notificarme que van a realizarme los estudios previos a realizarme el Implante Coclear. Su nombre está relacionado con una publicación que se llamaba “Auris” que pude hojear mientras esperaba a ser atendido, y a modo de comentario he de decir que el ciclo Auris tiene dos obras: la primera es la que ahora se estrena en EEUU, para Violoncello y gran orquesta, y la segunda, escrita luego de haber sido implantado titulada “Auris Resonantiam”, que es para Violín y gran orquesta. las dos obras forman una pareja.
El tiempo previo a la intervención fue de poco más que un mes o mes y medio, fue el tiempo que llevó la composición de la obra. La misma la terminé la mañana en que iba a ingresar al quirófano. Así que gran parte de lo que esa obra cuenta, está teñida de lo que sentí en ese momento, en que oscilaba entre una gran expectativa e ilusión, y a la vez temor, nostalgia, en fin, un sin número de sensaciones. Es como si en esos días -y por lo tanto en esa obra- estuviera sometido a un carrusel de sentimientos e imágenes de una parte importante de mi vida. Por lo tanto, ya que toda obra es un trozo de nuestra biografía, decidí volcar todo eso en una obra dónde a modo de símbolo, un protagonista se enfrentara a todo eso. Y me pareció el Cello el instrumento más adecuado por sus posibilidades expresivas, sus recursos y además porque era conocido que la Reina tenía predilección por el instrumento, y a modo de agradecimiento pensé en escribir la obra, como un gesto de buena educación: más bien soy anti monárquico! La segunda del ciclo está dedicada a los médicos que me intervinieron y a la Fundación García Ibáñez en su conjunto.
CB: Cómo era tu vida antes del implante, y cómo te ha cambiado desde allí? Musicalmente has sentido que las cosas son diferentes a raíz de estos cambios?
AC: Lo que principalmente ha cambiado es en la comunicación con las personas. Por poner un ejemplo, yo estuve doce años sin poder atender el teléfono…. respecto a la audición musical, ha mejorado mucho, sobre todo en cuanto a lo que escucho en la parcela rítmica, que se escucha perfecto, un poco menos en la cuestión melódica y armónica. El implante coclear es algo que se crea a partir de investigaciones tendientes a intentar que los niños que nacen sordos, no sean a la vez mudos. Así que pone todo su acento en el lenguaje; aunque lógicamente todo ha ido mejorando desde mi intervención. Pero la música abarca frecuencias que difícilmente puedan ser cubiertas en su totalidad por un implante que en definitiva es un reemplazo del oído. Pero es un gran avance y en mi caso me supuso un disparador motivacional. Pero he de decir que desde hace muchos años, tal vez a causa de este problema, me habitué a atender mi oido interno: escucho internamente, y hasta con los ojos cuando miro una partitura, y eso lo veo una ventaja.
CB: Cómo describirías tu música para alguien que nunca la ha escuchado?
AC: Resulta difícil responder a esa pregunta, ya que a mi entender no escuchamos sólamente con el oído, escuchamos con la cultura, es decir, escuchamos con la que hemos escuchado! Tal vez la mejor descripción posible, que no soy yo el más indicado en hacerla, es que es música que cree en la melodía, aunque ésta sea con una gran carga disonante, con una cierta agresividad… Me atrae mucho la cuestión del timbre y sus posibilidades expresivas, el ritmo. Es una música que no sirve como música de fondo, para poder pensar en otra cosa: intenta activar la complicidad del oyente, atrapar su atención. En todo caso, con errores y aciertos, intento defender la idea de que la música es transversal, su naturaleza es generar ese punto de encuentro sensible entre el que la crea, el que la interpreta y el que la recibe. Su sentido está en esa comunicación, y hasta diría que toda estrategia como forma, es la manera posible que ha encontrado quien la ha creado para llegar al público. Todo lo que escribo está orientada en ese sentido y confieso, hasta imagino la luz y la situación de escena a la hora es escribir una música.
CB: Sé que también te interesa la ópera. ¿Me contarías acerca de proyectos que te gustaría componer? ¿En dónde buscas tu inspiración?
AC: La ópera es una parte muy importante en mi creación. Es un lugar en que confluyen mis ideas, tanto musicales como de otra índole. He escrito bastante, aunque al ser un terreno en que se hace necesaria la inversión de grandes presupuestos, son de difícil salida.
Ahora mismo estoy escribiendo lo que sería mi quinta ópera: sobre la historia de Faetón, un ser perteneciente a la mitología griega que es el creador de la Vía Láctea. será una ópera en tres actos y trabajo sobre un excelente libreto del excelente maestro, que es a la vez experto en literatura y cine, a la vez músico – toca bandoneón – Gustavo Provitina, de Argentina.
También estoy trabajando en un tríptico, una ópera en tres actos con una historia diferente en cada acto, pero que configuren una mirada digamos cosmogónica. De ella hay escrito un acto y la mitad de otro. Sus historias serán un fragmento del cuento de Oscar Wilde “El ruiseñor y la rosa”, el otro será un mito solar de vinculación con el mundo griego, y el tercero será sobre la idea cosmogónica del pueblo Wichi, originario del gran Chaco americano. De esta tercera parte ya hay escrita mucha música, pero aún se está elaborando el libreto.
Después tengo dos óperas de cámara, una se ha llevado a la escena en 2007 en Badalona (Barcelona), dentro del contexto Teatro por la identidad de las Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo, y la segunda titulada “La escala”, ópera de cámara que trata sobre el tema identitario del pueblo catalán. Las historias y sus correspondientes libretos de estas dos óperas, las realizó mi hijo Diego Civilotti, con el cual llevamos toda una vida de relación creativa, pues él es Filósofo muy vinculado al tema de la creación artística, además es músico y escritor. Con él realizamos tal vez el trabajo de mayor envergadura en ese terreno: la obra escénico musical titulada “Karaí, el héroe”, realizada sobre la novela del gran escritor y antropólogo argentino Adolfo Colombres. Obra de tres horas de duración, en tres actos.
Y hay en proyecto dos óperas más, una será una mirada contemporánea de Las Bacantes.
Además de estas obras, y atendiendo a algo que atraviesa todo lo que hago, que es mi interés por las causas sociales (diría que más del 80% de lo que he escrito está dentro de esa órbita de “lo social”), estoy preparando la creación de una obra sobre Armenia: será para gran orquesta con Violín concertante.
CB: Qué consejos le darías a jóvenes compositores que están iniciándose en esta carrera?
AC: Lo primera es que ésto no es una carrera…ja.ja. Para mí es una herramienta para narrar lo que vemos y sentimos frente a eso que vemos. Una narrativa posible sobre un trozo de nuestra biografía. Por lo tanto mis consejos van en el sentido que intentar construir su propia narrativa personal. Escuchar mucha música, lo digo siempre, escuchamos con la cultura y aquello que pasa a formar patrimonio de lo que es bello, en realidad es aquello que podemos reconocer, aquello que hemos escuchado, escuchamos con lo escuchado! Leer muchos libros, acercarse a las artes plásticas, en fin, abrirse a todo lo que ocurre para luego, desde la sensibilidad personal, desde una identificación sensible, elegir el camino.
La búsqueda de los elementos técnicos, con ser importantes y que hay que obviamente asumirlos, son simplemente herramientas, tal como dice un poema de estética taoista ” el propósito las palabras es transmitir ideas, una vez transmitidas éstas, las palabras se olvidan…”, las palabras-técnica, es algo que hay “que olvidar” y centrar nuestra atención en la idea. Algo así como no cometer el error de señalar la luna y mirarse el dedo.
CB: Muchas gracias, desde ya. Será un placer dirigir tu música nuevamente!
AC: El placer es mío! Me hace gran ilusión esta interpretación en calidad de estreno en EEUU, en manos de tu excelente trabajo de dirección, y en la maravillosa interpretación en cello sólo, del gran Maestro Eduardo Vassallo a quien me une una profunda amistad y admiración sin límites.
Alejandro Civilotti (foto de cortesía)
Alejandro Civilotti (La Plata, Argentina, 1959)
Compositor argentino nacionalizado español, Alejandro Civilotti (1959) es profesor del Conservatorio de Badalona donde imparte desde 1988 armonía, contrapunto y composición y de la Escuela Superior del Taller de Músics, donde imparte orquestación. A partir de 1977 realizó estudios de armonía, contrapunto y composición en su ciudad natal con Enrique Gerardi, discípulo de Alberto Ginastera y de Nadia Boulanger. Al finalizar esa formación a finales de 1984, Civilotti viajó a Barcelona, donde comenzó a estudiar composición e instrumentación con Josep Soler, discípulo de René Leibowitz en París y de Cristòfor Taltabull en Barcelona. Entre otros, ha sido Premio Reina Sofía de Composición, Premio Ciudad de Barcelona, Premio de Composición Casa de las Américas y Premio Internacional Ciutat de Tarragona. Asimismo, ha recibido encargos de instituciones nacionales e internacionales, como el Centro para la Difusión de la Música Contemporánea (CDMC) o el Ministerio de Cultura de Francia.
Su extenso catálogo cuenta con obra vocal, de cámara, para piano, ópera, música para cine, obra para orquesta… y 7 sinfonías que abarcan su etapa de madurez, desde la Sinfonía n.º 1 (1985) hasta la dedicada a sus padres Sinfonía “Requiem” n.º 7 (2018). Entre sus estrenos recientes destaca el de Solitudes en el Ciclo de cámara de la London Symphony Orchestra, Aché para actriz declamando, violonchelo solo y sexteto de percusión el la temporada de cámara de la City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, y el de Letanías para violonchelo y piano, por Marc Renau dentro del proyecto catalán “El violoncel desconegut”. En diciembre de 2022, tendrá lugar el estreno de Cosmos para Orquesta Sinfónica, dedicada a Michel Onfray, por la Philharmonisches Staatsorchester de Mainz bajo la dirección de Daniel Montané.
Alejandro Civilotti (La Plata, Argentina, 1959)
Alejandro Civilotti was born in La Plata in 1959 and has spent most of his professional career in Spain. He has been a professor of harmony, counterpoint and composition since 1988 at the Badalona Conservatory of Music, and he is professor of orchestration at the Taller de Músics Bachelor of Music. From 1977 onwards, he studied harmony, counterpoint and composition for five years in his hometown under Enrique Gerardi, a pupil of Alberto Ginastera and Nadia Boulanger. After finishing his training at the end of 1984, Civilotti travelled to Barcelona, where he began to study composition and instrumentation under Josep Soler, a pupil of René Leibowitz in Paris and Cristòfor Taltabull in Barcelona and one of the most important composers of his generation in Spain. Among others, he won the Queen Sofía Composition Prize, the City of Barcelona Award. He also received some commissions from the Centre for the Dissemination of Contemporary Music (CDMC) for the International Contemporary Music Festival of Alicante, and a commission from the French Ministry of Culture.
His extensive list of works includes many compositions for voice, for piano, for orchestra, music for cinema, opera, etc., as well as seven symphonies that encompass his mature period, from Symphony No. 1 (1985) to the symphony dedicated to his parents Symphony No. 7: Requiem (2018). Among his most recent world premieres are Solitudes in the chamber season of the London Symphony Orchestra, and Aché for actress reciting, solo violoncello and percussion sextet with Eduardo Vasallo as a cello soloist during the chamber season of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Next December 2nd will be premiered his work Cosmos for Symphony Orchestra with the Philharmonisches Staatsorchester de Mainz under the direction of Daniel Montané.
On November 19, 2022, I will have the pleasure of welcoming the wonderful cellist Eduardo Vassallo as our soloist in Alejandro Civilotti’s work “Auris Concertum”, with the UC Davis Symphony Orchestra at the Mondavi Center. I had the opportunity of asking Eduardo some questions, and below are his answers.
Christian Baldini: Dear Eduardo, what a pleasure to have you with us here in Davis to perform as our soloist in Alejandro Civilotti’s work for cello and orchestra “Auris Concertum”. I know you played the world première performance of this piece with the Buenos Aires Philharmonic. Tell us, why is this piece so special to you? How would you describe it to someone who doesn’t know it?
Eduardo Vassallo: It is a great pleasure to be here with you guys. Yes indeed I did the world première of this amazing piece. On saturday will be the USA premier. This piece is very special because it was written during a terrible time for Alejandro; he won the Queen Sofia Competition (Spain);at that time he started losing his hearing and by the time the Queen gave him the prize he couldn’t hear anymore; She was shocked by the situation and a few weeks later he got a call from the Palace with an invitation to go and see the Queen’s doctors. They couldn’t do much but the only possible hope was a Cochlear Transplant, (One of the first in Spain at that time). The Queen Sofia paid for the operation. The “Auris Concertum” was written as a thanks to Her Majesty Queen Sofia. He started working as soon as he new about the operation and finished it on the morning one hour before going to the hospital. Without knowing what the outcome would be, this piece is full of desperation, anger, memories and hope. I love very much the language, using all the registers of the cello is very challenging not only for the soloist but also for the orchestra.
CB: Tell us more about the composer, Alejandro Civilotti. How did you become acquainted with his music? Has your relationship with him evolved over time?
EV: We met many years ago, he is a very interesting person and we got on really well together. He invited me to participate in a very interesting project in Formosa North East of Argentina, a province without any classical music connection; he moved from Barcelona for more that 5 years, I used to go once every year to play chamber music and to supervised the creation of the “Tecnicatura de Musica”. The programme after much work it is up and running!!!!! We became very good friends and I have played many of his pieces, in Birmingham, Buenos Aires, Brazil and Barcelona.
CB: Last month we had the pleasure of hosting at the Mondavi Center the wonderful orchestra that you play in, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. You have been their principal cello for quite some time now, playing under revered music directors such as Sir Simon Rattle, Andris Nelsons, Sakari Oramo, and now Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla. Could you share with us some anecdotes or amazing experiences that you may recall from playing in (and from being one of the leaders of) this wonderful orchestra?
EV: I considered myself lucky to have worked with these great musicians. For me the most important thing was to witness the way an orchestra matures and moves on; each music director brought some different creativity and they each helped making the orchestra feel alive and with a purpose.
CB: You have played a lot of new music in Birmingham. Simon Rattle was a champion of promoting living composers. Are there any composers, works or experiences that you remember very fondly from this?
EV: Many, very difficult to single one out but the cycle Towards the Millennium was spectacular, it last 10 years with concerts in Cardiff, London, Birmingham and Vienna. We started in 1990, and finished in the year 2000; each year we would be playing pieces from that decade, in 1990 we will played pieces from 1900 to 1910; in 1991 pieces from 1910 to 1920; finishing with the millennium playing pieces that had just been written!!! It was unique and I am very proud of having been a part of it.
CB: Thank you so much for your time and great answers. I look forward to sharing your wonderful musicianship with our audiences this coming weekend here in Davis!
EV: Looking forward to seeing you all there in this beautiful hall. I hope you enjoy my playing!!!
Eduardo Vassallo Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, by the age of 17 Eduardo Vassallo was a founder member of the String Quartet of the National Radio, and the solo cellist of the National Symphony Orchestra. Not long after, he came to Europe to study at the International Menuhin Music Academy in Switzerland, where, as a key member of the Camerata Lysy Gstaad he took part in numerous recordings, and toured throughout the world with Sir Yehudi Menuhin and Alberto Lysy. From there Eduardo moved to Germany, where he became increasingly active in the field of contemporary music as a member of the WNC Ensemble für Moderne Musik. In 1989 he became Principal Cellist of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, firstly under the musical direction of Sir Simon Rattle, then Sakari Oramo, Andris Nelsons and Mirga Grazinyte-Tyla, then as of next season, Kazuki Yamada. He was one of the founding directors of the Birmingham Ensemble (a chamber group drawn from the ranks of the CBSO). He has also guest led the cello sections of most of the main British symphony orchestras. As a soloist Eduardo has given recitals throughout Europe and South America, and has appeared frequently with orchestras including several major concertos with the CBSO. In England he gave the world premieres of the Sonata for cello and piano and the Duo no. 2 for violin and cello by his compatriot Jorge Bosso, and the Sinfonia Concertante by Indian composer Vanraj Bhatia, and he performed the UK premiere of “Azul” by Osvaldo Golijov. In Buenos Aires his world premieres include the cello concerto “Auris Concertum” by Argentine Alejandro Civilloti with the Philharmonic Orchestra of Buenos Aires, and the Grand Tango by Astor Piazzolla. In 2009, he formed a collaboration with Tim Garland (saxophone) and Marcelo Nisinmam (bandoneon) to create a multimedia jazz/tango fusion show called Transtango, first performed in the Bloomsbury Theatre in London, then at various festivals around the country (Salisbury Festival, Vamos Festival Newcastle, Buxton Festival etc). As a result of this collaboration, the CBSO commissioned Tim Garland to write a double concerto for cello and saxophone to celebrate Eduardo’s 20 years in the orchestra, which he performed with the composer under the direction of Christian Jarvi. Eduardo Vassallo has 2 solo recital CDs, “Latin American Masters” on the ASV label, and “Tangos by Piazzolla” on the Somm label. His love for the tango caused him to form “El Ultimo Tango”, a quintet dedicated to music from Buenos Aires, with which group he has released 3 CDs He was also a guest artist on the CD “Conception” by the jazz fusion John Turville Trio. Eduardo taught for 32 years at the Royal Northern College of Music, and still teaches at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, and has taught at summer courses in Switzerland, Portugal, Spain, England, and South America. He has regularly participated in the International Festival of Chamber Music in Formosa, Argentina, and Femusc in Brazil, and is the founder and director of the Latin-American Cello Festival, which takes place every 2 years in Buenos Aires. In 2014, he became the Musical Patron of Rutland Sinfonia. Eduardo Vassallo plays a Paolo Testore cello made in Milan 1710 and a Ferdinando Gagliano cello made in Napoli 1792.
As we get ready to perform Brahms’s Double Concerto for Violin, Cello and Orchestra, it is my pleasure to ask our soloist Eunghee Cho some questions about this piece, about music in general, and about his role as Artistic Director of the recently founded Mellon Music Festival in Davis, California.
Christian Baldini: Eunghee, it is a pleasure to welcome you back to your hometown to showcase you as our soloist for this marvelous piece of music. Tell us why you chose to perform this piece? What is so special to you about it?
Eunghee Cho: I’ve found that collaborating with inspiring musicians on an incredible piece of music motivates new dimensions in my perception of sound and musicality. The double concerto allows for the creation of a sonic über-instrument from the cello-violin combo simultaneously manifesting alongside their unfolding conquest with the full orchestra. I can’t wait!
CB: And tell us about your soloist partner, violinist Stephanie Zyzak. How did the two of you meet, and would you say you have much in common with regards to music making?
EC: We first met in the context of a conductorless chamber orchestra. During our first cycle, we were both principals for Shostakovich’s C minor Chamber Symphony – a transcription of his 8th string quartet for string orchestra. I was absolutely floored by the anguish she vocalized in that opening movement solo. Within those first few minutes, I knew that it could only ever be a privilege to work with such a powerful artist.
CB: Tell us about how you decided to found the Mellon Music Festival in Davis. I had the pleasure of attending some of your events, and it gives me great comfort to see so many talented young people working together and offering high quality music performances. How did you come up with this idea, and where would you like to go with it?
EC: In a nutshell, Davis was missing an international chamber music festival and I had some buddies who loved performing chamber music! More specifically though, so much of the current climate of classical music appreciation is predicated on a snobby, elitist stereotype of the genre when in fact it can be one of the most inclusive and accessible media of expression. To combat the stigmas, our programming and outreach efforts actively exploit the inherent beauty and expressive potential of the classical genre. Beyond nurturing a community around dedicated festival engagement, we’ll make classical music in vogue once again!
CB: What are your choices for programming music? I noticed that in future concerts you will be performing more recent repertoire (works by Ligeti and Golijov), which seems like a welcome development. Are you planning on commissioning works in the future perhaps too?
EC: Of course you can’t go wrong when programming the classics, but we are also advocates of an evolving music tradition that embraces musical innovation, especially when we have the chance to pick the brains of living composers. I can only imagine how bummed I’d be if I found out after I died that I could’ve asked the 21st century edition Beethoven how to perform precisely his hugely varying dynamic and articulation varieties. In the past, we commissioned, with support from a Boston-based grant, two new works for the festival in our Spring 2018 preview concerts with the Holes in the Floor cello quartet. Commissions are certainly in our future!
CB: What is your ideal job? Where would you like to see yourself in 10 years?
EC: My ideal job would be spending my weeks alternating between intensive musical collaborations and work as a professional dog walker.
CB: If you had to give advice to a very young musician starting out, what would you say to them? What should they do in order to become a successful musician?
EC: A lot of the time it will feel like the music is kicking your butt, but if you can push through the temporary grind, the product is one of the greatest imaginable rewards. Also, find inspiration in as many of the oldies (i.e. Kreisler, Piatigorsky, Szigeti, Casals, Tertis) as your 24-hr days will allow.
CB: Do you enjoy reading? Sports? What other activities do you enjoy outside music (and besides dogs!)?
EC: Mostly resulting from a general paranoia, I tend to arrive at airports hours before my flight’s scheduled departure so I’ve adopted another hobby that can aptly be described as “people watching.” Also, I have hardly ever said no to a game of pick-up soccer.
CB: Thank you very much for taking the time to answer these questions. We look forward to a beautiful performance together! And maybe we’ll play soccer together someday (another passion of mine!)
EC: Absolutely my pleasure! See you soon!
Born in Davis, California, Korean-American cellist Eunghee Cho was awarded Second Prize and the special award for Outstanding Chinese New Piece Performance at the Alice & Eleonore Schoenfeld International String Competition in Harbin, China. He has also earned First Prize in the USC Solo Bach Competition, the Borromeo String Quartet Guest Artist Award, New England Conservatory’s Honors Ensemble Competition, Sacramento Philharmonic League JAMMIES Concerto Competition, and was awarded top prize in the Classical Soloist category by Downbeat Student Music Awards.
He has appeared as soloist with numerous orchestras around the country including the Sacramento Philharmonic, Cape Symphony, Atlantic Symphony, Symphony by the Sea, Davis Symphony, and Sacramento State Symphony Orchestras. He currently holds the Joyce & Donald Steele Chair as Principal Cello of the Atlantic Symphony Orchestra, and frequently performs as Principal Cello with Cape Symphony, Unitas Ensemble, and Symphony by the Sea. Eunghee has actively participated in classes at the Piatigorsky International Cello Festival and Académie Musicale de Villecroze in France and has worked closely with distinguished professors such as Steven Doane, Colin Carr, Myung-Wha Chung, Jean-Guihen Queyras, and members of the Guarneri, Emerson, Tokyo, Orion, Brentano, Borromeo, and Shanghai Quartets.
As an avid chamber musician, Eunghee has collaborated in performances with artists such as Midori Goto, David Shifrin, Elton John, François Salque, and the Borromeo String Quartet, and has performed as a guest artist with A Far Cry, Da Camera Society, and the Chamber Music Society of Sacramento. Previous festival engagements include the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, Taos School of Music, Bowdoin International Music Festival, Rheingau Musik Festival, Festival International d’Echternach, and Rencontres Franco Américaines de Musique Chambre in Missillac, France. He is Artistic Director and Founder of the Mellon Music Festival in Davis, CA.
Eunghee graduated magna cum laude and as a Steven & Kathryn Sample Renaissance Scholar from the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California with a Bachelor of Music in Cello Performance and a Minor in Biology. Following his completion of a Master’s degree at the New England Conservatory of Music he is currently enrolled in the conservatory’s Doctor of Musical Arts Program under the tutelage of distinguished pedagogue Laurence Lesser. His previous instructors include Paul Katz, Andrew Shulman, Andrew Luchansky, Richard Andaya, and Julie Hochman. He plays on a 1930 Anselmo Gotti cello on generous loan by Colburn Foundation. Away from the cello, Eunghee enjoys neighborhood pick-up soccer, everything about dogs, and dawdling in local coffee shops.
In preparation for our performance of Peter Lieberson’s “The Six Realms” (for cello and orchestra), I had the occasion of asking our wonderful soloist Anssi Karttunen a few questions:
Christian Baldini: Anssi, what a treat to get to perform this piece with you as our soloist, thank you so much for joining us! This will be the first time that this piece will be performed without the cello being amplified, is that correct? You were very good friends with Peter Lieberson, so can you tell us the history behind the reason for this piece being published for amplified cello, despite the composer’s wishes?
Anssi Karttunen: I know exactly what must have happened at the first performance with Yo-Yo Ma because the same thing has happened to me with other first performances. There is no piece more difficult for balance than a cello concerto. Nowadays there is mostly very little time to rehearse for any orchestral piece and the one aspect that takes time to sort out is balance. So it sometimes happens that in order for the cello to be heard in the first performance one has to ask for a discreet amplification. Usually in the following performances the composer can work out the problematic passages. That is exactly what happened in Toronto, the only problem being that it was then published as a piece for amplified cello and orchestra which was not Peter’s original idea. When I suggested that we take a look at the dynamics together in order to make a version that can be performed and rehearsed in normal time he was delighted. We were both convinced that Six Realms would work very well with some small revisions which he was going to do himself. Unfortunately he got very ill and wrote to me some time later that he would not able to finish the work but that he trusted I would make the right decisions. A few months later he passed away, it has taken 8 years to find the right conditions for this performance.
CB: This work is based on some Buddhist principles, and the concept that (in Lieberson’s own words) “differing states of mind and emotions colour our view of the world and shape human experience”. We know Lieberson was a Buddhist, but can you develop on this and how it might have affected his compositional output?
AK: I don’t think Peter is trying to give us a lecture on the Buddhist idea of cycle of rebirths through six realms, but as it was for him a very concrete and deep belief it gave him a story thread to follow and to tell through his music. There is a universality in the message of the piece that does not require knowledge on Buddhism. The movement through different stages of existence and emotional states can be felt and received either concretely or as an abstraction. The sincerity of Peter’s relation to his own music and his beliefs is there for all of us to feel.
The Six Realms is structured as follows:
1. The Sorrow of the World (introduction)
2. The Hell Realm (aggression: acute, self-perpetuating anger at the world and ourselves)
3. The Hungry Ghost Realm (passion: the need to possess or continually consume; we are never satisfied because we can never get enough)
4. The Animal Realm (ignorance: an obsessive need to control or to find security)
5. The Human Realm (passion: the desire for something better, and a lessening of self-absorption, allows for the possibility of our becoming dignified humans who long for liberation from these six realms of existence. It is only from this realm that we are able to move on to achieve Enlightenment: the right way to view, and interact with, the world.)
6. The God Realm (ignorance: blissful self-absorption of our godlike powers, until doubt sets in and shatters our confidence) and The Jealous God Realm (aggression: extreme paranoia and competitive drive; we never trust anyone or their motives)
CB: What is so very special to you about this piece, and, are you hoping that now that we finally perform it without amplification (with some of the edits that you did with PL before he died), it will finally become a staple of the Cello Concerto repertoire?
AK: The important thing is not that we play it with or without amplification, it is simply that the piece gets heard again. It often happens even to masterpieces that for one reason or another they do not receive the success they deserve immediately and need to wait for their moment. I sincerely think that this is one of the great American concertos and there are not too many of those for any instrument. At the same time it is not merely American, it is a universal piece. Peter didn’t want his music to sound American or Buddhist, he followed the principle of « being brave enough to experience existence without dogma or belief of any kind ». I hope we can bring justice to this wonderful piece.
CB: You have given the world premiere of over 180 works (and counting), and have worked with some of the most celebrated composers of our time such as Esa-Pekka Salonen, Luca Francesconi, Kaija Saariaho, and Pascal Dusapin. Can you tell us why it is so important to actively promote the works of living composers?
AK:There are three main reasons why working with living composers is essential for us performers:
– Firstly: Music has changed a lot during history but the work of a composer has remained essentially the same, It still starts with an empty page and through their own individual battles composers manage to put down on paper the closest approximation of their music that notation allows. Knowing how different composers work today is the best way to imagine how composers worked earlier, how they all are different and have very different priorities for us performers.
– Secondly: There is nothing more exciting than being part of the creative process. The moment when a piece is born. Being the first messenger who allow an audience to discover a new creation is a priceless opportunity.
– Thirdly: The work of a performer is ephemeral. Nothing remains of a concert, sometimes a recording, but often not event that. CDs exist, but recordings often fall out of fashion and our work is eventually forgotten. The only legacy we can leave behind are the pieces that we were able to inspire composers to compose. So through these pieces which will survive in the hands of other performers a little bit of my happy moments will survive for future generations.
CB: Can you share with us some interesting, amusing or charming anecdotes of your life as a touring musician, traveling around the world working with wonderful musicians from all walks of life?
AK: Friends are what is the most interesting, charming and amusing thing about the life of a traveling musician. And coming back to places to meet the friends again. Sometimes one meets a person that marks your life and never meet them again. Sometimes a surprising place or friend accompanies you throughout the rest of your life. One such place is Davis; when I first came here 20 years ago I had no idea that a recording Pablo Ortiz played for me of Piazzolla and Troilo led us to a collaboration that has produced now already two CDs and countless pieces and concerts. And Davis itself became a place were I am now coming for my fourth visit, each time with a completely different project. Another such person was Peter Lieberson, I only met him on two occasions, but our bond was so strong that we became very close and he and his music has accompanied me far beyond his passing.
CB: Wow, that is amazing to hear. Now changing completely the subject, and dreaming big, tell us, if you were appointed Artistic Director of a Music Festival with unlimited resources, and you had to choose the programming for 3 symphonic programs (with unlimited choices of soloists, orchestras, choirs, conductors), who would you invite, and to perform what?
AK: If you offer me unlimited resources, then I can take the liberty of traveling in time. The first concert I would program is the one that I in fact programmed four years ago in Helsinki when I directed the Musica nova Festival. This was such a happy moment of being with and listening to friends that I would love to offer it to more people to enjoy. My closest friend Olly Knussen sadly passed away last summer so the only way this concert could happen is with these unlimited resources.
2:
The second concert would be a trip into history. To meet and hear two of my heroes and to understand how they performed themselves. Schumann’s cello concerto I would have to offer to play myself, because no cellist in his lifetime wanted to play it and he never heard it. Hearing Brahms and his friends perform the Double Concerto would be the ultimate way of understanding his music and the way he performed it himself. So much has changed since those days and there are no records to listen to, we can only guess how it may have been.
Schumann: Cello Concerto, Schumann conducting and myself as soloist
Brahms: Double Concerto, Brahms conducting, Joseph Joachim, violin and Robert Hausmann cello
3:
Arnold Schönberg: Gurrelieder conducted by Schönberg.
I would want to sit in the audience for this concert that was one of the most important moments in the history of music. Plus I would be sitting next to so many incredible people, Berg, Webern, Zemlinsky and many others. And if I had organised the concert I would have the chance to take them all out for dinner afterwards.
CB: That was very illuminating, and it speaks very much about the great breadth of repertoire that is so important to you. Once again, Anssi, thank you very much for coming to Davis to perform this wonderful music with us, and for sharing your very interesting insights with us!
Christian Baldini's Interviews 