What a finale (a series of finales?)!

South Africa, and in particular Hester Worlitz, who was the main mover behind the 37th International Viola Congress, has really done itself proud! Hester and I both attended our first congress in Germany in 2003, and were both enthused to do a congress in our countries. I did not manage to pull it off, but Hester did, and the end of the congress was a triumph!

The congress dinner at the Morgenhof was magnificent (though they seemed to be unable to cater for vegetarians, and proportions in South Africa between meat and accompanying vegetables seem to be greatly in favour of meat... the wine flowed very generously...).

Early the next morning not that many people appeared, but eventually trundled in for a fascinating lecture recital of Brazilian music for viola. In Brazil the viola is a guitar-type instrument played by violeros; this has the result that many European type viola teachers ('viola di arca' played by 'violistas', give or take my non-existant knowledge of Portuguese) find themselves attended (once) by many little boys wanting to play the Brazilian viola, and getting a big surprise!

The closing concert was almost the highlight of the concert. Luise Lansdowne's group of students from the Royal Northern College of Manchester (including, it turned out at the very last minutes of yesterday, a lad from Wrexham) did a really funny, and technically stunning, performance of caricatures by Hindemith of military and waltz music. Finally it was the performance of the massed viola ensemble, a regular feature of congresses, where everyone can play along (even I, had I had a fiddle on me). This year's group must have been one of the biggest groups ever - with the lads and lassies from Pretoria and a few other players as well. After some rather dreary pieces (I hate Gordon Jacob's music) and the Queen of Sheba they then launched into an African suite, written specially for the congress by a local composer (sorry, white, I maybe should not go on about people's skin colours) - that was fun. But the final medley of South African songs, written by a black guy from Johannesburg (also specially for the congress) was riotous and brilliant - and for me incredibly emotional in terms of social cohesion, sense of human family and so on. What a finish! And then the group of youngsters from Pretoria just could not stop playing and played song after song, including dancing, while the rest of us were enjoying end-of-congress drinks. A brilliant end to the congress!

In the evening some of us went for dinner in a local restaurant (not cheap), as did all the UK students (students obviously ain't what they used to be given that they could afford to come along to this, apart from also perhaps paying for their flights here, and renting cars locally). It was really, really great having some relaxed time out with very good friends! Roll on the next congress in Cincinnatti (sp?)!

Lea's Bartok

Our own Toby Lea's Bartok at the Musikverein appears to have gone well, though Ann Lebaron in her blog do not focus on the soloist as much as she oughter have done. But she's a composer who hasn't written anything specially for viola.....

Reviews in Vienna seem to take their time to come through - the most recent review in the Wiener Zeitung is of a 10 April concert. Suppose those reviews have to cogitate, analyse and pick each word with great deliberation.

Klezmer Hummel

What's this, I thought, as Ilan Schneider and Leonidas Dorfmanas launched into the Hummel Fantasia for viola and piano? Where are we, in a shtetl? This is now going to sound really bad, and it's not meant to be, seeing the two musicians, originally hailing from Vilnius, are Jewish, and now live in Germany and Luxembourg.

Schneider is a very, very fine viola player. He makes a beautiful sound, and like most of those raised in Vilnius musical education has perfect intonation. He trained as a violinist first, but now is the lead viola player in the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra. He's also a lovely guy, who still like Lithuanian food, or so he told me a year or two ago. No really, if you need a really sound, really in control violist, get him in. (I would not dare to comment on the pianist, but they played very well together and were well-balanced).

For those of us who go to viola congresses, the programme was a bit too predictable, and that's why I left before the second half - it contained a Brahms sonata, and when you hear x versions of them in congress master classes you get a bit sick of them. (Last time he played here I had to leave to go to another concert...not much luck!).

I know the Hummel Fantasia, in fact, I might have the notes. It's an odd piece. You'd think that a fantasy would have a slow part (which it did), and a virtuosic part (which it sort of did), but there were long gaps of piano solo - maybe it's for viola and orchestra, in which case it would sound better? The solo parts did not seem to connect so well; at the beginning there was a hint of theme and variations, but later the theme seemed to be lost. Strange.

This was followed by Schumann's Maerchenstuecke, written for cello and piano but transcribed for viola by Mikhail Kugel. Kugel himself is into the virtuoso end of viola playing. The transcription had one or two odd corners, where clearly the viola had run out of string length, and something had to give (like an octave or two).

Finally in the first half there was the Arpeggione, very standard viola repertoire.

In all three pieces a beautiful sound was produced - where the bow hit the string. And that was the problem in the whole first half of the concert - he was too light on the bow. You missed the beginnings and ends of phrases, all the time. Clearly he is very good at pianissimos, but it was as if the phrases briefly dipped onto the strings - they did not connect. The Schumann is a cello piece originally, and cellos don't really do lightness. In the Schubert and the beginning of the Hummel it was as if he was a wandering fiddler in an Eastern European cafe, wandering from table to table, lingering a little, rubatoed a little to get everyone's attention, and after a little while wandering off to another table. It just was not focused and continuous enough. Yes, it was very interesting, and when bow connected well to string, it was wonderful - but was it Schubert, or Schumann? It might have been them with lashings and lashings and lashings of cream....

Bratsche forever!

I want to review a film I've just seen but I cannot put it next to something as tasteful and sensitive as Daniel Hope (who, incidentally, has had some quite mixed reviews of his Mendelssohn CD, with particularly BBC Radio 3, the somewhat obscure German music magazine 'Partituren' and something else not being altogether impressed by it. Never mind; I am told he has had great reviews elsewhere - he has his own very specific style of playing, which is a change from the many faceless interpretations one gets nowadays).

Just back in Vilnius after almost a fortnight in Germany, doing different things....very different things....

Last weekend had the German Bratschistentag in Muenster, Northrhine Westphalia. (Bit of a spelling nightmare, no?) Muenster's other claim to fame is that it is the capital of Westphalia, and the place which set the curricula (actually, they only advised) of the school I went to several centuries ago. Oh yes, and they signed the Peace of Westphalia there in 1648, after the 30-year war. It is a lovely place to go and see at Christmas, with the old town beautifully decorated. I was pleased to note that the municipal decorations are not yet up.

The music school at Muenster University is not that well known. First I had heard about it was when Reinbert Evers, who appears to be the head of the music school, appeared in Vilnius playing the guitar. Reasonably well, though you tended to hang at the end of the chair at times in suspense, wondering about the next note. I guess much of his time is taken up in administration.

The head of the viola department is Hartmut Lindemann, who has a particular interest in the playing style of about 100 years ago, Kreisler, Heifetz and Primrose. Well, ok, 50 years ago. The Deutsche Bratschistentag united members of the German viola society and others in 48 hours of intense viola playing, with three concerts, masterclasses and the usual play in, apart from quite an extensive display of violas by different and very enthusiastic makers.

In the first concert students from Tabea Zimmermann's class gave it laldy. I think she goes for students who can not only play the viola, but who also have a personality - and they did her proud with the world premiere of a fun, energetic and rather noisy piece by Gordon Kampe, '15 white pictures by Guenther Uecker'. I don't think anyone could count all 15 - they rather merged, but it was a fun piece, and great for energetic young people. (I could digress further and tell a story about Guenther Uecker, but I won't). This was followed by a rather uninspiring performance of Milhaud's 'Quatre Visages' for viola and piano. Milhaud, for a French composer, writes some nice music - my friend Omar played a lovely piano, clarinet and violin trio (with the delightful Trevor Bray on the piano and a great unknown violinist) at the OU summer school. This was a lovely piece, too, played rather school boyishly. Oh dear, and then there was another world premiere of a piece called 'En' by Nicolaus Huber, performed by Hideko Koyabashi, who teaches in Mannheim. Well, er, what can I say. It's not a piece that would work on a CD seeing as for large stretches of time there is not much sound. Don't ask my why there isn't much sound - I only saw the back of the soloist; it's all about strange noises. Supposed to reflect meditation in a Japanese garden....Again you ask why does it need a viola. Ms Koyabashi showed what she could do in Hindemith's 1939 sonata which went very well.

The next day we had two first performances of classical works. We think. We are not sure, though I cannot immediately find a recording of the Sperger viola concerto in E flat major. The piece is ok. Not brilliant, though; in fact rather weird. The first movement tootles along ok for a classical piece (Sperger lived around Mozart's lifetime). The second movement is strange, with a sort of baroque way of getting the soloist to play all the time - but not always the tune. There you have the piece starting with the orchestra playing the melody and the soloist the accompaniment. And then in the final movement, which goes on and on, there are a couple of places where the solo line just kind of hangs in the air. It must have been meant. But. I would not rush out to buy it, nor would I have published it particularly. The soloist played very beautifully but not with that much personality or power; but she has won many scholarships and other forms of support. Both issues were more than made up for in the Stamitz sinfonia concertante for violin and viola in D major, recently republished from the manuscript (I see there are recordings of a sinf. conc. in that key - is it the same one or a different one?). This is a brilliant piece, very virtuosic and very very long. Played in beautiful togetherness by Noah Bendix-Balgley and Benedikt Schneider (look out for him) with lots of panache and lots of personality. Finally we had Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante (my third live hearing this year) with Karin Wolf and Susanne Rabenschlager. It was ok; could have done with a little more enthusiasm and spirit of togetherness, but was of course totally secure.

The final concert had Hartmut Lindemann doing what he does best, playing Kreisler (the Praeludium and Allegro on which I came a serious cropper in a competition), a Primrose transcription, pieces by Bax, Stanford and one of the Brahms sonatas. Not being a lover of English music, particularly of that period and those composers, this was a bit of suffering; but the pieces were interesting and would add some variety to students who also always play Brahms. Lindemann certainly played very beautifully, and, as is his style, very virtuosically. Got loads of applause and was unstoppable on the encores.

In between that we had the group playing together, some masterclasses and a talk on viola music of the early classical period - plus many happy get-togethers. It was great! Next year it will be in Cologne, where I hear Antoine Tamestit is the new professor of viola at the ripe old age of 28, rubbing shoulders with star teachers like Zakhar Bron (vile-din) and Frans Helmerson (cello). Wow!!!! And very well deserved indeed!

Rothko and Tavener

Last night's concert, in the context of the Gaida new music festival, my violist friend Arunas Statkus played, together with the Kaunas State Choir under Petras Bingelis, Morton Feldman's 'Rothko Chapel' and John Tavener's 'The Myrrh Bearer'.

I didn't have a programme, so I did not really know which piece was which, though I should have known. The first piece was 'Rothko Chapel' - this refers to a hospital chapel somewhere in Texas where Rothko has provided the wall paintings, at possibly the most depressed period in his life. The picture on the right will therefore be one of his more lively ones. See the view of a bit of the chapel below. Very plain, rather funereal, and frankly, not very uplifting. It certainly is a quiet room!

Ditto the piece. It would fit perfectly into this chapel with its quiet monotones, the occasional viola note, the muted percussion, the humming choir apparently singing no words. It's a long piece, too, of about 20+ minutes, with much of a muchness musically. But that's what Feldman's music is like (he's a minimalist); for him it is probably quite a short piece. His second string quartet lasts over 6 hours (are the performers not allowed bodily needs?). In this performance the conductor was conducting like crazy (half-beats?) and everyone hung on in. It might be better for background music in said chapel, while you are contemplating, rather than in a concert situation.

This was followed by John Tavener's 'Myrrh Bearer' - a completely different piece, also for viola, some percussion and choir. Tavener is of course well-known for his piece at Princess Diana's funeral. He's a contemporary composer (unlike his almost namesake John TaveRner of the 17th century), and he's a Greek Orthodox in the faith department. Which is relevant since he writes much religious music. This piece is very interesting since it is built partly on the classical liturgical structure of a mass, but also the violist has words to interpret. Not by singing them, thankfully, but in his playing since the viola part represents Mary Magdalene - there are all sorts of words including English nursery rhymes. The choir represents 'us'. The music is a mixture of slightly Eastern sounds, though also a very western 'Kyrie Eleison' bursts through at regular intervals.

The piece makes wonderful use of the viola's range of sound, from very lowest to extremely high, nosebleed territory. The high parts go on for so long that one fears for the player's hands. Arunas created wonderful sounds from his very small viola (let no-one say you need a huge viola to get a good sound); from absolutely totally chocolatey, velvety, lush low tones to very piercing high notes - and even there the warmth of the viola sound shone through convincingly. Not a note out of place, and the interpretation was wonderful, lively and exciting. A great display of what a viola can do if you allow it!

Congress Finale

Some interesting events at the end of this viola congress. This congress was special in that it did not have any viola megastars, as in Montreal or Germany, but it had much very interesting music instead; sometimes megastars play the same boring old repertoire all the time, and not always necessarily well. But of course it's nice to hear them, and they are often the source of much new viola music being composed.

A talk by Hartmut Lindemann, a German viola professor, focused on musicians of the Heifetz/Kreisler era, and their differences in playing style. Lindemann is said to be able to identify players of this era by sound alone - within the first couple of bars or so! He obviously loves their style, as was clear by his concert a day later. The thought did occur that no-one plays Mozart like Kreisler or Heifetz any more. Interestingly, a recording by Joseph Joachim showed that he hardly ever used vibrato.

The congress' gala concert consisted of 3 pieces for viola and orchestra; first an elegy by Sculthorpe. He is a well respected composer, though this elegy was rather on the long side (about 20 minutes). Imagine playing that at a funeral service! Francis Kefford, the soloist, is a very young (and very competent violist) who in time will have serious trouble with his neck, unless he stops using his viola as a pillow now! This was followed by Charles Bodman Rae's concerto for viola and orchestra - a world premiere. CBR is the dean (or something) of the Elder Conservatorium in Adelaide, so it was kind of a home match for him. He was also, as a pianist, a student of the famous Fanny Waterman. His piece was written for orchestra including double winds and a harp - expensive to perform. It had three movements, and was written a few months ago. The movements blended into each other, and, to be honest, were much of a muchness, with not much difference between them. The piece was supposed to last 28 minutes, but actually lasted well over 30 minutes, so maybe it was played too slowly. The sounds lay well on the viola, though, and Juerg Daehler, a Swiss violist, seemed much happier, and much more lively, with this than with his first recital. Finally there was Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante (first time I have heard it this year), and that was a rather strange performance, with not much communication between the soloists, Terence Tam (violin) and Tobias Lea (viola). There was no blending, and little communication, with each doing their own thing. I thought that Tam was a shade hasty with many of his entries, and a wee bitty on the fast side - most times the violist then had to follow or echo the violinist, but he did his own thing. There were only two occasions, in the third movement, where the violist lead the interaction - and he seemed much happier there. Maybe Mozart had not throught through the different roles of the instruments, and maybe equal opportunities had not been a topic in his day....

It's a shame that again (3 congresses out of 4) I missed the final events, what with having incorrectly booked the flights back this time. It was great, and wonderful meeting all those friends again, and meeting some new internet friends, face to face! It was also great playing the viola again, after a 6 month break - I could barely read the music any more....

Violaaaaaahhhh!

It's the end of day 3 of the international viola congress, and a great congress it is, too! In Adelaide University's Elder School of Music, based in various building of the university campus (a mixture of Victorian and modern), we rush about between buildings for concerts, masterclasses and talks. Coffee is a bit thin on the ground, though, what with the campus coffee shops closing at 3 pm. What do the students do? There can be awakeness crises!

Lots of the usual faces attend, but also many, many Australians and Kiwis. Every day starts with a group play in at 8.30 am - bit of a killer, what with having difficulties to find breakfast first, but an amazing number of people attend! Slight blow yesterday when the chap running it had apparently fallen over his dog, whilst walking it in the dark, and broken his foot. Today he conducted from a wheelchair.

Luckily the music is quite different from other congresses, with mostly modern, very new music, often from Aussie or Kiwi composers. Many concerts contain at least one Aussie premiere. This makes it more interesting. Not that all the music is necessarily great, and not every performance is brilliant, but it is always thus. Must be frightening to perform in front of lots of viola aficionados! Today we had a nice performance of Berio's 'Naturale', and the other day the NZ Symphony Orchestra's viola band played a lovely arrangement of all sorts of viola themes from different operas and symphonies, by Craig Utting who apparently does many arrangements for multi-violas. Every performer also does a little talk about the pieces they are about to play, which is very helpful.

There are not so many instruments for sale as usual - Australia only has 20 million inhabitants, it's a huge country, and for many people it's not so economical to travel to a congress to show their fiddles. But there are some very interesting, and very cheap, Chinese instruments by kginstruments which are worth further exploration. They passed well at today's 'instrument-tasting' session where leading players tried out different instruments. There is also an instrument maker from NZ, though, who knows the luthier from Vilnius who emigrated to NZ a few years ago - small world!

The weather has remained just bearable, though I still find it funny running in next to nothing past people who are very heavily wrapped indeed! Once I could not resist temptation and said to someone well-wrapped in a lift 'you'd think it's winter' - it did not go down well.....

Expensive, very expensive...

From What's on in Kiev:

'Yuri Bashmet and the Moscow Soloists in concert, Palace Ukraina, 14 December at 19.00 Arguably the world’s finest viola player, Yuri Bashmet together with his Moscow Soloists orchestra will mark their fifteenth anniversary with a special programme ‘We are Fifteen.’ A conductor, professor, and director of no less than six international music festivals, Bashmet’s reputation is one which truly stretches around the world. Smart dress recommended. Tickets are 80-1200hrv.'

Arguably indeed... you can just imagine the concert - people poshly dressed, there to be seen, applauding in all the wrong places... The ticket prices go up to 3 times the monthly minimum wage in Ukraine. I have heard various performances with Bashmet and his band, ranging from good to indifferent (most recently Nizhny Novgorod, also in Yerevan, Vilnius...). He did give a very highly acclaimed performance of the Schnittke viola concerto, though, at the London Proms this year.

I'll not be rushing to buy a ticket, or to loiter outside the door trying to get in.

Kiev

It is 9.00 pm and the power has been off in my flat, my block of flats, since at least 6 pm. The computer battery is the only thing that works. Outside the street is bright and traffic is flowing.... Great!

Arrived at lunchtime - staying in the same flat as last time, which in principle is a relief, although without the 'leccy' it's a different story. Strange how in Tajikistan, with lots of electricity problems I had not a single powercut, apart from the self-inflicted one when I had the heater and kettle on at the same time, and here in Kiev, right in the centre of Kiev, I start off my stay with a power cut.

On returning home, I had planned to unpack, but, well; also had an idea to go to a concert in the music academy, not that far from here.... but then went shopping instead and got caught up in the supermarket; now I am generally sorted for the duration. I noticed that Yuri Bashmet will be playing here on 14 December; with his Moscow Soloists. I could not quite work out where, but somehow I doubt it is in the rather dinky Filharmonia - there was only a phone number on the poster.

A Russian acquaintance tells me that Nils Moenkemeier, the German violist, won the Bashmet viola competition in Moscow last week; also that an American, David Carpenter, refused to accept his joint 3rd prize. Maybe he did not understand how prize winning in Russia works.

Shlepping round Moscow

(Moscow underground stations)

After my daring escape from the hotel yesterday I spent most of the day wandering round Moscow. I don't much like the place, a brutal capital of a brutal country. The traffic roars through Moscow and God help the poor pedestrial who might dare to put a toe onto the street. Zebra crossings? Ha! - they are nice patterns in the street, aren't they. Don't depend on them for your life!

So, anyway, had some breakfast in the quite nice Coffeemania, a Russian (?) kind of Starbucks chain with a branch right beside the Tchaikovsky Conservatoire. Noticed that the Paganini violin competition is on just now (finale next week) as is the Bashmet viola competition (though I also got my dates scrambled in my head and thought it was 28th of November instead of 23rd - so I might have been able to get in out of the cold and sit and listen to some nice playing. Bashmet seems to have concerts there all over the place, but it's probably to do with the viola competition - he seems to have arranged a multi-viola concert on the day before the final. In the viola list some harsh words were said about that competition and the composition of the jury especially - not all jury members are viola players, or indeed even practising or performing musicians. It'll be interesting to see who wins.

On I shlepped around...the reason why I walking so much, apart from needing exercise, was that I was going to have a meeting some time that day, and did not know when. But at the same time I was gasping for my sushi-fix, and was trying hard to get that in before the meeting at the other end of town. I know that the yakitoria now has branches all over Moscow, but just not near the place where I had to go. What's worse was that one of the locations has disappeared (been pulled down) so I had to find another one. Which I did and it was great, though, on account of the slimming, I did not have my usual megaportion. But it hit the spot.

Then back across town, to the meeting near the Sportivna metro station, and then to the airport. Leaving at 15.30 for an 18.30 flight, I got first stuck in traffic, then the airport train was slower than normal, so that by the time I got to the airport I did not stop walking until I was in my seat on the plane. Phew!

Did I mention that the temperature was around 3 degrees centigrade (probably quite warm for the time of year in Moscow) but my skin was suffering seriously after walking for 2-3 hours. Need to get the thermals out - in the meantime hand cream is a great healer ....for the knees.

Music news

Hot from reading two issues of 'The Strad' on the plane (left one copy behind, annoying that), I can tell the breathlessly waiting world the following news:

1. Anne Sophie Mutter has announced, shortly after her divorce from A Previn, her retirement from performing when she is 45. Her agents will be frantically examining contracts and checking bookings that may already have been made for beyond that period. She's only 43.5 just now - I thought she was nearer my age (have not seen 43.5 for a while). I suppose she has been working at the fiddle since the age of about 5 or so, so that would be a 40 year working life - well going for anyone. And maybe she does not know anything else? I wonder what she will do?

2. Daniel Hope's Bach CD is reviewed rather negatively by Tully Potter, as in ' I don't think Bach would have recognised his music had he heard it being hustled along'. I did think at the time that the historically informed brigade (or as someone once called them 'the Dutch baroque dweebs in sandals') might not entirely approve of this recording. Interestingly the same reviewer is much more positive (in the lost December issue) about a recording by Monica Huggett of almost the same concertos, who, as it happens, generally uses the historically informed approach, gut strings, bow held half-way up the stick and so on. We know which side the reviewer dresses on then, don't we.

3. Jessica Duchen was lucky enough to interview the Fine Arts Quartet at the end of their two-month Europe tour which had started in Vilnius in June this year. It was their second visit to Vilnius, the first one having been a bit of a disaster Not Of Their Making due to lack of advertising, but this one, within the context of the Vilnius Festival, was much more successful and almost sold out. Not that I can remember what they played - oh yes, I do, some piano quintet with a very young Lithuanian pianist (notes are at home). The guys are really nice, and very well travelled (all but one emanating from Eastern Europe, though, Jessica, Bocio is Ukrainian methinks, not Russian).

4. Carlos Maria Solare, a permanent attender at international viola congresses, with fluent German and very fluent English (his turn of phrase is very impressive), very positively reviewed Tatjana Masurenko's recording of British viola concertos (Beamish, a new version of the Walton and the Britten Lachrymae). The Lachrymae is a reverse theme and variations, with the theme, a very sweet Dowland song, resolving only at the end the tension created earlier in the piece. It's strange because usually you listen for hints of the theme when you listen to variations, but here you cannot do it. Tatjana Masurenko organised a very nice German viola day in Leipzig a couple of years ago, and it was a great opportunity to visit Bach's city (beautiful place!) and even the Thomaskirche. She also gave a performance of a Bach cello suite, to mutterings from the Historically Informed Brigade 'no-one plays Bach like that any more'...

Where to keep your fiddle?

The viola list has been in slight uproar recently when a younger member asked if it was a bad thing to do to keep the viola out on a stand all of the time, so she could practice it at odd times. While it seems that there are People Who Do This Sort Of Thing, collectively we jumped in and said ' how can you do this?', 'how darn hard is it to put it in a case', and listing the types of accidents that might befall the instrument. The discussion then veered towards those people who leave their instrument on the chair during orchestral rehearsal breaks.

One list member today recounted the experience of the ' Louisville Orchestra. I'll never forget, even when a tornado was coming through, and the musicians were evacuated to the basement of the building, many chose to leave their instruments on their seats, as they were accustomed to doing during break. Until that point, I hadn't seen it outside of highschool either, and I'm happy to say I haven't seen it since then (at least with violins and violas.) There are many veeeeery good reasons not leave your instrument on your chair during break.'