Read
Interview with Daniel Rowland/Brodsky Quartet
By Tobias Fischer
The appointment of Daniel Rowland as first violinist of the Brodsky Quartet arrived just a mere two weeks ago, cementing his position as an incredibly versatile and talented performer on the Classical scene. It wasn't merely the nomination as such, but the way in which it was brought about - the Brodskys enthusing about a "marriage of four" and speaking about a comon language from the very first note they played together - that got us more than just a little interested. While Rowland's name may not yet be known to everybody, he is certainly anything but a newbie. He has worked with String Quartets before, the Breitner Quartet among others, and explored all facets of this format, which to him, is "quite simply perfect". He also remains an avid soloist, working in the fields of the Classical core repertoire as well as contemporary music. And finally, he heads his own festival, Stift, which is a combination of masterclasses and live concerts and sees him teaching and interacting closely with students. And there is more to come: A string of live gigs with the Brodsky Quartet at the Cadogan Hall, future CD projects with them and... a collaboration "with a very famous singer from the pop/rock world!". Find out about this and more, as Daniel Rowland answers our questions from a bus and in between two concerts, travelling from one Polish city to the next in the middle of the night.
Hi! How are you? Where are you?
Great, thanks! Right now I’m on a bus in Poland, travelling from Wroclaw to Torun. I’m here as the soloist with the Youth Orchestra Holland, performing the Tchaikowsky Concerto with my friend Jurjen Hempel conducting. We were in Germany, now some Polish concerts and then after a few more Dutch dates we end at the ever-gorgeous Concertgebouw in Amsterdam
What’s on your schedule at the moment?
Well... I have to say that it’s rather hectic... maybe somewhat overloaded. I spent the first 2 weeks of July in South Africa, at a wonderful festival in Stellenbosch (close to Cape Town in the beautiful winelands), where I played lots of chamber music with friends such as Eugene Osadchy and Peter Martens, cello, Luis Magalhaes, piano and Abel Pereira, horn. I also did the Tchaikowsky with the Russian conductor Victor Yampolsy, whose father was David Oistrakh’s long time pianist! After that we had Brodsky concerts in Scotland and Ireland, and then I was off to Sicily, were I’ve been a regular guest at the Trecastagni International Music Festival, a lovely happening on the slopes of the Etna. Now it’s the tour with the JON, and then after a couple of days holiday it’s my festival in August.
Congratulations on your appointment as first violinist of the Brodsky Quartet! The members of the Quartet have called the ensemble a “marriage of four” – so how is your honeymoon?
It’s perfect! From the first notes we played together I think we all had a good feeling, definitely I did!
In your first statement after the appointment, you mentioned that there was a “special chemistry” going on between the four of you. In which way, would you say, does it differ from your previous ensembles or the Breitner Quartet you currently perform with?
The wonderful situation with the Brodskys is that Ian, Paul and Jacky know the quartet repertoire so incredibly well, and yet retain a wonderfull freshness. I always try to make music with people with whom I feel a great musical understanding... often one doesn’t need to speak too much in rehearsal if you are on the same wavelength. The Breitner Quartet was never a fully fledged quartet like the Brodskys, it was more like some musical friends who from time to time play together, and I’m sure we will continue to play together in various combinations.
You already guest-lead the Brodsky Quartet in May and June. Were you still slowly feeling towards each other or did the ensemble already feel like a coherent unit at the time? Was there an offical audition before these live appointments in which you got to know each other?
We met in February for a morning of quartet playing... I suyppose one could call that an audition, although it felt much more like a spontaneous session of chamber music making! As I said, Ian, Paul and Jacky are incredibly ‘together’, but of course as we go along we are gradually finding our voice, a voice that is the sum of the 4 of us.
The Brodsky Quartet’s repertoire has a wide scope, ranging from Beethoven and Haydn to the 21st centure. Was this openness to many different eras and genres an important part of the attraction of playing with them?
I have always had a wide range of musical interests, and have played a lot of new music, from Piazzolla to Berio to Ferneyhough. So, yes... It was part of the attraction!
As the Brodsky Quartet has worked with Elvis Costello and Björk in the past: How would you describe your relationship with Rock and Pop? Could you imagine working with an artist like Sting, for example?
To be perfectly honest I have virtually no relationship to rock or pop... but I know and love the Brodsky recordings with Elvis Costelo, and look forward to working with many amazing artists, among them people like Sting.
What’s your ideal with regards to working on an interpretation within an ensemble – and has this topic already come up in the preparations of your upcoming residency at the Cadogan Hall?
It’s a combination of ‘magic’, that, which happens without any words being spoken and discussions in which differents possibilities are tried out and evaluated.
Speaking of which: Have there are already been decisions on the repertoire you are about to play during your residency beyond the first gig?
Definitely. The first concert will be Turina, Brahms A minor and the wonderful Beethoven A minor, the 2nd program will include the Schubert 2 cello Quintet and Schoenberg’s Verklarte Nacht, and later in the season there will be a collaboration with a very famous singer from the pop/rock world! The whole season is a homage to the incomparable Hollywood String Quartet, that we all 4 enormously admire.
The press release also mentions that the Cadogan Hall will serve as a recording site for future CD projects of the Brodsky Quartet. Are there any concrete plans in that respect?
You’ll be the first to know!
You’ve worked in various String Quartet settings. What, to you, is the most challenging and rewarding aspect of the format, which still keeps you hooked to it?
The format is quite simply perfect. It’s sublimely balanced and has inspired countless composers to use this specific combination of instruments to express their most intimate, most profound thoughts and emotions. In some ways the very perfection of the string quartet makes it rather intimidating to tackle it. The challenges are awesome!
You’re also the organisor of the Stift Festival in the Netherlands. What can you tell us about it?
Our goal is for talented young musicians to spend a week with a leading international faculty, studying with them in Masterclasses and playing chamber music together. Every night there are concerts in a beautiful church, the Stiftskerk by the faculty and the students. We have a great faculty and this year our special guest is the legendary virtuoso Ivry Gitlis. We have around 50 students, who stay with host families. This will be the 3rd edition and I’m tremendously loking forward to it, remembering the terrific atmosphere of the 1st 2 editions.
The Festival is working together closely with students. Is there a main message behind your masterclasses?
It’s all about energy, passion, emotions and communication. We try to transmit this to the students in many ways: in the Masterclasses, playing quintets or octets together, in our festival orchestra, and also having lunch together and spending time together after the concerts. Our message is: making music is wonderful and a huge amount of fun!
From the experiences of the past editions: Would you say that the interaction with the students is a two-way affair? Are there still things you take home from them and which benefit your own playing?
Most definitely it is! Teaching can be very inspiring. Also trying to solve a problem in a student's playing forces the teacher to think hard to find the key to solving this…and this process can very much benefit the teacher. Also seeing the progress the participants can make in a week as intensive as the festival week inevitably is, is thrilling.
You’ve spent a considerable time in the Netherlands – how would you rate your mastery of the Dutch language?
It’s not too bad, my mother is Dutch and I’ve lived there since I was 3!!
Gepubliceerd: 9 augustus 2008 09:51
Daniel Rowland organiseert kamermuziekfestival met ruimte voor avant-garde
In het dorpje van zijn jeugd organiseert violist Daniel Rowland een kamer-muziekfestival. Met concerten en masterclasses van de legendarische violist Ivry Gitlis (85).
Door Wenneke Savenije
Amsterdam, 9 aug. „Musici willen communiceren. Dat kan wat mij betreft nooit kleurrijk, eerlijk, ontroerend en extreem genoeg zijn.” Voor de Nederlandse violist Daniel Rowland (Londen, 1972) was dat vier jaar geleden de aanleiding om een eigen kamermuziekfestival op te zetten. Vandaag begint de vierde editie van het ‘Internationale Stift Muziekfestival’ in Weerselo, het idyllische dorpje nabij Oldenzaal in Twente, waar hij zelf ook opgroeide. „Het Stift Festival, genoemd naar de abdij waarin we spelen, is een combinatie van kamermuziekconcerten en masterclasses”, zegt Rowland. Zo komen er topmusici als de legendarische vioolvirtuoos Ivry Gitlis (1922), de Engelse klarinettist Michael Collins, cellist Alexander Baillie, violist Ronald Hoogeveen, bassist Leon Bosch en pianist Frank van de Laar.
Rowland studeerde zelf bij onder anderen Davina van Wely, Viktor Liberman en Igor Oistrach, en volgde lessen bij Herman Krebbers, Ruggiero Ricci en Gitlis. In 1995 won hij het Oskar Back Concours en in 2007 werd hij primarius van het Brodsky String Quartet.
‘Bezieling’ is Rowlands muzikale toverwoord. „In het Concertgebouw val ik vaak in slaap, omdat er bijna geen momenten meer zijn van totale muzikale overgave. Die hoor je nog wel in het spel van de vioolvirtuozen uit het verleden. Je hebt natuurlijk slechte oude violisten, en goede nieuwe. Maar in het algemeen werd er in de vorige eeuw beter muziek gemaakt.”Rowland besloot in Brussel zijn licht op te steken bij Igor Oistrach. „Hij heeft in de jaren zeventig geweldige opnames gemaakt van Bartok, Chausson, Sjostakovitsj en Tsjaikovski. Zijn vulkanische temperament vind ik een grote inspiratiebron.”
In Salzburg volgde Rowland lessen bij de oude Rugierro Ricci, wereldberoemd om zijn fantastische Paganini-opnames. „Ik wilde hem zijn geheim ontfutselen, maar hij had het vooral over streek, vingerzettingen en langzaam studeren.”
En bij Ivry Gitlis in Parijs leerde Rowland tot slot hoe je de muziek kan kleuren. „Voor hem is de stok een middel voor het bereiken van een eindeloos kleurenpalet, van het heeste gefluister tot de helderste klanken. Gitlis stamt nog uit de tijd dat musici grote persoonlijkheden waren. Hij is iemand die ramen open kan zetten die anders gesloten blijven.” Gitlis komt dit jaar voor de tweede keer naar Weerselo, waar hij niet alleen een masterclass geeft maar ook concerten speelt. Op een van de concerten toont Rowland ook oude filmfragmenten uit Gitlis’ carrière.
Ooit was het in 1972 gerestaureerde ‘Stift’ het kloppende hart van Weerselo. In de twaalfde eeuw bouwden de Benedictijnen hier een abdij, maar na een conflict met de paus scheidde het klooster zich in de vijftiende eeuw af van de orde. Het Stift werd een woonoord voor ‘juffers’, ongehuwde adellijke dames die veel geld inbrachten en boerderijen in de omgeving bezaten. Er stond een kerkje, een school en een gemeentehuis, die nog altijd het gezicht bepalen van dit beschermde middeleeuwse dorpsgezicht.
„Voor mij is het Stift een gewijde plek. Kort na mijn geboorte zijn we op Stift 23 komen wonen. Mijn ouders zijn in het kerkje getrouwd, ik heb er mijn eerste concerten gespeeld en mijn vader David Rowland, die componist was, ligt er begraven. Hij schreef zijn leven lang avant-gardemuziek. Zijn oeuvre is indringend, nooit zoetsappig. Tijdens het vorige Stift Festival speelde hij voor de laatste keer piano.”
Op maandag 10 augustus speelt Rowland zelf mee in de Nederlandse première van zijn vadersStrijkkwartet – een modern werk. Rowland zelf is net als zijn vader dol op de avant-garde. Hij houdt het meest van de muziek van de Tweede Weense School van Schönberg, Berg en Webern, vertelt hij.
„Maar het vervelende is dat de muziek van Bach, Vivaldi en Piazolla beter verkoopt dan Schönberg en Berg.” In de programmering van het Stift Festival komen zowel populaire als ‘moeilijke’ componisten aan bod. En zijn er sympathieke initiatiefjes als Pas de Deux – waarin ‘lievelingsduo’s’ van docenten en studenten samenspelen.
Rowland: „Zelf verheug ik me het meest op het Strijkoctet van Enesco en de Metarmophosenvoor 23 strijkers van Richard Strauss.”
Stiftfestival, 9 t/m 16/8, Weerselo. Info en reserveren: www.stiftfestival.com
Stift International Muziek Festival
Topmusici treffen elkaar op het Stift
door Herman Haverkate
Hij speelde er met autootjes en gaf er, als 12-jarig jochie, zijn eerste recital. Voor violist Daniel Rowland is het Stift in Weerselo een plek vol herinneringen. "Ik heb er vijftien jaar gewoond. Vanuit Londen, waar ik geboren ben, zijn we hier terechtgekomen. Als ik me ergens thuis heb gevoeld, dan was het op deze plek.".
Nu, zestien jaar later, is hij er terug. Niet alleen als violist, ook en vooral als organisator van een internationaal muziek-festival waaraan 45 musici uit de hele wereld deelnemen. Een week lang geven zij - in Weerselo en Oldenzaal - concerten en masterclasses. Speciale trekpleister is vioollegende Ivry Gitlis, een van de leermeesters van Rowland.
"Hij is al oud, maar van een vriend hoorde ik onlangs dat hij weer masterclasses gaf. Ik heb onmiddellijk de telefoon gepakt. Hij was heel enthousiast. Ik heb ontzettend veel aan hem gehad. Midden jaren negentig heb ik bij hem in Parijs een aantal lessen gehad. Het was alsof er een raam openging. Het is een ongelofelijk voorrecht dat we zo iemand hier kunnen hebben. Het aantal aanmeldingen is ook onmiddellijk gestegen."
Het is de derde keer dat Rowland het Stift Festival organiseert. Vergeleken met vorige edities is het aantal deelnemers verdubbeld. "Ik heb veel bijgeleerd. Toen ik hiermee begon, had ik geen idee hoe zoiets moest. Ik had alleen een droom: met vrienden uit de muziek een week lang verblijven op een plek waarvan ik weet dat hij ongelofelijk inspireert. Voor iedere musicus is het goed om op gezette tijden de hectiek van de stad te verlaten en je terug te trekken in een omgeving waar alleen de muziek spreekt. Het is de bedoeling dat iedereen die hier straks vertrekt, doodmoe is en een stoot nieuwe muzikale energie heeft gekregen."
De opzet van het festival is, vindt Rowland, redelijk uniek. Persoonlijke ervaringen met masterclasses, orkestcursussen en festivals vormen daarvoor de basis. "Het punt is dat al deze dingen meestal niet samengaan. Hier, in Weerselo, dus wel. De musici die er spelen, geven ook les, spelen samen met studenten en leiden ensembles en orkesten. In de loop van de week - als er een aantal dagen in masterclasses is gewerkt - wordt het aandeel van de studenten ook steeds groter."
De docenten zijn, stuk voor stuk, vrienden. Mensen met wie Daniel Rowland in het verleden concerten gaf en in ensembles speelde. Mensen zoals de pianist Frank van de Laar, de violisten Ronald Hoogeveen en Ilona Sie Dhian Ho, de cellist Jan Bastiaan Neven en, uiteraard, Ivry Gitlis. Gezamenlijk of alleen spelen zij onder meer het Strijkkwintet van Brahms en een compositie van Rowland‘s vader David (zondag), het Pianokwintet van Cesar Franck (maandag), een feestprogramma met bewerkingen van bekende klassieke stukken voor vier violen en contrabas (woensdag) en muziek van Elgar en Korngold (dinsdag), twee componisten die een herdenkingsjaar beleven.
Uiteraard is ook de oude meester Gitlis te beluisteren.
Woensdagavond vertoont hij in de Stiftkerk zijn kunsten. Rowland ziet er naar uit. "Hij is nog altijd een genie. Wat hij speelt, is vaak tot het laatst een verrassing. Ik heb hem lang niet gehoord. Op een gegeven moment was zijn invloed op mij zo groot dat ik bewust met de lessen bij hem gestopt. Dat hij nu - vanuit Parijs - naar Weerselo komt, de plek die me zo dierbaar is, ervaar ik als een heel bijzonder moment in mijn leven."
The Herald
By Michael Tumelty, Music critic
The appointment of the Brodsky Quartet as resident string quartet at the RSAMD for a three-year period is a coup for the academy. The cult string quartet are not only a group with a stellar international reputation. They are one of a handful of string quartets that have come to represent an elite in redefining the nature and function of a string quartet ensemble. Each have their own niche, identity and function within that cadre, and each are revered as an exemplar of their type. The mighty handful includes the American Kronos Quartet, with their visionary approach to repertoire and performance, and the British Arditti Quartet, whose staggering virtuosity and uncompromising adherence to the most challenging, cutting-edge repertoire have secured awe and adulation in equal measure.
The Brodskys, formed in Manchester in 1972, are different again. Though, like all string quartets of this calibre, they can equally champion the mainstream repertoire - their recording of Shostakovich's 15 string quartets is acclaimed - the Brodskys have become most associated with the specialism of what we might call cross-border collaborations.
Their projects with musicians from non-classical genres have brought them world renown and a massive audience. Their collaborators have included jazz pianists and composers Dave Brubeck and Django Bates, Icelandic singer Bjork, Paul McCartney and, most consistently, Elvis Costello. They have become associated with broader arts activities, collaborating with dance and theatre companies, including Theatre Complicite. There is also an announcement imminent from their agents of a new collaboration with a major rock artist. There is a rumour that it might be Sting, which would make sense, given the singer's recent foray across the border into the classical world.
But what brings the Brodskys to Glasgow? What will be their function at the RSAMD? And how can the academy attract and, even more, afford them? The Brodskys, who launch their new residency next Friday with a mainstream programme of string quartets by Barber and Ravel, are not exactly an off-the-peg group. They are not four for a pound.
Influence, clout, authority, naked ambition and highly-placed contacts lie behind the successful enterprise to draw the Brodskys to Scotland. That might sound like the background to the signing of the Brodskys, but in fact the background is the story. There is no secret to academy principal John Wallace's hunger for the internationalisation of his conservatory. As one of the best-known trumpeters in the world, and a musician of enormous influence, he has expressed that hunger many times in the past few years. But there is a new edge to that expression. Wallace has a new right-hand man in James (Jim) Gourlay, vice-principal, music, at the RSAMD. Both men are Fifers. Gourlay, less of a public face than Wallace, is one of the best known and most authoritative figures in the music business. For many years he was principal tuba in the BBC Symphony Orchestra, and one of the leading soloists on his instrument. In his final gigs before moving into the administrative and educational side of the business he was playing in the Vienna Philharmonic and at Bayreuth. He is said to have an awesome range of contacts and influence, and is the progenitor of the Brodskys' project. Further inquiries elicit sufficient information to be able to suggest that Wallace and Gourlay are working to develop a strategy for a big push on the internationalisation of the academy. The hooking of the Brodskys is just the latest in a series of tactical moves to implement that strategy.
One of the team pulling the strands together is Nicolas Zekulin, performance and events manager at the RSAMD. "We are very aspirational here," says Zekulin, in his Canadian burr. "We're already one of the top five academies in Europe. We see ourselves as becoming one of the best in the world. But we are disadvantaged because of geography. We're not sufficiently exposed to top international guest artists who will work with our students.
"In London, Paris and Berlin these guest artists are resident in those cities, and therefore they take up teaching posts. In Glasgow and Scotland as a whole we don't have that number of international artists resident. So we are creating a number of international chairs, of which the Brodskys will hold the first, that will bring those artists here and create the opportunities for students to have greater exposure to musicians of this stature and calibre."
And that cuts directly to the core of the function of the Brodskys' residence. They will not simply fly in, give a concert and perhaps a masterclass, then fly out. Next week, after their Friday lunchtime launch concert, they will stay on through the weekend for two and a half days of intensive workshopping, tutoring and training with academy string quartets. They will work collectively and individually with the student groups. Their work, in due course, will extend to the school of drama. And that, with variations and developments, will be the pattern of their three visits per academic session, each time with a public concert. The bulk of the residency, however, will be happening behind closed doors, with the students, perhaps with occasional public viewing of the proceedings. The agenda for the Brodskys is brutally simple: they are being asked to seek, find, coach and produce the best possible quality of experience for their students.
Whether their public concert life in Scotland will reflect any of their star-studded collaborative work remains to be seen, though it's on the wish list of the academy high-flyers.
The Brodskys are said to relish the forthcoming residency. They are in a period of transition, having just re-launched with a new leader, Daniel Rowland, a relationship one of the group described as "a marriage of four minds". Rowland admits that he has had "virtually no relationship to rock and pop", though he's looking forward to the challenge. They also have another new residency, at London's Cadogan Hall, though that one is concerts only, five or six per season.
Which leaves the question of the money. How can the RSAMD afford the iconic group? It can't, not out of its budget as an educational institution. And there is not one penny spare for a booking such as the Brodskys, which could not be approved until the entire funding of the three-year contract was guaranteed.
Enter, once again, the Big Strategy. John Wallace and his team have created an External Affairs department, headed up by Peter Thierfeldt, formerly of the National Galleries and the RSNO. Its job? To source the funding. It has been done. And it has been done completely, lock, stock and barrel, for the full term of the residency, by private donations from Scottish philanthropists. No banks, no corporations, no names, just the cash up front from individual donors, and in the bank. Now there is something to think about, eh?