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Who or what inspired you to take up piano, and pursue a career in music?

Though I didn’t start having piano lessons until the age of 7, I was already very interested in classical music much earlier. My great-grandmother was a piano teacher and we had a beautiful carved upright at home, which I loved. My parents, who were not musicians, loved classical music, especially operas, so they took me and my sister regularly to the opera. I enjoyed these performances enormously and listened to recordings at home as well. I especially loved Verdi and La Traviata was my absolute favourite opera (I still love it).

When at the age of 6 I started to attend school, I went to a music school, where we had singing lessons every day. I was singing in a choir as well and about twice a week we also had folk dance lessons. My parents didn’t want me to start having piano lessons during that year because school was already a big change in my life. But from my second school year it was natural to start piano and I had solfege lessons as well. I enjoyed it very much, though until the age of 11 I practised very little. Something happened to me at that time and suddenly I started to practise a lot and music really became the most important thing in my life. I was also reading a lot of music and at the age of 12 I made a successful entrance exam to the preparatory class for talented children at the Ferenc Liszt Academy of music and this changed my life completely. Here, I basically listened to concerts every evening, could meet and play for a lot of great musicians like Ferenc Rados, Zoltán Kocsis, Albert Simon. At around the age of 14, I started to have chamber music lessons as well, and a year later I was already a student of György Kurtág, with whom I studied for nearly 10 years. It was a very happy time of my life, full of great experiences and challenges and at the age of 16 I was able to start the first year at the Academy (today the Ferenc Liszt University of Music).

Who or what have been the most important influences on your musical life and career?

I was very lucky, because the time when I studied at the Ferenc Liszt Academy we still had Ferenc Rados and György Kurtág working very intensively. They were both teaching chamber music, but all pianists played solo pieces for them as well. They both had an enormous impact on me and on my way of thinking about music and life. We usually had very long lessons, sometimes 2-3 times a week, and they worked in a very detailed way – sometimes with Kurtág we worked on just 8 bars for 2-3 hours. Of course it was not only about these few bars, but through working on a phrase he opened up and showed a whole universe with a lot of associations from music, literature, other arts, and this all happened with such an intensity I could not imagine before. He is also an incredible pianist, plays like only a great composer can play. As I often said with my musician friends, working with Ferenc Rados was like an X-ray examination. After playing 5 minutes for him, we got a diagnosis, which wasn’t easy at all, but was a task for a whole life. Studying with him was a very complex process, everything – the actual piece, the instrument, my own feelings, questions etc – were all in an incredible connection with each other. I learned from him how to practise, which is an incredibly important part of a musician’s life.

Besides these two great masters, another determining and most important experience was meeting András Schiff when I was 17. I regularly took masterclasses with him for the following 5-6 years in Vienna, at Prussia Cove, Siena etc, and later in Marlboro (USA) as well. It was a huge influence for me to play for him, to listen to his concerts, and to talk to him about music, literature, life etc. No other pianist made such an important impact on my development as a musician as him. Later I had the chance to play concerts with him as well, which meant a lot to me. I got to know through András, Sándor Végh and Heinz Holliger from whom I learned a lot and admired very much. For Sándor Végh I played chamber music several times in Prussia Cove and later had the chance to perform with his Camerata Salzburg with him as a conductor.

Heinz Holliger is also a kind of musical “Father figure” for me. During the last 20 years I played many concerts with him, as a soloist, in many different chamber groups. We have also made several recordings together and I also play his music, which I admire a lot.

What have been the greatest challenges of your career so far?

The greatest challenge is the music itself. Every morning when I start practising I think of the fact that I am trying to get nearer and nearer to these great masterpieces and this is a greatest challenge. In my career, it’s quite challenging that I love equally playing solo and chamber music. I feel the best when I can find a good balance between the solo repertoire and chamber music.

Which performances/recordings are you most proud of?

I am extremely happy to record for ECM. De la nuit is my 4th album for them and I enjoyed all the recordings very much. For me sound is extremely important and I was always very inspired by the sound I could hear in the studio. Manfred Eicher has created something very special with his label and I am very happy and proud of my recordings for him.

Which particular works do you think you play best?

I don’t know which works I play the best, I can only say which works and composers I love the most. For me a “love forever” composers are Beethoven, Schumann, Mozart and Bartók. Recently I’ve played Beethoven very frequently. I have been learning his last 5 Piano Sonatas and I have not enough words to express what it means to me to work on those masterpieces.

How do you make your repertoire choices from season to season?

I love playing a lot of repertoire, I am not a type of pianist who would enjoy playing 2-3 programs a season. I play usually around 4-5 solo programs, 6-7 concertos and many chamber programs during a season. I always learn new pieces, especially for my recital programs.T here are certain pieces I come back to from time to time. For example, I just learned the Hammerklavier Sonata which I will play in many different programs during the next 2 to 3 seasons. Sometimes it goes together with Bartók, sometimes with Berg-Liszt-Kurtág, sometimes with Bach and Brahms. I also love creating festival programs. I organise a chamber music festival with my wife (pianist Izabella Simon) in Budapest. The Festival has a different theme every year which is the title of a great book. Each time, we make devise about 7-8 different chamber music programs around the theme, which is such a creative experience and gives so much to both of us.

Do you have a favourite concert venue to perform in and why?

I have a lot of favourite concert halls, but I have to mention two which are my absolute favourites. The first is the Great Hall of the Ferenc Liszt Academy, which is actually my second home. It’s a beautiful Secession style hall with a very warm atmosphere, and of course there a lot of personal aspects as well. I gave my so-called first “important” concerts there in my teens and still play there very often every season. I also had so many wonderful concert experiences there as a listener, hearing, for example, Richter, Annie Fischer, András Schiff or Sándor Végh.

The other Hall I would mention is the Wigmore Hall in London which is a most wonderful venue with an incredible acoustic. The audience is also so knowledgeable, I always feel it’s a feast to play there.

Who are your favourite musicians?

It’s a difficult question to answer since I have so many. From the past, Rudolf Serkin, Annie Fischer, Alfred Cortot, Pablo Casals, Sándor Végh, Carlos Kleiber, Arturo Toscanini, Bruno Walter, Maria Callas, Kathleen Ferrier just to name a few. The pianists I’ve listen to the most recently are András Schiff, Radu Lupu, Alfred Brendel. And I am really lucky because for many years I’ve played chamber music with some of my very favourite musicians like Steven Isserlis, Miklós Perényi, Tabea Zimmermann, Jörg Widmann, and Radovan Vlatkovic, among others.

What is your most memorable concert experience?

My career started when I got the first prize at the Géza Anda Competition in Zürich in 1991. I was 23 years old and had very little experience playing with an orchestra. In the final round I played the Third Piano Concerto by Bartók (which is a very important piece for me) for the very first time. Of course I was very nervous but playing this incredible piece with the wonderful Tonhalle Orchestra in the beautiful Tonhalle Great Hall was an incredible experience for a young musician, as I was that time.

As a musician, what is your definition of success?

I am the type of musician who believes in a slower and persistent development rather than fast and spectacular jumps. I never wanted to make things to happen faster and I always wanted to give time for certain things. For me success is when I feel that a long process has a result and things are getting ripe. It is an inner process and that is the most important part of it, but if other people also notice it and react to it, that means a lot and can “give wings”.

What do you consider to be the most important ideas and concepts to impart to aspiring musicians?

This is also a hard question to answer. I would say the first is to love music and love the process of searching for the meanings of the great pieces we are playing. I also think it’s important that our every day practising should happen with a lot of curiosity and with the feeling that through practising, I am not only getting nearer to the masterpieces I am playing but also learning a lot about myself – this is a great chance for development.

What is your idea of perfect happiness?

Perfect happiness means for me an inner balance with a lot of challenges at the same time and of course sharing this with those people-especially my family-whom I love the most.

What is your most treasured possession?

My most treasured possessions are the drawings of my 7 years old daughter which she has made for me. She has done a lot and when I am travelling I always take them with me.

What is your present state of mind?

Quite positive and balanced. I just turned 50, which is a bit strange to believe, but I am full of plans and really enjoy the way my life goes now.

Dénes Várjon’s new disc De la nuit, featuring music by Schumann, Ravel and Bartok, is released on 31 August on the ECM Records label

Dénes Várjon, born 1968 in Budapest, studied at the Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music, receiving tuition in piano from Sándor Falvai and chamber music from György Kurtág and Ferenc Rados. Parallel to his studies, he was a regular participant of master classes with András Schiff. He was first prize winner of the Piano Competition of the Hungarian Radio,the Leo Weiner Chamber Music Competition in Budapest, and the Concours Géza Anda in Zürich.

Várjon is a regular guest at festivals including Salzburger Festspiele, Lucerne Festival, Schleswig-Holstein Musik-Festival, Biennale di Venezia, Marlboro Festival (USA), Klavierfestival Ruhr, Kunstfest Weimar, and Edinburgh International Festival, and has been a frequent contributor to András Schiff’s and Heinz Holliger’s Ittinger Pfingstkonzerte.

He has performed with major orchestras such as the Camerata Salzburg, the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, the Wiener Kammerorchester, the Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra Budapest, the Camerata Bern, the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, the Hungarian State Symphony Orchestra, the Tonhalle-Orchestra Zürich, the Radio Symphony Orchestra Berlin, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, the Bremen Philharmonic, Gidon Kremer’s Kremerata Baltica, and many others, and working with conductors including Heinz Holliger, Adam Fischer, Leopold Hager, Iván Fischer, Hubert Soudant, Peter Rundel, Thomas Zehetmair and many more.

 

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Who or what inspired you to take up piano, and pursue a career in music?

My granddad was a fantastic singer, and my mom played piano beautifully. As a child I used to sing every song that was playing on the radio, and at the age of four I started having lessons.

The first time the inspiration to take up a career in music appeared when I was seven – I got accepted to a very good school that combined music and general subjects. But then it was too hard to study there, and I thought I had no chance to become a musician. Apparently I underestimated my passion for music.

Who or what have been the most important influences on your musical life and career?

I can’t be grateful enough to my teachers.

At the beginning of my studies I was blessed to have an amazing teacher of solfege, Irina Denisova: she gave me ears.

The empathy and kindness of Tamara Markova gave me the motivation to continue learning music.

It would never have worked had I not met Lilia Ter-Minasian, the professor who saw potential in me. Thanks to the countless of hours she spent with me over the Chopin Études, I now have technique, and thanks to her lessons on Haydn and Liszt, I understand what style and virtuosity mean. She taught me enthusiasm, and thanks to her support I started to believe I could be a musician. 

I was incredibly lucky to study performance with Graham Scott. His spontaneity and imagination brought out improvisatory qualities in my playing.

Julius Drake’s breathtaking decisions always had a “wow” effect on me. Studying collaborative piano with him was one of the best decisions in my life.

What have been the greatest challenges of your career so far?

Overcoming the imposter syndrome… But seriously – trying to fit everything I am interested in: performing as a soloist, teaching, working as a staff member at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, conducting the choir, learning new repertoire, and collaborating with other musicians! But I don’t complain, I just need more hours in a day.

Which performance/recordings are you most proud of?

Playing the Barber Piano Concerto with the RNCM Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Gergely Madaras, was a wonderful experience!

Which particular works do you think you play best?

I love playing Chopin, Rachmaninov, Schubert, Strauss, Debussy.

How do you make your repertoire choices from season to season?

As a solo musician I always play the music I love. There are some pieces I’ve been dreaming about for years, but they are hard to programme, for example Shostakovich’s Second Sonata. But next season I’m definitely going to perform it!

When I collaborate I get to learn some of the most exquisite music, but the programming is rarely done by me, and it is often a surprise.

Do you have a favourite concert venue to perform in and why?

Wigmore Hall is just the best place to play. I’ve performed there twice so far, first as a winner of the Worshipful Company of Musicians auditions, and second in the ‘Side by Side’ project by The Prince Consort.

Who are your favourite musicians?

Igor Levit, Robert Levin, Leonard Bernstein, Carlos Kleiber, Vladimir Horowitz, Friedrich Gulda, Stephen Hough, Julius Drake, Christophe Pregardien… I also love my friends Kabantu ensemble. Whenever I see them performing I start dancing and crying.

What is your most memorable concert experience?

Igor Levit’s three last Beethoven Sonatas in Wigmore Hall. It was a late 10pm recital – having performed this same programme at 7pm, he played it again, and it was surreal, inhuman, beautiful. From the moment he started till the moment he finished my attention was glued to his playing, he never lost me, not even one note was untrue to Beethoven. I was transported, transformed, transfigured. It was a transcendental experience.

As a musician, what is your definition of success?

Being in demand and happy with what you do.

What do you consider to be the most important ideas and concepts to impart to aspiring musicians?

Don’t be afraid to do something new. Find your teacher and your way. 

What is your most treasured possession? 

My music library! I never thought I would be so possessive about scores.

What is your present state of mind? 

I am open to new endeavours. 

Belorussian Maya Irgalina is a versatile pianist, who successfully combines solo and collaborative piano playing. Over the last ten years she has performed internationally throughout the UK, Italy, Malta, France, Austria, China, Poland, Georgia, Russia and Belarus, highlights including performances at Wigmore Hall and the Barbican.

In the 2017/2018 season, Maya was a Britten Pears Young Artist; she was invited by the President of the Republic of Tatarstan to play Chopin’s First Piano Concerto in Kazan; she performed in the Malta International Arts Festival and the Accademia Filarmonica Romana with soprano Nicola Said; performed solo in the Zürichi Piano Express Festival, and represented Yamaha as concert artist at the Cheltenham Jazz Festival.

Her past engagements include playing Liszt’s Second Piano Concerto at the Batumi Music Festival, Georgia, and performing an all Chopin programme at the Rye Arts Festival, UK. A particularly memorable event was her appearance in the BBC Orchestra’s “Semyon Bychkov’s Beloved Friend Tchaikovsky Project”, for which she played both as soloist and chamber musician.

As a soloist she has played with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Manchester Camerata, the Belarusian Opera House Orchestra, the RNCM Symphony Orchestra, the Batumi Symphony Orchestra including many other chamber orchestras.

Forthcoming engagements include the Machynlleth Festival, the Lieder of Hugo Wolf at the Britten Pears Young Artist Programme, Chopin’s First Piano Concerto with the Scarborough Symphony Orchestra, the Zarzuela Project at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and performances of Schubert’s Winterreise with the mezzo-soprano Fleur Barron.

Maya has won many prizes in piano competitions, including Dudley, Sydney, Maria Yudina, Scriabin etc. She is the winner of the RNCM’s highest accolade for solo performance – the Gold Medal – and had her Wigmore Hall debut in February 2013 as prize-winner of the Worshipful Company of Musicians. Her playing was broadcast by ABC (Australia), BBC Radio 3 and Belarusian Radio. In 2015 Belarusian TV made a film about her.

Maya Irgalina’s first steps onto the concert platform were made under the tutelage of Lilia Ter-Minasian at the Belarusian Academy of Music where she was an undergraduate. She then completed the International Artist Diploma at the Royal Northern College of Music, studying with Graham Scott. In 2017 she graduated from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where she studied with Julius Drake and Ronan O’Hora.

For her studies Maya has won numerous scholarships including Leverhulme Trust, Yamaha Foundation, BelSwissBank. She was also the recipient of the “Gaude Polonia” award from the Polish Ministry of Culture, and twice became a laureate of a Scholarship from the Special Fund of the President of Belarus.

mayairgalina.com

 

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Who or what inspired you to take up the violin, and pursue a career in music? 

I was growing up around music. My parents are musicians and they practised at home, so when I received a little Chinese Strad violin for my 4th birthday, I thought music was something every one did. Music eventually turned out to be a big part of my everyday life and naturally progressed into becoming my profession.

Who or what have been the most important influences on your musical life and career? 

When I was a child, probably my parents. I was going on tours with my father, who is a clarinettist, and was present at his rehearsals and concerts; he played lots of chamber music and as a soloist. My mother was a cellist in the orchestra of Ljubljana’s Opera House, which was almost like my kindergarten.

Some of my teachers, like the legendary Ruggiero Ricci, influenced me a lot and so did cellist Bernard Greenhouse and violist Rivka Golani. It is amazing how much we learn from other instrumentalists.

Chamber music was for me probably one of the best ways to learn about musicianship. It works both ways; you can be inspired and you can inspire. It is a conversation and a great way of training the intuition! I have been probably influenced by all people I have ever played chamber music with and especially by working and performing with world class artists, particularly Yuri Bashmet and Sreten Krstic.

What have been the greatest challenges of your career so far? 

The most memorable challenges have been:

  • Performing half of the concert with someone else’s violin after mine exploded (the tailpiece flew off during the concert with my string quartet)
  • Last minute call to step in for a concert (actually a couple of hours before the beginning, at the London’s King’s Place).
  • Being asked to dance while performing a solo piece with Shanghai Symphony Orchestra in China with Tan Dun in front of 5000 people

Which performance/recordings are you most proud of?  

Brahms Violin Sonata No.3 from the Wigmore Hall with pianist Simon Lane,

Bach Chaconne, Franck Violin Sonata from the concert in Girona with pianist Maria Canyigueral and Vivaldi double concertos with Sreten Krstic and the Slovenian Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra.

Which particular works do you think you play best? 

I believe I play best what I really like. For example: Brahms violin sonatas, Baroque; Bach solo sonatas, Vivaldi concertos…

How do you make your repertoire choices from season to season?

These are a combination of my wish list, my standard repertoire and particular programmes that some concert promoters ask for. I always make a few drafts of various recital programmes and a few concertos.

Do you have a favourite concert venue to perform in and why? 

My favourite venue is always the most recent one as I am still feeling the energy from the concert. So, a recent venue my violin particularly liked was the Lisinski Hall in Zagreb. I don’t know the reason why, but apparently my Da la Costa sounded really strong but sweet and warm. I also enjoy playing chamber music in smaller halls; the intimate setting brings audience closer to the performer and that creates a special atmosphere (the Wigmore Hall).

Favourite pieces to perform? Listen to?

Bach Harpsichord concerto in D minor, Schubert String Quintet in C major, Schubert Piano Trio in E flat major, Brahms Piano Trio No.1 op.8, Shostakovich Symphonies, Prokofiev Piano concerto No.2, Prokofiev Violin concerto No.1

Who are your favourite musicians? 

Ivry Gitlis, Martha Argerich, Glen Gould, Janine Jansen…

What is your most memorable concert experience? 

About six years ago I was performing Mozart Violin concerto in Dartington and just before the orchestra tutti  I finished my solo with a big show off gesture and my bow slipped from my hand, flying into the orchestra. Fortunately the tutti gave me enough time to pick it up and return to the position just before my next entrance… Some of the audience thought we were putting on a show and were asking: ”how many times did you rehearse the part where you throw the bow into the orchestra?”

What do you consider to be the most important ideas and concepts to impart to aspiring musicians? 

We all know it is hard work pursuing career in music. But following our hearts and not giviving up is the key! We are so lucky to be doing something so beautiful; music is a world without borders, where all nations meet and connect with universal language. It is worth it!

Where would you like to be in 10 years’ time? 

10 years ago (!)

What is your idea of perfect happiness? 

Love + Freedom + Creativity + roof over my head = perfect happiness

What is your most treasured possession? 

Generosity. I would never give it away!

What do you enjoy doing most? 

Visiting wonderful places of the world and performing

What is your present state of mind? 

United state

Lana Trotovsek’s new CD of music for violin and piano by Granados, Franck, Finzi and Skerjanc, with pianist Maria Canyigueral, is available now.

Lana Trotovsek was a student of Ruggiero Ricci in Mozarteum Salzburg. In September 2014 she appeared in two concerts with Yuri Bashmet and the Moscow Soloists performing Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante and made her debut with Valery Gergiev and Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra in 2012 with Prokofiev Concerto No.1

Recent performances have included a recital in the Wigmore Hall, the Prokofiev Violin Concerto with the LSO and Gianandrea Noseda, performance of the violin concerto by Tan Dun under his baton with Orchestra Teatro Verdi, Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra and Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra, Tchaikovsky concerto with RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra and conductor George Pehlivanian, Tchaikovsky concerto with Sarajevo Philharmonic and conductor Uros Lajovic, Brahms concerto with Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, Michigan in USA, Beethoven concerto with Zagreb Philharmonic in Lisinski Hall with conductor Hans Graf and Mendelssohn concerto with Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia and Dirk Brosse in USA.

 Trotovsek has performed in the Wigmore Hall, Konzerthaus in Vienna, Teatro la Fenice in Venice, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Muziekgebouw Frits Phillips in Eindhoven and elsewhere in Europe, China, UAE and USA with a number of orchestras including the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra, Moscow Soloists, Slovenian Philharmonic, Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, RTS Symphony Orchestra Belgrade, Pilsen Philharmonic Orchestra, Vienna Concert Verein Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Slovenian Philharmonic among others.

Her performances have been broadcast on BBC Radio 3, Arte TV (France) and RTV (Slovenia). Lana has recorded for Meridian, Signum, Champs Hill and Hedone records.

She started to play the violin when she was 4, with teacher Majda Jamsek. At the age of 17, Lana was taken under the auspices of Ruggiero Ricci, who was her mentor for 18 months at the Academy Mozarteum Salzburg. She has also been guided by Ivry Gitlis, Ida Haendel, Pierre Amoyal, Tasmin Little, Georgy Pauk, Edith Peinemann, Bernard Greenhouse and Menahem Pressler and has studied with Volodja Balzalorsky and Primoz Novsak at the Academy of Music Ljubljana,  Vasko Vassilev and Rivka Golani at Trinity College of Music and at the Royal College of Music in London with Itzhak Rashkovsky.

Lana Trotovšek was the recipient of the prestigious Prešeren Award from the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, which she received for her performance of the Khachaturian violin concerto in Slovenian Philharmonic Hall with Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra under George Pehlivanian in 2005.

Lana is an assistent professor at the Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London in the class of Boris Brovtsyn and in the class of Volodja Balzalorsky at the Academy of Music Ljubljana, Slovenia.

She plays on Pietro Antonio dalla Costa violin made in 1750 on loan from a private benefactor.

www.lanatrotovsek.info

 

 

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Who or what inspired you to take up the ‘cello and pursue a career in music? 

Having had a brief and disastrous career on the piano aged five (6 lessons and the teacher sacked me for being ‘totally unmusical’), when I was seven I heard a cellist, loved the sound, and announced I would be a professional one day with my own helicopter. I’m still saving up.

Who or what were the most important influences on your musical life and career?

I have been influenced by many things around me in my life – famous cellists of course (Yo-Yo Ma, Rostropovich, Casals etc), but also by Russians and their approach, by my wife, Viktoria Mullova and her uncompromisingly pure and selfless approach to music-making. But there are two influences that are not so obvious. I grew up on the Beatles and the aspect of their output I find most fascinating is that they did everything with love – at least until the last year or two – and this really shows in their music. George Harrison remarked that whenever any of them had an idea the response would always be ‘yes’ from the rest of the band, and that philosophy I aspire to – the positivity, inclusivity and humanity at the centre of the music. Also, I was profoundly influenced by watching the film The Thin Red Line. I was in a hotel room in Sydney and watched this brilliantly made war film and it completely destroyed me – I was a weeping wreck by the end, and the thing that exercised me most was, ‘what can I do to respond to this’? It just felt so impossible to do nothing, but what can a cellist do in the face of the inhumanity of our world? The only thing I could come up with was that I must practice and play with more heart, more dedication, and challenge myself every day to do better – in short to do my utmost every day to become the best I possibly can and help to add a happy and fulfilled grain of sand to the beach of the world. It is a lifelong task and one I take seriously, although I’m aware of how small one man’s contribution is, but that film was a deep inspiration.

What have been the greatest challenges of your career so far? 

Working with my physiotherapist to overcome a skiing injury, and a hypnotherapist to overcome stage nerves were big mountains to climb.

Which performance/recordings are you most proud of? 

I’m probably most proud of the last concerto performances before a short sabbatical I took this year. The cello concerto by HK Gruber is one of the hardest every written and I played it with the BBC Phil and Gruber conducting at Bridgewater Hall. I had such a good time playing. The orchestra were just awesome, Bridgewater Hall is very kind to cellos and I was very happy. Then a few weeks later I had 3 performances of Tavener’s The Protecting Veil in Mexico in beautiful halls where I felt totally free and comfortable onstage – Stephen Layton conducted like a dream so that I was absolutely liberated to make music without having to worry about anything. Heaven.

Which particular works do you think you perform best? 

The Protecting Veil is a special one for me (see above), because I don’t approach it as a piece of classical music, but more from my experience of Indian classical music and improvisation – it was the music of India that inspired John Tavener as he was writing it. I enjoy playing it SO much!

How do you make your repertoire choices from season to season? 

Pretty random really – sometimes just because people ask me, and sometimes I decide what I want to play on a whim.

Do you have a favourite concert venue to perform in and why?

Dartington Great Hall, Wigmore Hall, St George’s Brandon Hill Bristol, Beethovenhaus in Bonn, the new hall in Cremona…well, quite a few – places where the cello can really sing.

Favourite pieces to perform? Listen to? 

Right now it’s all about gorgeous Brazilian music – Egberto Gismonti, Jobim, Danilo Caymmi, Milton Nascimento, Elis Regina, Chico Buarque. And of course Bach is always there in the centre, recently inspired by reading John Eliot Gardiner’s brilliant book, Music in the Castle of Heaven.

Who are your favourite musicians? 

Carlos Kleiber, The Beatles, Beethoven, Bach, Ella Fitzgerald, Annie Lennox, Glenn Gould, Bernstein, Casals, Stevie Wonder – well, hundreds of them really…

What is your most memorable concert experience?

Mahler 9 with the Berlin Philharmonic and Abbado at the Proms in 1991. I would have laughed if you had told me that one day I would raise his wonderful son, Misha. Life is beautifully unpredictable.

What do you consider to be the most important ideas and concepts to impart to aspiring musicians? 

So long as it is done with with true sincerity from the heart, you are on the right track.

As a musician, what is your definition of success?

Success is making the sound that comes out of the cello the same as the one in my head.

Where would you like to be in 10 years’ time? 

Anywhere with family and friends.

What is your idea of perfect happiness? 

Being anywhere with family and friends.

What is your most treasured possession? 

My cello, of course.

What do you enjoy doing most? Breathing.

What is your present state of mind? 

Sitting on a train, passing a beautiful river, ducks flying overhead in formation. All is good.

Matthew Barley is internationally known as cellist, improviser, arranger, music animateur, and Artistic Director of Between The Notes. His musical world is focused on projects that connect people in different ways, blurring the boundaries that never really existed between genres and people.

As a soloist and chamber musician he has performed in over 50 countries, including appearances with the BBC Scottish (Volkov) and Philharmonic (Hazlewood), the Melbourne Symphony (Tortelier), New Zealand Symphony (Tan Dun), Hong Kong Sinfonietta, Netherland Radio Symphony (Stenz), Czech Philharmonic, Vienna Radio Symphony, Kremerata Baltica, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Royal Scottish National (Alsop), and London Chamber Orchestra. He has performed at festivals in Lucerne, Schleswig-Holstein, Bonn-Beethovenfest, Hong Kong, Lanaudiere, Abu Dhabi, Krakow, City of London and in recent seasons has performed at some of the world’s great concert halls: London’s Wigmore Hall, Royal Albert Hall, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Kumho Hall in Korea, Pablo Casals Hall in Tokyo, The Rudolfinium In Prague, and the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires. A key aspect of his recitals is mixing repertoire in unusual ways, pairing Bach suites with jazz and improvisation. He is particularly interested in music with electronics, having commissioned works from many composers including Dai Fujikura, Peter Wiegold, DJ Bee, John Metcalfe and Jan Bang. He has given other premieres of pieces written for him by James MacMillan, Thomas Larcher, Detlev Glanert, John Woolrich, and Fraser Trainer.

Read more here

(artist photo © Nick White)