Oct 3 2008 In Tune interview

Radio 3 – In Tune – 3rd October, 2008
Sean Rafferty talks to Maxim Vengerov and David Afkham following the Donnatella Flick Conducting competition in London.

SR: Well we’ve got a brand new talent about to rise before us but, before that, exquisite tone and easy worn virtuosity, one of my next guests is one of the world’s great violinists. Here’s Maxim Vengerov playing Ysaye.
 
SR: Sonata No. 2 by Eugene Ysaye, Les Furies, played by Maxim Vengerov , who makes it sound so sweet and almost easy – and it’s not that, Maxim, is it? Is it difficult?

MV: Sean, it’s nice to be here, thank you.

SR: It’s nice to have you.

MV: Everything is difficult and everything can become easy, potentially. It should look, for the public, as though it is easy – so that’s the challenge, after all. But it’s fun to play, I love Ysaye pieces, yeah.

SR: Yeah, well you’re here in a different guise – more of that in a second - but any musician these days entering competition – which you’re going to talk about now - really has to be fantastically well prepared. I mean your almost world domination was after a long time, obviously of genius and a gift – but very, very hard work, and you practised and practised and practised.

MV: Yes, I had to practice, although I thought music making didn’t require practising – but I was wrong, you know! And like every instrument, you need to practice and to a certain extent the violin is actually like a sport, you know? And you have to exercise, you have to get in shape and then, after that, you have to get beyond the technique and sort of, you know, the execution of the sound and you have to climb beyond that and become really something else – musician.

SR: Hmm, musician and an artist – and all those early morning practices certainly paid off. I don’t know whether your cooking has improved because I remember you saying once your mother made you practise so much that technically you should be able to cook fantastically and she should be able to play everything in the violin repertoire.

MV: Yeah! (laughing)

SR: Well you were a judge last night at the Donatella Flick International Conducting Competition, here in London at The Barbican, in conjunction with the London Symphony Orchestra and you had how many? three young finalists to choose from last night?

MV: Yes, we had the most extraordinary experience yesterday. We had three fantastic contestants that proved that actually conducting it’s – you know, a lot of people still think that conducting is the most elusive art, that nobody understands why do we need the conductor? Well, yesterday we had three finalists that were completely different from each other and we could hear – almost – three different orchestras. And London Symphony, which is one of the greatest leading orchestras in the world, they sounded every time different and that was really a fantastic exhibition of talents.

SR: Well, we must ask you what the qualities were that you were looking for but certainly the man you chose – David Afkham – First Prize in the National Piano Competition of Germany in 2002, he’s been a chief conductor for a year or two, he’s helped Bernard Haitink at the Concertgebouw, so he’s certainly been winning his spurs. Congratulations David, because you won the competition last night.

DA: Thanks – and thanks for being here.

SR: Well I know you’re about to fly back to Germany – presumably to work, are you?

DA: Yeah, there are some projects coming up and I’m looking forward to everything. I mean with yesterday, it was really unbelievable moments and a great opportunity now for upcoming things. I really am excited for everything which is coming.
SR: Well how hard did you have to work, because there was, I think, originally sixty, then whittled down to twenty and then – what – down to ten before the three?

DA: You mean now? The preparation for this competition right now? When I got the invitation – I think it was July – I started to learn the repertoire; of course some pieces I knew already but there were also new pieces – actually very modern pieces, for instance Tansy Davies’ Kingpin which was composed last year. It was really a challenge to learn that and to work also, in the second round with the orchestra. So there were many things to – yeah - but everything was good.

SR: What was it, Maxim, in the end, that decided you on David – that decided the jury?

MV: Well right from the first start you could – yes all the contestants are given this ridiculously small amount of time – 15 minutes – which can be so short and can be so long at times! Because if the conductor doesn’t know what to say and how to work with orchestra it can be completely useless, it can get worse and worse. But I must say the competition this year was at a very high standard but David showed, right from the start, a command on stage, great profound musicality, control over his actions, great communication with the orchestra, great artistry and wonderful musicianship and both the Youth Orchestra – which was fantastic, in the Guildhall – and the London Symphony, they loved it.

SR: I was going to say, do you have to make the orchestra like you?

DA: Actually I don’t think in this because when I’m going on stage or in front of the orchestra I just want to make music with the musicians together and from this moment comes authority and if they like me or don’t like me – so my thing is to get the best for the music and - yeah.

MV: I think David also showed a wonderful sense of timing, if I may so. Because for me in conducting – and in music making – what is really important, when we’re not talking about the technique, when we’re climbing above, is the great timing that is essential in life. And also, when the music play, at which speed, at which tempo and that’s what really determines a great talent and great timing – so that we feel as the audience very sensitively. Also what you had is the sense of sound – and that is very, very, very exquisite that you have this because yes, we don’t hear the conductor - conductor cannot conduct the silence - but here we have an orchestra and you could transmit the energy almost a telepathic thought and through that the orchestra caught your wave, you know, which was almost telepathic, and that is the sound – so, great compliments.

DA: All of us had the chance to have wonderful orchestras who were also able to react on what you’re doing and what you’re thinking and what you’re feeling – so that’s also something which

SR: This is basically a masterclass now for any budding conductor – I hope they’re all listening to that, they’ll know precisely what to do when they get in front of an orchestra! But you’re conducting a lot now, Maxim, too, aren’t you?

MV: Yes, I’m starting with the big symphonies. It has been always my dream to become a conductor – nobody knows that but actually when I was four and a half years old I was sitting in the orchestra and - just in front of the orchestra where my dad played oboe - and I was wondering what I would like to become in the future and of course I saw the conductor, that gets all the limelight, and I said to my dad “dad, what I’d like to become is a” - But in the beginning you have to start playing an instrument and then I decided to play the violin because – not oboe – because they are so far!

SR: Well you haven’t done badly with the violin, let’s face it! And I sincerely hope you’re not going to stop playing the violin?

MV: No, no – it’s my mother tongue. But there’s another language that I like to have and of course that adds another dimension to the musicianship so when I come back to the violin after conducting Bruckner Symphonies and Mahler and Shostakovich, I think it should add something

SR: Blinding colours, I should think! A panorama. a vista of blinding colours! Well it’s been wonderful to have you with us Maxim – and congratulations again David on winning the Donatella Flick Competition – I’m sure the phone will be ringing off the hook after what Maxim’s had to say. Have you got something to go back to in Germany at the minute? What’s your next project?

DA: The next big project is the assistance with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra with Bernard Haitink, who is my mentor right now, and that will be in November/December - a wonderful repertoire and good concerts. I’m looking forward to it.

SR: Alright, we’re going to keep an eye on you. Thank you very much indeed and thank you for being with us.