Alban's Blog

Category: Personal

Hommage to Casals

June 30, 2010

My first idol was the great Spanish cellist Pablo Cellist. I bought every single LP I could get my hands on and for the longest time his way of soundproduction was how I wanted to sound myself. I loved the intensity, the articulation, the “interpretative” intonation (playing the minor thirds very low, leading notes very high etc.) and even the grunting were part of the package. My teacher Boris Pergamenschikow spent most of the three years I studied with him (1989-92) trying to teach me the more modern and generous way of playing the cello, but still in 1990, when I played for Norbert Brainin (1st violinist of the Amadeus Stringquartet) Beethoven’s C-Major-Sonata, he told me after waking up from his little nab he took during this 12 minute performance, that I reminded him of Emanuel Feuermann. I still have that comment on tape somewhere, and although I obviously couldn’t and still can’t play like Feuermann (maybe in my dreams), he was referring to my rather old-fashioned way of playing in general, not one particular cellist.

Trains in Italy and Casals Encores

May 8, 2010

The only time I took a train in Italy I missed it because it was so punctual. Me with my German arrogance and prejudice that Italian trains must be even worse than at home just had walked too slowly to the track, and right in front of my eyes the train had disappeared. This was about five years ago. Today, when I wanted to take a train to Verona to visit a friend on my free day between the three concerts with the Verdi Orchestra in Milan, I left extra early, arrived at the train station “Cadorno” (the only one I knew) 15 minutes (!) prior to the departure only to find out that the train was leaving from the main station, 5 subway stops away. For once I was in time somewhere, and promptly I get punished.

Sardinia – Heaven on Earth

April 4, 2010

If you have ever wondered what to do in a free week – go to Sardinia! After a “quickie” in Geneva (arrival Thursday evening, rehearsal and concert on Friday, back home on Saturday morning), playing the Schumann Concerto with Marek Janowski and the Orchestre Suisse Romande (by the way, probably the best Schumann I have played so far, it felt so free and spontaneous that even Maestro, who normally doesn’t give compliments, seemed happy with my interpretation afterwards :)) I had Sunday to repack before leaving from Berlin to Olbia on Monday. Easter holidays for my son and two weeks no concerts for me looked like an invitation to book some special father-son-holiday.

Prokofiev and Masterclass in Houston

March 20, 2010

Exhausted and flattened by a somewhat more tiring than usual Prokofiev-Sinfonia-Concertante I am sitting in my dressing room while Hannu Lintu is conducting the second half, Sibelius Symphony No.2 with the Houston Symphony. Oh yes, I would have loved to play this great piece, even asked for sitting in the section for the second half, but then suddenly I felt such fatigue after my performance that I am glad that it didn’t work out (they didn’t have an extra part for me). In Strasbourg I played this symphony after a Dvorak Concerto, but the Prokofiev requires even more energy.

On Tour with János

February 19, 2010

When I announced end of January that during the next month I would be home for only four days, my son János started shedding some tears; he loves his Mom, but he can’t talk to her about soccer, can’t practise the piano with her and besides this, she is a woman anyway 🙂 It made me feel very guilty – this was exactly the reason I didn’t want to become a soloist when I was young, because I wanted to be there for my children. Well, I have managed only one so far, but at least this one has a rather strong bond with his father, growing the older he gets (the bond). And then I had an idea: For almost a week I was going to go on a little mini-tour with the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie – same piece five times, only two rehearsals, and all the cities in the same region, which meant not much travelling involved.

Quickly I checked the hotels in the region and “stuff to do” and found out that in winter there isn’t much to do – except the so-called “Spaßbäder”, fun-pools, with water-slides and various other attractions. Funny enough the period of this tour fell exactly during his winter holidays. I admit, going skiing is more fun than going on tour with your father, but it’s better than sitting at home. He was rather excited about the idea, and thus I booked interesting hotels near but not right at the concert locations. The best one we had yesterday, near Paderborn, where the first concert took place: a hotel connected with one of these Event-swimmingpools which was also a therme (hot water from deep inside the earth with tons of minerals) where we went right after the last rehearsal in Herford, home of the orchestra, for a nice swim before the concert.

Also yesterday, with a concert in Minden about 60 miles north, we had plenty of time to enjoy ourselves in the water for three hours: timing ourselves going down the slides as fast as possible, playing handball in the water, swimming for half hour in the big pool (ayayay, soooo out of shape…), relaxing in the whirlpools or getting massages under a big water-cascade – I felt like new-born and dead tired. Is that the perfect preparation for the difficult Lalo-concerto, you might ask? Oh yes, it is definitely better than sitting at the computer, the telephone or behind the cello and getting unhappy – spending quality and fun time with one’s most loved person is so fulfilling that I am sure it translates into the music-making.

And as long as I get half hour of sleep one or two hours before the concert I am as fresh and awake as ever, and this I can do even while an eleven-year-old is playing Fifa10 (a soccer game) on his playstation which I wisely allowed to be taken with us. You may not really be interested in the exact timings, I could imagine, but […]

On Tour with János

February 19, 2010

When I announced end of January that during the next month I would be home for only four days, my son János started shedding some tears; he loves his Mom, but he can’t talk to her about soccer, can’t practise the piano with her and besides this, she is a woman anyway 🙂 It made me feel very guilty – this was exactly the reason I didn’t want to become a soloist when I was young, because I wanted to be there for my children. Well, I have managed only one so far, but at least this one has a rather strong bond with his father, growing the older he gets (the bond). And then I had an idea: For almost a week I was going to go on a little mini-tour with the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie – same piece five times, only two rehearsals, and all the cities in the same region, which meant not much travelling involved.

Quickly I checked the hotels in the region and “stuff to do” and found out that in winter there isn’t much to do – except the so-called “Spaßbäder”, fun-pools, with water-slides and various other attractions. Funny enough the period of this tour fell exactly during his winter holidays. I admit, going skiing is more fun than going on tour with your father, but it’s better than sitting at home. He was rather excited about the idea, and thus I booked interesting hotels near but not right at the concert locations. The best one we had yesterday, near Paderborn, where the first concert took place: a hotel connected with one of these Event-swimmingpools which was also a therme (hot water from deep inside the earth with tons of minerals) where we went right after the last rehearsal in Herford, home of the orchestra, for a nice swim before the concert.

Also yesterday, with a concert in Minden about 60 miles north, we had plenty of time to enjoy ourselves in the water for three hours: timing ourselves going down the slides as fast as possible, playing handball in the water, swimming for half hour in the big pool (ayayay, soooo out of shape…), relaxing in the whirlpools or getting massages under a big water-cascade – I felt like new-born and dead tired. Is that the perfect preparation for the difficult Lalo-concerto, you might ask? Oh yes, it is definitely better than sitting at the computer, the telephone or behind the cello and getting unhappy – spending quality and fun time with one’s most loved person is so fulfilling that I am sure it translates into the music-making.

And as long as I get half hour of sleep one or two hours before the concert I am as fresh and awake as ever, and this I can do even while an eleven-year-old is playing Fifa10 (a soccer game) on his playstation which I wisely allowed to be taken with us. You may not really be interested in the exact timings, I could imagine, but […]

Cellist on Pilgrimage

January 30, 2010

After spending some cold and wet days in Calgary, where I first played half a solo recital for the sponsors (oh, I was so jetlagged that I got lost twice in my 5th Bachsuite – well, isn’t it a nice excuse, the jetlag, although I tend to get lost in that piece with the tuned down A String more or less each time I have to play it :)) and then the following days for the first time in some while the Dvorak with the excellent Calgary Philharmonic under James Judd, I was supposed to have almost an entire day at home for repacking and family purposes – unfortunately (or finally again!) we are experiencing an amazing winter in Berlin, really cold, tons of snow but with the minor side effect of cancelled flights and long delays at various airports.

If you have nothing to say…

January 16, 2010

… don’t say anything. This very wise saying I kept in mind for the last few weeks, not writing a single sentence in this little blog here – batteries and head empty, time for retreat and recharging the run-down, abused system. One of my tricks how to deal with the stress of performing and travelling, the tristesse of being alone and without family, is simple: I ignore it, I pretend it doesn’t exist, I ask from myself to be superhuman – but at the end of the day, I am not, and I felt it very strongly after my last performance in Frankfurt on December 19 with two Boccherini Concertos (radio orchestra and Markus Stenz were my partners – don’t remember how it went at all, everything blanked out). I was ready for a good rest, and luckily enough I didn’t have to look at my cello for three weeks altogether, just enjoying the Christmas days in the circle of my rather large family (4 sibblings with tons of kids on their own) and my little one at home. Even New Year’s celebration was very calm but beautiful, with a very good friend coming over with his family, cooking together, drinking, talking, playing games – and suddenly it was midnight and for once we all went to bed early.

With good reason: we had a plane to catch the next morning at 10 am. No, not the first concert of the year, God no, but something much better: skiing in France, in one of the biggest ski resorts of the world with 420km of pistes. Soooo much fun, great weather (or at least most of it), pretty cold, but incredible skiing with more pistes than I could ever have dreamt of. My son János and me went for it all day long, hardly ever repeating a piste twice going down like little devils, which wasn’t too dangerous because the strangely enough there weren’t too many people around. What better thing to do for getting your energy back?! 7 hours a day in the open, fresh mountain air, sleeping 10 hours every night, cooking, reading, playing cards while not skiing – and the most amazing part I hadn’t even realized before is that time passes very slowly, which meant these 9 days of holidays felt like a month.

No, I didn’t break anything, didn’t fall or hurt myself in anyway, skiing with passion but caution, and now I am back on track, sitting right now in yet another airport lounge (at London Heathrow) after having played yesterday the first concert of the new decade, the Walton with the BBC Wales in Cardiff, my debut in that city, not with that orchestra though with whom I have played already many times, though never in their home town. David Atherton was conducting, and with all this snow having fallen onto Central Europe I was happy my arrogant travel plans allowed me to arrive in time for the first rehearsal on Thursday early afternoon; […]

Breaking Bows and Strings in London

October 26, 2009

“What a passionate performance! You must be a very passionate man?” was the question (in French, oh mon Dieu…) in a radio interview during intermission in Brussels ten days ago. My answer wasn’t flattering to myself, but what do you expect me to say? “No, I am not passionate at all, rather very boring.” Well, this is what I answer when I am being asked questions like that, especially since I felt pretty empty and thus boring after the Walton performance. I had to think of this interview because today I did something seemingly very passionate: first my bow broke in the middle of the first movement of Brahms’ F-Major Sonata during my rehearsal with Steven Osborne two hours prior to our lunchtime concert at the Wigmore Hall in London, and then, within 2 minutes of our live-broadcast concert my D String broke. Passion? Or just bad luck??

Experiments on Stage – Too Risky?

October 18, 2009

In an interview I was recently asked if after playing the premier of the Chin Concerto by heart there were no more risks to take. I didn’t quite understand the question, and I felt it was necessary to indulge a little bit in what “taking risks” actually means. Obviously it is the opposite to “playing it safe” which already at the age of 21 I felt wasn’t my way. My father wanted me to join his orchestra (Berlin Philharmonic) and I would have been safe for the rest of my life, at least financially. I opted against it, feeling deep inside the need to keep on living on the edge, with no fixed income.