Limelight — May 2017

Nowadays,you’renotjustaviolinist,you’re

awriter,broadcasterandsupporterofa

range of humanitarian causes. Might you

ever have chosen a different career path?

Idon’tthinkso.Musicdefinesmy

dayfrommorningtillnight.I’vebeen

performing music around the world

forover25years.Ialsowriteabout,

presentandcuratemusiconavarietyof

mediums, from books to television, from

radiotosocialmedia.Theviolingives

me the chance to share the thoughts and

emotions of the greatest composers who

everlived.AndifIchoosetoplay,write,

broadcast,programmeorpresent,it’s

alwaysbecauseIbelievethereissome

form of great music out there which needs

tobecommunicated,somehow.Music is

communication, at least for me.

You have a reputation for thinking outside

thebox,especiallywithprogramming.Is

thateveraconsciouschoice?

Ihavealwaystriedtotellstorieswithmy

programming. For my first recording back

in1999,onNimbusRecords,Icombined

theConcertiofSchnittke,Takemitsuand

Weill. I had been privileged to work with

thefirsttwoofthosecomposers,and

thoughtIwouldtryandbuildaconcept

around their thoughts and ideas. Most

peoplethoughtIwasmadtodebutwith

thatrepertoire.Butnotonlywasitwell

received,itmademoneyandisstillon

sale today. Having said that, nowadays we

arequicktousetermslike“cuttingedge”,

butifyouwanttoseereallyastonishing

programming, look at what Mendelssohn

or Joachim were presenting in their day.

HowlonghaveyouresistedrecordingThe

Four Seasons,andwhydoitnow?

IguesssinceIbeganperformingitpublicly

whenIwas13,althoughIfirstexperienced

VivaldiasatoddleratYehudiMenuhin’s

festivalinGstaad,in1975.Iheardwhat

Ithoughtwasbirdsongcomingfromthe

stage.Ithadsuchanelectrifyingeffectthat

I still call it my ‘Vivaldi Spring’. My many

experiences withThe Four Seasons,allthe

way from childhood, led me full circle to

themomentwhenIwasappointedMusic

Director of the Zurich Chamber Orchestra

in2016.Ifoundmyselfinfrontofthis

wonderful orchestra playing the piece I’d first

heard them perform four decades ago. And

thenIrealisedhowthesemusicianswereso

energetic and enthusiastic in the way they

expressed their understanding of Vivaldi. I

felt our performances were a revelation in

terms of the colours we produced, the tempi

wetookandthedetailsthatemerged.After

performing the concertos for the third time

together,recordingitwaseithernowornever!

So did you adopt a particular approach?

What you are hearing is the culmination

of35yearsofworkandthoughtonthis

masterpiece. Certainly my interpretation

has changed dramatically over the

decades, starting with the usual romantic

approachwithwhichmostviolinstudents

begin their musical lives and then

changing thanks to important influences

by countless extraordinary musicians, such

as Kristian Bezuidenhout and Christopher

Hogwood.Theybothtaughtmesomuch

aboutthesoundworldofthebaroque

and the colours of continuo.

DANIEL HOPE

VerymuchaRenaissanceman,theviolinisthasdonesomethingratheroriginalwithaBaroquewarhorse.

Clive Pagettalks to him about life, thinking outside the box and his hopes and fears for all of our futures

You’veoftenbalancedold(ie.baroque)with

new(ie.contemporary).Butisyournew

albumbranchingoffinanewdirection?

This is my most personal album to date. It’s

alsothefirstoneIproducedmyself,even

thoughIputagreatdealofthoughtintothe

dramaturgyofeveryalbum.Mygoalwith

For SeasonswastotakeVivaldi’smasterpiece

onestepfurther–byplacingitinthecontext

ofa21st-centuryclimaticresponse:the12

monthsareeachrepresentedbyaspecific

pieceofmusic.Andinturn,12visualartists

respondtothemusicandtotheseasonswith

the paintings that are featured in the booklet.

Thatopenedupawholeworldofmusic.

Areyoueverconcernedaboutthefutureof

classical music and its audience?

Ithinkeverymusicianshouldbeconcerned,

butoptimistic.However,thereisafarmore

important factor to be addressed than filling

concerthalls.WhileI’magreatproponent

ofartseducation,letmebeclearinstating

that the purpose of arts education is not

toproducemoreartists.Therealpurpose

is to create complete human beings. If we

aretosurviveasahumanrace,weneed

creativity, ingenuity and innovation. And

realinnovationdoesn’tjustcomefrom

technology,itcomesthroughartanddesign.

Artisanirreplaceablewayofunderstanding

and defining the world. Adult life begins

in a child’s imagination, but in the last 50

years we’ve turned that imagination over

to the marketplace. And the marketplace

doesonlyonething–itputsapriceon

everything. The role of culture, however,

mustgobeyondeconomicsandfocuson

value. There is only one social force that

40 LIMELIGHT MAY 2017 http://www.limelightmagazine.com.au

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