Legendary cello gets new player: 'Just play it like a bear with socks on'

Recently, Lidy Blijdorp (* 1986) took over the cello of well-known cellist Anner Bijlsma (* 1934). It was his wish for the instrument to be played by her from now on. Via the Netherlands Music Instruments Fund (NMF), the instrument came to her. The maker of this cello is not known. However, it is certain that it comes from the workshop of Italian violin maker Giuseppe Rocca and dates from the first half of the nineteenth century.

Anner Bijlsma is best known for his interpretations of baroque music. Before that, however, he had a special baroque cello. On the instrument Lidy Blijdorp now plays, he performed romantic and modern compositions. Lidy Blijdorp plays music from all periods on it, including Bach. ''Everything is in it,'' she says.

Stories as inspiration

That Bijlsma's choice fell on Lidy Blijdorp is not surprising. Not only is she a promising talent with numerous admiring reviews and impressive awards to her name, there is also a kinship between Bijlsma and Blijdorp in their approach to music. Both love stories and are guided by visual fantasies in their interpretation of music. Both also like to think incessantly about how a piece of music should be performed and have new thoughts about it every time.

Bear in socks

Bijlsma has not been Blijdorp's regular teacher. She did have some special lessons from him.

'He has a very fine way of teaching. I had lessons from him, together with a violinist. We studied Ravel's sonata for violin and cello under Bijlsma's guidance. At one particular piece, he said: 'You have to play that as if you were a bear.' I did what he said, but it wasn't quite right yet. Then he said: 'Just play it like a bear with socks on.' Then it went well.'

'For the last note of the first movement, he also gave a nice hint. He said that when I played that note, I should think of a plane making first contact with the ground on landing: very carefully. That helped me perform it well.'

'Another example from that sonata by Ravel. There are syncopations in it. The cello then runs after the violin. Bijlsma said to us: 'Imagine that the violin is the mother and the cello is her child, and that the mother pulls the child along with her.' He's full of wonderful imagery like that, with which he gave me a tremendous sense of the music. What he says is also often very funny. When, after a slow graduation, you suddenly have to stroke up quickly, he calls it: 'Falling over a banana peel'.'

How to iron

Bijlsma deals with bowing in an entirely unique way, often against prevailing views. Most cellists start a piece of music with a descant, but he does it differently every time. Lidy Blijdorp: 'That approach ties in with the Italian way of playing, which existed before the French court orchestra of Louis XIV ('Les 24 violons') came into being. Those equalised all the regions. Anner Bijlsma is very inquisitive about the region. He still calls me sometimes. Then he has come across a certain stroke indication in his sheet music that he put in himself, but he has reconsidered: 'No, it has to be different after all'. And then he asks if I'll drop by to try it out.'

Desire

Does Lidy Blijdorp think about the images Bijlsma has imparted during lessons when she performs a piece? 'Often not literally. I don't see the bear in socks in front of me every time. But the images are often so funny that you never forget them.'

'A great example is also Syrinx by Debussy. Behind it is a story from Greek mythology, about the nymph Syrinx who was chased by the faun Pan. He longs fiercely for her, but cannot reach her. When I Syrinx was going to play, it helped me think of this story. When I play it now, I don't have to tell myself that story in full. It's about the core of it. That is the desire that drives Pan. That longing is what I try to make resonate when I play this piece.'

Colours

‘Syrinx is a solo work, but I hear all kinds of instruments in it. That has to do with the fact that Debussy's work - and also Ravel's - is so colourful. You hear that especially in their orchestral works. But even in a solo piece like 'Syrinx', these other colours come naturally to me.

The most famous works for solo cello, namely Bach's cello suites, are also said to have more voices in them. 'But that is something else. That is meant more as polyphony. The other voices are suggested in it and stick with the listener. Then an a is heard, for example, and as the music continues, that a continues to echo in the mind. Anner Bijlsma says in response to Bach's solo suites: "The listener is as important as the player. The listener has to play all the voices in his head all the time.''

Lidy Blijdorp is all about music. She studies every day. At least, that is the aim. Sometimes it doesn't come off. The difficult thing is: once I've started, I can't stop. I sometimes go on so long that I have to recover for a few days afterwards.'

Reine Elisabeth

After her conservatory days in The Hague and Paris, Lidy studied for a time at the Chapelle Musicale Reine Elisabeth near Waterloo. 'That's an institute where musicians can study who are going to compete in the Elisabeth Competition. They can practise there for a year and walk in the woods. They deliberately chose a location far from the station. You can't just leave. You are locked up there so you can practise as much as possible. Food is made, so you never have to cook. It really is an ideal place for those studying music. Many people go there after the conservatoire. The idea is to build up experience. There are also workshops, for example yoga and stage presentation. Twice a month there is a concert. And you get lessons there. I took lessons from Gary Hoffman at the time. He is a very good cellist. Very special. He plays very pure and sincere, without tricks.'

Night sounds

'There are soundproof rooms. So you can also play there at night. When I was there the first year, only the old building was there. I wasn't living there then, but was in Brussels. I went there every time to study. Once I was there around midnight and heard someone still playing the piano somewhere in the building. I thought, "Hey, is someone still studying?" I went towards the sounds. They were coming from a hall. It was completely dark there, except for a twilight lamp that the pianist had on the piano. He was playing Nocturnes by Chopin. It is normal in Elisabeth Chapelle to knock on the doors of others to play together. With that pianist, Julien Brocal, I started playing together. We also have plans to compose together.'