Every morning, Maarten Mostert, spiritual father and artistic director of the Amsterdam Cello Biennale, is squeezing oranges at half past seven in the Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ. The early birds among cello lovers then flock to the place to be for a free croissant with orange juice, followed by a top-notch performance of one of Bach's six Cello Suites in the Bach & Breakfest series.
Who would ever have thought that a single Bach Cello Suite could draw a virtually sold-out Great Hall at 9.30 in the morning? And why this 'need to innovate' and 'rediscover the cello' to generate new audiences? Bach and the cello have been around for centuries and together they are attracting hundreds of fans this week per day which, admittedly, are often over 50.
Bach's essence
On Sunday morning, Swedish cellist Torleif Thedeén bit the bullet with an integer and understated performance of Bach's 'scordatura' Cello suite no. 5 in c, BWV 101, especially loved for his heartfelt Sarabande and the concluding Gigue in French style, while Bach used the Italian style in the other five suites. It was a bit foggy outside and that seemed to descend like a veil over Thedeén's subtle, nuanced but also still somewhat pale playing. Who is not world-famous for nothing since he was winner of three prestigious international cello competitions simultaneously in 1985, but possibly not a morning person.
Very beautiful was the gentle way he let Bach and the cello speak for themselves. Or, more precisely, let them sing, with a beautifully polished noble tone, in an unhindered flow of sensitively guided energy, which sprang from many hours of intellectual, instrumental and musical dedication of the highest level. Thedeén kept away from exaggerated accents, excesses of dynamics or rubato, far-fetched tempo changes and other extremities. He simply concentrated on the beauty of Bach and looked for the essence.
Russian cellist Ivan Monighetti, who hails from a Swiss family, approached the Cello Suite No. 1 in G, BWV 1007 with more flair and guts. He played his cello in a 'classical' manner, but had clearly also borrowed from authentic Bach interpretations. Monighetti tried with outspoken tempi, a striking articulation, surprising accents, contrasting dynamics and vibrato as a means of colour rather than a goal, striking the right balance between the speaking cello and the singing cello.
In doing so, he kept the instrumental reins tight. He played his 'cello lady' with closely concealed dominance, so that she sometimes tripped over the logic of her own phrases. Monighetti's Bach may have sounded more exciting than Thedeén's Bach, but with him Bach was also somewhat 'abused' for the glory of the performer. Sometimes he indulged in peculiar tempo changes and articulations, about which the strict Bach would surely have shaken his head.
Hello Cello & super talent Soltani
Last Saturday, the names of the six participants who are through to the Second Round of the National Cello Competition on Tuesday 25 October were announced. In no particular order: Melle de Vries, Felicia Hamza, Alexander Warenberg, Kalle de Bie, Anastasia Feruleva and Jobine Siekman. That there are already new cello talents in the making was demonstrated that same afternoon during the surprising, swinging performance of the Hello Cello Orchestra, composed of 160 (squeaky) young amateur cellists from all over the country. led by Oene van Geel.
Cellist Emile Visser took on the role of animated improviser and musical predecessor. Van Geel got all the large and small cellos buzzing and buzzing in tune, thanks in no small part to the Wizzdrum, a witty invention by Wouter Hietkamp in the form of a kind of simplistic drum kit to conduct effectively with. With timpani sticks, Van Geel kept his rock, Indian music, romance and free improvisation-based 'children's piece' on track. A few little cellists even ventured into solo dialogue with musical variety entertainer Emile Visser.
Flamenco
That the warm glow of the cello goes excellently with the Spanish fire of flamenco music & dance was evident on Saturday night during the dazzling programme Fantasiá para Violonchelo y Flamenco, born out of a new partnership between the Cello Biennale and Ernestine van Noort's Flamenco Biennale, taking place from 13-19 January 2017. With flamenco singer Rocío Márquez in the lead role, cellists Kian Soltani and Ella van Poucke seamlessly and passionately joined the music of Derya Türkan (on Turkish kemençe), Efrén Lopez (rabab, guitar) and Augustin Doassera (percussion), while dancer and choreographer Leonor Lela put her heart and soul into ferocious contemporary variations on the flamenco dance of great predecessors such as Carmen Amaya.
But the absolute highlight of the evening was the spectacular performance of Cassadó's Preludio-Fantasia for solo cello, improbably beautiful, imaginative, free, elegant and blood-musical played by Iranian-Austrian cello phenomenon Kian Soltani, who has already attracted the attention of conductor Daniel Barenboim and violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter, and for good reason. Soltani, as was evident on Sunday during his unique 'mugham'-style rendition of Habil-sajahy by Azerbaijani composer Franghiz Ali-Zadeh, was born for the cello. The versatile and extremely gifted Soltani is the Great Discovery of the 2016 Cello Biennale, because such a sense of beauty, noblesse, duende and virtuosity is unique for a young cellist.
Brahms on gut strings
Sunday evening, baroque violinist Shunske Sato and 'all-round' cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras proved in excellent collaboration with the Orchestra of the 18th Century conducted by Kenneth Montgomery that it is quite possible to play Brahms' thoroughly romantic Double Concerto in a, op. 102 by Brahms on gut, although Sato sounded a little too baroque here and there and Queyras had to tune the rapidly detuning gut strings on his cello throughout the piece. In the wildly difficult Cello Concerto in a, op. 33 by Robert Volkman, cellist Albert Brüggen battled through sometimes almost unplayable passages with true heroism, after which Jérôme Pernoo showed during his rendition of Haydn's Cello Concerto in D, op. 101, he showed that 'papa' Haydn has lost none of his musical power over the centuries.
Michael Jackson
That the Cello Biennale appeals to new audiences besides enthusiastic over-50s becomes especially visible around midnight: for 2CELLOS Unplugged, the two Croats who became famous on the streets with their cello versions of Michael Jackson hits, young audiences flocked to the Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ last Saturday night, because even though the duo - assisted by the Ragazze Quartet and strings from the Amsterdam Conservatory of Music - this time lived it up to Bach, Vivaldi and Rossini, 2CELLOS has been super-cool for a couple of years, not least thanks to lightning-fast YouTube distribution.
In a much more traditional manner, cellist Gregor Horsch's students proved a few hours earlier that you can go in any direction with a cello ensemble: in varying formations, the excellently trained students played vocal music from the Middle Ages by Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck, duos by Telemann, a 17th-century Suite by Chopin, while soloing to steal the show with difficult works by Penderecki, Hindemith, Chirsoskov and Lutoslawski.
Life lessons
At least as exciting as all the performances and concerts that take place daily at the world's largest cello festival are the master classes, which are open to everyone who loves culture, art and music. From musicians of integrity such as Brazilian master cellist Antonio Meneses there is much to learn, not only about playing the cello and the secrets of music, but also about the art of life itself and how to always find joy and beauty in it. If only you are dedicated and have an eye for the smallest details.
In the words of Meneses: 'Making good music is incredibly hard work. The ultimate beauty of music lies hidden in the smallest details, which you have to refine and nuance endlessly to make the music sound optimal. Pay attention to all those details, study them individually until they sound perfect and devise separate exercises for them. The point is to express as accurately as possible what the composer wants to say. You have to think incessantly about all the elements of a phrasing, about how to express yourself most perfectly in it. That way, you liberate the beauty from the score, so that a performance can never become boring. Dullness is a mortal sin for all performing musicians. Composers have written beautiful things. A musician's only job is to perform it as perfectly as possible and with inspiration.'
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