On the evening of September 9, live from London’s Royal Albert Hall, “Klasika” offers the closing concert of the world’s largest symphonic music festival – “BBC Promenade”. Ināra Jakubone is in the “Klasikas” studio in Latvia, but the live broadcast is conducted from London Anna Marta Burvewho reveals the impressions of the presence of what is happening in the Royal Albert Hall, and in the meantime offers an interview with a Latvian cellist in London Silvestrus Juri Kalniņu, who recently obtained a master’s degree at the Royal College of Music and, in addition to active chamber music, collaborates with the London Symphony Orchestra, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and the English National Opera Orchestra. This year, Silvestrs Juris participated in two “BBC Promenade” concerts.
Anna Marta Burve: After all these big events, what is the most important thing in your life right now?
Silvestrs Juris Kalniņš: Now the most important thing is not to stop and to continue everything I do professionally – with the same zeal as I did while studying in college.
At the moment I am trying to find the golden middle, in the transition stage from the life of a student [uz profesionālo darbību] keep the enthusiasm, don’t get stuck in a routine, but always find some new projects and make new contacts with musicians both from London and elsewhere.
Is it hard to switch from student life? Can you say that it all comes naturally to you?
In my case, the transition phase was quite easy, because for the last two years, while I was studying for a master’s degree, I had already been in orchestra academies – both the London Symphony Orchestra, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and also the English National Opera Orchestra, and all these orchestras considered me an orchestra musician – they I was not looked upon as some student who comes and knows nothing, but really as a colleague. (smiles warmly)
I’m currently with the London Symphony Orchestra – I had an audition and now I’m here on probation. I still have the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the Opera still invites me to play – so it was definitely much easier in my case. Although it is difficult to remember the names of all colleagues when you meet twenty, thirty new colleagues every day: it must be difficult! (laughs)
Is there anything that interests you outside of music?
I am very interested in literature – in principle, I spend most of my free time reading books, also meeting friends and going to concerts: in London you can go to countless concerts and theater performances every day. Imagine a famous musician, and he will also be in London that month… It’s really wonderful to be in such an environment and perform as part of world-famous orchestras. I have also started going to the cinema more, because there was not so much time during my studies.
Now it is often the case that on concert days there is a dress rehearsal from ten to one, and then there is a concert at seven or half past seven. And in between, that free time must be filled somehow. Sometimes I run home and learn new parts for the next projects, but there are also days when everything is already learned and then it’s time to go to the cinema.
In the center of the Barbican, where the London Symphony Orchestra is located, there are both cinema halls and exhibitions – I also go to them.
Recently, we also read news in Latvia about how much money is being taken away from culture and specifically music in Great Britain. Or do you feel any changes in this regard?
I personally don’t feel any big changes – in the last couple of years, the changes have not been very drastic, but I think that the musicians who have worked here for ten, twenty or more years, definitely feel the changes not in the most positive direction.
Every day I meet musicians, for example at the National Opera – in principle, the state allowance for culture has been completely cut by one hundred percent. What did the State Cultural Foundation say to the opera? You may need to move to Manchester or elsewhere!
At the same time, it was so interesting, because the English National Opera is one of the institutions that is active in many areas: it provides both free tickets for young musicians and a wide repertoire, and supports young musicians – for example, there is the Orchestra Academy; it also created a program for people who experienced complications after covid – this program allowed them to work with singing teachers. I also taught them all about breathing, which basically allows them to breathe freely again. Of course, I will not be able to name all the details of what this company did, but it was completely cut off from the state funding.
How do the musicians you sit next to feel? Are they upset, angry?
Of course, everyone is worried because everyone has families, rent to pay, or a home loan to pay. As soon as you don’t have a guaranteed income, everything turns upside down. Especially at the beginning of the year, when there were all these announcements… That very day I was at the Opera – we were playing a show, and I saw: about half of the musicians of the orchestra were sitting in a cafe and were in tears. It’s hard to watch, and hopefully, maybe that will change soon. I know that there have been many discussions involving several high-ranking officials and famous musicians, artists have openly expressed their opinion about all that is happening. Hopefully something will start to turn for the better.
The final concert of the “BBC Promenade” festival will take place this evening. You also have your own experience at this festival as a musician. What programs did you play and who conducted?
This year I participated in two concerts with the London Symphony Orchestra – both concerts were conducted by Simon Rattle. Both concerts were important for the orchestra itself, the festival, and the conductor.
At the first concert, we played the oratorio “Paradise and Peri” by Robert Schumans, which had never been performed before at the “BBC Promenade”! It was really a wonderful experience to play this piece. The orchestra was very small with a couple of soloists, singers and a choir, and it felt like we were playing chamber music. At the same time, there were about six thousand people in the hall. It was a really special experience!
This piece was a revelation to me, I don’t remember from music literature lessons that such a piece was mentioned to Schumann. It is definitely now one of my favorite pieces in Schumann’s oeuvre. The second concert was five days later, and it was also with Simon Rattle – playing Mahler’s Ninth Symphony. This was Simon Rattle’s last concert as artistic director of the London Symphony Orchestra and also his last performance in England. Although he will hopefully return here at some point in the future, this was his last appearance before he leaves for the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, whose artistic director was Mariss Jansson for a very long time. This program was also very aptly chosen: Mahler’s Ninth is the last symphony he completely completed himself, and it is like a narrative of life from beginning to end. Simon Rattle chose to play it as a symbol of his beginning with this orchestra and also his ending with this orchestra.
You’re sitting and playing with the London Symphony Orchestra, with Simon Rattle at the conductor’s desk, and it’s all happening at the Royal Albert Hall, which is legendary around the world. What is it like to be on this stage in the middle of a legendary orchestra and play for so many people?
It is a special event for every musician, both from the UK and from other countries – a lot of visiting orchestras travel to London every year to take part in this festival. As a former student of King’s College, this place is very special to me as our school is directly opposite Albert Hall. The steps from my college lead down, then cross the street and go up – basically the entrance to Albert Hall. I saw this grass every day from my college classes while I was working out. And it’s always a special occasion when, instead of turning left and walking through the college doors, I turn right and walk into the Albert Hall to perform… Knowing that there’s about six thousand seats in that hall and all the attention is on what’s going on on this stage – it’s really a wonderful feeling! (..)
People who come to “BBC Promenade” concerts often buy tickets on the day of the concert and then stand in this arena – it’s almost like a rock concert, only instead of rock, classical music is played here every night. And this hall is sold out almost every night.
The festival has been held since the beginning of the 20th century and is still a very important tradition. Sometimes I go to concerts of other orchestras as part of the festival, and I often meet my friends there. After every concert I’ve played in myself, I come out of the artists’ entrance and run into about fifty friends from college and other orchestras. (laughs) Everyone always comes over and congratulates, and then we all go celebrate together. At “BBC Promenade” you can meet friends, great musicians and enjoy excellent music in excellent sound!
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2023-09-09 18:46:06
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