The festival “Viennese Classics” organized by “Latvijas Koncerts” will be opened in the Grand Guild and “Klasikas” live with a concert of “Sinfonietta Rīga” under the direction of Souza on February 18 at 19.00. The concert will feature Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Thirty-ninth Symphony, New Vienna School Representative Alban Berga’s Parts 2, 3 and 4 of “The Lyrical Suite”, as well as Robert Schuman’s Cello Concerto, in which the soloist will be the outstanding Russian cellist of the British national broadcaster BBC 3 ” BBC New Generation Artist ‘Anastasia Kobekina.
Sinfonietta Riga will open the Vienna Classic Festival3min
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Ieva Zeidmane: What do you do when you come to an orchestra with which you have not collaborated before?
Dinis Souza: Good question! Just play the music and see what happens. Of course, it is clear to you what result you want to achieve, but you do not know how the orchestra will react. Usually I try to play something simple first, so this time we played Mozart’s symphony, the orchestra got an idea of me, I had an orchestra and then we could start working. I understand what the orchestra’s abilities are and what they need to work on more. It is important not only to understand the disadvantages, but also the good qualities, and then highlight them more.
So Mozart’s music is a good place to meet?
Yes, very well. The difficulty lies in the fact that this music is very open, clear, everything must be perfect.
Mozart is supposedly so simple that every little thing you do worse is immediately visible through a magnifying glass and a door in your ears.
The music is extremely subtle, beautiful, and very good to get to know the orchestra because it is so positive and this – Thirty-ninth Symphony – is joyful from start to finish.
This is one of the last three – Mozart’s outstanding symphonies. Maybe not as often played as the fortieth and forty-first, but still popular. Do you like to play such famous works?
I conducted the Thirty-Ninth Symphony for the first time. In my opinion, the Thirty-eighth also belongs to this group of last outstanding symphonies. But the Thirty-Nine is a bit overshadowed by the previous one (“Prague” Symphony) and the Forty, which is extremely popular – everyone has heard it, well, at least as a cell phone signal … I played this symphony very recently. There is a reason why these great works, which we have heard so often, are so popular. They have so much to offer! Even if you have listened to them a million times, you will still always hear something new, find something amazing, hear something fresh. And so it is with all these last Mozart symphonies. Yes, I like to play such works because they are fantastic and there is a reason for their popularity.
I’m still a new conductor, so almost every work in my repertoire is new.
Maybe when I am eighty, I want to play something else, but for now I discover something new in this music, especially when I conduct for the first time, as it is with this symphony.
Next to Mozart’s Thirty-ninth Symphony will be Robert Schuman’s Cello Concerto, written in 1850. Schumann himself played the cello as a child.
In the years of the concert, it was hardly played. This is such an incomprehensible piece, it’s a pleasure to be playing it right now. I first had to understand this piece myself. I hadn’t listened to it in many years.
There are things in life that you have to do on your own, find your own way.
And so I was with this concert, which I will play for the first time. When I started learning it, I sat at the piano, playing and trying to understand how the composer, who was also a pianist, intended it all. Because the composition is unusual, it leads in many different directions. Cello is not always handy, so I doubt that Schumann learned the instrument well in his youth. But this time it will not be a problem, because the soloist will be the wonderful cellist Anastasia Kobekina, who handles everything masterfully.
It was interesting to read that Schumann initially indicated a very fast tempo for the first part, but the cellist who played it for the first time said that such a tempo is not possible, it simply cannot be played,
after the metronome, a quarter may be a maximum of 80. Eventually, Schumann stays at 110 or 120, which is much slower than originally thought. If you go into it and try different options, you will realize that as you change the tempo, the music becomes completely different, so we will try this. It is always interesting to find out what the composer had in mind in the beginning, even if he later changed it and for good reason. You have to dig deep into this music, you really have to try to understand what its message is, because not everything here is as obvious as in Mozart’s music, for example. Here you have to look deeper and find a personal approach to this music. I hope that with Schuman’s concert we will succeed.
And what can you say about Alban Berg?
Looking at the score,
Berg, of course, is the most difficult. There are so many sheet music, all the time! The first time I separated the notes, I grabbed my head and thought: insanity!
So many instructions – stakato, accents, main voice, consonant, crescendo, diminuendo, mecopiano, mecoforte – a real web of information spiders. You had to go through it all first. But in fact, behind the complexity lies a very beautiful music – a complex, but with an ardent soul, which can be seen when played well. Fortunately, we have enough time to make friends and feel comfortable with this music. The music is expressive and very beautiful, only extremely complex. But this orchestra is so good! Today we worked on the difficult second part, did well, arranged everything and came to the beautiful textures that are revealed in this music.
Dinišs Souza and Ieva Zeidmane
Photo: Tomass Beķeris / Latvian Radio
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You have been an assistant to maestro John Eliot Gardiner: how has you had this collaboration?
Wonderful! It has been going on for several years. Since starting my first project as an assistant in 2016, I have been involved in almost all of his projects with the Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque soloists and the Revolutionary Romantic Orchestra. It has been – and still is – a wonderful opportunity for me to study, to learn many compositions, touring with these musicians, to see up close how Gardiner works with the choir and orchestra, and also to conduct and take over concerts from him. Listen to his and the musicians’ feedback. I have always respected Gardiner very much, listening to his recordings. It is an incredible success that I have been able to get to know him, learn from him and give concerts. Our cooperation is still ongoing, we are good friends. Even now that I have been the principal conductor of the Royal Northern Sinfonia Orchestra, Gardiner has watched my online concerts and given me feedback. It is really great that I have such a mentor, he has helped me to grow and develop as a conductor.
What have you learned from Gardiner?
I’ve seen how confident he is about his ideas, what kind of music he wants. It is so important that when you go to the orchestra, you are 100% sure of what you want to achieve. Of course you will have to work hard, but
to achieve a result, you need to know exactly what you want. You can’t toss in a stream: maybe it’s better, maybe this one?
Gardiner has always clearly defined what he wants, then it is clear to the orchestra members what is required of them. When I started conducting, I didn’t have that certainty. I didn’t lack a strong idea, but I often stood in front of an orchestra and said, let’s try it, or maybe it’s better? The conductor must not do so. The conductor needs confidence – only then will you be able to reap the rewards from the musicians and create an interpretation that will address the audience. I have also learned the attitude towards music from Gardiner. He reads not only about the music itself, but also about the social and historical context, about composers, about historical interpretations. How to play Beethoven on historical instruments and understand their difference from modern instruments. I would not have had such an experience anywhere else. When you understand the connections, everything becomes clearer in the mind. For example, as with this work by Albana Berg, it is not just a composition, it is made at a specific time and place. Music reflects time and place. There is so much to learn to understand the context of a particular piece of music. Especially if the music is complex and reflects something very directly.
Do you follow any principles when creating programs?
If the orchestra plays modern instruments, I like to put together compositions from different times. If it is an orchestra of historical instruments, then it is a bit more complicated, because the instruments would have to be changed to play contemporary music. Usually my approach is quite intuitive. I read a lot about compositions and try to understand what goes better together. If the program has a central job, I try to understand how best to get to it, I try to look at the program as a whole. For the listener to feel the development. Let’s not just put all the masterpieces in one line – a great overture, a great concert, a great symphony – one, the other, the third! Sometimes it is more valuable to offer something different. You can also put together compositions that have a historical, social or musical connection. I have created programs with many compositions from different centuries, as well as programs that represent only one period of time, but all have one tonality in common. There are different ways to create a successful program. But most importantly, you need to be sure that it will work. If you feel that it is right, then everything usually works well.
And you are sure of this program …
Absolutely! Berg and Schumann are very different – in fact, each piece is different, but I think everything will go well together. Berg is dramatic, but also at times a bit surreal, fragmented – it will help to create the right mood for the slightly darkest and most painful Schuman Cello Concerto. The second part will be full of energy and positivism. Mozart will sound even brighter and more energetic, because before that there will be these darkest compositions.
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