>> Anne McLean: Good evening.
[ Laughter ]
Hello. Thank you for coming.
I'm Anne McLean from the
library music division
and we're very excited
to welcome back one
of the world's great early music
ensembles, renowned for 35 years
of extraordinary music
making, Concerto Koln.
It's a pleasure for me
to introduce cellist
Alexander Scherf,
who's the general manager
and artistic director,
and my colleague Carol
Lynn Ward-Bamford,
who many of you know, curator of
instruments here at the library.
And we just had an amazing
afternoon, a brief afternoon,
exposure for the instruments
to these great players
and I'll let them talk
about that in just a second.
We're looking forward
tremendously to what I know
from experience is going to be
a dazzling evening and we wanted
to talk about this very
interesting program,
which is an elegant
construction.
It's sort of like a set of
variations on the concerto form.
And we have works coming
up; Handle, Bach, Vivaldi,
Locatelli, Geminiani, great
violinist writing great music
that influenced violin
writing until today.
So, but to start with, why
don't you both talk a little bit
about this afternoon's visit
with our [inaudible]
instruments.
>> Carol Lynn Ward-Bamford:
We had an amazing visit.
At least I did.
I hope you did too.
The group came in a
couple of hours ago,
honestly about two hours
ago, and we were in here,
and at first I thought
just the cellist was going
to try the cello of-- from the
Library of Congress collection
and suddenly we just had
glorious sounds coming
from the instruments and I
have to thank you so much
for bringing the group in more--
the violin players
tried our instruments
and the reason why
they tried them is
because recently we put some
of our [inaudible] instruments
in a different setup.
You're used to hearing
them in a modern setup,
with the bridge and
steel strings.
And in January we
had a program here
with the Smithsonian
called Haydn 2020,
where through a generous donor
at the Smithsonian we were able
to put gut strings and
classical or broke bridges
on some of our instruments.
And so, today, when you showed
up, it was one of our, you know,
first times really to hear the
instruments with your group,
which is so phenomenal,
the combination, the sound.
And so, I-- I want to
thank you for that.
And before we get more
into our instruments,
tell me what instruments do
you have in your collection?
>> Alexander Scherf: Yeah,
thanks for having us,
that we can come back to
the Library of Congress.
This is really an honor
and thanks for admitting us
to have an insight and try
out the wonderful
instruments of your collection.
I mean we aim for an original
sound, like the composers
in the 18th and early
19th century would have
in mind with the instruments.
So, it's a mixture between
original instruments
from this era and newly
built modern instruments,
which are modeled after original
models of the 18th century.
So, our-- one of our concert
masters, Shunske Sato, he--
he plays a-- an early Flemish
violin, which is on loan by a--
by a Dutch society, I think.
And [inaudible] Mayumi,
the other concert master,
she's playing a modern
violin, but of course it's--
it's built after Baroque
principles [inaudible]
Baroque model.
So, it's-- it's a blend between
the really the original material
and newly built instruments
after historic models.
>> Carol Lynn Ward-Bamford:
So, that brings us back
to today when you showed up.
Let's start with the cello.
>> Alexander Scherf: Yeah.
>> Carol Lynn Ward-Bamford:
That you will hear tonight.
He will be playing our cello.
>> Alexander Scherf: Yeah,
the cello is the
Castelbarco Stradivari
and as I understood it's
the first time since ages
that there's an original gut
string setup on this cello
with a historic classical
bridge.
So, this is wonderful to--
to think of that this might come
close to the sound as Stradivari
and his contemporaries
would have heard that cello.
And it's such a released and
relaxed and free and warm sound.
And I think it's--
it's part of the--
the principle of the gut
strings and the lower pitch
because it takes away some
stress from the instrument
and it's not so much pressure
on the bridge compared
to the modern metal strings.
And this makes a really
relaxed and big big sound,
so big you can hardly tell
that they're gut strings.
What happens to mic?
So, you can hardly tell that
there are gut strings on it.
It sounds as brilliant and big
as a modern concert instrument
and this is an amazing
experience to me.
>> Carol Lynn Ward-Bamford:
It's true.
It does sound that way.
Do you find that a lot
of modern players today
on the cello might
prefer the gut strings?
>> Alexander Scherf:
I mean there's a--
there's a change of
taste in the last years.
I mean Steven Isserlis,
he was always fond
of gut strings playing--
playing on gut strings.
And the gut strings love him.
So, he could even play
the Shostakovich Concerto
in the Royal Albert Hall
in London on gut strings,
and you could hear here against
modern big size orchestra,
which is really amazing.
So there-- there-- there are
more and more soloists who--
who appreciate the-- the
warm and the rich sound
of gut strings, again, luckily.
>> Carol Lynn Ward-Bamford:
So, our cello is from 1697,
the Castelbarco, and also
in the program tonight one
of the violinists
is going to play
on our Castelbarco
violin from 1699.
Again, in a different setup than
it's been used to for as long
as I know these instruments
have not been in this setup,
they have not been
performed this way.
Of course, they were once
that way, and possibly
when they first came here
in 1935, they were that way.
>> Alexander Scherf: Yeah.
You have to imagine that the--
the use of gut strings
was quite common
until the second world war.
And only after the 40s and the
50s the [inaudible] strings came
in use.
So, I think the [inaudible]
orchestra
in Amsterdam was the last
orchestra to change from--
from gut to metal not
until the 60s or 70s.
So, this was-- but-- but we lost
this knowledge about playing
on gut strings and for using
gut strings completely.
So, the-- the-- the
producers of strings had to--
to learn this craftmanship
again.
And imagine in those
days of Vivaldi and Bach,
these strings were
more expensive
than the actual instrument.
The instrument was a piece of
wood and this was craftsmanship.
And the gut strings, I mean
it takes, I think, like 20
or even 30 gut-- guts-- I
mean animal intestines to--
to have a double base string.
And I think for a cello
it's on the-- on the--
on the base strings,
it's like 10
or 12 animals you
really need for that.
And this was really
expensive in those days,
so the strings were
really precious
and the instruments, okay, yeah.
[ Laughter ]
>> Carol Lynn Ward-Bamford:
And then also tonight
you will hear one
of our violas in
the same set up.
And again, the--
there are musicians
on the viola now
preferring the gut strings.
>> Alexander Scherf: Yeah.
You are quite right.
Even, I mean, especially
with string quartets
because this is-- the sound
of gut strings is maybe not
that big as the-- the
modern method strings,
but it blends more.
And the Overton spectrum
is-- is richer than--
than those of the metal strings
and gives a variety of colors
to it and I really
do appreciate that.
>> Carol Lynn Ward-Bamford:
I think you'll definitely
hear this tonight,
the way they blend,
in the auditorium,
especially in our
Coolidge Auditorium.
It is just a seamless,
gorgeous sound
that you're-- from rehearsal.
>> Anne McLean: Which--
>> Alexander Scherf: Sorry.
>> Anne McLean: So, three of
the players and you, right;
we have four altogether,
four instruments tonight?
That's-- that are being--
>> Carol Lynn Ward-Bamford:
The Castelbarco violin,
the Castelbarco cello,
the Tuscan viola.
>> Anne McLean: Wonderful.
You know, I found this quote
about how this ensemble is
called the Silver Toned Rolls
Royce of period ensembles
and I was thinking
particularly tonight,
this is very [inaudible].
Well let's talk about the
program which you put together,
which is beautiful and I
was curious, do you travel--
first off, do you travel with
four violinists very often?
I would think this is unusual.
>> Carol Lynn Ward-Bamford:
Here.
>> Alexander Scherf: I mean
we do travel with violinist,
but not with four
violin soloists.
This is something, I mean really
something special that we take,
let's say, four concert
masters with us.
I mean Concerto Koln is fairly
international orchestra.
I mean we're based in Koln, in
Germany, but we travel a lot
and our concert masters, I
mean there's Shunske Sato,
he is from a Japanese
family but grown up in--
in the U.S. Mayumi from
Japan, Evgeny Sviridov
from St. Petersburg in Russia,
and there's Jesus Merino,
a young Spanish violin player
who is just new to our ensemble.
And this makes it a
different blend again.
And what we want
to show is the--
the development of the
Italian concerto form.
And of course, Vivaldi is one
of the key figures
of the concerto form.
And the new thing to this
Italian model was the
juxtaposition of a
small concertino,
solo playing ensemble,
against the Tuttie,
the ripieno full orchestra,
and probably this came
from the Venetian choir
tradition where they have some--
several choirs
in the [inaudible] cathedral
with different sizes.
And I think Giuseppe
Torelli was the first one
to compose systematically
with a concertino and a tutti,
and of course Vivaldi.
And this came a la mode and
we know that Vivaldi, he--
he loved arranged--
to arrange pieces
by Torelli and by Vivaldi.
And especially the
concerto for--
for solo violins in B minor
we're going to play tonight.
There's--
It's an arrangement by Johann
Sebastian Bach for [inaudible].
>> Anne McLean: And in fact,
arrangements is a
theme throughout this.
By the way the textures in
this program are wonderful
and it varies, you know, between
solo, ripieno, four violins,
two violins, and these
are true crowd pleasers,
that's for sure, as you'll see.
But in terms of arrangements,
this is a theme throughout too.
The Bach arrangements and the
Vivaldi, he made something
like nine or 10 of them, of
Vivaldi arrangements of his own.
And then of course Geminiani
was so known for those
that he almost became--
over his own music,
almost became overshadowed
to some degree.
So, I was going to ask you
to talk about the two that--
Locatelli and Geminiani because
each of them, particularly
as violinists, as artists,
but also as writers
of great treatises
are so influential.
Any-- yeah, tell us
a background on them.
>> Alexander Scherf: Talking
about Francesco Geminiani,
he's not such a big
name nowadays,
compared to his contemporaries,
Bach and Handel, which might--
the-- the reason might be that
his output is very very little.
He didn't compose any operas
and his work consists of three
or four collections of
all instrumental music,
mainly violin, [inaudible],
Geminiani,
he was a [inaudible] player.
And by the way, in those days
in the [inaudible] only those
musicians were considered
to be a real musician
who were able
to compose and to improvise.
So, all of them were
actually instrumentalists in--
in the first point.
And only after that they
would compose mainly
for their own use.
And Geminiani, he-- he was
from Lucca in Italy and we know
that he has taken up the--
the position of concert master
in Naples at the opera
orchestra, but only for a couple
of months, three or four
months, and we wonder why.
And I think what-- what
I read about Geminiani;
he was a maniac somehow.
He was over the top;
he was crazy
and his colleagues couldn't
follow his instructions
and his bow strokes and
you will notice that in--
in his music, especially the--
the late concerto,
we recorded them.
It's not any more the
for-movement structure,
slow fast slow fast and it
consists of [inaudible],
it's rhapsodic and they're
concerted by Geminiani
which consists of 13-14 very
little scenes, so to say.
So, it's a-- it's
an epic landscape.
And this is something
very special.
And so, his late works
were not understood
by the amateur music societies
[inaudible] and we know
that Geminiani he played
together with Handel
for King George in those days.
So, by his colleagues he-- he
was considered a big composer,
very interesting composer.
>> Anne McLean: And
there's so many connections
like that between-- among
the composers on the program
that you just were
saying, Handel--
the Handel Harpsichord
Concerto that you've chosen.
This is a piece that was played
in between other concerti
by Handel himself; it was like
an occasional piece sometimes.
And in terms of the--
going back to the Bach
and Vivaldi connection,
I was interested--
I was wondering if you
could talk a little bit more
about that because you
always hear that Bach and--
Bach took a lot from Vivaldi,
and you don't know exactly
what it-- what it was, maybe.
But a couple things popped up
today that were interesting,
and I wondered if you
had read about this.
One thing was that
Bach may have-- the--
the employer at the time,
the Princely Court in Weimar,
that prince may have
gone to Amsterdam
where they just published
L'Estro Armonico
and that seems a little
apocryphal but it's kind
of fascinating, that's sort of
a concrete bit of information.
Is-- what do you
hear about that?
>> Alexander Scherf: Yeah, I--
I read this also and I know that
the-- the prince of Weimar, he--
he went to Amsterdam and
there was [inaudible]
who published prints,
musical prints in Amsterdam.
And we know that Vivaldi--
he took Vivaldi to Weimar,
and this probably why-- how
Bach learned about this music.
Also [inaudible], musicologist,
he brought the pieces by Torelli
to Bach, and [inaudible].
[inaudible] is an
important name.
He was a violinist
in [inaudible]
at the [inaudible] court.
And he was student
of Giuseppe Torelli
when Torelli was in Germany.
And so, Bach had all those
[inaudible] in his library.
And the Bach [inaudible]
concerto we're going
to play tonight, this is
pure Italian music basically,
but through the intellectual
eyes of Johann Sebastian Bach.
This is-- this is
Italian music basically.
>> Anne McLean: Yeah.
>> Alexander Scherf:
And especially the--
the slow movement,
the [inaudible].
And again, the--
the juxtaposition of the
lively concertino at the tutti.
>> Anne McLean: And
another thread going
through there is
Locatelli because he was one
of the people that, as I
understand, Bach perf--
chose to program that composer
on his coffee house
orchestra programs in Leipzig,
which are so fascinating
and I-- I've been reading--
it's kind of amazing that
John Butt was here recently,
the scholar and organist,
and he was saying in--
that Bach basically worked
his way into the position
of the leader of the
Collegium Musicum.
He didn't start out with that,
necessarily; it wasn't part
of his contract, but he
did slowly begin to--
to take over this role and
it really broadened his--
his world as a civil servant
in the city of Leipzig.
But the interesting thing
is just that he was able
to program something
like 500 concerts
and Locatelli was one of those.
So, did you think of
these kinds of connections
when you made the program?
>> Alexander Scherf:
Yes, yes, we do.
We find that really interesting.
It's still-- for me,
it's hard to imagine Bach
in the coffee house [laughter].
>> Anne McLean: Yeah.
>> Alexander Scherf: In those
days, women were not allowed
to go to the coffee
house, the [inaudible],
except for the musical
academies,
the Collegium Musicum.
And you always think Bach--
think of Bach as the composer
of [inaudible] passion,
the-- the [inaudible] passion
and you wouldn't
think him entertaining
in a coffee house [laughter].
>> Anne McLean: No, you don't.
>> Alexander Scherf: But-- but
he did that regular seasons.
Then he took that over from--
from [inaudible] who
founded the Collegium Musicum
in Leitzig in those days.
And that might be the
reason why he arranged
and rearranged many many pieces
of his [inaudible] in Weimer
at the time to have a
repertoire for the--
for the coffee house sessions.
And he-- of course he changed
sacred music into profane music.
And had a sacred cantata
with a different text
and it became the
coffee cantata.
And--
>> Anne McLean: Yeah.
>> Alexander Scherf:
And this is--
this was a recycling
procedure, which was not
to suspect in those days.
I mean we-- we think
about copyright and copy
and paste mistakes and you--
you're refused your doctorate
because you did copy and
paste, but in those days,
it was right-- it
was common practice.
And when Bach arranged pieces
by Vivaldi, it was an homage
to the-- to the Italian composer
and was an honor to be arranged
by one of your fellow composers.
>> Anne McLean: You know, we
want to find a little bit also
about your modern activities and
Carol Lynn and I were talking
about the Wagner
readings you're doing,
but just before leaving maybe
this, I wanted to ask you
about the La Folia,
which everyone loves;
that's just so famous
and so many composers had
a crack at it and so on.
And I wanted to ask
you if you-- what--
were you familiar--
these are all new.
[inaudible] list all--
all worked with this too.
I didn't know that.
I knew about the Italian
one, you know, the more--
the well-known ones,
Corelli and so on.
But apparently many many
romantic period composers also
worked with this.
>> Alexander Scherf: The
work with Folia, Folia model.
Yeah, the Folia used
to be a Spanish part
of [inaudible] dance.
And it's one of those base
lines, [inaudible] base grounds,
and many many composers
wrote Folia pieces.
I mean in the romantic
era and even later.
And again, this is the concept
of Geminiani, he arranged the--
the-- it's a solo violin
piece, the Folia by Corelli,
and he made it into a
concerto [inaudible].
So, he changed the structure.
Again, ripieno against
a concertino, yeah.
But let's talk about
the Wagner [laughs].
>> Anne McLean: Yeah.
Yeah, the Wagner.
We-- Carol Lynn, you
probably have some instruments
in our collection that would
be very relevant to this.
The concerto, [inaudible]
is doing an amazing project
of Wagner readings, which is
a multi-year project that I'd
like you to describe and then
talk more about instruments.
>> Alexander Scherf: Early
music groups are expanding the--
the repertoires in the--
the last decades and of
course the core repertoire
for us is the romantic
and especially the
Italian repertoire.
But we-- we-- we play--
of course we play
Mozart the classical era,
we play Mendinsil, and we
did the Brahms German Requiem
on period instruments
of those days.
And our new endeavor is really
to have the first ring cycle
by Richard Wagner on-- on
the appropriate instruments.
And so far, I mean we have
to find fundings for that,
of course, but we
did three concerts
with romantic repertoire
together
with Kent Negano
[phonetic], who is--
who loves this project and he's
conducting and he's the brain
of the-- the whole challenge.
And the-- the thing is,
it's never been done,
a ring on the appropriate
instruments.
And we are-- we are aiming
for the [inaudible] setup.
There are many many-- there
are not that many sources
for the premier of the-- the
ring, but there are many sources
of the premier of [inaudible],
which a little later.
So, we are aiming
for the instruments
of the Munich chord
orchestra of 1880.
And there are many many sources,
and we know exactly what
wind instruments were used
in those days and
we know what pitch.
This was a [inaudible], this
was a pitch 435 [inaudible].
So, nowadays, especially
in American orchestras,
are really 40-- 43--
443 [inaudible].
In the [inaudible] age, I mean
we use now 414 [inaudible].
So, in those days, the
European orchestras agreed,
slowly by slowly
on a common pitch
and this was the--
the [inaudible].
And those instruments
mainly don't exist anymore.
I mean some early pursuants,
original early heckle
bassoons we are using them.
But we have the oboes rebuilt.
This is an instrument maker
from Munich in those days,
[inaudible], and there are
some of those kept in museums
of course, but you
can't play them anymore.
So, we-- we have them rebuilt.
So, we-- we're aiming for
the original instruments
of the Munich [inaudible],
which played
in [inaudible] in those days.
[ Inaudible Response ]
>> Alexander Scherf:
Yeah, the brass-- it's--
it's a little easier
with the brass,
because those instruments
are playable quite often.
But we have to think about the
Wagner tubes, Wagner tubin,
which is an instrument
that Wagner created
with instrument makers and
this is a really tricky point
because the-- the--
the instrument was not
perfect in Wagner's day.
So, it was a sort of tryout
when he employed those
instruments in the ring.
So, this is where you--
it's research work on--
on that point and there's a--
there's a doctorate and
researchers on those topics,
the instruments and
of course the singers.
I mean we are looking for
the cast now and the--
the chances to-- to
go back to the roots.
I mean this is what Kent says.
He's done the ring
cycle, like 20 or 25 times
and he things really this is--
I mean it doesn't make any sense
to have the orchestra more
bigger and more brilliant
and the opera houses grew
bigger, and he really wants
to go back to the roots and the
chances we have an orchestra
with period instruments,
which make a much more subtle
intimate sound then the--
the singles have much more
freedom to come across this.
And we're not talking
about thin voices;
it still needs big voices,
but they have the chance
to focus more and they don't
need such a big [inaudible].
And the strings, we are--
we are basically
playing non [inaudible]
with the romantic repertoire,
but have portamento,
portamento style.
This is to join the-- the--
the notes big gaps and leaps
by a subtle glissando, and
this is a [inaudible] device,
which is widely described in--
in Wagner's and his
contemporary.
>> Anne McLean: You know,
we talked for a moment.
I was thinking, if you give
your microphone to Carol Lynn,
and then I'll pass mine to you.
We talked briefly, a moment ago,
about you were saying
[inaudible] was also interested
in the [inaudible] at this time.
So, I wanted to start with that.
And then Carol Lynn, I
wanted to say for you,
she's just done a
remarkable study.
She is in the process of
doing a remarkable study
of the Leron flutes
that the library holds.
This is a very scientifically
fascinating thing,
just as what you're
doing with the Wagner.
I realize you're also working
with your ministry of science
and culture in this,
which is kind of--
and that's kind of
what you're doing.
So, I'm going to pass this over.
>> Carol Lynn Ward-Bamford:
Well I just want to know
after you do your
premier of the ring.
>> Alexander Scherf: Yeah.
>> Carol Lynn Ward-Bamford: Are
you going to come to America?
I'm sorry you can't do it here
in Coolidge Auditorium, but--
>> Alexander Scherf:
I mean, we have--
we have presented
the project in--
at the Lincoln Center,
of course.
>> Carol Lynn Ward-Bamford:
Oh okay.
>> Alexander Scherf: Yeah,
but let us practice
first [laughter].
>> Carol Lynn Ward-Bamford:
I'm--
I'm just looking forward to
it, to hear it, you know.
>> Alexander Scherf: It's
an adventure, of course.
Yeah.
>> Anne McLean: Staging
too, right.
>> Alexander Scherf: Yeah.
>> Anne McLean: You're looking
into the whole [inaudible]
of everything about it.
>> Alexander Scherf: Of course.
I mean talking about
the vibrato.
When Shunske was
trying the [inaudible]--
no it was the violin
played by Chrysler.
>> Carol Lynn Ward-Bamford:
The Chrysler Guarneri, yes.
>> Alexander Scherf:
The Chrysler Guarneri.
He employed very little vibrato.
I mean, nowadays
when you watch the--
the modern symphony orchestra
they have a permanent vibrato
and quite-- quite
wide, quite big.
And in those days the
vibrato was really narrow,
in a way, and more focused.
And he-- Shunske
can really do that.
I mean he's able to have
many varieties of vibrato.
And of course, the
soloists, they use vibrato.
I was talking about the--
the orchestra style.
And we found sources that
show clearly that vibrato
in the orchestra, in the tutti
section, was only used when--
when it said dolce
or espressivo.
This was a sign of
employed vibrato.
But apart from that, it's--
it's a non-vibrato sound.
>> Anne McLean: Carol Lynn,
is the cello about your--
a little bit of your
scientific study?
>> Carol Lynn Ward-Bamford:
Yeah, I don't want to--
I just had one more--
I had to do a shout
out to Thomas Jefferson
though, we have to tell you
that in the Jefferson
Library here, at the Library
of Congress, there's
a Geminiani ,
the art of playing
on the violin.
We have that copy that
was Thomas Jefferson's;
he was a violin player.
And there's an annotation
by Bernie in that book.
Just my little plug for-- for--
>> Alexander Scherf:
It's important violin
school by Geminiani.
Of course, we have read
that, yeah, but, I--
no touch to the original.
>> Carol Lynn Ward-Bamford:
We have the original copy
here, the many riches.
>> Anne McLean: And so,
the-- one question we--
we both had, sort of, in mind
for you is what is the role
of a period instrument
in this-- at this time?
What is your next
move and so on?
>> Alexander Scherf:
You mean what--
>> Anne McLean: For you.
>> Alexander Scherf:
What are we aiming for?
>> Anne McLean: Concerto Koln.
Yeah, what will be
your next ventures?
>> Alexander Scherf:
I mean, we always try
to have composers back on
stage, which are not known.
We're doing research work now on
Sammartini, which is a composer
between the Baroque
and the classic era.
And yeah, of course we do the--
we do play the main repertoire,
but still there's-- there's
something to explore.
I mean the-- the amount of
improvisation, this is a thing
that musicologists
must be aware of that--
in those days the
soloists used to improvise.
You can hear that in the organ
concerto, which is played
on the harpsicord
tonight by [inaudible].
And you-- you-- sadly it was
actually some [inaudible] played
between the acts
of a Handel opera
in the opera house
was incidental music.
And they're written
parts or printed parts
with the orchestra
parts and the--
the solo part is only the
few bars, the few measures,
and then it's nothing.
And this shows that
Handel loved to improvise--
improvise his solo line.
And our [inaudible]
harpsicord player,
he does a little
improvisation in--
in the beginning of the
concerto and the slow movement,
he basically improvises.
And so, we-- we think
the written music,
which came upon us is-- is
only a framework we have
to fill with-- with flesh.
And so, it's-- to our taste,
it's no point to play note
by note as written in
the-- in this [inaudible].
No Baroque [inaudible]
would have done that.
So, we-- we have--
we're looking for own--
our own interpretations and
this is a pretty big amount
of improvising, yes.
>> Anne McLean: It's amazing
really what-- what you take on,
how you continue to grow and
make all these new ventures
and ideas, explorations.
You have an extraordinarily--
you have an extraordinary
explorer spirit
in your-- in your ensemble.
So back to the instruments
just for a moment.
When-- is-- would it have been
a normal thing for players
to swap off like this, I
mean this is pretty rare?
You're very daring guys to--
>> Alexander Scherf: I
mean, in a way it's daring
to play those fine
instruments tonight in a concert
with just a half an hour--
>> Carol Lynn Ward-Bamford:
You're Italian,
we had to keep the whole--
>> Alexander Scherf: Rehearsal,
so this is a daring thing.
And I-- I'm sure it needs much
more time, hours and hours work
to explore the-- the range of
the Stradivari cello of course,
so this is just an
experiment [laughs].
>> Anne McLean: But
they really pay off.
They really pay-- no,
I mean I'm teasing you,
but if anyone can do
this beautifully--
>> Alexander Scherf: Thanks.
Thanks.
>> Anne McLean: Of course, but
in your experience, Carol Lynn,
when people pick them up who
are masters of this technique
and so on, regardless
of the setup and so on,
don't they just respond more--
>> Carol Lynn Ward-Bamford:
Absolutely.
I mean, you came in here within
minutes, you know, you had--
you were exploring the sound
on each note, on each string.
You were just listening, you
know, so intently, and you spent
like 20 minutes really
understanding.
But there was no-- no doubt
in your mind once you started
playing it and you were here,
just rehearsing with it,
and then you looked up
and said can I play it tonight.
You know, it just--
it-- it worked.
There wasn't-- with you.
And I found that a lot with
the cello in particular.
I don't know.
How did you feel-- like
when did you feel like--
I mean it must be a daunting
thing to come here, show up
and say, oh, can I play on
this instrument, you know?
>> Alexander Scherf:
It is a daring thing.
>> Carol Lynn Ward-Bamford:
No, not daring, daunting.
>> Alexander Scherf: I
shouldn't do that, but.
I mean playing on an
instrument like that is--
is a lifelong journey of course,
to explore the possibilities
and it's like a marriage
isn't it [laughter].
>> Carol Lynn Ward-Bamford:
Yeah.
>> Anne McLean: Yes, exactly.
>> Carol Lynn Ward-Bamford:
Quite a dance.
>> Anne McLean: Well I
know that Alexander has
to prepare to perform.
I just-- if we could take
maybe just two questions,
and then we could
let him get-- yeah.
Anybody have a particular
one in mind?
>> Alexander Scherf: Yes please.
>> Anne McLean: Someone.
>> Speaker 4: Can
you tell us some more
about what period [inaudible]
what the difference--
what the difference
would be between that
and a modern violin, say?
>> Alexander Scherf: Yeah.
So, the-- they're played
the same instruments we do.
I mean they're-- they
played instruments
from the Baroque age,
from the classical age.
They still had gut strings, but
I'm talking about the cello,
the top two strings
are blank gut strings
and the two base strings are
wound with-- with a silver wire,
which became flat after a while.
The cellos had-- some had
still no spike, no end pin.
Some had that already.
This was a time of change, so
there were orchestra players
who were old-fashioned in a way
who kept playing without spike
and who kept the-- the old
classical bows and the way
of playing, and there were
players who, of course,
used the-- the now modern
bow who used an end pin.
To-- to prepare for
the Wagner project we--
we analyzed the early videos.
I mean you have them
all on YouTube.
You have a-- the sound, you have
your [inaudible] on YouTube,
the early [inaudible].
You have the [inaudible] and
even there are some videos,
early videos from
I think the 20s
from Dresden and from Munich.
And you can tell what player
is, in a way, old-fashioned,
and the players who adapted
to the modern technique.
So, this is-- it was
not that uniform then
in a modern orchestra nowadays.
But we-- we are doing
that-- we're doing that,
the top strings, gut
strings without wire
and the bottom strings
with wire.
And we have an early modern bow.
Yeah.
>> Anne McLean: Thank you.
>> Speaker 5: I wanted to
ask you how [inaudible] a lot
of institutions and it seems
like you have more
people to choose from.
It's been a practice
of Americans
in the opera world going to
Europe to develop their skills
and they return to
the United States.
Are you seeing a similar
sort of movement like that
and when it comes to
early-- early music?
Because we're really kind
of restricted to east coast,
the west coast and a couple
of islands between here
and there [laughter]
sort of thing.
And, you know, you come here
with a lot of depth behind you.
How do you see the [inaudible]?
You can say profession of
early music performance.
>> Alexander Scherf: I think
nowadays young musicians
who embark for a professional
career they can really choose
what style of playing
they want to learn.
And luckily there
are many colleges now
who have an early
music department.
I mean back like 30-40 years,
there were only two
beacon colleges.
This was Amsterdam, maybe
the Hake [phonetic],
and Basel in Switzerland
who were really busy
with the research
and early music.
But nowadays there
are many colleges in--
in Germany and Europe who
offer an early music course.
I mean, of course, England
was always on the front
of early music, but
now it's Cologne
and Munich, Leitzg, Berlin.
You can-- you can study
period instruments there,
and I think the Julliard school
has its early music department
since 10 years now.
>> Speaker 5: Yeah.
>> Alexander Scherf:
So, you are--
you are having a development in
the United States [laughter].
>> Anne McLean: Very much.
>> Alexander Scherf:
I mean playing the--
I [inaudible] to us now, the
U.S. with his Beethoven cycle.
And I think this is
done for the first time.
I mean he does in
a row; in three
or four days he does all the
Beethoven symphonies in Chicago
and I don't know where else.
This is the first time it's
done in the-- in the U.S., yes.
>> Speaker 5: But you see
good development in schools.
Students are signing up
to take the programs.
They think they can make a go
of it and make a living of it.
>> Alexander Scherf: I mean
to make a living from that,
I mean you have to be
very flexible and many--
many players are
really able to--
to swap between the
modern metal strings
and on the other night
they play the gut strings.
I think you have to be-- to have
to have this flexibility, yeah.
But I mean the orchestras
and the modern symphony
orchestra are open
to early music conductors.
They invite [inaudible]
or Gardiner are invited
to perform classical or
even a Baroque program
within a symphony orchestra.
So there-- there are not borders
anymore between those two ways
of performing, luckily.
Luckily.
>> Anne McLean: Yes, [inaudible]
is an amazing conductor here
recently with the NSO.
It was just marvelous
and he brought
out all these things you
never hear that in a--
in a normal performance
with regular conductors.
Well I think that
might do it, maybe.
What do you think Alex?
>> Alexander Scherf: Thanks
a lot for having me, yeah.
Thanks a lot.
[ Applause ]