Over the next few months, violinist Vilde Frang and cellist Sol Gabetta will be performing at the Tonhalle Zurich – one after the other. Sometimes they also perform together.
Those who are travelling as soloists often lead a lonely life – the word soloist says it all. You stay in hotel rooms, one week in this city, the next in that; and the contacts you make with the orchestras in one place can often only be refreshed one or more seasons later.
It's no wonder that many musicians come up with tricks to spend at least part of the year in friendly company. Violinist Vilde Frang and cellist Sol Gabetta, who will be performing solo (!) works by Bartók and Saint-Saëns respectively at the Tonhalle Zurich in the coming weeks, use not all, but several of them.
Most concerto compositions cater to the star cult: applause for the violin virtuoso, cheers for the master pianist! But there are exceptions. For example, Bach and Brahms, Mozart and Salieri, Mendelssohn and Shostakovich, Wolfgang Rihm and Adriana Hölszky wrote double concertos for different instrument combinations. Vivaldi wrote concertos with up to four solo parts. And then there is Beethoven's Triple Concerto – also a highlight for Vilde Frang and Sol Gabetta: "During the enthusiastic final applause, the friends put their arms around each other's shoulders like Italian footballers during the national anthem," reported the NZZ after a Paris performance with the two musicians and pianist Bertrand Chamayou. Note: Divided applause is by no means half (or third) applause.
As rare as solo teamwork is in the orchestral repertoire: In chamber music, this can be compensated for. Nobody prevents famous musicians from playing string quartets or piano trios together, on the contrary: for concert organisers, such gatherings of big names are attractive. This is because audiences like to experience several stars at the same time - and then in an intimate setting! If you browse through the international concert programmes, you will discover various networks of soloists. Violinist Isabelle Faust, for example, performs in a striking number of constellations. But Vilde Frang and Sol Gabetta also have a whole series of allies.
Those who particularly enjoy chamber music can also form their own permanent ensemble. Violinist Julia Fischer has done just that: her Julia Fischer Quartet recently performed works by Mozart and Smetana at the Tonhalle Zurich. For Benjamin Nyffenegger, the quartet's cellist, this was a home game, so to speak – he is otherwise principal cellist in the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich. Together with concertmaster Andreas Janke and pianist Oliver Schnyder, he also forms the Oliver Schnyder Trio: chamber music is a welcome change not only for soloists, but also for orchestral musicians.
Why should you only ever be invited? Why not invite yourself and decide who goes on the guest list? Many soloists ask themselves these questions, and some of them answer them by taking over the direction of a festival or launching one themselves. Sol Gabetta's Solsberg Festival is already in its 18th edition (and yes, Vilde Frang has also been a guest there). Vilde Frang, on the other hand, is co-director of the Oslo Chamber Music Festival. Want more examples? There are just two more in this year's gallery of soloists: pianist Francesco Piemontesi conducts the Settimane Musicali in Ascona and cellist Maximilian Hornung the Traunstein Summer Concerts.
Balancing family and work is probably more difficult for travelling soloists than in any other job. So it's ideal when you meet your neighbours at work: for Paavo Järvi, for example, the summer festival in Pärnu is also a family reunion; after all, he says, all the adult Järvis are on the road musically. When Sol Gabetta took over the direction of the Presenza Whitsun Festival in Lugano in addition to her Solsberg Festival, her partner Balthazar Soulier joined the team as curator. And Vilde Frang and cellist Nicolas Altstaedt are not only a couple in life, but often also on stage – fortunately, there is plenty of repertoire for their instruments.
Translated with DeepL.com
