When Alina Ibragimova suggests tentatively, even a little shyly, that her goals in life are ‘to play better, and learn more about those areas which are still new to me’, you might reasonably think she was just another talented 25 year-old hoping for a career as a violinist. Lean as a gamine gymnast, wearing jeans, tee-shirts and no make-up, instrument under her arm, she rushes in for our coffee meeting at the last minute, courtesy of London’s unreliable public transport system, and is covered in apologies like a student late for class.
But Ibragimova is already a star. A prodigy who had her first lesson at the age of four, she has made a glittering and swift ascent as a performer of the utmost seriousness and versatility, playing everything from Baroque to core Classical repertoire to contemporary. She has several acclaimed CDs to her name already including that all-time violinist’s challenge, Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas (2009). Her third and final disc of the complete Beethoven Violin Sonatas, with pianist Cedric Tiberghien live from Wigmore Hall, has just been released.
To list her entire catalogue of awards and prizes would use up too much space but here are a few: she was a participant in Radio 3’s New Generation Artists scheme, winner of the London Symphony Orchestra Music Scholarship (2001), soloist/director of the Kremerata Baltica in Paris, Salzburg and Verbier as well as soloist with countless top conductors and orchestras such as Sir Charles Mackerras, Osmo Vanska, Yannick Nezet-Seguin, the Philharmonia, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Australian Chamber Orchestra and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Usually she plays a 1738 Pietro Guarneri violin made in Venice, switching to a Gagliano for Classical repertoire.
The inevitable question has to be asked: is she going too fast? Can any career go at this break-neck speed without encountering hazards? Ibragimova is prepared for this. ‘No, I don’t feel so. We—my family, my teacher, my agent—have always been careful to take things one at a time and I’m always conscious of things that are maybe too early for me, such as recording certain repertoire like the Tchaikovsky Concerto. I don’t feel ready for that. At least, not tomorrow!’
This is not because she hasn’t yet mastered the notes yet, nor because it’s a Russian masterpiece of such iconic power that she resists its lure, but rather ‘because I haven’t played it for a few years and I’d want to go back and really master it anew’. This is characteristic of Ibragimova. She exudes poise, wit and integrity. Any signs of brashness, vanity or self-importance, if they exist which seems doubtful, are absent. She gives a sense of being in balance with her life and its considerable demands.
Born in Russia in 1985 to musician parents, she moved to England when she was ten, because her father Rinat Ibragimov had been appointed principal double-bass of the LSO. Was it hard to leave? ‘Well, I didn’t want to leave my cat behind! But as soon as we got to London, I loved it. My mother thought perhaps we’d stay a year. But we’re still here. And I have joint British and Russian citizenship. I love going to Russia, but I feel I don’t always know how to communicate. I speak the language, but it’s changed, of course, from the country I left as a child.’
By then Ibragimova was already a skilled violinist, clear about where her future lay. ‘When we were still in Moscow, both my parents were working at the Bolshoi. My mum plays the violin and teaches. So I heard her practice, and asked for a violin too. For me it was always a normal thing. I just knew it’s what I was going to do. It’s in the family. Your parents do something, and it’s automatic you want to do the same thing.’
Anyone who grew up in the West, nourished on ideas of personal freedom and independence, might think there was nothing ‘automatic’ about following in family footsteps, but the Ibragimovs, forging their lives together in the final years of the Soviet era, are rooted in a different tradition. Her younger brother, aged 14, is also a promising pianist. Did she ever rebel? ‘No! Not really,’ she laughs, half embarrassed at her own apparent conformity.
‘Of course there were moments of stubbornness. I suppose no child really wants to practice hard but I never doubted that it’s what I had to do as part of my training. I did have friends who didn’t play musical instruments and it seemed strange to me, what do they do with their time if they don’t practice every day? I guess they watched TV, or played outside. I’d join them, but only after playing for three hours. To me it was very natural.’
Once in the UK, she became a pupil of Natasha Boyarsky at the Menuhin School, where her mother taught. ‘Around that time—when I was in my mid-teens—I found it quite scary to play some things, Mozart especially. I worked very hard, and tried to work through my difficulties. The problems were not really technical, as much as knowing how to play musically. It took me a time to deal with that.’
This smiling, elfin-like musician has a grateful sense of how she was taught, both in Moscow and at the Menuhin School ‘I was raised in a very Russian, disciplinary, systematic fashion. All technical problems had to be sorted out before you tried something more difficult. Natasha Boyarsky was part of the tradition. It’s a credit to a teacher when you don’t realize how difficult the challenges are, but just get on and work at them.’
So her mother didn’t take on the task? ‘She made sure I had another teacher, but she was always at the door, or nearby, listening! And she supervised my practice until I was about 12 when I really started working well on my own.’ All aspects of the specialist music school at Stoke d’Abernon, in the Surrey countryside—which has not always suited even the most gifted pupils, as Nigel Kennedy might recall—seemed right for Ibragimova, not least the powerful presence of Menuhin himself, who was still much in evidence.
‘You felt his presence. He didn’t teach much but he was about the place. There were 63 pupils, so it was like a big family, and you knew everyone. That made it intense. Yes, there were dropouts. I remember with all the combinations of solo, orchestra, chamber, academic teaching, as well as your own practice, and harmony and counterpoint and aural training, I felt tired a lot of the time.’
But given the chance she would do it again. ‘I learnt so much. You don’t always connect all the information at the time—only later. The teaching was incredible. There are things, tiny aspects of playing or of music, which I think about every day. This is what makes the school so special.’ She and her Menuhin co-pupil Nicola Benedetti played Bach’s Double Violin Concerto to Menuhin shortly before his death in 1999, and again at his memorial concert in Westminster Abbey.
Her musical life changed radically once she lefts school and, after a year at Guildhall, went to London’s Royal College of Music, where she studied with Gordan Nikolitch, leader of the LSO. ‘Gordan opened many doors, musically and mentally. When I arrived at college I thought, I just want to play Bach and Beethoven, never Paganini. The first thing he did was give me Paganini!’
Was she cross? ‘No, just surprised. I trusted him. I’d shut myself off from so many things, in the way you do as a teenager. I was won over. By Paganini, and everything else he made me try.’ She still studies part time at the Kronberg Academy, the revered international string institute in Germany, with Christian Tetzlaff, who has given her lessons over the past decade.
No longer confined by those schoolgirl attitudes, Ibragimova also longs to try jazz, improvisation and folk alongside her wide-ranging Classical, Baroque and contemporary repertoire. She divides her time between Berlin and London, and is now involved in the small, burgeoning Kaposvar Festival near Budapest.
‘Yes, I want to do everything! My quartet takes up a lot of time too. And I have some big concertos coming up—such as Bartok No.2, the Walton, Elgar, Dvorak, Szymanowski No.2. It’s not about what I want to do, but what I want to play. I always try to say to myself, everything is about music.’
Then of course there’s life beyond. ‘I want to learn languages, and have driving lessons. And I want to find out more about wind instruments. I grew up around strings and pianos. It would be so helpful to learn how to breathe properly…’ She giggles at herself, realizing that, as with so much else so far in her life, she is already rather good at it.
Click here to see all of Alina Ibragimova's recordings!
Interview by Fiona Maddocks
Lionel Bringuier (Conductor)
Lionel Bringuier, 24, swept the board at the Besancon Young Conductors Competition in 2005, the favorite not just of the jury but of the audience and orchestra too. Born in Nice in 1986, he excelled at the cello as a child and won a place at the Paris Conservatoire when only 13. His first professional post was as assistant conductor at the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris. He is now associate conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the artistic director of the Orquesta Sinfonica de Castilla y Leon and conducts the Radio France Philharmonic and the BBC Symphony Orchestra (BBC SO), as well as appearing with the Munich and Oslo Philharmonics and the other top orchestras.
How did it all begin?
There were five children in my family and we all played instruments, following the lead of my elder sister who started the piano. So that was the inspiration—we saw each other enjoying it and we’ve all ended up working in music! My parents were not musicians but they adore listening and took us to Sunday afternoon concerts. My eldest brother, Nicolas, was my idol, and is now a concert pianist. I love to collaborate with him.
Who was a big influence on you?
My cello teacher was a cellist in the opera orchestra in Nice, and his parents were the concierges of the opera house. After my lesson he would arrange of me to come and sit in on rehearsals, and I happily spent hours and hours in there. I would sit there and imagine myself conducting. I always saw the whole orchestra and listened to pieces from that point of view.
At what age did you go to Paris?
I followed Nicolas to the Paris Conservatoire at the age of 13, and then completed my academic studies by correspondence course. I was thrilled to be in Paris and immersed myself in its musical life. When I started the conducting class I was thrown in at the deep end with Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire and Bartok’s Concerto of Orchestra! I was lucky to have great teachers, who adapted the course to bring out individuality. My conducting teacher Zsolt Nagy had been a close colleague of Peter Eotvos, and introduced me to a vast repertoire.
Did you ever doubt you would be able to make a living as a conductor?
I was lucky to win an audition to be conductor of the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, a chamber orchestra, two years before I left the conservatoire, when I was 18. That gave me one foot in the working world while I was studying.
What was you biggest break?
Definitely winning the Besancon Young Conductors Competition in 2005, the year before I graduated. It gave me the opportunity to conduct before some important managers and things developed quickly from that point. I met Paul Hughes of the BBCC SO, who invited me to conduct that orchestra. I hesitated, as it seemed a huge challenge, but when I met them something special happened, and I’ve done several Barbican concerts and a Prom last year, which was wonderful. Ernest Fleischmann from the Los Angeles PO was also there, and invited me to audition for associate conductor. He was helpful, and we became very close, before his death in 2010.
Can you name a decisive concert?
The first concert I conducted the BBC SO at Maida Vale Studios in 2007 was significant because the general manager of the Sinfonica de Castilla y leon came along in search of a new artistic director and picked me on the strength of that night. He asked me back, and after two programmes I felt an affinity and I knew I wanted to build something with this ensemble. He’s dynamic, and together we have initiated a new music programme and developed a training relationship with the conservatoire in Salamnca.
What was your hairiest moment?
Arriving in LA and conducting a concert with Strauss’s Till Eulenspiegel with no rehearsal!
Who have you learnt most from?
When you play a whole series of concerts of the same repertoire with one ensemble, that’s when you really grow. The Sinfonica de Castilla played Tchaikovsky’s Fifth eight times on a tour and we worked with the sound, the colour, the atmosphere—a fascinating process, a journey you make together. But I’ve also learnt an infinite amount from other conductors: just watching Esa-Pekka Salonen and Gustavo Dudamel rehearse is instructive.
What special qualities do you think you need to make it as a conductor?
Love of music. No, passion for music! There’s not a moment, even in my hotel room, when I’m not listening or looking for opportunities to see others work. As it’s Spain, tonight after our concert, Valery Gergiev is coming with the Mariinsky Orchestra to play Mahler’s Second Symphony at 10:30pm—I’ll be there!
What are your goals?
I would like to do more opera—all those hours in the opera house as a child made an impact. But at the moment keeping relationships is the priority: with the Sinfonica de Castillo Y Leon, the LA Philharmonic and the Radio France Philharmonic. I’m managing to work in some opera with the Sinfonica: we did a semi-staged version of Carmen with Calixto Bieito recently, and this year I’ll conduct it at the Royal Swedish Opera.
Interview by Helen Wallace
Born in 1987, Yuja Wang started studying piano aged six and took lessons with Beijing Conservatory professor, Ling Yuan, from the age of seven. After three years (1999-2001) taking part at the Morningside Music summer program at Mount Royal College Conservatory in Canada, she studied there for a year. Winning the Aspen Music Festival’s concerto competition in 2002, aged 15, she transferred to The Curtis institute of Music in Philadelphia where she studied with Gary Graffman. Since graduating in 2008, she has thrilled audiences around the world. Performing with conductors such as Claudio Abbado, Michael Tilson Thomas and Kurt Masur, and has released acclaimed two solo albums on Deutsche Grammophon.
What Inspired you to take up the piano?
My mum was a dancer, and she took me to the ballet rehearsals for Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake, which was the thing I loved. We already had a piano at home, and my mum started very imaginatively, telling me I could imitate the whole orchestra on the piano. Then my first teacher, who played piano in the ballet, really made it fun—instead of saying I had to practice four hours a day she made me want to play well and enjoy music. After a year she introduced me to Ling Yuan at the Beijing Conservatory.
What did you learn with Ling Yuan?
I was with her for seven years. She gave me all the foundations in technique and style. I learned a lot of Chopin and lots of Mozart, Beethoven and Haydn. I did not learn a vast repertoire but she is particular: every piece I learned we went deep into it with lots of detail.
When you moved to Canada to study at Calgary’s Mount Royal College, presumably that was quite different from what you were used to in China?
Yes, very different—especially as I went alone without my parents. My legal guardian at Mount Royal was the director, Paul Dornian. He has a lovely family with kids my age so I learned English really fast. His wife was a piano teacher as well, so it really was comfortable. But it was quite a sudden experience, being away from home. My parents kept their doubts from me, but I think they were very unsure whether this was the right thing to do. But Paul Dornian told them that being an artist means having an independent life and having independent thoughts.
And did your approach to music-making change when you moved to the US?
Well, repertoire all of a sudden opened up for me, because in China pretty much the latest composer I knew was Brahms! And even Brahms I only knew the piano music; I had never heard the Symphonies when I was in China. I did learn Messiaen, though, because I won this competition in Paris where the award was to have one lesson with Yvonne Loriod Messiaen. But when I stayed in Paul Dornian’s house he had this huge CD collection: not just of piano music, but also of orchestral music. So I heard Strauss, Mahler and Schoenberg.
So you got a broader context for the repertoire you did know.
Exactly. And he has lots of literary books: I read Bernstein and it was really interesting for me to think of music in that analytical way, because before I was only taught to interpret with my feelings, not with my brain. So I got into the habit of reading lots of books, which has been very important, particularly since leaving China I’ve been on my own musically.
Though you’ve had your teachers, like Gary Graffman at the Curtis Institute?
Yes, but the way Western teachers teach is very different from in China, where I had been told about everything and given very detailed instructions about how to play. Then all of a sudden nobody’s telling me all that, and I was freaking out in the beginning; but then I started to absorb all these ideas I was getting from reading and finding connections with my musical playing.
How has life been since you graduated from Philadelphia’s Curtis Institute?
Well, two or three years ago I moved to New York, and all of sudden I am out of school, really free and I have all those concerts in front me—I have my schedule till 2014! So life is very different. Before I graduated, when I did a concert I was so excited and I prepared for it as if it would be the best and probably the last concert I play. But now I’m aware it’s such a long road, and the more I travel the more I know about the world; the more I feel I can only do my best, but this is just a small part of the whole thing.
Click here to see all of Yuja Wang's recordings!
Interview by Daniel Jaffe
Born in Olso, Norway, in August 1987, Tine Thing Helseth began playing the trumpet at the age of seven. She has rapidly made her name as one of the most accomplished players of her generation, becoming the recipient of a Borletti-Buitoni Trust fellowship in 2009. her recent global tour culminated in a recital at Carnegie Hall She has released two discs on the Simax label, the first of which, of trumpet concertos with the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, earned her a Norwegian Grammy for best newcomer in all musical genres. The leader of her own all-female ensemble tenThing, she is an ardent champion of new repertoire.
So, why did you choose the trumpet?
That’s easy to answer! My mother plays the trumpet—not professionally, but as a hobby—and I just wanted to do what she does.
When did you decide that you wanted to make a serious career out of it?
When I think back to when I was younger, I seem to remember that I always wanted to do it. Maybe I was naïve when I was, say eight year old and thought I’d be able to play the trumpet for the rest of my life—I didn’t know just how much effort it would take to get as far as I wanted to—but I just thought it was the greatest thing to do in the whole world. Of course, in Norway we have the trumpet soloist Ole Edvard Antonsen who I’ve known since I was little and who made me see what was possible.
Was your childhood dominated by music?
I grew up in a musical home, but I had a lot of time for other things. We have a very strong wind and brass band tradition in Norway and I grew up with that. There are a lot of school bands which rehearse in the evening—it’s something that is really growing, and a lot of people are becoming members of them. In my school band, we played everything from Mozart to Eric Clapton.
How much time do you get to spend in your homeland, given your busy touring schedule these days?
In 2009, I spent around 220 days on the road, and I guess it was pretty much the same for 2010—and the Christmas period was particularly crazy. Sometimes in the past, I have said ‘yes’ to too much, but thankfully things worked out well, if a little hectic, in the end. But you learn, and I’m still relatively new to this game.
How do you find the time to build up new repertoire?
That’s one of the most challenging things. As well as the traveling, you also have to rehearse and learn new things that you’re going to play in a few months’ time. You have to make plans in advance and keep to them. Sometimes, though, I do have to do some intense emergency practicing…
How important to you introducing audiences to new, or little known, music?
While it would be nice to have a couple more well-known concertos—the pianists and violinists have so many more to choose from—it’s a great thing to be able to show people new repertoire. As a performer it’s also a challenge and a responsibility when almost everything in a concert is being heard by the audience for the first time—it’s up to you to give them the right first impression.
Would you say that lack of famous repertoire makes it harder for a trumpet soloist to become well known?
It works both ways. We have the Haydn and Hummel concertos and, when an orchestra invites you for the first time, that’s what they usually want. But when they invite you back, then you can do something different, because they’re inviting you for who you are rather than what you’re playing. If you’re invited back as a violinist, for instance, they normally want you plus a certain work, whereas we can choose more freely.
And new repertoire includes music you’ve commissioned yourself…
I’ve commissioned some, yes, including a five-minute solo piece by Rolf Wallin that I’ve included in my recent recital tour ending at Carnegie Hall. And then there’s a commission by Bent Sorensen for 2013 or so, which I’m excited about. It’s amazing to be able to develop the trumpet repertoire in this way. Whether composers are writing for Alison Balsom, Hakan Hardenberger or whoever, the pieces will be different. That means the repertoire expands in different directions, which is good for future generations of players.
And what about your own future? Will you still be doing the same thing in, say, 30 years time?
You always have dreams. But most of my dreams so far have always involved in being a trumpet soloist! That’s what I’m doing and I’m so grateful—I don’t have career plans that involve this or that. Let’s just see how life goes…
Interview by Jeremy Pound
French pianist David Fray, 29, is a renowned interpreter of the Austro-German classics, appearing as a soloist with many of today’s top orchestras. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire with Jacques Rouvier and, after winning second prize at the 2004 Montreal International Music Competition, he recorded his first CD for ATMA Classique, of Liszt and Schubert. In 2006 he signed exclusively to Virgin Classics, with his debut CD of Bach and Boulez winning him a BBC Music Magazine Award for Newcomer of the Year in 2008. Acclaimed discs of Bach Keyboard Concertos, solo Schubert and Mozart Piano Concertos followed, with Fray earning a name for his refined, lyrical and imaginative interpretations.
You took up the piano aged four. What drew you to it?
It was my parents’ decision. My brother started the piano when he was four, and I did the same four years later. They never thought I’d be a professional pianist—that was a surprise. At the start, I liked listening to music, but when you’re young sometimes you get a bit bored practicing. But I was always a perfectionist, so I started to practice more and discovered I liked it.
When did you decide to become a professional?
I don’t know really. When I was 11 or 12 I had to decide on a musician’s career, as I had to practice, organize homework and make sacrifices for the piano. But I didn’t know what it meant. Consciously I decided to be a pianist when I was, maybe 23. I’d decided to play Bach’s Fourth Partita. I discovered a freedom—my own breath and phrasing—and I thought I could do this. My dream would be to be a conductor. But it’s already difficult to be a good pianist.
You once told us that ‘if, over my life, I can play all the works of Bach, Mozart, Schubert, Haydn, Brahms and Schumann, then I shall be very happy’. Why did you decide to focus on the German greats?
I was not a happy musician when I was younger. My teacher Jacques Rouvier used to say I was a wild horse. But I didn’t play the way I wanted to, and the players I admired didn’t play like wild horses. I played Liszt, some virtuoso pieces, and I thin I could do it quite well, but it wasn’t what I was interested in. The German classics, and Bach, are the most demanding school. The structure and architecture of this music demanded what I didn’t have then. When you’re younger, there’s always a risk that you want to show people your skill. The thing is to show not what you’re able to do, but what the piece is able to say. It needs some maturity, I guess.
Will you branch out from German repertoire?
There are so many pieces by German composers I’d like to play that I haven’t yet because there isn’t time, so it’s difficult. Some things I’m working on could become good qualities for Chopin—especially the polyphonic sense. Chopin was passionate about Bach. I’m sure that to play Chopin well, you have to play Bach well. The problem is that you need that special sense of bel canto in the phrasing. You have to put Bellini and Bach together.
But you play the Ravel Concerto in G…
The Ravel Concerto is an exception because my conservatoire teacher forced me to play it. But I liked it, so I decided to continue to play it. Ravel is maybe the French composer that’s closest to my heart, although I haven’t played much of his music.
You’ve often said pianist Wilhelm Kempff is one of your biggest inspirations. What is it about his playing that excites you?
How do you like to prepare new pieces?
It’s slow, slow work. The more I grow up, the slower it is. I try to present pieces when I have the impression they’re a part of myself. You can’t accelerate that. Scientific progress can help us go from Paris to London much faster and to cure disease. But to be ready for a Beethoven Sonata? There’s not a solution that can help us do it faster. In this century of speed, music is one of the last territories where there’s still that sense of patient work.
So is finding time to relax important to you?
I relax with my family, and I’m reading quite a lot now. At the moment I’m reading Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time. Long, you know, like Beethoven Sonatas. You can see for me, things are always long and hard work, but fascinating.
Click here to see all of David Fray's recordings!
Interview by Rebecca Franks
Stile Antico is one of the world’s leading and youngest Early Music chamber choirs (most of its members are under 30). Set up by Kate and Helen Ashby ten years ago, the conductor-less group performs to capacity audiences both here and abroad, singing polyphonic repertoire ranging from the Tudors to 16th- and 17th century Spanish and Flemish schools. Stile Antico’s CDs, which have been universally praised including two that have been Grammy-nominated, are available on Harmonia Mundi. The latest, Puer natus est, features English Tudor music for Advent and Christmas. The choir regularly appears at the Darlington Summer School performing concerts and leading choral classes.
Tell us about Stile Antico’s origins
Kate Ashby- My sister and I went to Cambridge and met all these people from Oxford, our home town, so we thought ‘why don’t we meet up in the holidays?’ The majority of us were first-year undergraduates, and we initially performed around three concerts a year. We took it seriously, but we weren’t expecting to be a long-term professional group. We were in university chapel choirs and singing a lot of music, but we often didn’t have much time to rehearse because you’d turn up an hour before every song and have just enough time to get the know right. We wanted to have some time to see what could do the music.
How has the coir evolved over the years?
Benedict Hymas- The core of the group is still there- there have only been four new members in the choir’s ten-year history, so it’s pretty much the same. I joined only three years ago straight after leaving university.
KA- Because of the way we work, it’s really important for us to keep a stable membership—we get so used to how we work together. If we do have new singers, we have to be careful to choose those with the right personality as well as being vocally suitable.
Was it a decision from the start to sing without a conductor?
KA- From the start we wanted to explore the music ourselves, so it felt normal to do it without a conductor. I think people find it difficult to believe we get the direction from within the choir. We normally stand so that we can see the people in our own parts and if the piece starts with an alto, say, one of them is responsible for setting the initial tempo.
BH- We’ve developed a system of nodding very subtly! I think a comparison with how string quartets function is a good one, because our performance has a very organic, very chambery feel.
You have a particular ‘sound’ that has been praised.
KA- I think the sound comes from everybody being invested in Stile Antico and working closely together. Of course, people’s voices have developed as the group has grown older, but in terms of blend, it helps that we’ve been singing together a long time.
And your success has been spectacular…
KA- We’ve been taken aback about how successful we’ve been and we were taken aback too to be signed by Harmonia Mundi in the first place. We’ve had some lucky breaks—our first CD was featured on a public radio show in America which ended up increasing the record sales. That led to a Grammy nomination and things snowballed from there. If you were a conductor and you wanted to break America, you’d have to pay your singers large fees to go to America, but because we as a group decided it was something we really wanted to do, we can invest the time and go on tours that don’t necessarily make so much money at first, and then we can build up the profile. Cracking America takes a while, but we’re prepared to invest that time and effort.
How much research do you do into the music?
BH- There’s a very good base of knowledge within the choir- some of us have a very good understanding of performance practice. Obviously it’s all theoretical, so we do try to bring it to life using the adjectives in the musical text as well as with dynamics.
KA- One of the things we really enjoy in the music is that composers don’t write in any performance directions. That doesn’t mean that the music has to be sung without emotion, but it gives us a free rein. But although we try and have a good awareness of historical performance practice, we’re not overly fussed with being too authentic. We enjoy exploring this music as we would explore any music…
Who have been your musical influences?
KA- A lot of us have sung in cathedral or church choirs from a young age, so we’ve been brought up with knowledge of groups like the Tallis Scholars and other groups that have forged a path with this repertoire. There are a number of groups that we admire—the Cardinall’s Musick for their interpretations of Byrd, and I Fagiolini who push the boundaries within this repertoire.
BH- When we start with a score, though, we do start with a blank canvas so any influences are generally sub-conscious. We don’t deliberately do anything different to what’s gone before, so it does just come out of the creative process.
Click here to see all of Stile Antico's recordings!
Interview by Oliver Condy
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