Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
Cellist acclaimed as ultimate virtuoso for flawless technique and authenticity, now among world's finest.
On the island
Eight records
Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Rafael Kubelík
I mean, I think, you know, if I have to be on this island all by myself with my own company, which I do not enjoy, I'll need joy to keep me going, and this has it.
Because it reminds me so much of my seventeen-year-old son Gabriel, for obvious reasons.
I think we need them. So oh, if the previous song was to do with my son, Gabriel, this is definitely a song that belongs to my partner, Pauline.
St Matthew Passion, BWV 244: "Erbarme dich, mein Gott"Favourite
Andreas Scholl, Collegium Vocale Gent, conducted by Philippe Herreweghe
Was God in music, and this movement I find so unbelievably moving. It's sung at the point where Peter has denied Christ. I'm talking not as a Christian, you know, I am Jewish, but I just find the so many he's denied Christ, and the compassion, the guilt, the sorrow, and the just the serenity in this music, I think, really touches on the divine.
String Quartet No. 13 in B-flat major, Op. 130: V. Cavatina (Adagio molto espressivo)
This recording I would take in order to get to know them, and I would really hope that inside the C D package would also be a score, so I could actually look at the music and sort of get to know it. It's music I should know, 'cause it's music of the spheres.
The Importance of Being Hoffnung
Gerard Hoffnung in conversation with Charles Richardson
He was an extraordinary man, and very easy man to interview, as I think you can hear.
Something about this disc ... there's a sincerity to the singing. Actually, when my teacher Jane Cow was in hospital once, having about to have a heart operation, I took her a tape of this and she said it really pulled her through.
In conversation
Presenter asks
5:24Is it more satisfying for you to be in conversation with music than it is to be in conversation with a person?
No. Well it depends which person and which music music you love. ... Never tire of listening to music. It's part of the fabric of my life, it really is.
Presenter asks
10:06What was extraordinary about [your teacher Jane Cowan]?
She just made music come to life, and she made the composer ... and their music come to life, so they became friends. And somehow I I just found I could play better when I was playing to her than any other time, and somehow music just made sense.
Presenter asks
13:03Why is it that you never listen to recordings of yourself if you can avoid it?
Well, sorry, maybe it's a bit gross, but one musician did describe a musician who listens to their own recordings as a dog who sniffs at his what he's left on the pavement. ... I know what I look like, I know what I sound like. I'd much rather listen to somebody else.
The keepsakes
The book
The novels of Anthony Trollope
Anthony Trollope
I would feel that I wasn't so alone on the island, because I know all the characters he writes about.
The luxury
because I have a terrible visual memory. I can't remember what anybody looks like or anything. So a vast photo album of all my friends I could just leaf over all the time.
Presenter asks
14:57You've never played in an orchestra and were always determined to be a soloist. Why was that?
Well ... A soloist and chamber musician, I mean chamber music is equally important to me. I just didn't want to be told how to play, I have to say. And that's why I would find it very hard to play in an orchestra.
Presenter asks
16:16You must have a very strong core of self-belief to have continued your journey on that way through your twenties [living on six pounds a week].
Well, there's a lot of self doubt, but I did have very supportive family and friends, and I think they carried me through. But it w it was a depressing period when I had just no concerts.
Presenter asks
26:58How do you generally feel about classical crossover trying to make classical music more palatable?
Yes. I think it's ridiculous. I think they go about it completely the wrong way and it's not about popularizing classical music, it's about making money, unfortunately. ... You don't have to apologise for classical music.
“I very much feel that the cello is part of me when I play. And yes it is like a marriage, and yet I don't think I can be accused of adultery.”
“If I hear somebody indulging themselves at the expense of the music, which I do a lot, I get very angry. Because music is like a religion, you know, and you're a musician, it should be.”
“It's very important to me to get the message, as it were, direct from God, instead of from a vicar or something who was the editor of some publication, some edition.”
“I think it's great for children to have classical music in their lives. A child who is humming Mozart to himself will not be out on the street selling drugs, you know.”