On March 26, 1827, the pianist and composer Ludwig van Beethoven died in Vienna. MyCello remembers him by proposing a music video and the score of his Piano Trio in E-flat major, Op.70 No.2.
On March 25, 1918, the pianist and composer Claude Debussy died in Paris. MyCello remembers him proposing a music video and the score of his Cello Sonata.
“Before dinner, it was a concert with Johann Sebastian Bach’s Suite 1 for cello solo, the “Wave Suite”, which more than any other makes me think of the sea … the light of the Turkish lamp, and all around an unreal silence, so as to be able to perceive the emotion of the listener in those who love each other “.
A boat, the sea, a cello. Roberto Soldatini, author and protagonist of this autobiographical travel diary (Marinkovich prize for literature) has chosen to spend his life aboard a sailboat. Anchored in port, or traveling, it alternates moments of “ordinary” life (teaching, concerts) with moments of adventure, of traveling in search of itself accompanied by the music of the sea. “The sound of the wind, the one that generates by inflating the sails or making howling shrouds and halyards, the sound of breaking waves and that of the hull that goes through them. All this is already music, with its rhythms, its melodies, his polyphony, his harmonies “.
But from the pages of the book, rapid sketches of landscapes also emerge “I remain enchanted to contemplate the harmony of a casual urban development, made of houses that fit together, projecting upwards, where the castle stands”.
Roberto Soldatini sails alone, but his life during his travels is intertwined with the lives of the men and women he meets: “Jean-Paul, a medical radiologist … at the age of thirty he crossed the Atlantic with an eight-meter sailboat”…” Maria is very kind, she explains the story of this enchanted place with her English that has the same melody of her Greek, sweet and rhythmic ”
A book for music lovers, for sailboat and travel enthusiasts, for discovering the world and searching for the meaning of life.
The French translation of the book,La musique de la mer,won the Prix Albatros 2017 (first non-French award-winning author).
Roberto Soldatini Cellist, conductor, writer, and solitary navigator. Every year it alternates six months of navigation with six months that he spends anchored in the port of Naples. After studying at the Santa Cecilia Conservatory in Rome, he performed concerts as a cellist and was a member of the Rome Opera Orchestra, where Giuseppe Patanè offered him to be his assistant. He was then chosen as an assistant by Myung-Whung at the Opéra Bastille in Paris. After his debut in Italy, in Spoleto, he worked as a conductor, both in the symphonic and in the operatic field. Since 1984 he has been Professor of Conservatory. Among his books, we also remember Sinfonie Mediterranee (2016) and Denecia. Autobiografia di una barca (2018).
ROBERTO SOLDATINI
La musica e il mare
Nutrimenti (28 maggio 2014)
pp.189
ISBN 10: 8865943165
ISBN 13: 978-8865943168
On March 19, 1767, the mandolin player and composer Leonhard Von Call was born in Appiano sulla Strada del Vino. MyCello remembers him by proposing a music video and the score of his Sérénade for Cello and Guitar, Op.84.
On March 18, 1937, the composer Mélanie Bonis died in Sarcelles. MyCello remembers her by proposing a music video and the score of his Cello Sonata, Op.67.
On March 15, 1941, the composer and conductor Alexander Von Zemlinsky died in Larchmont. MyCello remembers him by proposing a music video and the score of his Clarinet Trio, Op.3.
Taking advantage of the positive opportunities offered today by the web, I contact Master Karim Wasfi, Founder and President of Peace Through Arts, and ask him if he is available for an interview. His “sure” comes direct and immediate. Here are his answers to my questions…
When, and how was your love for music born? Why did you choose to play the cello?
Baghdad Iraq, back in 1978, by 1985 I had realized the impact and the beauty of connectivity to higher powers through sound and meditation. The sound and frequency were always apparent as an expression and a connection.
Where did you study? Who were your most important teachers?
Baghdad music and ballet school – Svetlana Ivanova and Bloomington Indiana with Janos Starker, Tsiushi Tsutsumi, attended the class of Rostropovich
What were the most important goals of your musical career?
To connect humanity into a higher level of awareness and consciousness through vibration, towards an understanding of creation.
Then, one day, you started playing in your town, wherever the war had brought destruction and death. When did you decide to do it and why?
1991 but could not share it back then as there were no social media, later after many years, returning and after being the conductor of the national symphony in Iraq (2007-2016), during 2014 I started taking my battle globally against terror and radicalization.
What do you play in these places hit by bomb violence?
I had the path of instant compositions in support of life and in condolences for those whom we have lost. I composed Metamorphosis, Baghdad Mourning, Transcendence, a path of Spirits, and Equilibrium… for solo cello and electronics, and for solo cello
How do people react, when you play in these situations?
Very supportive and it elevated all of us to higher levels of compassion and awareness.
And how do you feel when you give voice to suffering? Immersing yourself in suffering, accepting it in yourself, and giving it a voice can help you to create hope that a better world is possible?
Supporto della vita e profondità dell’universo.
What were, in your opinion, the most symbolic stages of your musical journey inside the places of suffering?
Playing in Mosul and Baghdad to battle terrorists.
Before you, other cellists have felt within themselves the need to choose the stage of life, leaving that of the theater: Rostropovich accompanied with the sound of his cello the fall of the Berlin Wall, Vedran Smailovic mourned the destruction of Sarajevo. Why, in your opinion, did the cellists feel so strongly the desire to give voice to the most dramatic moments in the history of mankind?
Because we have a deeper connection to creation and the universe.
Music has always created bridges of peace, and musicians have often given voice to the unnecessary suffering produced by the war. Music forces us to reflect, but … to play is really enough to change the world?
No. We have to educate, aspire, and change through proactive preventive powers to eradicate reasons for terror.
Thank you very much, Maestro, for your kind availability! We all hope that the world can really find peace through the arts…
On March 8, 1748, the composer Jacob Klein died in Amsterdam. MyCello remembers him by proposing a music video and the score of his 6 Sonatas for Cello and Continuo, Op.4.
On March 6, 1860, the cellist and composer Justus Johann Friedrich Dotzauer died in Dresden. MyCello remembers him by proposing a music video and the score of his 6 Pieces for 3 Cellos, Op.104.
Thank you, Alexander, for your availability for this interview.
Thank you for your message! It would be a great honor to have an interview for MyCello! I hope my answers are not too boring…
And now, here is the first question: when did you start to play the cello?
At the age of 7
Why the cello and not another musical instrument?
At first, I wanted to be a violinist. But teachers at music school convinced me that I was too old to start to play the violin and offered me a “bigger violin”. God bless them!
Who was your first (or the most important) cello teacher?
My first teacher was Svetlana Ivanova in Kaliningrad. The next teachers were Alexey Seleznev, Lev Evgrafov, Maria Zhuravleva, Natalia Shakhovskaya, and Frans Helmerson. All of them are very important to me.
Which cello do you play?
Since 2011 I have played the modern one made by Jebran Yakoub. This is a fantastic instrument – it has a very strong, bright, and deep sound with a great range of colors. At the Tchaikovsky competition finals, there was only one modern cello. Others were 2 Strads, Roggeri, Guadagnini etc. And no one from the jury and the audience noticed I played the modern cello.
What is the moment of your career that you remember with more pleasure?
I hope these kinds of moments are coming!
What is your favorite orchestra? Who is the conductor you appreciate the most?
It’s impossible to pick one. The same as I can’t name my favorite composer or piece written for cello.
If you were asked to organize a concert for children who have never attended a classical music concert, which compositions would you choose to play?
Something not very long and difficult. I would say Saint-Saens concerto or Rococo Variations.
What are, among your musical projects for 2019, those that are closest to your heart?
I have not chosen yet. But at the end of 2018, I released very important work for me. Recording of Britten Suites for cello solo.
And now the last question, a piece of advice for those who have to face their first competition: better to play after or before eating?
At the competitions, I couldn’t eat before playing.
Thanks again for being patient with us and for answering our questions. Best wishes for your career!
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