In his bright Parisian apartment, the pianist Alexandre Tharaud recently welcomed his colleague, the violinist Nemanja Radulovic. Both published their latest album around the work of Johann Sebastian Bach. For more than an hour, their intimate links with this composer ” unavoidable “ that they admire and play since their childhood have nourished a very free dialogue. These exchanges swept through eight themes among all those inspired by the author of the Passion according to Saint John.
► Bach, always coming back to it
Alexandre Tharaud: This is my fourth Bach album, a composer who has been with me since my young years. Bach pursues the interpreter, with his “easy” pieces collected in the Little Book of Anna Magdalena Bachhis second wife, until the extraordinary Variations Goldberg… He sharpens the agility of the game in the rapid movements of his Suites like the gigs (very lively dances) and invites you to gain height in the noble and slow sarabandes. We always feel the need to return to Bach.
Nemanja Radulovic: For my part, this is only my second Bach disc, the first recorded already in 2016 with the Double Sens ensemble. Like Alexandre, I have been around Bach since my childhood and, at 39 years old, I am still nourished by his music. He helps us to evolve, to understand not only his work but also that of others.
► Bach from generation to generation
N. R. : In Serbia, where I come from and where I acquired my first training, my teacher asked me to detach myself from the notes to concentrate on the meaning of Bach’s music. But understand the second Partita for violin at 7 years old, it’s not a given! When I arrived in France at 14, I had the great fortune to be accompanied by the violinist Patrice Fontanarosa and it was he who really opened me up to Bach. For Patrice, Bach was the composer of sharing, of beauty, and for two years, his teaching was decisive.
Today, when I am approached by young violinists, I advise them to listen passionately to the clarity of its harmonies, to make them their own and to slip into them with humility but determination. It is music of such richness that there are a thousand ways to approach it.
A. T. : Bach indeed supports many diverse conceptions and aesthetics. Think of Glenn Gould, whose very particular playing has become “cult” and which remains inimitable by anyone other than him. I completely agree with Nemanja in reassuring musicians: they can take on Bach without risk of distorting it, in the style of jazz, musical comedy or even rap.
► Bach every day
A. T. : Bach has a regenerating power, for the mind as much as for the pianist’s fingers. Ten minutes of Bach in the morning revives and refocuses you. Its extremely elaborate musical architecture allows it to do everything, to translate all emotions and, at the same time, it has an earthy side, is inspired by popular music and makes the link between our world and transcendence. At any time, he has the ability to get us back on track. A measure or two is enough to ease the madness of a day. Bach is as effective as Zen…
N. R. : I also like this deeply human aspect of the person and the work, far from the impressive and almost divine image that we can sometimes give of him, given his genius. After a concert during which I performed a large romantic piece with orchestra, I often choose an “encore” from Bach. I feel that, for the public as for me, these few minutes act as a filter, a form of purification of emotions. More personally, playing Bach during periods of doubt throughout my life allowed me to make decisions.
► Bach and the public
N. R. : I really believe that it is accessible to everyone. He is a generous musician, both in the sublime arias of his sacred works and in the numerous dance movements which enliven his instrumental pieces. In concert, I feel the audience’s reactions to this extraordinary diversity. It is up to us, performers, not to dry out his vibrant character, his lively spirit. I even try to make people believe that his music is improvised, thus rediscovering baroque practice. In Bach’s time, the same work could pass from one instrument to another in a free and natural way, depending on the musicians the composer had on hand at a given moment.
A. T. : To both listener and performer, Bach delivers a comforting message: not to be afraid. Certainly, it makes us feel very small, but to encourage us to rise. Instead of being frightening, this feeling of humility in the face of something greater than oneself is reassuring and enveloping. This fascinates me!
► Bach and your instrument
N. R. : On the violin – he played it himself, but also the viola – Bach demands perfect balance between the right hand, which holds the bow, and the left hand, which creates the notes on the strings. To do justice to his music, the two hands must therefore possess similar power and digital equality. This is essential for playing chords and double stops. Today, these requirements suit me well: be careful, I’m not saying it’s easy but I feel at home there. As for the “mental”, Bach asks us to follow it, in a process of listening more than of voluntarism in execution. There is room for the performer within his music.
A. T. : An incredible harpsichordist and organist, Bach is indeed very physical and imposes on his performer body alignment and absolute independence of both hands. You have to start studying it at a young age to succeed over the years and, to tell the truth, you never really get to the end of it… His firm writing also requires constant concentration and immense preparatory work.
On the other hand, on stage or in front of the microphones of the recording studio, we must let go, make way for an availability freed from the shackles of rigor. This rigor can also put off some young musicians, as was the case with my sister who, when she was little, had a sort of rejection of Bach. When we cross the threshold, Bach on the contrary gives intense satisfaction. We can apply, I believe, the instructions given by Scarlatti. On the first edition of his sonatas, the latter minimizes their “profound” scope to emphasize the “pleasure” that they aim to provide.
► Bach and the ideal of the voice
N. R. : In Bach, the voice is central and that is why I wanted the disc to pay homage to him with the aria Have mercy, my God (Have mercy, my God), taken from the Passion according to Saint Matthewwhere I dialogue on the violin with the voice of countertenor Philippe Jaroussky. I am so happy that he is here with us, he is such a touching and convincing storyteller. In this aria, Bach creates a superior harmony between the vocal cords of the singer and those of the violin: few composers have been able to marry them with such genius and such humanity.
A. T. : The voice is the ideal of the instrumentalist. An ideal that he pursues throughout his life without ever achieving it. I love working with singers, classical or not. In the disc that I focused on transcriptions for the piano of works by Bach (mostly written by Alexandre Tharaud himself, Editor’s note)it was natural for me to include several vocal pieces, such as the entrance chorus of the Passion according to Saint John or a choir from the Passion according to Saint Matthew. But also an aria from the same Passion. It’s about the air For love (For love) for the soprano voice. Bach himself frequently transcribed his own creations for various instruments, but also those of other composers such as Vivaldi or Marcello. This was a common practice in its time, before modern copyright came to govern these “borrowings”.
► Bach on a desert island
A. T. : If I only had to take one work by Bach – what torture! –, these would be the Variations Goldberg. They represent the cycle of life, the eternal return, since they begin with a sublime aria which will then be varied endlessly, before returning at the very end, like a pure and open conclusion.
N. R. : Right now, I can’t tell you if I would take the Prelude of the Second or that of the Fifth Suitefor solo cello. Both are written in a minor key, with a moving depth, a human truth that words cannot express.
► Bach, the question you want to ask the other
A. T. : Which Bach work would you choose for your next recording?
N. R. : THE Sonatas et Partites for violin that I have never yet recorded on disk. I regret not having had the opportunity in my youth because it is a world that deserves to be visited at different ages of an artist’s life. When do we play Bach together?
A. T. : As soon as possible!
—–
Bach in all its forms
Discs:
Alexandre Tharaud:Bach under the Erato label. A selection of piano transcriptions of various instrumental and vocal pieces by Bach frame the Keyboard suite BWV 818a. Alexandre Tharaud has also recorded in the past the Variations Goldberg as well as Keyboard concertos by Bach.
Nemanja Radulovic:J.S. Bach under the Warner Classics label. The violinist’s second foray with the Double Sens ensemble composed of Serbian and French instrumentalists, into the world of Jean-Sébastien Bach.
Some concerts:
Alexandre Tharaud: January 11 and 12 at the Opéra Comédie in Montpellier; from January 31 to February 2, then February 28 at the Philharmonie de Paris; March 14 and 15 at the Rouen Opera…
Nemanja Radulovic: March 24 in a master class at the Académie Jaroussky at La Seine musicale in Boulogne-Billancourt, on March 1is April at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, April 3 at the Archipel de Perpignan…