|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |||||
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
The Week in Germany: Culture April 18, 2008 Interview: Pianist Lambert Orkis, Recipient of the Federal Cross of Merit
This week, German Ambassador Klaus Scharioth presented pianist Lambert Orkis, principal keyboardist of the National Symphony Orchestra, with the Federal Cross of Merit for his work as a musician and an educator. Orkis rose to national prominence in 1982 when former National Symphony Orchestra director Mstislav Rostropovich drafted him as the NSO's principal keyboardist, a position he still holds today. He may be best known for his collaborations with German Violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter. In 1998, Orkis and Mutter performed entire cycle of Beethoven Sonatas for Piano and Violin, and in 2006 they recorded 16 important Mozart sonatas. Known as a consummate interpreter of chamber music and a sensitive accompanist, Orkis is also dedicated to teaching. He is a professor of Piano at Temple University. The Week in Germany spoke to Orkis about receiving the Federal Cross of Merit, his love of German music and his teaching. Mr. Orkis, congratulations on the honor you are about to receive. How did you find out about it? It came as a huge surprise. After a very long day at the university, my wife handed me this envelope, and it had a clear window, so I thought at first that it was a bill. And then I saw that it was from the German Embassy, and I became worried that perhaps I had done something wrong and had not paid some taxes or something! I opened the envelope, and there was a letter in German. I do not have the gift of languages, unfortunately, but I have worked very hard at German, and I have a German dictionary in nearly every room in the house. So I read through it and thought “My Heavens – they want to give me some sort of award!” You have won many awards for your performances and recordings. What does receiving the Federal Cross of Merit mean to you? It brings me back to my roots. All my grandparents were born in Europe. My maternal grandfather was born in Austria, in Neustift am Walde, which is now a part of Vienna. My grandfather married someone from Budapest, part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. On my father's side, my grandparents came from Poland. So there was this central European connection. My mother spoke nothing but German for the first five years of her life. For whatever reason, I've always been more attracted to the German side of my heritage. So, receiving the Federal Cross of Merit means a lot; it's kind of an affirmation of where I come from. You have also explored that connection by focusing on German composers. What attracted you to that music. Is there a characteristic that sets German music apart from other national traditions, even across periods? German music forms the foundations of Western classical music – no matter what school of music you go to. You will probably get some pushback on this from the Italians and the French, because the Germans do owe something to them, the Italians especially. But if you look at the really complicated forms of polyphonic music, the symphonies and the sonatas – they all come from Germany. Classical musicians are generally given sonatas or sonatinas by Mozart or Clementi at an early age. And people who go through this training either like it or they do not like it. I liked it. I like the sense of organization and form, I like the drama and the narratives. It's like a musical novel. Over the years, I found myself always coming back to this music. Sure, I've done French Music, I've done Russian music, and I enjoyed it. But there is a real staying power to the music of Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Brahms, Schumann, Strauß, modern era Hindemith. I wanted to be a part of it. So when I made this connection with Anne-Sophie Mutter, and we had the opportunity to explore together the complete cycle of Beethoven Sonatas for piano and violin, and Mozart and Brahms – For me it's like heaven. And to do it under such wonderful circumstances. To play in the finest halls in the world, where the physical conditions are perfect and every last thing is done for you so that it it is possible to make the very best music you can. For me it's an absolute gift from heaven. Is there a composer whose works you have not explored in the depth you would like? If my abilities and my life had been different, I certainly would have been attracted to Franz Liszt. As a youngster, I used to play that music, and it still excites me. Maybe it's that Hungarian connection in my family. But Liszt did not write a lot of chamber music. He wrote a lot of songs, and that would be interesting to explore. I am also very interested in modern music; I think that it's very valid. Most of the contemporary music I know is American, because that's where I am. Is there a modern composer you are particularly interested in? George Crumb's music. I've been interested in his music for a long time because I grew up with it. I know him personally, and he gave me a gift of a significant piece; A Little Suite for Christmas. I didn't commission it; he gave it to me as a gift. It's become a part of the piano repertoire. There are only a few pieces written in the last twenty-five years that you can say are now part of the piano repertoire. You have become most known for playing chamber music and as an accompanist. What does it take to be a good accompanist and ensemble player aside from being a good listener? When you are playing with another person, you enter into a common mind. But you have to become free enough of your own playing to actually hear what's going on around you and respond to it. Just as a really fine soloist will allow the spirit of the moment – some new idea – to take hold of the performance and allow new areas of emotion, color, or insight; the same should be happening when you are playing with your colleagues. In order to do that, you cannot devote all your attention to your own playing. You have to listen and respond. It is like the difference between simultaneous translation, like at the UN, where they hear what's going on and say it at the same time, and consecutive translation, where they look at a sentence, translate it and then move on to the next sentence. I used to wonder how those people at the UN can possibly do that, then I realized I do it all the time when I'm playing chamber music. You are also known as a teacher. What does it take to be a good teacher? One of my strengths as a teacher is that I've had problems as a performer, and I've overcome them. That has made me much more sympathetic to my students. I don't want my students to just rely on pure talent to overcome their problems. I want them to use logic and exercise problem solving. Most of the time they are going to be working, it will be away from teachers. And if they don't learn to solve their problems, they will never become independent. I want them to become independent. I actually find that I most enjoy working with the students who do not have the greatest talent. The people with the greatest talent are going to do something with their musical lives, even without me. The people with no talent are not going to do anything. It is the ones in between who will be by and large the mainstay of our musical culture. They are going to go out into the community and teach children and organize. I am really interested in that kind of work. Without the milk, the cream doesn't rise to the top. Do you have a favorite moment in you performing or teaching career? The last concert that Anne-Sophie Mutter and I gave of the Beethoven Sonatas in Vienna in 1998 stands out. It was in Vienna, the home of Beethoven, at the shrine to German music, the Musikverein, and I could feel that the crowd was with us. I had sense of fulfillment that does not come that often. That felt good! In teaching, you have smaller victories. I get a certain glee from working with students who are not exactly “the soloist” per se, but work on solo pieces and then win the chamber music competition to everyone's surprise. It's sort of a malicious glee, I suppose. But I get the most satisfaction when they feel good about their performance. I want them to not feel depressed about what went wrong, but to think about whether they enjoyed it, whether they made a connection with the audience and whether they learned something. When I see the joy in their eyes and I know they want to do it again – that's what makes my job great! Links
|
|
More from Germany.info  Newsletters
 Printer-Friendly
Page
Email This Article |
||
|
|||||
|
|||||
