Inspite of maybe being happier than I have been for a long time (as described in the previous blog) I did not stop playing the cello nor enjoying giving concerts – only difference is that now whenever I have some spare time I tend to spend it on the phone with the source of that happiness which is the reason why I am neglecting my poor little Macbook.

As I wrote in a previous blog, end of July I was playing all the six Bach Suites in the Radialsystem, an alternative venue for the arts in Berlin. A friend of mine attended the concert together with a gentleman who had never listened to classical music in concert before and who was so taken by the beauty of Bach’s music that he didn’t mind at all sitting relatively still for almost three hours. This came as a surprise for me because I thought the Bachsuites were a bit too complex and not exciting enough for an “untrained” listener, but maybe because of the rather informal and different approach on stage was more drawn into the music than he might have been in a “normal” concert hall.

Lately I have been thinking about possible reasons why the cello has not become more popular among orchestra schedules. While many people when being asked about their favorite instrument name the cello, there is still an overwhelming majority of piano- and violin-concertos being performed versus rather rare cello appearances. Yes, I know they are exceptions, but in general there is often barely just one cellist per season invited to play one of the audiences favorites (Dvorak, Elgar, Shostakovich a.o.), because many artistic planners are afraid that with a lesser known concerto ticket sales would go down.

Fourteen months ago I premiered Unsuk Chin’s Celloconcerto at the Proms in London, a very rewarding as well as traumatic experience. In order to understand and communicate this technically and musically challenging work I had forced myself to play the world premier by heart; the rewarding part was the very warm reception from the audience, the traumatic one came from the fact that in the two hardest passages I panicked and got subsequently lost. Passages, I had practised as well and long as never anything before, and still when it came to it, my brain shut down and the fingers went on auto-pilot, kind of faking their way through, abandoned from their guide. Nobody realized except the conductor back then, not even the composer herself (as she claims, but I still don’t believe her!), but I didn’t care, I wasn’t doing it for the audience or for her, but as a perfectionist I always want to play as well as humanly possible, never mind if it is being appreciated or not. Until today I haven’t dared to listen to the recording of that concert, not even in preparation for last night’s concert in Tampere, Finland, where the Chin Concerto came to its second performance ever.

After having pushed myself through the truly exhausting Bach-Marathon in Berlin last week (all six suites in a row with just one intermission, playing all repeats…) I had the luxury to play them again spread over the past two days, but not just anywhere: On Thursday evening I arrived in the gorgeous little town of Stresa situated directly at the heavenly beautiful Lago Maggiore, about an hour north of Milan. Two years ago I had played the Brahms Doubleconcerto with the Manchester Philharmonic and their chief conductor Gianandrea Noseda whom I liked very much.

Ten days ago I gave my first cello lessons in Germany, some kind of mini-masterclasses. Why first? Well, I have never been asked before, only in the US have orchestras set up these “meetings” with local cello students which I always found exciting because for once I get to pick on somebody else but be! Time passes much quicker than practising on my own and it is much easier to motivate yourself since the student is showing up at 9h30 am, so you have to be there.First class was in Esslingen, near Stuttgart, at the “Podiumsfestival”, which was found by an enthusiastic group of youngsters who had met at various festivals and now had the time of their life at their own festival, playing the music they wanted, inviting the players of their choice, and the organization was close to perfect as was the quality of the performances. Unfortunately I had to commute back and fourth between Mainz and Esslingen, “finishing off” my two concerts, but I had enough time to party after my own solo recital with the other musicians (all half my age!) until 5h30 in the morning – it felt like back in youth orchestra, I was soooo happy, even danced for the first time in ages.

What an amazing sensation: because of some vulcano eruption many thousand kilometers away the entire air traffic has come to a halt – mother nature shows us her power again and we have to realize how tiny we are and how much we depend on flying; especially the travelling musician who has gotten used to dashing back and fourth between continents suddenly has to change plans, cancel concerts and maybe even take an unplanned holiday. Did I get affected? Yes, just a little bit I had spent four lovely days in the city of my dreams, the crown jewel of European capitals,  the city of love, Paris. City of love especially for me, since my first “real” girl-friend was French, and back then she lived in Paris, so I knew it quite well from 1989 on. So many fond memories pop up as soon as I get out of the RER (train from the airport), smell the Parisian air, see the beautiful Haussmann buildings and feel the energy of this pulsating city. Holidays again? No, “work”; two times Dvorak Concerto with the Orchestre National de France at the Theatre Champs-Elysee with two different conductors: first night I had the 82-year-old Kurt Masur, and the night after very young Indonesian Adrian Prabava.