Page 34 - BBC Music (January 2020)
P. 34
‘‘
If you’re a succesful
artist, surely you
could get a piece
commissioned within
one conversation
’’
THE BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE INTERVIEW
Lawrence Power
– the crux of Power’s musical ethos. Yes,
The viola player who once
turned down the Berlin he is a leading viola soloist, a passionate
Philharmonic has gone on to advocate for viola chamber music, an
forge his own distinctive path. ardent renewer of viola repertoire. He plays
Kate Molleson meets an artist one of the world’s most beautiful violas
with an unquenchable curiosity (Antonio Brensi, 1590) and makes arguably
the richest-bodied viola sound in the
PHOTOGRAPHY: RICHARD CANNON
business. So it is notable that he’s willing
(not to mention able) to leave his viola in the
onsider some of Lawrence Power’s box and pick up a fiddle. But what’s more
recent concert programmes. remarkable is how intently he pursues
C This, for example: a marathon his lines of musical connection. Whether
Brahms recital encompassing not only immersing himself in a single composer’s
the two viola sonatas, but also relevant oeuvre or tracing themes across centuries,
song transcriptions and (and!) all three there is an intellectual restlessness that
violin sonatas – played on violin. Or takes Power beyond his viola heartland,
this: an exploration into the notion of beyond the physical boundaries of the
tombeau, interlinking tributes from Ravel instrument. And if that means wielding a
to Couperin to Lorca poetry to Poulenc’s violin or a baton, so be it.
Violin Sonata via Thomas Adès. Power Power credits his lateral creative appetite
played the viola and violin, and recited to multiple factors. Innate inquisitiveness,
the poetry. Or this: ensemble music for sure, and simply being a viola player:
preoccupied with memory and sleep, there isn’t the breadth of existing repertoire
from Dowland to Stravinsky to Tippett’s to sustain night after night of concerto
Corelli Fantasia to Britten’s Nocturne. Power engagements, so he has to test the limits.
conducted, no instrument in hand. That’s one reason he founded the West
Aren’t these examples a bit, well, non- Wycombe Chamber Music Festival, which
viola-centric? Which is precisely the point celebrates its tenth anniversary this year
36 BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE
