Exploring the language and the repertoire of the cello has a parallel in Lynn Harrell’s life: he loves to move around. After missing a telephone connection with him in Helsinki a fortnight ago, we connected on the opposite side of the globe in Wellington, New Zealand, days later.
Travelling has its hardships for musicians, but maestro Harrell loves the enrichment it generates. “It was great to be back in Finland after eight years. Now it’s rewarding to visit Wellington for the first time, and soon, I’m sure, when I’ll be in South Africa.”
Although Harrell has a tough schedule — Durban City Hall on November 22 with the KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic under Leslie Dunner, the Nelson Mandela Theatre at Johannesburg’s Civic on November 23 and the Old Mutual Hall, Unisa, Pretoria on November 24 (the last two conducted by Richard Cock) — the cellist promised himself time off for sightseeing, including game viewing.
Harrell has two cellos — a 1720 Montagnana and a 1673 Stradivarius, fondly called the Du Pré, one of two Strads owned by the late and legendary Jacqueline du Pré. He will bring the Strad to South Africa.
This, in itself, is an event. About this instrument Harrell shared the following fascinating facts: “[Du Pré] played two Strads. This one she played during the earlier part of her career. Later she acquired the 1712 Davidoff, and Yo-Yo Ma plays that instrument.
“The earlier Strad is the more robust one. Softer wood was used on the side and the back, so it has a deeper, fuller sound in the bass register. Maybe it is a little less brilliant, but it has very warm and sumptuous qualities. I was given the choice of both instruments before Yo-Yo was. I chose the earlier one as it suited my style of playing and it reminded me of my father’s singing: a bass-baritone.”
Describing how the human voice influences his playing, Harrell says: “The cello covers all the vocal ranges, the bass as well as the coloratura soprano range. The violin, naturally, can cover a higher range than the highest note of the highest sopranos. The cello covers all ranges in a more direct way. There’s no abstraction.
“Through the passionate study of opera and lieder one develops a sense of breath which is related to both speed and articulation. This last element is related to consonants, and colour more to vowels. There are even cultural characteristics like the way music moves, as in dance music,” explains Harrell.
All this doesn’t mean the athletic, muscular and forceful side of the instrument does not appeal to him. The best music written for the cello always reflects the full gamut of the instrument’s inherent capabilities. In our time the masterpieces are, according to Harrell, the concerti by Dutilleux, Lutoslawski and both 1 & 2 by Shostakovich.
The two works Harrell will perform during his South African tour, Haydn’s Concerto in C Major and Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations, have great public appeal. The Haydn was discovered in 1961 and described by HC Robbins Landon as “… the major discovery of our age, and surely one of the finest works of its period”.
Harrell composed his own cadenzas for both Haydn concerti. “As the C major was discovered only this late, there were no cadenzas by any of the great cello virtuosos. I always like to put in a joke or two, as Haydn always loved to crack some practical jokes, playing them against his orchestral colleagues.
“I do musical quotes, but I see cadenzas also as an extension of my personality.
“The Tchaikovsky is a delicate, slight but attractive piece written at a time when the great concertos, like the Dvorak, weren’t written as yet. For the composer it was a classical-romantic work.”