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| Antje Weithaas is scheduled to perform solo violin sonatas by Bach and Ysaye this Thursday at Kumho Art Hall Yonsei. Courtesy of Giorgia Bertazzi |
Antije Withaas performs violin sonatas by Bach, Ysaye in Seoul
By Anna J. Park
Antje Weithaas, renowned German violinist and professor at Berlin's prestigious Hanns Eisler School of Music, is currently staying in Korea for her concert on solo violin sonatas by Bach and Ysaye this Thursday at Kumho Art Hall in Seoul.
Invited by the art hall for its "International Masters" series concert, Weithaas, 52, held the first part of the performance last Thursday, and is scheduled to present the following part this Thursday. Throughout the two concerts, she will be performing six sonatas and partitas for solo violin by Bach, all in pairs with Ysaye's entire set of six sonatas for solo violin.
During a recent interview with The Korea Times, the master violinist said there are great structural similarities between Bach's solo violin sonatas and partitas and Ysaye's six sonatas for solo violin. Although the two composers are separated by two centuries, it is clear that Ysaye created his solo violin works based on influences and inspirations from Bach's six sonatas and partitas.
"Of course, the two composers have completely different styles, but what I find interesting is, Ysaye had Bach in his mind in these works," she said.
"He was inspired to compose these pieces after he listened to Joseph Szigeti perform Bach's sonatas for solo violin at the concert, then he really started to compose these six sonatas. It's definitely related to Bach. Also the number of sonatas, six, are the same as Bach's. If you look for specific instances, the first sonatas by Bach and Ysaye are in the same key, the same structure of the movements. These structural similarities are bountiful."
And it was her idea many years ago to put these two great masterpieces together both on CD recordings and on concert tours. From 2014 to 2017, she released the set of three CDs, comprised of all Bach's sonatas and partitas for solo violin and Ysaye's six sonatas for solo violin in pairs. She is also presenting these works as concert programs.
"I was so surprised that nobody did it before; it was really the first time to present them together, and it was great," she said.
"It is very interesting to learn how audiences reacted to my performance, seeing all of them surprised by Ysaye's pieces, and how well it fits with Bach, and how they start to listen in different ways to Bach. What is also interesting is that Ysaye's time was completely different from today and from the Baroque period. He actually wrote very romantic, Baroque-inspired music; he used all these influences of his time, such as those from French impressionism, Thus, his music is really baroque sometimes, yet it's full-colored, harmonically so rich. This means it's really from that time of the composer, but the inspiration is definitely from the Baroque period of Bach."
She also stressed the specialness of Bach's solo violin sonatas and partitas, especially to musicians.
"All violinists are inspired by these six pieces. There are no words to explain Bach. Bach is always a challenge. I think it is the biggest challenge we have ― you can ask any violinists, and they will give you the same answer. These partitas and sonatas are like the universe ― you try to come to a certain stage, but you will never satisfy," the seasoned violinist said.
"I think, if you play Bach ― of course I played Bach all my life now ― you discover so many things every time. You take the music and start again, and you discover something else. Of course the structure of Baroque music is not as complicated as what we know today. Also the harmonic idea is a different one. But there are so much deep human emotions in there, from all the sadness, depression and the transfiguration of all that; a whole life is in that cycle. I am sure Bach will last for next centuries."
She hopes audiences open their minds to Ysaye's music through her concert in Seoul.
"I hope that they love Ysaye; violinists of course know who Ysaye is, yet for those audience who don't know him yet, it will be big surprise and these pieces will fascinate them. I also hope that they hear Bach in a different way after listening to Ysaye," Weithaas said.
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| Antje Weithaas, 52, is a renowned violin soloist and professor at Hanns Eisler School of Music in Berlin. Courtesy of Giorgia Bertazzi |
She touted music by Bach and Ysaye during the interview. Yet, the violinist who is known to have a wide variety of pieces, cannot hide her love for other composers.
Regarding her favorite composer, she said, "Definitely Schubert, hmm, also Schumann, Brahms, Bach. I also love Mozart, and Beethoven! It's really hard to decide! We have so many fantastic composers, you really can feel in a way at home with them. You need them for your inner soul, that's why it's really hard to choose. But if I have to decide one composer, it will be Schubert. His tenderness, darkness and brightness at the same time, and his sensitivity, it's really something, especially his songs and chamber music."
The master violinist leads a busy life, juggling teaching at university and performing as a soloist in about 50 to 60 concerts a year globally. She's been doing it for decades, yet she said she loves what she does, because she loves music so much.
"Music is the source for my energy. When I was a child, it was my island. In music, you can lose yourself, and you can find everything. Music is a fantastic thing that really has every element of the universe and what human is all about. That's why it's so lively and so rich for our soul, it's like a food and blood for our lives. It is the source for everything," she happily said.
Weithaas started the violin at the age of four and she won the Kreisler Competition in 1987, the Bach Competition in 1988 and the Hanover International violin Competition in 1991. Since 2004, she has been teaching violin at Hanns Eisler School of Music in Berlin.
