Wednesday 20 July 2005

Playing Bach in the 21st century: 1.

I had an interesting conversation the other day with a colleague who was engaged to play on two different recordings of the newly-discovered Bach aria. She was made to sign a secrecy contract by one group, and then the (knighted, if you need a clue) conductor of the other rang her up the day after the first recording to ascertain certain details of it. All very cloak-and-dagger. Grow up, people!

Playing Bach in the 21st century: 2.

Katherine and I have been inviting people to play in our performance of Bach's John Passion next March. It will be an unconducted performance directed by Mark Padmore, a bit like his forthcoming project with the OAE. I got a response from one violinist today, saying that she would be delighted to play, but stipulating which seats in the band she would be prepared to sit in. 

Now seating violinists in an orchestra, even a small one, is a tricky business. On one level it's hierarchical in that the best players tend to sit at the front, and as a result there are self-esteem issues at stake.  But there's a lot more to it than that. You have to take into account the personalities, who would work well sitting next to whom, and what kind of sound each player makes. It's a delicate business. And in any case we may not sit in a conventional orchestral formation at all.

So when someone reduces it to 'I'm only prepared to sit there or there' the only honest response is tell them to get lost: a zero tolerance policy has to be enforced here. Either you want to be in the room and help us all to get closer to Bach or you don't. This is not a group for people with an orchestral mindset.