Henning Kraggerud, Violin • Lars Anders Tomter, Viola Christoph Richter, Cello

Key Releases | June 2011

Henning KR AGGERud Plays Mozart

MOZART Divertimento in E flat major Henning Kraggerud, violin • Lars Anders Tomter, viola Christoph Richter, cello

At the peak of his powers, but beset by cash-flow problems brought on by living beyond his means, Mozart composed his famous String Trio, K. 563 for his friend, fellow-mason and creditor Johann Michael Puchberg. While labelled ‘Divertimento’, this masterful six-movement work is one of Mozart’s most substantial pieces for string trio and one of his greatest works. The Norwegian violinist Henning Kraggerud, who has made a number of highly-praised Naxos recordings, joins prize-winning compatriot Lars Anders Tomter (who has recorded the Walton Viola Concerto for Naxos) and acclaimed German cellist Christoph Richter.

Booklet notes in English Catalogue No: 8.572258 Total Playing Time: 51:03

Listen on www.naxos.com

“Most composers try to control things much more, using the narrow, small, left side of the brain, which is less smart, if you like, than the whole. Mozart dares to be natural, to follow his instinct.” – Henning Kraggerud

About Henning Kraggerud

Born in Oslo in 1973, the Norwegian violinist Henning Kraggerud studied with Camilla Wicks and Emanuel Hurwitz, among others, and is a recipient of Norway’s prestigious Grieg Prize, the Ole Bull Prize and the Sibelius Prize. He regularly appears as a soloist with many of the world’s leading orchestras in Europe, North America, Asia and Australia, collaborating with many distinguished conductors. A committed chamber musician, he also performs both on violin and on viola at major international festivals, appearing with musicians such as Stephen Kovacevich, Kathryn Stott, Leif Ove Andsnes, Jeffrey Kahane, Truls Mørk and Martha Argerich. From 2011 he replaces Leif Ove Andsnes as Artistic Director of the Risør Festival of Chamber Music in Norway. His recordings include an acclaimed release of the complete Unaccompanied Violin Sonatas of Ysaÿe for Simax, which brought him the Spellemann CD Award. His recordings for Naxos include Grieg’s Violin Sonatas, Norwegian Favourites for violin and orchestra, Spohr’s Concertos for Two Violins, Mozart’s Divertimento K.563, works by Sinding for violin and piano and the violin concertos of Sinding and of Sibelius (8.557266). He is also a professor at the Barratt Due Institute of Music in Oslo. Henning Kraggerud plays a 1744 Guarneri del Gesù instrument, provided by Dextra Musica AS, a company founded by Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR.

Henning KR AGGERud Talks to Jeremy Siepmann

To meet Henning Kraggerud, the foremost Norwegian violinist of his Needless to say, given his duo-instrumental background, chamber music generation, is to meet three-quarters of a string quartet. He got an early has always been central to Kraggerud’s artistic life. ‘Oh absolutely! As start, like most violinists, but hardly had he started than he took up the I mentioned earlier, after the cake and ice cream with my first teacher viola as well – and the two instruments, in tandem, have been his life we’d play duets, and I soon started playing duets with my brother as well. companions. Now pushing 40, he exudes energy, passion and enthusiasm And my first compositions were for two violins. Later on, I graduated in equal measure, tempered by a strong contemplative streak, all of which to playing string quartets and string trios, and works for various is reflected in the sheer range of his playing – from poignant introspection combinations of instruments at chamber music festivals. Unfortunately, to thrilling virtuosity. Yet it all began with a touch of sibling rivalry. however, in worldly terms chamber music pays very much less well than being a soloist with orchestras. It isn’t for the most part financially viable ‘I started playing the violin when I was seven, at my own request – because to play only or predominantly chamber music. The bread-and-butter, so I wanted to be like my brother; in fact I really had no idea at all what it to speak, really comes from playing concertos.’ was all about! So my mother signed me up and I started having fantastic lessons once a week (2 to 2 ½ hours every Friday) with a wonderful From the general we turned to the particular – namely the wonderful teacher. And after my lessons we would eat cake and ice cream, and then Divertimento, K. 563, by Mozart, released this month [June]. Why, we played duets. So from every point of view it was something I looked I asked, is this stunning work for string trio so much less well-known forward to. And I must say, the cake and ice cream worked like a charm!’ than Mozart’s string quartets? Especially since musicians are virtually unanimous in hailing it as one of his greatest masterpieces? ‘It certainly And who were the formative influences on his development as a violinist/ is! It’s one of his absolutely supreme chamber works. But I think the musician? ‘Well of course my teachers – Magna Halvorsen, Leif Jørgensen, explanation for its relative neglect is really quite simple. The fact is, there Stephan Barratt-Due, Emanuel Hurwitz (in London) and Camilla Wicks just aren’t as many good string trios as there are good quartets. If you (in America) – were all very important to me. But in a way the most play in a string quartet you have the whole amazing quartet repertoire significant influence of all was the great violinist and composer Eugène at your disposal. First-rate works for string trio are very few, certainly in Ysaÿe, who of course was long dead when I was born. I remember the first comparison with quartets. If there were a whole bunch of pieces equal in time I heard his music as though it were yesterday. I was 10 or 11 years quality to this one, then I’m sure there would be many more professional old, and my father had borrowed a recording and the music to go with it, string trios to play them. But sadly that isn’t the case.’ and straightaway I was transfixed. I decided almost immediately to start learning some of the sonatas for unaccompanied violin. Of the famous Music, and the essence of music, are devilishly difficult to talk about, but violinist-composers, Ysaÿe was far and away my most inspiring influence. is it possible to describe what it is that makes this work a masterpiece? ‘It’s Of the great non-violinist composers, Beethoven, Bach, Mozart, Sibelius certainly possible, I think, to speak a little bit around it. It’s a particularly and Grieg were also right up there, of course (I know they all played inspired work, where he somehow manages to make all three parts equally the violin – except for Grieg – but they weren’t ‘violin composers’, so important. The cello, viola and violin all have both melodic and harmonic to speak). Since I also compose myself, it’s the great composers who’ve responsibility. Mozart manages to move the instruments up and down in tended to inspire me most of all. One I haven’t mentioned yet is Janáček. fantastic ways and no matter where you are, you’re in the right position I’ll always remember the first time I heard his string quartets, which I to form the harmony. At all times, three very independent voices manage thought were simply stunning. I couldn’t sleep that night, I was so filled quite naturally to provide the three or four notes necessary to the harmony. with this fantastic universe of sound.’ I expect it was a welcome challenge to Mozart not to have that extra voice of the quartet; he had to think differently because of having only three.’

When playing this piece – or anything else by Mozart – can one ever really are unique. Of course there are a few extremely good concert halls, in lose sight of the fact that he was first, last and always an opera composer? which you can achieve something of that intimacy, but nothing brings ‘Absolutely not. Whenever he had a chance to write an opera he jumped you so close to the instrument as a microphone, no venue is more alive at it – and you can hear that in most of his music. For a start, he had such to extreme subtleties at the very softest dynamic level. At the same time an incredible genius for creating melodies. It cost him nothing to make there are dangers. In this unique little world, without an audience, it’s something that other composers would die to achieve. And his sense of possible to become overly concerned with technical perfection. At such drama! Like in the fourth movement of this divertimento. This wonderful moments you can lose that vital sense of communication. I think this variation movement isn’t a normal theme followed in the normal way happens often in the studio. We must all remember, we musicians, that by self-contained variations. The variations themselves contain variations we are storytellers. And even in the relative isolation of the studio we’re on the variations! And Mozart’s sense of fantasy is so amazing. Where telling a story to an imaginary audience. We have to feel free to take risks. other composers might be happy just to carry on, Mozart is constantly If you think about recording in that way, you can really afford to take big getting new ideas and unexpectedly altering, more than that, developing chances, because if they don’t work out you can just delete them. So I things. It’s very seldom in Mozart’s music that you can play more than think that in the studio you can dare to be even more risk-taking than in two bars without something changing in some wonderful way, giving so a concert. Which is great!’ much vitality and spontaneity to the music. And you find this throughout the operas. I find it very interesting, by the way, that Mozart apparently It sounds, on balance, as though Kraggerud enjoys recording. ‘I do. Partly composed a lot of his music, that he had some of his best musical ideas, just for the reasons we’ve just been discussing. But precisely for that reason I before going to sleep or awakening in the morning. He loved transition! like to have a little more time than usual, so I’ve quite often had private That middle ground between one thing and another; one state of being sponsors for many of my Naxos recordings, to buy some additional studio and another. I think he must have had a remarkable contact with his time. I always insist with my producer that once we’ve recorded all we subconscious. Most composers try to control things much more, using the need and listened to it through, I get to play it again, complete, two or narrow, small, left side of the brain, which is less smart, if you like, than the three times. And very often quite a lot that’s useful comes from this extra whole. Mozart dares to be natural, to follow his instinct. Which reminds time. So I need to work with the right types of producers, who have no me that one of the greatest problems with many modern composers, for boundaries.’ me, is that they try to control too much, and in too intellectual a manner.’ Are there, I wondered, any particular recording projects that Kraggerud Our age is unprecedented in its musicological awareness. Has this affected especially covets? What are his greatest unfulfilled ambitions at the Kraggerud? ‘To a certain extent, yes, of course. I read a lot of books on moment? ‘Well I have several plans, not all of which I want to share, how they think music was played in the old days, but my main problem because sometimes I think it’s nice to keep that hidden – to keep it fresh with a lot of ‘early music’ playing – and this may sound a little funny – and always alive. I know many novelists refrain from sharing their plots is that it sounds too stylistic. I’m sure that in Mozart’s and Bach’s time because once they’ve told the story to someone they lose much of the they were more concerned with the content of the music than the style desire to write it. So I’ll keep a lot of that secret! I will say however that of performance. And whenever I hear a performance where I’m more as well as playing great classical works like the Mozart we’ve been talking conscious of the style, of the how of it, than of the music itself, then I about, I’ve also devoted much of my career to finding hidden gems of can’t help feeling this approach is mistaken. I think in order to enchant lesser-known music by Spohr and Sinding and other composers. And I an audience, you need a lot of different tools to make a suitably varied aim to continue in this. Of course I’ll go on playing and recording popular interpretation. Take this stipulation that in some music you should never masterpieces and other works – which are popular for good reasons – but use vibrato. If you take away vibrato altogether, and put nothing in its at the same time I’m always looking out for really great music which for place, the result, for me, is likely to be sterile. And I think that’s very some reason has been forgotten by history.’ dangerous. In Louis Spohr’s generation, they used a lot of portamento (glissando) and less vibrato. There was a kind of swap, which still left History is the past. Music is the present and the future. In closing, I them with the means to express themselves. If you play his music now, asked Kraggerud to reflect on the nature and value of music itself, and and remove the vibrato in common use today without adding the on its chances of eternal survival. ‘I think music is the shortest way to get compensatory portamento, you may end up with nothing at all.’ into contact with your own feelings and your own inner light. To read a novel can take several hours, but you can hear one melody from Mozart’s And what about playing on so-called ‘period’ instruments? Had Kraggerud Requiem or something like that and you’re instantly in contact with experimented with these? ‘I have. But not a lot. Frankly this isn’t an issue something that feels important. I think the most fantastic thing about that concerns me overmuch. It’s a fact that the great composers have music is its capacity to focus on the meaningful in life, and it can do this always availed themselves of the best instruments available. I’m quite sure, at the same time as it entertains us. I’m sure that music will always exist for instance, that if Bach had had the piano – if he’d had a good Steinway in the world, but if the best is to survive we must be discriminating. It’s or something like that – he would have used it; would have written for it. not the responsibility of the musician to play all music, from all periods. I would always try to use the best sounding instrument I could get. If I I firmly believe that not everything is meant to survive. If a work can’t should come across a really fantastic period instrument I might be tempted interest and touch an audience, there’s probably good reason for it to fall to use it. But those I’ve tried so far have not really been more than OK. by the wayside. We shouldn’t preserve for the sake of preservation. That To put it another way, I think that in any type of art, the most interesting carries its own dangers. So as I say, there are worries but I’m basically thing for the audience is not if it’s ‘right’ or ‘wrong’, but whether it’s good optimistic.’ or not, whether it’s communicating. That’s the essential thing.’ In that Darwinian perspective, the survival of Mozart, at least, would And communication presupposes an audience – something notably seem to be assured. Equally certain is that he’ll be in the best company missing in a recording studio. But are there compensating virtues? Does our race has to offer. the very intimacy of the microphone, with its unparalleled clarity, offer interpretative resources, instrumental subtleties, not generally available in Jeremy Siepmann is an internationally acclaimed writer, musician, teacher, the concert hall? ‘I think it does. The studio has many resources which broadcaster and editor.

“Kraggerud’s playing gripped the attention through its subtle blend of tenderness and virtuosity.” Geoffrey Norris,The Telegraph, August 2010

More recordings by Henning Kraggerud Henning Kraggerud’s Upcoming Performances in 2011 GRIEG Violin Sonatas Nos 1-3 Helge Kjekshus, piano Apr 27-28 & May 1 – Manchester 8.553904 | UPC: 730099490429 Concert with the Hallé Orchestra & conductor Louis Langrée

June 8, 9 & 14 – Rennes & Lorient Concert with the Orchestre de Bretagne & conductor Olari Elts SIBELIUS Violin Concerto / SINDING Violin Concerto No 1 Bournemouth Symphony • Bjarte Engeset June 17-19 – Mexico City & León Britten Sinfonia in Mexico 8.557266 | UPC: 747313226627 July 6 – Vail, Colorado Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival – Concert with Paul Neubauer (viola), Dallas Symphony & conductor Jaap van Zweden

SINDING Music for Violin and Piano, Vol 1 July 14 – Boulder, Colorado Christian Ihle Hadland, piano Colorado Music Festival – Concert with the Festival Orchestra & conductor Michael Christie 8.572254 | UPC: 747313225477 July 26 – Montpellier, France Montpellier Festival – Recital with Øystein Birkeland (cello) & Håvard Gimse (piano)

Sept 8 & 11 – Wrocław, Poland SINDING Music for Violin and Piano, Vol 2 International Festival ‘Wratislavia Cantans’ – Christian Ihle Hadland, piano Solo Violin Recital and Concert with the Festival 8.572255 | UPC: 747313225576 Orchestra & conductor Paul McCreesh

Oct 2, 5 & 7 – Norwich, Cambridge & London UK Tour with Britten Sinfonia

Oct 9 – Dublin Recital with Christian Ihle Hadland (piano) SPOHR Concertos for Two Violins Nos 1 & 2

Øyvind Bjorå, violin • Oslo Camerata Barratt Due Chamber Orchestra • Stephan Barratt-Due Oct 10 – Manchester Recital with Christian Ihle Hadland (piano) 8.570840 | UPC: 747313084074 Oct 18 – Geneva Concert with L’Orchestre de Chambre de Genève

YSAŸE String Trio ‘Le Chimay’ Oct 21 – Tampere, Finland Sonata for Two Violins • Cello Sonata Concert with the Tampere Philharmonic & Bård Monsen, violin • Lars Anders Tomter, viola conductor Claus Peter Flor Ole-Eirik Ree, cello Nov 20 – Cornwall, UK 8.570977 | UPC: 747313233571 Concert at the ‘Music at Tresanton’ Festival

Dec 8-10 – Costa Mesa, California Concert with the Pacific Symphony Norwegian Violin Favourites Razumovsky Symphony • Bjarte Engeset Dec 16 & 17 – Vancouver Concert with the Vancouver Symphony 8.554497 | UPC: 636943449721