IF HEARING Bach’s Goldberg Variations for the first time, at the age of 14, was not life changing for cellist Natalie Clein, it was close to that - a profound sense of awe which has stayed with her to this day.
“My first experience of the Goldberg Variations was hearing the first recording of Glen Gould, as part of a documentary about his work and life,” Natalie tells me. “I felt as though some secret about life was hidden in that theme. All these years later I feel the same - a sense of wonder about the act of creation that unfolds in every moment of the piece .”
Bach’s 1741 masterwork is the centerpiece of Music for Galway’s midwinter festival - Goldberg - which takes place this weekend, and will see three separate, and entirely different interpretations of the work, performed by different musicians.
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Photo by Neda Navaee.
Natalie, along with Alexander Sitkovetsky (violin ) and Sergey Malov (viola ), will perform Dmitry Sitkovetsky’s arrangement of the Goldberg Variations - live from Berlin and streamed on www.musicforgalway.ie - on Sunday January 24 at 3pm.
Goldberg via strings
The variations were originally written for harpsichord, and today are mostly played on piano, but Sitkovetsky’s version is for strings, allowing audiences a new way to hear and appreciate the work.
“I adore playing this version because there are very often three voices having a conversation with each other,” says Natalie. “With three separate minds on three separate instruments you have the chance to hear the lines of counterpoint in a different way. As always, I enjoy being the bassline of the story, and the bass lines of Bach are the key to everything - Beethoven and Brahms, for example, also thought so! It’s one of the most satisfying pieces I have ever played.”
That enthusiasm also highlights Natalie’s belief that classical music should be accessible and open to all listeners, from all walks to life. She hates the elitist tag with which classical music can sometimes be burdened.
“Often the great masterpieces throughout history were written by composers who certainly didn’t feel elite,” says Natalie, “and didn’t want to express something elite, but rather something universal and meant for every human being that wanted to think and feel.
“I’m a big believer in concentrating on something in order to get something memorable and precious out of it, whether it be a painting, a poem, or a piece of music, because if you love something, you usually want to know more about it. That love is open to everyone and the doorways are many. The keys are only a bit of concentration.”
A moment of communion
Natalie and her collaborators were due to come to Galway to perform the work. However, the alarming rise in Covid cases in January meant the concerts will have to be streamed. Despite the disappointment of not being able to tour, Natalie still relishes this chance to work with other musicians.
“It’s such a strange time for musicians and I really do treasure the chance,” she says. “I think every music lover, whether player or audience member, feels starved of something essential at the moment- so I feel very grateful to have this moment of communion with other musicians.”
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Natalie is one of the most expressive performers in classical music, her face and head constantly moving and responding to what her fingers and hands are playing. “The movements I make are not conscious,” she says, “but I feel repressed if I try to limit them. I used to hate the fact people would comment on it but I’ve just become used to the fact it’s part of how I think and feel about music – apparently I also do it a bit when I’m just listening!”
As Natalie points outs, “playing the cello is a very physical act”, as is playing almost any instrument. It is why, these days, as a professor of music, Natalie tells her students to “treat their bodies the way athletes do”.
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Photo by Neda Navaee.
“We must be conscious of our bodies, take care of them, and let our arms and hands, as well as our lungs breathe,” she says. “That’s one of the things I love about what I do; the combined focus on body and mind, and the fact that sometimes these two worlds are one. We can be too split on our modern world.”
The cello and the voice
Natalie’s relationship with the cello goes back to her childhood - she began learning the instrument at six years of age, attracted by the sound, and a certain quality in those who play it.
“I’ve always loved the deep vocal qualities of the cello,” she says. “I adore the sound of it, and, apparently, I also enjoyed sitting down rather than playing standing up like my mother, she’s a violinist. Cellists have always been charismatic figures in so many ways, and I’m sure that was also part of my attraction - plus the repertoire which has always spoken to my soul.”
That relationship with the cello has been a very fruitful one. At 16, Natalie won both the BBC Young Musician of the Year and the Eurovision Competition for Young Musicians in Warsaw, and as a student, was awarded the Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Scholarship by the Royal College of Music.
In 2015, Natalie was appointed artist in residence and director of musical performance at Oxford University for four years, and in 2018 was appointed Professor of Cello at the Rostock Academy of Music in Germany. She is a professor at the Royal College of Music London and Music Academy Rostock.
When Natalie spoke of the “deep vocal qualities” of the instrument, she alluded to something which has fascinated and attracted many to the cello - the belief that it is the instrument closest in sound to the human voice.
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Photo by Sussie Ahlburg.
“I’m sure there is something in this and it’s one of the reasons many people’s favourite instrument is the cello, and why many composers have chosen the cello to utter their most heartfelt statements. Think of the Dvorak or the Elgar cello concertos.
“Whenever I think about a phrase, or try to help students play more convincingly, I think of the human voice. I think about how someone would sing a phrase where they might make a slide (very often fingers make slides rather than the mind, soul, and voice ). Of course the voice is always telling a story with words and this is also helpful as an instrumentalist. There is endless inspiration to be taken from singers.”
Goldberg on film
The film which inspired Natalie’s love of the Goldberg Variations will be shown as part of the festival. Music for Galway will screen Glenn Gould Plays Bach, by Bruno Monsaigean, starting on January 24 at 8pm GMT, and available for 48 hours.
Tickets are €12 per concert; €8 for the documentary; or €40 for a festival ticket, from www.musicforgalway.ie Each show will feature a short introduction from one of the performers.
