FLASH INTERVIEW com...
(em Inglês)
...EDUARDO CALZADA |
Eduardo Calzada was born in Caracas, Venezuela, and has both Spanish and Venezuelan citizenships. Still in Venezuela, he studied with Filiberto Nuñes before continuing his studies in Germany: first in Berlin with Klaus Thunemann and later in Düsseldorf with Gustavo Nuñez.
Eduardo Calzada was a member of the Karajan Academy of the Berliner Philharmoniker as well as of the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra.
He is a member of the SWR Symphony Orchestra in Stuttgart, teaches in Strasbourg and Lübeck and is one of the longest standing members of the Ensemble Mediterrain.
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EM: Chamber music: why and what for? EC: Because it is an important alternative to the orchestra. You are required to listen more accurately and later on this is extremely important for the orchestra work too. EM: A few sentences about your collaboration with the Ensemble Mediterrain. EC: It has been almost 10 years as a permanent guest of the ensemble. This is a project in which I take part with indescribable pleasure, not only for the quality of the ensemble but also because there is a great and long-standing friendship connecting me to its musicians. EM: What is your favourite chamber work? EC: Mozart's Gran Partita K. 361. EM: Chamber musician, University professor and what else? EC: Father of 3 beautiful children. EM: Music and what else? EC: At the present I am trying to do sports. EM: What kind of music (CD, recording, etc.) would you necessarily want to take to a desert island? EC: Nowadays I would better take a mp3-player with a lot of music, surely with a lot of Venezuelan music and other Latin American rhythms and of course Vivaldi's 39 Bassoon Concertos should not be missing on the playlist. EM: And what about music scores? EC: Stravinsky's Le Sacre du Printemps. EM: Which composer would you like to drink coffee with? Why? EC: That is a difficult question, I have too many candidates. Most of the time, we make an interpretation according to our own feelings or research, but this also depends a lot on the composer itself. I often wonder if the composers actually meant it that way. EM: And with which one would you not like at all to have a coffee with? Why? EC: I could drink ONE coffee with everyone. EM: In the big sports events... you go for Venezuela, Spain or Germany? EG: Germany. EM: Cachapas, Arroz con Leche or Schwäbischer Pflaumenkuchen? EC: Ummmmm... Cachapas need a special cheese which does not exist in Germany, so I can only eat them in Venezuela. And instead of Schwäbischer Pflaumenkuchen I would rather eat some delicious Käsespätzle. |
...DUNJA ROBOTTI |
Dunja Robotti was born in Brussels by German-Italian parents and studied piano at the local Conservatoire Royal and the Universität der Künste in Berlin. Early on, she began to discover her passion for chamber music and Lied accompaniment and in the meantime has become an honorary professor for string accompaniment at the Hochschule für Musik Nürnberg.
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EM: Chamber music: why and what for? DR: For me, chamber music is essential for communicating with other musicians: listening to each other, reacting to one another and still being creative - wonderful. EM: A few sentences about your collaboration with the Ensemble Mediterrain. DR: The Ensemble Mediterrain is a great idea that works great! I have the pleasure of being a guest musician since a long time and am looking forward to every time. Also the venues are always very nice. EM: What is your favourite chamber work? DR: Hard to say ... actually I'm always thrilled by the work I'm playing at the present. I find Brahms's Piano Quartet in G minor particularly beautiful, actually every chamber music by Brahms. The sonata for two pianos and percussion by Bartòk is also particularly exciting and unusual, a fascinating work! EM: Chamber musician, University professor and what else? DR: "Berchtesgadenerin"! I have married in the Bavarian Alps and have learned to appreciate the mountains and their inhabitants. The nature is very direct there and it makes me fell good. EM: Music and what else? DR: Good food! EM: What kind of music (CD, recording, etc.) would you necessarily want to take to a desert island? DR: I can always listen to the Brandenburg Concertos by Bach, as well as to his Goldberg Variations played by Glenn Gould on the ... organ! EM: And what about music scores? DR: I always carry different scores with me; Mozart's Gran Partita was on the last island... EM: In the big sports events... Italy, Germany or Belgium? DR: I am always first for Italy, but mainly to annoy my German friends... EM: Tiramisu, Belgian chocolate or Apfelstrudel? DR: Rather Spaghetti, Moules Frites and Drei im Weggla (Nuremberg's speciality), without order-preference! |
...MATTHIEU GAUCI-ANCELIN |
At the age of 21 he was hired by Kirill Petrenko as solo flutist at the Komische Oper Berlin. From 2015 to 2017 he played in the same position in the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Daniel Harding, and has been a member of the Saito Kinen Orchestra led by Seiji Ozawa since 2019. He is also regularly invited as flute solo by the Berlin Philharmonic, as well as the London Symphony Orchestra, the Munich Philharmonic, the Dresden Staatskapelle and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra. From 2017 to 2019 he taught at Berlin's Hochschule für Musik and has now been appointed professor at the Kunstuniversität in Graz.
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EM: Chamber music: why and what for? MG: The chamber music is the fundament of everything in classical music - the musicians listen and interact. I also try to have this approach when I play in the orchestra. It is precisely in chamber music repertoire that most composers have written their masterpieces, except perhaps Wagner. EM: A few sentences about your collaboration with the Ensemble Mediterrain. MG: For some years now I have a great joy making music with the Ensemble Mediterrain. On the one hand because the colleagues became friends and are meanwhile musicians I admire, on the other hand also because I think the concept of the ensemble is great: with its flexible formation we can play various repertoire. From trio to a small chamber orchestra, it is all in there. EM: What is your favourite chamber work? MG: That's really difficult to answer... as a listener I would say Beethoven's String Quartets. But as a flutist perhaps rather Mozarts D major Flute Quartet because of its wonderful slow movement. EM: Orchestra musician, University professor and what else? MG: Parallel to the orchestra, I play chamber music regularly and sometimes as a soloist with orchestra too. Of course, the orchestra takes up most of my musical activity, but I like chamber music very much because as a woodwind player you always have an interesting part to play. I think the variety of genres is important because for example the experience as a soloist helps you when standing out with a solo in the orchestra. And the chamber music trains the listening, an absolutely essential capacity! EM: Music and what else? MG: I obviously like all forms of art, but I am especially interested in painting. Otherwise, I love travelling and good food! EM: What kind of music (CD, recording, etc.) would you necessarily want to take to a desert island? MG: I would definitely take recordings of Horowitz with me: maybe his Scarlatti Sonatas or the Kinderszenen ... I can permanently feel inspired when listening to his simplicity, his pianissimi and his beautiful singing lines. Furthermore, I would also take the Vier letze Lieder by Strauss, preferably sung by Elisabeth Schwarzkopf. EM: And what about music scores? MG: Definitely a score of Mozart's Don Giovanni. And Bach, but which of the many works... difficult decision! EM: Éclair or Berliner Pfannkuchen? MG: Both! I love sweet pastry and I keep having trouble to be reasonable... |
...ALVARO PARRA |
Member of the world-class Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra since 2013, the Chilean violinist is a longtime regular guest of the Ensemble Mediterrain with whom he already performed for example Schoenberg's Chamber Symphony op. 9, Turina's Piano Quartet and Schubert's Trout Quintet.
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EM: Chamber music: why and what for? AP: It gives me a great pleasure and one can be better part of and have more influence in the musical happening than in the orchestra. EM: One sentence about your collaboration with the Ensemble Mediterrain. AP: One of the most wonderful chamber music experiences I've ever had. EM: What is your favourite chamber work? AP: Anything by Franz Schubert. EM: Chamber music, orchestra and what else? AP: Popular Music from my Latin American continent in all its forms and variants. EM: Music and what else? AP: I am very involved in politics and history and I like to engage myself against injustice and for a better society. EM: What kind of music (CD, recording, etc.) would you necessarily want to take to a desert island? AP: Popular Music from Latin America. EM: And what about music scores? AP: The ones I need to learn next... Pisco Sour (Chilean traditional drink) or Berliner Weiße (Berlin's traditional beer)? AP: Piscoooooo. |
...BRUNO BORRALHINHO |
Portuguese conductor and cellist Bruno Borralhinho has led the Ensemble Mediterrain since it was founded in 2007.
He is a member of the Dresden Philharmonic, has had a varied artistic career as a conductor, soloist and chamber musician and is considered by international critics to be an "ambassador of Portuguese music".
Bruno Borralhinho recorded for the labels Naxos, Ars and DreyerGaido and published on Kunzelmann and Editions AVA.
In 2004 he was awarded the artistic diploma "with distinction" at the Berlin University of the Arts, in 2011 he obtained a Master degree in Culture Management at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya in Barcelona and in 2020 he received his Doctorate in Humanities from the Carlos III University in Madrid.
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EM: Chamber music: why and what for? BB: Because of the fantastic repertoire and because it is probably the most ideal situation to communicate and interact with other musicians. EM: A few sentences about your collaboration with the Ensemble Mediterrain. BB: The Ensemble Mediterrain is a part of my life, like my child. Seeing it thrive and expand is one of the greatest joys of my career and it's certainly one of the things I'm most passionate about. Mainly because it's possible to make music at the highest level, with friends and people who are very close to my heart. EM: What is your favourite chamber work? BB: The list is too long to fit in these lines and honestly I can't really decide between Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms and so many others. A realistic and conclusive answer would be: the next work to be carried out. Also because I normally choose and build the programs of the Ensemble Mediterrain myself and would never plan a work that I don't like. EM: Conductor, chamber musician, orchestra musician and what else? BB: Father of the two most wonderful children in the world. EM: Music and what else? BB: Family. And if there's still some time left, I'll try to get some sleep. EM: What kind of music (CD, recording, etc.) would you necessarily want to take to a desert island? BB: I would surely take classical music with me and Bach would certainly be on the playlist. EM: And what about music scores? BB: So that I can already hope for my salvation: the score of the next work I am supposed to conduct or play. EM: Which composer would you like to drink coffee with? Why? BB: Beethoven and Shostakovich would be next, but no doubt I would start by inviting Mahler: I would get along and argue with him like with nobody else! EM: And with which one would you not like at all to have a coffee with? Why? BB: With the one or those who don't want to have coffee with me. Coffee and time are too precious to waste. EM: In the big sports events... are you for Portugal or for Germany? BB: For Portugal. Germany wins already too often. :) EM: Pastel de Nata or Apfelstrudel? BB: Pastel de nata... but it's still a pity that neither contain chocolate. |