Just under a year ago, I met up with the revered Maltese violinist Carmine Lauri to interview him about his performance of Alexander Glazunov’s Violin Concerto at the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra’s Russian Masters concert last April.
I recently had the opportunity to meet him again in light of his upcoming Ein Heldenleben (A Hero’s Life) concert in which he’ll be doubling up as concertmaster and solo violinist. This time, I couldn’t avoid the curious subject of what it is like to live the life of a concertmaster, or “to sit in the hot seat” as Carmine described it. He is, after all, the Malta Philharmonic’s designated orchestra leader.
The role of the concertmaster is a high-pressured one where all eyes are on you as a leader of the entire orchestra – in fact, another term for concertmaster is ‘orchestra leader’ – which is great if you’re an attention-seeking poseur. But, on speaking to Carmine, one is able to detect his humility. Yet he’s an outstanding musician and the role fits him like a glove.
“Leading an orchestra requires experience, knowledge of musical entries from different sections of the orchestra, being on the alert and proactive, and being prepared for something that might not quite go as planned,” explained Carmine. “I have the dual role of leading the string section and assisting the conductor by communicating with other sections and ensuring that the orchestra is in sync with him.”
What happens should a note go slightly askew? “I will have to get the attention of other section principles so that together we can take steps to remedy the situation. I’m not necessarily referring to disastrous cases. There could even be subtle aspects such as phrasing, musical direction, and dynamics.” Experience will certainly come in handy here. Musicians aren’t infallible, but that is the beauty of live music.
Carmine will have more eager eyes on him during the Ein Heldenleben (A Hero’s Life) concert this month as he will be delivering his much-awaited violin solo from Richard Strauss’ epic tone poem of the same title. This may not come as such a huge challenge to Carmine - he has previously experienced the pressure of critical audiences in prestigious concert halls like the Vienna Musikverein or Tokyo’s Suntory Hall, with a string of close-up microphones and TV cameras to top it off.
The role of the concertmaster is a high-pressured one where all eyes are on you as a leader of the entire orchestra
When I asked him what he thinks about Strauss’s infamously arduous Ein Heldenleben solo part, he commented that it is not the most technically demanding that the composer wrote for the violin in comparison with the one in Le bourgeois gentilhomme for example. However, it does have triple stopping and fast passage runs that are quite awkward for the left hand. “The challenge lies in its interpretation as the concertmaster has to wittingly depict the moody character of the composer’s wife, Pauline, who Strauss himself summed up as ‘complex, very much a woman, a little depraved, something of a flirt, never twice alike, every moment different from what she was the moment before’.”
I’ve had a few listens to the solo, entitled ‘The Hero’s Companion’, and find that its end is tear-jerkingly slow and melancholic. It’s breathtaking not only because of the beautiful lyrical melodic line, but also for the fact that it’s supported by rich harmonies from the orchestra.
This will not be the first time that Carmine will be tackling Ein Heldenleben. He has performed this work on a number of occasions with the London Symphony Orchestra, however not as concertmaster. “I’ve had to prepare the solo every time we played it just in case the leader should fall ill on the day. This situation has cropped up a few times, but not with Ein Heldenleben so far. I’ll be playing this solo in concert for the first time on the 27, and I’m waiting in anticipation for that moment.”
The entire work lasts about 50 minutes, and although it doesn’t have separate movements, it takes the form of eight sections: The Hero, The Hero’s Adversaries, The Hero’s Companion, The Hero at Battle, The Hero’s Works of Peace, and the Hero’s Retirement from the World and Completion. Strauss portrays himself as the hero here. It’s a big work for any orchestra to undertake and requires a larger orchestra than a Tchaikovsky symphony for instance. This is also a first for the MPO.
As I’m aware that Carmine is also co-leader for the London Symphony Orchestra, I asked him how he divides his time between the LSO and the MPO. “I wish I could dedicate more of my time to the MPO. However, this proves to be challenging as I reside abroad and the LSO has a heavy schedule of concerts the world over and recordings in the studio. Whenever the MPO invites me to either guest-lead or play concertos, I do pull out of important work as I try to maintain a healthy relationship with them. We see each other about three times a year.”
Will we be seeing more of Carmine this year? “Future projects are still being planned for 2018. I’ll be leading Rimsky Korsakov’s Scheherazade in May, another great masterpiece for the orchestra with many violin solos in it, and I’ll be performing Glazunov’s Concerto on July 7 to close the Victoria International Arts Festival in Gozo.”
The Ein Heldenleben (A Hero’s Life) concert is being held at the Mediterranean Conference Centre, Valletta, on January 27 at 8pm and will showcase Richard Strauss’s work of the same title and Rachmaninoff’s First Piano Concerto, under the direction of Dutch-Maltese conductor Lawrence Renes. Tickets purchased before January 20 are being given a free gold MPO membership for the rest of the season, entitling them to a 40 per cent discount on MPO-organised concerts and a number of other benefits until July.