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NICOLAS DAUTRICOURT & JUHO POHJONEN 19
Do you see yourself as belonging to a specific violin tradition?
N.D.:
I didn’t askmyself questions about tradition. I listen to a lot of music, all kinds
of music, but I must admit that I’ve not heard many performances or recordings of
this repertory. For me, the very principle of a violin school is something restrictive.
So my approach is to sight-read the music, often at the piano first, before playing
it on the violin. Then I play it the way I feel it. ‘Find a beautiful melody and your
music will be beautiful’, as Haydn advised his students. My musical instinct has
been forged through listening, studying and practising an extremely wide-ranging
and contrasting body of musical material. So, today, I’m confident in my ability to
synthesise all this knowledge and these emotions in a way that will serve the music
and not use it to my own advantage. To be honest, if people love the music I play, I
don’t care whether or not they recognise my violin.
You studied with András Schiff. Were you influenced by a particular
piano school?
J.P.:
Yes, I had the pleasure of studying Bach’s output with András Schiff. I think he
has found a way to play this music with superb artistic freedom. A freedom that
always seems authentic, and which remains a great source of inspiration for me.
That being said, I don’t claim to adhere a particular style of playing or school of
pianism. And if I have picked up influences here and there, it was more often from
performers who aren’t pianists.