[ PORTUGUÊS ]
Christophe Desjardins, or the inventive interpreter
Interview conducted by Diana Ferreira in November 2005; translated by Catarina Martin
photography: Pierre Johan Laffitte
5/9
From times to times you give master classes. Do you find true viola schools throughout the world? How is the viola circle?
The teaching of viola is not different from the music teaching in general. The real differences are in the musical culture. For instance, the Americans have no idea of style, don't distinguish eras, and everything must sound brilliant... [laughs] and with lots of vibrato. I would say that some of the best schools are in France, Germany... In England there's agility in the lecture, I mean, the English are more comfortable at start with very different musical types, real fast. They don't get block by style. In the eastern countries, for example, it lacks listening to Contemporary Music.
But is there any difference between Germany and... is the technique the same?
Nowadays techniques are much alike.
You studied in France and in Germany.
Yes. But in Germany my teacher was Italian.
Don't you ever feel the need to write your own music? You like so much Contemporary Music, you know so well such different languages...
That is a very difficult question and I don't have an answer. Yes, in some way I feel the need and I totally respect the path of creating music, something I haven't learned, of composing.
... But you know...
Yes, I do know....
... And you are a critic...
I believe – and this is not a direct answer – that there's a lot of creativeness in the work of an interpreter, in the broad sense. I mean, it's not simply a work of playing the music that is written. To interpret means to pass the music to the audience and to use every resource to do it, like, for instance, words – in a presentation, in an interview, or even organizing a workshop, conducting a master class with young interpreters, a place to talk about musical issues. Or conceiving concerts where the musical pieces are connected by a theme, a poetic relation, a visual relation, or by dance. All of this is part of my idea of an interpreter, in the sense of real creation. Yes, we create the connection between the music that is written down in paper and the perception of the listener, creating an event that strikes, in a way or another.
So, you don't feel the need to have a score written by you...
Maybe that will happen, but I still haven't felt it. [>]