On Stage: Violinist Thomas Zehetmair
Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin and Kent Nagano, Berlin Philharmonie
A modest soloist is a contradiction in terms. By definition, a soloist is individuated from an orchestra and, at least since the time of Paganini, violin soloists have aspired to heroic, even egoistic display. A virtuoso is supposed to be some kind of superhuman creature, like an angel who has deigned to descend from the clouds, or someone who has sacrificed a human soul for demonic powers.
Thomas Zehetmair's performance of the Berg Violin Concerto with the Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin, under Kent Nagano at the Berlin Philharmonie, was confounding and intriguing. To say that he approached the work with the attitude of a chamber musician, working in collaboration with the orchestra, goes in the right direction and yet does not fully capture his stance.
It would be more precise to say that he was an un-soloistic soloist: humble, deflecting undue attention, refusing the traditional role of the virtuoso.
A modest soloist is not a reluctant one, or an incapable one.
Zehetmair hit all the notes, nailing the work’s considerable difficulties with ease and poise. At the age of 50, he is technically flawless – and, equipped with his 1730 Stradivari, makes himself a medium for the composer’s expressive intentions.
At big cadences, where flashier soloists would throw their bows in the air with a puff of rosin flying off the strings, Zehetmair bent his knees deeper and seemed to go further into himself. He leaves the impression not of the exploding fireworks dissipating energy that we are accustomed to seeing, but rather of containing it within his body, like a slow-burning ember of strength.
Near the beginning of Part 2, where the solo becomes more and more virtuosic, and where the Zehetmair paradox was most apparent, the violinist broke a couple of hairs on his bow. The first opportunity he had to remove them did not come until the famous woodwind chorale in which Berg quotes Bach.
During this rest, Zehetmair stood motionless, listening devoutly, so as not to disturb the quiet music. He only attended to his bow later when he had to put on his mute. This small example illustrates the principle of self-negation in the service of the music that seems to permeate his approach.
Zehetmair’s colleagues in the orchestra gave a polished performance under the sure-handed Nagano. They particularly shone in the second half of the program, which comprised Schoenberg’s Pelleas und Melisande, containing some exquisite string solos from section leaders.
The concert was dedicated to the memory of Günter Wand (1912-2002), a former chief conductor of the orchestra who would have been 100 on the day of the concert. In tribute to him, they played the serene Entr'acte (between Acts 2 and 3) from Schubert’s Rosamunde.
Schubert’s music thus bookended the evening, which had begun with a pleasing account of his Fifth Symphony.
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