The 48th International Viola Congress took place in Salaya, Thailand from June 6th – 10th, 2023. With a significant delay due to extreme workloads both professionally and privately, this final installment of the IVC Salaya blog is delivered to you (more than 2.5 years late!) by Kristofer Skaug.
Day 4: Friday, June 9th, 2023
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There’s nothing as beautiful as Second Chances. For example, this Friday morning’s 2nd chance to experience Nehir Akansu‘s IMPROVIOLA JAZZ workshop. Only trouble is, it started practically in the middle of the night (8.30am) … some of us managed, and judging by the pictures they sent me, it was lots of fun!
A gem of a lecture was given by Dorotea Vismara, with the somewhat mystifying title “Who is afraid of the Older Violist“? While it was initially pointed out that “oldness” is a relative quality that cannot be directly implied by calendar age, Vismara anyway went on to list various physical, psychological and social challenges that at least tend to increase with age. Muscular issues, balance, stamina, hearing and eyesight; mental agility to learn new music and embrace new insights, stage fright arising from bad experiences, social pressure. It all accumulates over time, and the “older” violist would be the one who is more troubled by the sum of these issues.
In preparation for this lecture, Vismara interviewed the famous Italian violist Bruno Giuranna, who recently turned 90 years old, but who is still teaching and performing. It was pointed out that specific technical exercises and yoga could slow down some of the negative physical aging effects. DVS secretary Ursula Skaug, one of Giuranna’s students, briefly demonstrated some of his left-hand gymnastics,
At this point, Vismara turned to explore external factors: The world around us is continuously changing. The disruptive effects of societal changes, migration, wars and political upheavals (e.g. various “cultural revolutions” around the world) influence how and what we learn, play, and teach on the viola. The current standard repertoire of Walton, Bartók and Hindemith concertos was mostly unknown in Vismara’s native Italy, even in the mid-1970s. It takes a concerted effort for “older” violists to keep up with developments, in the broadest sense. Editorial note: Let this be a warning for today’s student generation. And of course, attending IVC congresses is one really great way to ensure you’re updated!
Next, a recital with the appealing title “Sound Images from Formosa” was brought by the Taiwanese delegation. In particular I was fascinated by the piece ‘Tâi-uân’ for viola quartet, written by Yi-Cheng Chiang for, and premiered at, this very occasion. Performed by the Radiant Ensemble (Ming-Li Wu, Shu-Ching Hsu, Yvonne Yung-Hwa Liu and Chia-Hsin Chang)i, this composition was inspired by indigenous music from Taiwan.
The Taiwanese government recognizes 16 groups of indigenous Taiwanese aborigines, and the most famous music in these cultures is the Bunun Pasibutbut, a rich male polyphonic choir tradition that I found oddly similar to male choir traditions from Sardinia (Italy): Inward-turned circles of singers with crossed arms, exploiting microtonal shifts and overtone effects… did these two traditions arise completely independently of each other, or did some cultural migration event play a role, unlikely as it may seem over such a distance?
In the part “Thâu”, the violas were equipped with what I at first thought was an advanced acoustic device to achieve special sound effects, especially when plucking the strings.
I had a chat with the ensemble players later, revealing that this “advanced device” was nothing more than a regular plastic hairpin clipped onto the string. So cool! Furthermore, the score for this piece had hardly any pitch indications, it should not be ‘in tune’ according to the composer. This listening experience along with the unexpected cultural learning made me extremely enthusiastic, it felt like this one session alone had justified the investment to come to this congress.
After lunch, the MACM stage was set for a concert with Mahidol (University) Symphony Orchestra. First out, Patcharaphan Khumprakob (whom we heard playing the Rebecca Clarke sonata on Day 2) was the soloist in the Bartók concerto. Well done!
Nevertheless, ms. Khumprakob and mr. Bartók will have to forgive me for saying that the hands-down highlight of this particular afternoon concert was the subsequent world premiere of Marco Anzoletti’s (1867-1929) viola concerto no. 1 in f minor. The composer originally wrote this concerto in 1900 with a piano reduction only, so Ken Martinson (of Gems Music Publications) took it upon him to create and publish an orchestral score from that. Since Anzoletti didn’t leave too many hints of the conceptual orchestration, Martinson had significant freedom of choice, and made use of it to give us some delightful surprises such as celesta solo’s to cool down the hotly temperamental music (Brahms on steroids), and a concertino group of double bass and celli to open the 2nd movement.
Virtuoso viola soloist Marco Misciagna gave this concerto all the passion and brilliance it demanded, and threw in a stunning self-written cadenza (in authentic Misciagna style!). The performance was very much appreciated by the audience, to put it mildly. And yet another great example of why Viola Congresses are worth organizing and attending. You can now see the entire premiere performance in this YouTube recording made by the score publisher.