Matt Haimovitz

Hello, great to be with you. Thank you.

I do, and I also have learned to let life, you know, there— there are things out of our control, essentially. I've learned— I've learned that, as we all have. The pandemic is— [Laughs] is a major major force and the uh war breaking out in various parts of the world. You know, our health, we de- we— you know, we— we— we take a lot for granted. And I think, um, you know, like any citizen of the world that— that wants to be relevant and productive and meaningful, lead a meaningful life, I have to balance, you know, sort of long-term goals and dreams and aspirations and waking up any given day and— and sort of looking at the day and— and saying, "Okay, how— how can I contribute today?" You know, and— and— and make um as much of an impact as possible. What— what I do or what I really would love to do, you know, every minute is make music, and that's— that's sort of I— I— I— I breathe and drink and eat music, [Laughs] you know? It's like, in the— the— that's— that's really what— what uh kind of makes me tick. And yet, we have other things that we have to take care of and we have to think about, and— and— and then, what is the role of this? I mean, it's a— it's a pretty abstract art and endeavor and— and so, what— what is the role of music in society? And I mean, I've— I've been asking that question daily for— for years now, and

Yeah, thank you, that's a very big compliment. [Laughs] I do— I do— I do try to get to the heart of whatever it is I'm playing, and I um, I have a wide range of music that I love and I'm passionate about and— and it keeps expanding. So, um, no matter what it is, though, I have to feel like I can, um, I can really make it— bring it to life. And— and um, you know, so, I— I uh yeah, absolutely, that is my modus operandi, I— I— I— I

Yeah. [Laughs] Definitely, definitely.

Yes, that is uh a Charline von Heyl. It's um, she created Primavera 2020, which is a uh reimagining of um of the Botticelli— Sandro Botticelli Primavera from hundreds of years ago. But the painting behind me is actually just one of the— it's not the Primavera 2020, but it's a it's a maybe I don't want to call it a study for, but it— it's— it's part of her Primavera period paintings where um after creating that— and we commission, we are commissioning 81 composers now and— and so— so uh, it's a large scale commissioning process. As Charline has been listening to the pieces, she's— she's made a variety of other paintings and that— this is one of the paintings.

Well, yeah, I, um, you know, at this point, this is before the pandemic, actually, that— that uh my partner and I, uh, Jeffrianne Young, um, you know, came across Botticelli's um Primavera painting, and we just were riveted and became a little bit obsessed with it. We saw it at the Uffizi in Florence, and started reading up on— on it, and— and uh a few months later, we— we were in Washington, D.C., I was playing at the National Gallery, and— and um, we like to run, and actually we were running around the Mall there, and— and uh in Washington, D.C. And entered the Hirshhorn, and came across a really wonderful exhibit of Charline von Heyl's work. And we just were mesmerized by her work, and— uh the next day, we had to go back and see, see it again. And for— for us, it really was a it was just very musical in— in the sense of counterpoint, you know, uh polyphony in the— in the art itself, the layers of reference, the— the— the layers of perspective and— and um, we just really were drawn to— to her work. So, so we reached out to her gallery in New York and— and heard from Charline, I think, within 24 hours.

Charline— Charline invited us to come and— and just do a studio visit. And there was no agenda in that visit, we just— we just really connected and just spent several hours talking, and this was right um, you know, two, three months before the pandemic was in full swing.

And um, and we just talked about feeling that the— the world was ill, you know, that there was— there was something environmentally, um, geopolitically, yeah, um, politics. [Laughs] I mean, just— just there— there were many, the divisiveness around— around the world. Um, we— we kind of just connected over— over our perspectives of what was going on around the world, and then, of course, we were all hit with the— with the pandemic. But— but uh, yeah, and— and with— and we— and part of the discussion was this Botticelli painting, which is so stunning and— and uh there is hope, but there's also darkness in it. There's so much— there's so— so much mystery in it and— and— and the envir- environmental aspect in it, the all the flora depicted that Botticelli is really um incredible in how many, I— I think hundreds of species of flora in— in there, so.

It is, in the— in the Uffizi. It may have been moved since we saw it, but it's— it's still in the Uffizi.

Yeah, exactly.

Yeah, so organic is a very good word, because this has kind of grown organically. Initially, we wanted to— to co- uh to commission nine composers to write tone poems for cello and orchestra.

But already by February, March of 2020, that wasn't possible because the orchestras were shut down with the, you know, the outbreak of COVID, and yeah. Um, so it was actually my partner who turned to me and said, "Well, let's just turn this into a solo cello commissioning project." And my initial reaction was, "No, I've done so many of those." [Laughs] I've— I've done a lot of uh a lot of solo cello and I— I do love solo cello, but I really was excited about the orchestral commissions and the— the this kind of tone poem idea, this narrative, right, without words. And um, but this— that was the hand that we were dealt. I mean, that, you know, we— we had to shift. And so I said, "Okay, if we're going to do a solo commissioning project, let's— let's get me out of my comfort zone and we're going to ask, we'll— we'll ask the first nine composers, but then each composer will then recommend other composers that we can listen to." And, of course, we have to um both Jeffrianne and I, we— we— we were the ones kind of uh curating or, you know, sort of making sure that both of us were comfortable with with everyone that we— that we commissioned. And there's a whole range, and we— we didn't want to go down, let's say, you know, just one style of, one language. This is absolutely a Tower of Babel, [Laughs] I mean, this is, you know, um yeah. I mean, if you try to figure out like what what kind of language, you know, is— is Matt really into, you— you won't. Um, it— it's just such a range and it's so wonderful. I, for me, before we started this project, I al- I had the instinct and the hypothesis that that, you know, it's a golden age of music right now, in— in terms of such great composers writing, you know, really great music, and um for a variety of reasons, namely that— that you know, that many people don't want to make the effort to— to get to know these different languages, you know? So, they want to stick with the language or the kind of music or genre that they— that they like. And so, there, you know, there are adventurous listeners out there, but you have to find them and— and uh and then there's the educational component of like trying to build an audience and trying— trying to, I mean, and that— that is more natural for me in a— in a performance setting where— where I feel like I can talk, I can— I can introduce pieces, I can, you know, just humanizing the whole process and talking about how they arose and my— my relationships with composers and all of this, um, you know, brings it— brings it to life, and people can start to connect— connect with it. But it's a process,

Yeah, um so as we are coming out of the the pandemic and able to play again in concert, um the first step is to— is— I mean, first step has been to record all— all the pieces, and we do that at Charline von Heyl's studio in Marfa, Texas. And the producer is— our producer, David Frost, is in New York City, getting high-definition sound and, yeah. David is extraordinary and he—

to do this. Yeah, and um we had a great engineer with us and— and in— in Marfa. But, um, yeah, so that's the first step is to document all of it. Second step is to get it out into the world and— and like at Barge, we played— I played uh three days, three different programs, kind of thematically bringing together different suites of these Primavera pieces. And I think, organically, the next step is going to be some kind of theatrical production that somehow bridges the paintings, you know, 500 years between them, and— and the cycles of history, and I— we don't know yet exactly how it's going to shape up.

Um, well, b- before I answer that question, actually, I'll just say that even last week, um I got to Marfa, Texas, and I— I saw a— a beautiful um op-ed letter in— in the local paper, in The Sentinel, and it was about a um a rally— not a rally, a— a— anyway, a gathering for peace

in the— in the Middle East. And it was one of the most well-balanced, just really beautiful sentiment that I felt very close to.

Um, and I immediately contacted the person who wrote the letter, I didn't know her, and uh I said, "You know, if you want some music, I'm happy—" It's on the— it was on the street, in a park, I said, "I'm happy to play an Israeli composer and a Palestinian composer for— for this um occasion." And she was so thrilled. She— she didn't know who would read her letter, and she was just happy that anybody responded, [Laughs] and— and um so— so, we— we did that. And— and uh you know, that is not a concert hall, it's not a a program or a concerto that I know that I'm going to play in two years, it's— it's just something that I read something that connected with me. I wanted to really— it— it was for a larger cause, but really, it was for myself. It— it was— it was so I could feel good about what I was doing. And I think ultimately, that is um, you know, I've come to understand that it's not so important, actually, if— if it's just for one person or for 1,000, or for 10,000,

um, or any thousand. I really— I mean, I— I— I'm very skeptical, honestly, about, you know, this game that we're— we're all playing of, you know, how many— I mean, I'm a competitive person, so I— I like numbers and I— I, you know, I like sports and um, [Laughs] but

it makes no sense to me, musically. There's no— there's no artistry in counting how many, you know, Instagram likes you have or what, you know, all— all— all this nonsense that's— that's going on right now.

It's— it so, for me, uh the idea that I can connect with one person that I connected with, that one person that wrote that op-ed, or a couple days ago, a master class that I gave in Israel at the—

at the conservatory,

where the response, just from the six, or the five, five students, actually, who played for me, um I— I really I really didn't care who else was watching or listening or, I mean, for me, it was what I could give those young people and what they gave me, in return.

Oh, you did? Okay. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, for me, that— that— that's all I— I really care about.

And McGill University, I should.

Right.

Well, absolutely. I mean, I— I— I would have preferred to go to Israel myself and— and— and be there in person, but it's not— that's not in the cards right now and, as soon as it's— I don't want to get in the way over there, I think, you know, I— I'd be at a a distraction and they don't need that right now. So, um, but as soon as I possibly can, I'll go, I'll go there. And, uh it's— it's place of my birth. Um, but yeah, I'd— I— you know, in the pandemic I did all my teaching online with Zoom, mhm, and that got tiring, [Laughs] it's, I mean, there's— it's wonderful to be in person and to have, you know, nothing can replace that. But you can get a lot done with— with uh, and the technology has gotten very, very good and— and um, so I— I— I— I bring it into it's a tool, for sure, you know, because I also tour, and so, to— to maintain kind of a regularity with my students that, it's, we've— we've enjoyed, you know, occasionally bringing Zoom into it and— and—

That's a big compliment. I loved Milstein's left hand is unbelievable, yeah.

Well, listening and hearing is a big, big priority for me, you know. And I think, um, in playing chamber music, when you play by yourself, you're— you're being able to process you know, what— what you're doing, and to be an objective observer while you are also um you know, just it— it— just keeping track of what you just did, what you're— what's going on in the— in the present, and— and then, trying to create an architecture, you know, in— in— in the future. So, I mean, it— all— all those— being awareness, listening, is key. And I think, um, sometimes, we um run away from like, we— we don't want to face. We're afraid to face the reality [Laughs] of what's coming out of the instrument. But I think that's why I— I always, from very early on, I loved to record, because it was a way that I could go back and— and really hear yeah, uh what— what I sounded like. And— and at first, when I first started recording, I was shocked by what I was hearing, and— and then now, you know, I— I have a lot more experience, so I can kind of I just I c- can gauge what— what uh the mic is going to be picking up. So, so, but— but being able to do that in real time, and in chamber music, or concerto, to— to be able to have a give-and-take in that moment

and still keep, you know, that's— that's part of the you know, just it's so extraordinary, what— what we do. [Laughs] So, and it's— it's um I just love the danger of it, I love the the reality of it, and— and the transcendence of it, you know, in terms of what— what can happen and— and the revelations that you could make.

Well, I— I'm teaching them to find their truth, because truth is, uh—

Yeah. Yeah, exactly. And what is truth? But, um, and that's the beauty also of what we do, that a great piece of music is going to be different, a different somebody else's hands, and and also I love what Barenboim, you know, used to say about Schubert, you know, that a melody, when you are in a good mood, a Schubert melody sounds really hopeful and beautiful and— happy, [Laughs] and when you are not, when you are sad, and you— you're not in a good mood, then that same melody can— can have a completely different meaning and a— and uh connotation. So, um, you know, uh, the masterclass I gave in Israel is one aspect of teaching, and I— I felt that it was what I thought, you know, those young people needed in that moment. When I teach a— a lesson with no eyes or ears [Laughs] on us, we can go into a different kind of um it's a different kind of lesson, and— and different process, and— and uh, and each individual is different, and each individual at different times needs something different. Uh, so— so, um, but I think— I think you're right, I think— I think it's— it's what— how do I give that student the tools to become their own teacher, and— and— and to to uh the— and— and the— the idea that the score is a map, and that we have to— that we have to go in, um, and uncover the layers, and that the— the technique, and the the tools that we have are simply um, at the service of some— a much larger vision.

My pleasure. Thank you.