Who or what are your influences in violin-playing in general?
I can write a book about this!
Have you been influenced by anyone or anything in particular when
it comes to Prokofiev?
Yes, Stern's recordings of the concerti (both the early mono version I mentioned earlier and
the later Philadelphia/Ormandy version) influenced my perception of these works a lot. I just
cannot think of a better recording. I prefer his recordings much more to that of, say, Oistrakh's.
Stern plays these works with so much soul and guts even if he fakes a tiny bit in the second
movement of the First concerto!
Having just knocked Mr. Oistrakh, I must give him credit for having the greatest recording of
the F minor Sonata - the one he did in a live concert with Richter. It's really remarkable.
You do play the sonatas, don't you?
Both sonatas for violin and piano, and the sonata for two violins. But not the solo violin one.
What do you make of them?
I love them. The sonatas for violin and piano are, again like the concerti, very different from
each other. The D major is sunny, optimistic, straightforward and closer to a traditional sonata
with a bombastic and rousing ending. The F minor, however, is one of the great sonatas in the whole
literature. It's dark, brooding, dramatic, atmospheric, and very powerful. I feel the power of
Mother Russia and the ravages of war in this work, and what an astonishing ending! Very resigned
and tragic.
We know that Itzhak Perlman was a very big inspiration to you and your
music-making, particularly in your early days. Yet, it's pretty obvious that you and him are
very different musicians. It must have been tough trying to find your own voice when a
musical temperament as large and as all-engulfing as Perlman's was ringing in your ears
and in your mind as you embarked on your advanced violin studies and later, on your career,
isn't it?
I once confided to my then teacher, Dorothy DeLay, that I was having difficulty shaking off
the interpretation of Zino Francescatti's recording of the Saint-Saens Third Violin Concerto.
I was 16 and I loved the Francescatti recording and had grown up with it. I was copying every
nuance, gesture and tempo from that recording. Ms DeLay reassured me that no matter how hard I
tried, I would never sound like Francescatti. Sure enough, I got a tape from my first performance
of the Saint-Saens concerto and was startled and delighted to hear that I sounded like myself,
not Francescatti.
This illustrates the fact that the likes of Heifetz, Perlman, Milstein and Stern can all
influence a musician's way of thinking and playing, but if that musician has a personality
of his or her own, that personality will prevail. By the way, after being strongly affected
by what Perlman said and how he played when I was a teenager, I ended up playing much more
chamber music with Isaac Stern and Pinchas Zukerman, both of whom I admire greatly.
At Juilliard, you studied under Ms Dorothy DeLay, who herself was
a driving force behind many success stories, such as those of Perlman, Midori and Sarah Chang,
just to name a few. Is there some special DeLay formula? Or is it just that she takes in
only the brightest talents to begin with?
Fame begets fame. With the success of Perlman, DeLay's first star pupil, more talents came
to her. With great talent to work with, the chances of success go up a lot. However, Ms DeLay
is a great teacher with an enormous power of observation. Her patience is incredible. She
really studied the science of teaching. She does have a "formula," but it is tailored to
each student's needs. She watches you play and then breaks down the playing into smaller
components, so that she can address problems within each area. She also cares a great deal
for each student's overall growth and well-being. With so many star pupils performing, she
has built up a network of powerful people in the music business - managers, conductors and
presenters. This can be incredibly helpful in launching a young player's career. An unfortunate
side-effect of this is that many young students now go to audition for Ms DeLay expecting that
she will "make" their careers if they get in. It's very unhealthy.
Is there some special attribute that all DeLay students eventually
graduate with?
From my time as a student as well as in concerts and at exams at the Julliard where
I teach now, I notice that just about every student of Ms DeLay's plays with a lot of ease.
They usually produce a strong and focused sound. Intonation tends to be secure and best of
all, they play with individuality. DeLay never imposes strict interpretive dogma on her
students. If you go off the path too far, she will nudge you back. But, interpretively,
never does she say "you must do this or that". I think that's why you hear a great deal
of variety in her students' performances.
So, what have you got planned in the near future?
I am forty now. I look forward to the arrival of my first child due in January. That will be exciting.
As far as recordings are concerned, the Kreisler album recorded with English Chamber Orchestra
and Andrew Litton is awaiting release. Sony Classical is not very keen to release traditional
classical repertoire nowadays. So I might have to wait a bit. The Ondine label from Finland and
I are setting up dates to record the concerto of American composer Christopher Rouse. The
work was written for me in 1990 and it's a very dramatic work. It might well become an
American classic.
Apart from recordings, I want to continue to build my Taipei International Music Festival.
The one held last May was even a greater success than the first one in 1997. I want to try
to bring the festival to Hong Kong and Shanghai and perhaps Singapore one day. Apart from
the Festival, I remain more committed than ever to bringing more new music to the concert hall.
This season, I will premiere two works by the Taiwanese composer, Gordon Chin, with two
different orchestras, one in the US and one in Taiwan. I will bring Tan Dun's concerto Out
of Peking Opera to Tokyo for the first time. The Rouse concerto I just mentioned will get
its New York premiere with the New York Philharmonic. In November, Lincoln Center will honor
my award as the "Instrumentalist of 2000" from Musical America by giving me carte blanche to
do anything I want in a concert. So I invited Emanuel Ax, Bright Sheng, Gary Hoffman and
Jon Kimura Parker to play Ravel, Sheng, Lutoslawski, Piazzolla and Shostakovich with me.
And I will have, hopefully, a fine season performing with the Boston Symphony, the New
York Philharmonic, the St. Louis Symphony, the Cincinnati Symphony, the Houston Symphony,
the Paris Orchestra, the NHK Symphony as well in recitals in Washington, Dallas and Denver.
It will be a very busy season, but one well worth all the hard work.
