The violinist Nicolas Dautricourt discusses his discovery of Enescu's music with me and introduces his new recording, The Enescu Project, available on the Orchid Classics label.
ED: Nicolas, thank you for agreeing to an interview about Enescu's music, which I have loved for many years. How did you first encounter George Enescu’s music? How long have you been playing Enescu’s music for?
ND: A very long time ago, nearly 20 years, at the occasion of a summer festival in the US, I heard a friend of mine, So-Ock Kim, an extraordinary violinist who works now at Beare’s, the famous string instruments workshops, performing it. She played it marvellously, and on the top of, everything by heart, which represents a HUGE challenge!
I didn’t fall in love with the piece, but I really admired the performance, it was extremely impressive.
A few years after, I had to play with another friend of mine the pianist Dana Ciocarlie, and to be totally honest, if I enjoyed the general atmosphere, I didn’t feel myself very much at ease with all the indications that are written in the music, dynamics, tempo markings, articulations and so on; I must say that, since I like to be free with my interpretations in general and choose, rather, to take distances with indications and rely on my instinct, it was blocking me a bit, and I didn’t really have fun, as if I drove a car in the middle of wonderful landscapes, but had to check the meter with speed and consummation every 2 seconds.
This was a bit frustrating… And then, in 2015, I discovered the String Octet…
ED: What was the inspiration behind your new CD, “The Enescu Project”?
ND: The Enescu Project is a musical and also human adventure, around this piece, the prodigious Octet for strings, that Enescu composed when he was 19 years old. The main inspiration, the only one that prevails, was in my mind to let people know how this piece is a genius piece, and the roads, after, all converged to this goal.
ED: In your view, how is Enescu’s music appreciated or known by audiences today? When you have played Enescu’s music, what has been the reaction of listeners to it?
ND: It’s difficult to say; Enescu is known by Romanian people, he’s known by musicians, and i think that’s it.
And actually in concert, it’s mostly well received, but if you really want your message to go through, you have to play it really with your guts, with intensity and passion, with full physical and emotional commitment, because it’s the language can be a bit hard sometimes, especially for people who don’t have much frames of references in classical music.
ED: On the recording, you include repertoire by composers that Enescu studied with, or collaborated with as a performer. How important is it that Enescu’s music is appreciated in the context of his peers?
ND: I imagined this project as an exhibition, like a pictural exhibition.
You enter the museum to attend an exhibition from a famous painter for example, there are some rooms where you can admire his works from the youth, some rooms where you can see the paintings from the contemporaries, some other where you see some draws, etc etc, and everything leads you at the end, to the great room where you see the masterpieces.
This was a bit of this idea when we built the program of the Enescu Project, the idea of a line, a thread, a road alongside which you discover Enescu from various angles, a road where also your desire to discover what it hides at the end, step by step, piece by piece, is sharpened, and finally, to finish, the « chef d’œuvre ».
ED: As a performer, what makes the Octet special for you?
ND: This piece is indeed very special to me, as like I said, it represents not only the musical aspect, but also the human adventure around it.
When I decided to play the piece, without knowing already that it would become a project, a CD and so on, I gathered around me my closest friends, people I respect a lot and feel at ease to play music with, and this is a big part of the assets of this project, the human aspect.
In general I am not willing anymore to share neither life nor even stage with people I don’t particularly get along with.
So especially when I have the choice, I choose the persons I really love, and it’s a crucial part of the success of a project.
ED: How did your collaborators on the recording react to the Octet? How did you approach the work?
ND: My partners all love the piece, and they fell in love with it just, as I did few years in advance!
We approach the work with passion but not hysterical. The way we play it, I think, I HOPE that people can say that we are 1000 percent sincere, and don’t use the piece to shine or to show our capacities, virtuosity and so on.
We wanted an interpretation where we can feel our devotion to this piece and its genius author, and like I like to say, none of us are stars in this album/project, HE is the only one!!
ED: Do you plan to play or record other pieces by Enescu in the future?
ND: I have no plan so far to record any of other Enescu’s works but why not…I just performed his first piano quartet which I really liked very much so…who knows what future brings!
ED: Thank you! Hopefully you will continue to explore Enescu's music.
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