Gil Shaham
Regarded as one of the best classical musicians working today, Israeli-American violinist Gil Shaham is celebrated for his impeccable technique and virtuosity. During his successful concerts with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, Penny Zhou catches up with the humble and friendly world-class artist backstage, to talk about his childhood, violin concertos of the 1930s and Eric Clapton.
HK Magazine: I heard that your parents are both scientists? Are they musical as well?
Gil Shaham: Yes, I have scientist parents. My father passed away long time ago, and my mother is still working at the genetics lab. They’re both music lovers; my mother played the piano and my father played the violin. They had a big record collection and would take the kids to orchestra concerts. We mostly listened to classical music but there’s also an extensive John Denver collection. Sometimes I have parents come to me asking me about how to get their children into music. The truth is I don’t really know, but I think music is contagious. Once you catch the bug, it’ll infect the whole house—everybody in my family caught it.
HK: When and how did you start playing the violin? Were you initially forced to learn?
GS: It’s an interesting question because I actually asked my parents for violin lessons when I was seven. I have an older brother who at that time was taking piano lessons and I felt jealous. I remember that my mother was very opposed to the idea. She said the notion of little kids trying to play the violin made her “cringe.” It’s mostly because of the squeaky sound they made, like fingernails scratching on a chalkboard. I have some tapes of me playing as a kid—she’s right; I now know exactly what she’s talking about [laughs].
HK: Your sister is also a musician. Growing up together, were the three siblings competitive musically?
GS: I don’t know about musically. I mean, we could argue about everything, like who [got to] hold the remote control. We never actually played music together as kids. People would ask us if we would—I guess they thought it’d be a good gimmick, like Donny and Marie! Our parents always insisted that we didn’t. It was not until when we were in our 20s did we play together. We did it for a radio show and it was a very nice and special experience.
HK: You have this ongoing project named “Violin Concertos of the 1930s.” Why is the 1930s so important for violin concertos?
GS: Honestly, it’s really an excuse for me to play the music I love. But taking my personal preferences aside, it is a very striking coincidence. In the 1930s—actually, just the eight years between 1931 and 1939—so many violin concertos were written simultaneously. I remember reading the list of those composers to a friend, and he said “Well, you just named all the greatest composers of the 20th century.” And that’s mostly true—you’ve got Béla Bartók, Igor Stravinsky, Sergei Prokofiev, Samuel Barber, Benjamin Britten, William Walton, Alban Berg, Arnold Schoenberg, Paul Hindemith, Karol Szymanowski… I mean, that’s a pretty staggering list and I’m leaving out many! It’s a very curious phenomenon because before that, the violin concerto was not particularly popular, and many of those composers had never written any. I don’t really know why it happened; maybe it’s because of the genre. You have this single voice of the instrument pitted against the voice of many from the orchestra, which sort of signifies individualism.
So I started doing this project a couple seasons ago and it seems to really resonate with the audience. Once a gentleman came backstage after a concert in Washington, and he said to me that the 1930s was a very special time: it was a decade of depression and people felt like they were on the edge of a volcano, waiting for the eruption. He asked me how it was reflected in the music of that time, and how it relates to the music of our times. I don’t have the answers, but I think it’s an excellent question to think about. Then I spoke with musicologist and writer Jessica Duchen and listed the pieces to her, and she said they’re certainly the most “iconic” concertos. And I like that word, “iconic,” which can be overused in arts but in this case is really fitting and apt.
It’s also very interesting that one time I read a magazine article about Hollywood movies, and there was a sentence that said “Experts agree that 1939 was the greatest year in Hollywood history, producing such iconic films such as ‘The Wizard of Oz’ and “Gone with the Wind.’” An architect friend of mine also said to me, “Look, there’s no money in the 1930s, yet there’re plenty of architectural icons built in that time—the Golden Gate Bridge, the Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center…” So anyway, looking back to those iconic violin concertos, maybe there’s something behind their simultaneous emergence after all.
HK: Have you been to Hong Kong before? How do you find the HKPO?
GS: I’ve been here five or six times before, and my mother-in-law is Hakka and she grew up in Hong Kong. I love it here. It’s very comfortable and people are very open and friendly. The musicians at HKPO play so well, and I just can’t believe how young everybody here is!
HK: I know it’s always hard for a musician to do this, but can you name your favorite composer?
GS: It’s a good question—I was just talking about this yesterday. I have a friend who’s also a musician. Once he went to the reception desk to grab some drinks after a concert, and a man approached him and asked him who his favorite composer is. As musicians, we normally give people some standard answers because it’s really impossible to pick just one from all the greats. But at this point, my friend had had a little more to drink than usual so he said “Bach” and left. He woke up the next morning and recalled this encounter, and thought to himself, “It’s true. I think Bach is my favorite.” And I think I understand it—for many of us, Bach is probably our one favorite.
HK: William Schuman’s New England Triptych and Barber’s Violin Concerto were played at your Hong Kong concerts in early January. Both pieces are by American composers. Being an American yourself, do you think you resonate more with American composers’ work?
GS: I don’t know about resonating more but I guess it’s easier for me, who knows the culture, to get into American music. But essentially I think our job is like the job of an actor. We have to take what’s on the page and bring it to life for an audience.
HK: And put on different accents?
GS: Yeah, exactly! I mean, most of the stuff we play is not from our own culture—1930s New York is different from 2011 New York, and if we play Mozart or Beethoven, that’s 18th or 19th century Vienna. I once played “The Butterfly Lovers” here, and that required a lot of studying from me because the style is totally new to me.
HK: Do you listen to popular music at all?
GS: Yeah I do. Pop music is everywhere and there’s so much stuff [to listen to] nowadays. I remember growing up listening to R.E.M. and Toto—those instrumentalists were great. Once I rode in an elevator with Eric Clapton and I couldn’t think of anything to say to him. I said “hi” and he nodded. And that was it. So I guess I did have a conversation with a rock star.
