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O Canada

June 1, 2006 at 12:10 AM

This weekend my mom and I will begin our road trip to the XXXIVth International Viola Congress in Montreal. The performers they've engaged are amazing, as usual, so I'll be sure to report on the masterclasses, lectures, performances, and exhibits. We're staying in the dorms at the University of Montreal, which sound pretty comfortable--communal bathrooms on each floor, but what's dorm life without them? Happily the Internet connection is convenient, and that's my main requirement for staying connected to civilization.

I will be performing in the masterclass with Lars Anders Tomter on the very first day, the 7th, just the first movement of the Brahms f minor Sonata. I worked on the piece a couple years ago and performed that movement at a different summer camp, so it is currently a bit rusty, but I still have a week to focus on it exclusively. I really find that the primary problems with switching from violin to viola are physical. It is debatable among different teachers exactly how much the technique and approach changes between the instruments, but I personally find that if I don't spend some time with scales and etudes, I never quite settle back into the richer, darker, deeper sound, and am quickly thrown off by the extra exertion it takes to pull out that fullness. As violinists, we so often take for granted the acoustical favor of our instrument and the fact that everything so naturally balances, rings, and projects. People say that the more cutthroat standard of perfection for aspiring violinists makes up for that acoustical discrepancy, but at the top of any instrument's field there are some uncanny technical feats going on. Violists (and sometimes even cellists) are expected to play Paganini caprices or La Campanella in competition these days, with no exceptions for the sheer physical awkwardness of the instrument. I suppose if I really want to humble myself someday I'll try the bass, or a double reed or brass instrument.