Patricia Kopatchinskaja: 6 things… one should consider in making music

The Grammy Award-winning violinist and 2019 Gramophone Artist of the Year brings an inimitable sense of theatre to her music through the combination of her distinct humour, depth and brilliance.

Kopatchinskaja also became one of our Associate Artists here at the Southbank Centre in 2021, which means we’ve been lucky enough to be welcoming her to our venues several times in recent years. Here she shares her expertise with us, by way of six things one should consider when making music.

With whom?

It’s all important with whom you play and, like in love, it rarely works. But if one finds some magical straws in a haystack, it becomes a fairytale, nonverbal moment. And in a good partnership the sum becomes greater than the parts.

For whom?

It can take half a lifetime to find one’s listeners. Anybody eager to get a self-assured lecture on how things should be played will be uneasy with me. My listeners have to be like a party going on an expedition, prepared to experience not only success but the unexpected; danger and failure.

What?

There are great works from all epochs, and they are pieces on which one can grow over the years and decades. Of course such works came from big composers of the past. However, my sense of adventure is more satisfied by searching out the masterworks from today and there are indeed many. Think of Ustvolskaya, Ligeti, Kurtag, Michael Hersch, Francisco Coll, Marton Illes.

When?

While the world premiere of a piece, or the first time one plays a piece, are both thrilling experiences there are pieces (and partnerships) which, like a good wine, ripen over the years; connections where one finds more and more nuances, layers and perspectives.

Where?

One can play in the kitchen or in the bathroom, but the right combination of programme and venue can enhance and make sense of music. This may be an old church, a decaying factory or the Vienna Musikverein.

Which mindset?

If one has all of the above elements, one needs to focus on the right mindset. If it’s fun, one should have fun and make fun of it. There are pieces by Mozart, Mendelssohn, Satie or Ligeti which are just fun and so they should not be played like church sermons. Other pieces by composers such as Shostakovich, Ustvolskaya or Hartmann reflect human tragedy and so they cannot just be presented as an aesthetic structure.

Why six? 

A rule is only a rule if one can make an exception. So one seventh and last thing, I’m really looking forward to our concert tour with Sol Gabetta. She is one of my most trusted and longest partners. We share together a sense of companionship, of exploring, of adventure and fun. And I constantly learn from her, in admiration and love.