Read an exclusive Q&A with Gil Shaham

GIL SHAHAM: An exclusive Q&A

As he prepares to perform Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto with Music Director Jacques Lacombe and the NJSO, Gil Shaham chats about the work and his return to New Jersey.

NJSO: Mendelssohn’s violin concerto is a monument of the repertoire. What speaks to you most about the work?

Gil Shaham: What is always amazing to me about the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto is how revolutionary the piece is. It is really an inspired moment by a master composer who was in the zone when he wrote it. It changed the genre forever in many ways. If we want to get into the technique of composition—he started with the violin playing the melody. He then put the cadenza in the middle of the first movement, and he connected the first and second movements with one bassoon note and connected the third and fourth movement with a linking phrase. He had the violin playing extensive double stops—two voices, really—there were many things about this piece that were revolutionary at the time. Even little fermatas—where all of a sudden the pulse stops and comes back—are extremely innovative. That spirit of freshness comes throughout, and I always feel like the piece, even though it’s more than 200 years old, has something very modern about it.

How has your interpretation of the concerto changed or developed over time?

My interpretation has changed very much over the years. I feel nowadays I’m stricter about trying to adhere to what’s on the page. On the other hand, I feel like I am more confident in the inflections that I do choose to take. So, it’s a little more conservative and yet more liberal at the same time. Although, I’ve always tried to make Mendelssohn’s romantic ideas come through.

You have collaborated with the NJSO and Jacques Lacombe several times. What makes you excited to come back to New Jersey? What is special about your relationship with the NJSO and New Jersey audiences? How do you approach performing the same concerto in three different venues?

I feel so lucky to have performed with the Orchestra many times, maybe going back 20 years now. And with Maestro Lacombe as well—we had such a wonderful experience a couple of years ago performing Berg’s concerto. I can’t wait to collaborate on the Mendelssohn, which is a personal favorite of mine!

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LACOMBE ON SHAHAM

Lacombe says of Shaham, who last appeared with the NJSO in performances of Berg’s Violin Concerto and Danielpour’s Kaddish for Violin and Orchestra in on an April 2012 program The Star-Ledger hailed as “inspiring”:

“I’ve worked with Gil quite a few times now, and he’s really at the top of my list of violinists. He’s so versatile; he’s good in so much different repertoire. I find him to be a very honest musician; he really goes beyond the technique or the characteristics of the violin.

“I think [what audiences respond to in Shaham’s performances] is that the gesture of playing music for him is so direct, and it’s never mannered—the music comes first. He establishes a real dialogue with the listeners as opposed to just giving a performance. That’s what music is about, and I think the audience feels that. He is such a great colleague and musician—it’s always a great week when he’s here.”