June 2008, TOKYO - As far as innovation in Early Music is concerned, Tokyo concert scene takes the lead in June 2008. If not in Tokyo, where in the world can one savor almost a dozen of concerts featuring the innovative violoncellos da spalla? All together there will be 17 concerts in Japan where violoncellos da spalla built by Dmitry Badiarov can be heard in world famous orchestras such as La Petite Bande (Sigiswald Kuijken, dir. & violoncello da spalla) and Bach Collegium Japan (Masaaki Suzuki dir.; Francois Fernandez, Ryo Terakado, Dmitry Badiarov - violoncellos da spalla). Dmitry Badiarov will perform also within the framework of Mejiro Ba-rock festival on the 2nd, 4th and 10th of June, 2008.Despite the fact that Tokyo is one of the most vibrant cities in the world boasting hundreds of music and art events, the latter performances can not be taken for granted even in Tokyo. June 2008 is an exceptional month, offering something which never happened before: not in Japan, not in Europe. What is a violoncello da spalla? Well, it is simply a violoncello but with a new twist. Was it the job of artists to explore novel ways of expression and upset the customary order? At least, this have been so for the most part of the history of the Western art, and Dmitry Badiarov - violin-maker and player - inherited this spirit in his approach to instrument making and playing.
Until recently everyone, with an exception of a few magister ludi, believed that violoncello has always been that bulky instrument invariably played vertically. This remain so only in the conservative, academic, official, "serious" classical music. Early Music is a different world: baroque scores and relevant historical documents demonstrate that, as is the case with anything baroque, there were no standards for the bass instruments known as violoncellos. Violoncellos were made in a variety of sizes influenced by a number of factors, such as quality of strings, local pitch and performers' preferences. Nonetheless, most of the 17th and early 18th century documents suggest that violoncello was considerably smaller than the modern cello (which during baroque epoch was called a violone), and that it was frequently if not pre-dominantly played da spalla, i.e. on the shoulder or on the arm (da braccio).
It has been noted in the sources and confirmed in the recent practice that violoncello da spalla has a clear resonance, not overlapping the harmonies one over another as is often the case with the large modern cellos, but bringing them distinctly to the listeners' ears. Performer has a more intimate relation with a small violoncello da spalla which, being almost hugged during performance, responds readily to the slightest whim of the player, reacting instantly to the changes of bow pressure and speed, delivering richly specially on the piano side of the dynamic scale, and blending marvelously with the larger cellos (violone) in the Basso Continuo section.
The Festival shall be accompanied by an exhibition of drawings and photographs from Dmitry Badiarov's instrument-making studio at Sangushya Zoushigaya Art Gallery (3-3-13 Kishibojin Nishi Sandou st., Zoushigaya, Toshima-ku, Tokyo 171-0032). On the opening day of the Festival, selected works shall be shown at the Jiyu Gakuen Myonichkan, in a historical building built by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1921.
Information about Mejiro Ba-Rock Festival in Japanese, English and German available from Alquimista Concert Management. Tickets for Dmitry Badiarov's concerts on the 2nd and 4th of June (Bach Cello Suites), and on the 10th of June (Italian chamber music with Dan Laurin) may be still available from Mejiro Ba-Rock ticket office.
More detailed information on this original research can be found in Badiarov's article published in England, in the Galpin Society Journal vol 60 and, a little extra, in vol 61 (it can also be downloaded from one of our websites). Visit Alla Moderna and String Arts websites and subscribe to our newsletter to receive the most essential news as they happen.
