lake champlain weekly: strings of change

7/28/2019 Lake Champlain Weekly: Strings of Change

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THE CALL THAT CHANGED everything came out ofnowhere. It arrived on a day in January 2012, a day whencellist Paul Watkins casually picked up the phone andheard the voice of Lawrence Dutton, violist of the EmersonString Quartet, on the other end of the line. The news thatDutton brought was a shock: After more than 30 criticallyhailed recordings and nine Grammy Awards, the veneratedquartet was changing its personnel. Cellist David Finckelwas leaving the group, an amicable breakup spurred by

Finckels decision to focus on new artistic endeavors. Yetthe other three artists had decided to continue performingtogether. Already, they had begun searching for a newcellist to play with them.

And then came the real bombshelldelivered byDutton, as Watkins recalls it, in an extraordinarily casualway. The Emerson musicians wanted to know if Watkinswould be willing to take Finckels place.

I was really bowled over, recalls Watkins, who will on May 30 in Montreal, one of the last concerts of thisyears Montreal Chamber Music Festival. The telephone

call really did come out of the blue. I never had anyincredibly excited. But mostly, I was just bowled over bythe whole thing.

Cellist Paul Watkinsconcert as a memberof the EmersonQuartet on May 30.

Photo:NinaL

arge.

By Benjamin Pomerance


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5To fully grasp Watkinss astonishment, consider this:For nearly three-and-a-half decades, the Emerson StringQuartet has been about as changeable as the Rock ofGibraltar. Since 1979, the same four virtuososFinckelon cello, Dutton on viola, and violinists Eugene Druckerand Philip Setzerhave been the faces of perhaps themost respected string quartet in America. In the world ofstring quartets, such continuity is rather uncommon. Theesteemed Juilliard String Quartet, for instance, has gonethrough six personnel changes during that same period oftime. There was every reason to believe that the Emerson

Quartet would retain its same lineup for several more yearsto come, and then, when one member wanted to leave,retire together.

Instead, the four musicians decided that the Emersonslegacy needed to continue, even with a new performer inmusician who is nearly two decades younger than the restof them. Watkins is 43, while the three upper string playersare in their 60s. They also selected a cellist who had

enjoyed a vaunted career as a soloist and conductor, butwho had never played full-time in a string quartet before.

More importantly, though, they chose an artist who hadalready successfully collaborated with Setzer and Dutton onvarious occasions. I was something of a known quantity,I suppose, Watkins laughs. Many of the chamber musicfestivals that Ive played in the United States were thanksto David Finckel. He invited me to play at his festival inCalifornia (Music@Menlo, which Finckel runs with hiswife, pianist Wu Han). Then, through a variety of contacts,I wound up playing piano quartets with Menahem Pressler,and Larry (Dutton) was the violist in that group. A coupleof years later, I played with Phil, and we had a great time. may have had something to do with it.

Yet after receiving Duttons offer, there was onelingering question: whether Watkins actually wanted toaccept. Naturally, I knew that this was the proverbialopportunity of a lifetime, the cellist explains. But I hadlived and worked in London for a while by this point, andIve been extremely happy there. I had my family nearby,which is very important to me. I love life there.

Indeed, many of the Welsh natives most memorablemusical experiences to date came in Great Britain. Forseven years, Watkins served as principal cellist of the BBC concertos on the legendary BBC Proms series, includingan acclaimed First Night at the Proms performance ofEdward Elgars Cello Concerto in 2007. As a conductor,his breakthrough also came in England, winning the Leeds

Conductors Competition in 2002 and going on to becomemusic director of the English Chamber Orchestra in 2010.In addition, many of his most noted performances andrecordings have been of works by British composers, fromEdward Elgar to Benjamin Britten to Richard RodneyBennett. Throw in the close proximity to his parents, instrument, and one can see why the cellist had secondthoughts about leaving.

In the end, though, the opportunity was too big to turndown. Ive always wanted to play in a string quartet,

opportunity would come with the Emerson String Quartet.The music is fantastic, and quartet playing is such a special

way of making music. And to have the chance to make thismusic with such remarkable artists is very special.

Then came the moment of truth. A week after Watkinsaccepted, the other members invited him to New Yorkto read some quartets with them. At that point, Watkins

Their communication is telepathic, he says of theEmerson members. I just hoped that I wouldnt feellike an interloper. It was an experience that I think we allapproached with a certain amount of trepidation.

When they actually sat down together in Druckersliving room, though, Watkins recalls that everything feltright. The jitters stopped when the music took over. Itended up being everything I could have hoped for andmore, the cellist says. The music itself was great. Andworking with the guys was a lot of fun. They have a greatsense of humor, and they enjoy the back-and-forth of arehearsal. They dont approach their work as if it weresome sort of holy calling, which I think that some stringquartets do.

In a sense, Watkins says, playing string quartets atthis point in his career provides him with a full-circleexperience. Growing up in a musically inclined family,he cut his artistic teeth playing chamber pieces with his

parents and their friends. Both of my parents are retiredschoolteachers, and both of them are talented musicians,he explains. My father is a very good amateur violinistand violist, and my mother, along with singing and playingthe piano, was a class music teacher. My brother (who alsocomposes) plays the piano. And Wales has a very goodsystem of music education. So I grew up with many giftedamateur musicians literally all around me. And as a boy, Iremember playing quartets and other chamber pieces withthem right in our living room.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 6


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Watkins started his music lessons on the pianowhen he was three. At seven, he switched tocello for a very important reason: his admirationfor one of his fathers friends, a cellist whowore a leather coat and could hold a cigarettein his right hand while playing the instrument.My appreciation of the cellos actual merits,he laughs, came a bit later. As a young artist,he attended the Yehudi Menuhin School in

to the riches of string quartet playing. Therewas a great emphasis on string quartets while Iwas there in the 80s, he says. So this really ismusic in which I personally feel at home.

That familiarity encompasses two ofthe three pieces that the quartet will play atWatkinss debut in Montreal: Haydns Quartet

No. 3 in G minor and Bla Bartoks QuartetNo. 2 in A minor. Both quartets were amongthe repertoire that Watkins studied at theMenuhin School, familiar friends returning atthis monumental crossroads in his career. And

given that the Emerson Quartet created prize-winning recordings of both the Haydn quartetsand the Bartok quartets, the performance ofthese works in Montreal will also provide animmediate test of how Watkins might impactthe sound of the group.

The Haydn quartets are all so beautifullyconstructed, Watkins says. Haydn was like amad inventor, really. He was fascinated by howchallenged himself to work within the Classicalarchitecture in new, creative ways. And as forBartok, he absolutely challenges you in every

bar. But hes also an incredibly satisfyingcomposer to play. The job we have is to makeall of his changes of tempo and rhythm soundorganic and improvised and fresh.

Yet Watkins seems to be most lookingforward to the last piece on the program, aselection that he has never played before in

public: Beethovens storied String Quartet No. 8. Part ofthe set of three string quartets that Beethoven wrote forCount Andrey Razumovsky, the work throbs with energyof varying degrees. The second movement, with its hymn-like melody, contains some of Beethovens most beautifulwriting, allegedly inspired by a night that the composerspent gazing at the stars.

Just play the notes richly, really, and see what Beethoventells me, Watkins says when asked of his approach tothis piece. And see what the Emersons tell me, too. Helaughs. I know theyll have some strong ideas about it.I actually remember sitting in the audience and hearingthem play this quartet about 15 years ago in London. It

Now, he is one of them. It will be his cello givinglife to the notes of Beethoven and Haydn and Bartokin Montreal, and on many more nights to come. It will

be his tones mingling with the playing of Drucker andSetzer and Dutton. The people whom he watched fromthe audience, the artists with whom he collaborated in 34 years, one of the most close-knit musical familieshas accepted a new member, and Watkins is the chosen

one. Not that the cellist is spending much time thinkingabout history right now. I have no idea, he confesseswhen asked what his emotions will be like on that nightin Montreal. I havent gotten there yet. Im sure Ill beIll always remember. He pauses. And I hope therell

concert with Paul Watkins on May 30 at 8 p.m. in St.Georges Anglican Church in Montreal. For tickets andmore information, call (514) 489-7444 or visit www.

festivalmontreal.org.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5

In a sense, Watkins says, playingstring quartets at this point in

his career provides him with a

full-circle experience. Growing

up in a musically inclined

family, he cut his artistic teeth

playing chamber pieces with

his parents and their friends.So I grew up with many gifted

amateur musicians literally all

around me. And as a boy, I

remember playing quartets

and other chamber pieces with

them right in our living room.

Photo: Paul Marc Mitchell.

lake champlain weekly: strings of change

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