A&E
Renowned cellist Haimovitz alternates modern and baroque in concert
By Olivia Hack ’18
November 13, 2015
Wellin Hall was alive with music this past Saturday, as cellist Matt Haimovitz visited the Hill.
His love of both traditional and non-standard repertoire allows for performances that appeal to all listeners.
Since his professional debut at age 13, Haimovitz has stunned audiences with his impeccable skill and artistic vigor. He was born in Israel and eventually attended the Collegiate School and the Juilliard School in New York. The musician later studied under world-renowned cellists Ronald Leonard and Yo-Yo Ma.
Haimovitz’s first piece, The Veil of Veronica by Du Yun, sought to tell the biblical story of the titular saint and her veil. His resonant double stops seemed to depict Veronica wiping the sweat from Jesus’s brow while the fast paced, atypical melodies showed the image of Jesus’s face upon the veil.
The piece was a somber yet vibrant flurry of sound, demonstrating how order can coexist with chaos. In a stark contrast, Haimovitz followed Yun’s modern piece with a well-known Baroque work: Suite II in D minor by Johann Sebastian Bach. Its seven movements wove a graceful and haunting melody, complemented by Haimovitz’s artistic passion; he moved with the music as if the notes were flowing through him.
Haimovitz returned to the modern era with his next selection: La Memoria, by Roberto Sierra. Sierra brought his Puerto Rican roots into this piece, most clearly demonstrated in the interspersed pizzicato segments, mimicking the musical style of Latin America. The work had a less traditional feel; it evoked sandy beaches, endless sunshine and everything else missing from Clinton, NY.
The first half of the performance concluded with the second of three Bach Suites with the Suite IV in E-flat Major. It was an excellent pinnacle for the performance, as the first half made its gradual progression from Yun’s dark and unpredictable Veil of Veronica to the pleasant melodies of the Baroque era. In the second half, Haimovitz made a switch from his traditional Venetian cello, handmade in 1710, to a cello piccolo from the latter half of the eighteenth century.
With five strings opposed to the typical four of the standard cello, the cello piccolo had a very distinct tone. Its timbre was bright and slightly less resonant by comparison, but this was well suited to Lili’uokalani, a piece written for Haimovitz by his wife Luna Pearl Woolf. This selection coincides with Woolf’s new opera Better Gods—a story of the last queen of Hawaii.
While the opera has yet to be performed publicly, we were lucky to receive a snapshot from Haimovitz, who began the piece by notably removing his shoes in order to support this delicate cello piccolo. Complete with occasional drumming on the instrument, Woolf’s work transported you to nineteenth century Hawaii. Its mixture of tempo and traditional Hawaiian style allowed for a unique perspective on the modern opera. Haimovitz finished the concert with a final, well-known Bach Suite— his Suite VI in D Major. He played with such fervency that when the final notes rang out, the hall erupted in applause.
Overall, the performance demonstrated Haimovitz’s distinguished ability and the undeniable beauty of his playing. While I do not have much personal experience with modern and postmodern music, I felt I began to appreciate the complexity and unique appeal of these more recent pieces as the program progressed.
The collection of Bach suites also served nicely in breaking up the unfamiliar repertoire while providing the drama that Bach never fails to provide. If you are a fan of the cello or just want to expand your musical horizons, you should not hesitate to attend any performance by Matt Haimovitz, as it is sure to captivate you.