Matthias Bartolomey: On the freedom to break new ground
© Stephan Doleschal
Matthias Bartolomey has been university professor for concert cello at the Mozarteum University since October - and he has a lot planned. In addition to teaching repertoire, he will begin with a course on progressive playing techniques that combines his diverse chamber music and solo experience with new, intuitive improvisational approaches.
Mr. Bartolomey, how are you doing with the current Covid situation? When was the last time you played live? Or in other words: Which concert cancellations are particularly painful? Hm, where to start - the situation is completely crazy, of course. Some of the event cancellations that already took place in the spring were very bitter. Some concerts could be postponed to the next year or fortunately could take place during the summer months, some great engagements were even added spontaneously. Some projects, however, are still in limbo, such as a tour of Japan with my duo BartolomeyBittmann, which would have been planned for May, or a tour of Holland in October with an orchestra. The bigger the production, the less likely it is that we will be able to make it up at some point. A lot of beautiful things are lost as a result. could you at least use the time well for other things? Yes, indeed. Especially before the summer, I was able to work intensively on implementing ideas for which there hadn't been time for a long time. Fortunately, many musicians are in the situation where they have their instrument at home and can enter into a creative process, give free rein to their creativity or simply practice. As painful as the many cancellations were, I used and enjoyed the time at home. Right now we have again a similar situation as in spring. Together with Klemens Bittmann I am working on new original compositions for the duo, but also on my own repertoire or new compositions for cello in the sense of an intuitive songwriting process. Since October I have added the supervision of my students, which gives me great pleasure. Even though we are longing for the time when teaching can again take place without restrictions in presence, I feel very much at home when teaching. In general, this year has been full of contrasts for me. On the one hand, the pandemic has thrown many things completely off track, but on the other hand, a dream has come true for me with the professorship at the Mozarteum University. how do you feel about teaching online and how are your students doing with it? We agree that we just have to go through it together and make the best of it. It's very difficult to talk about certain aspects online, such as sound and color nuance, but there are other things that are more technical in nature that can be conveyed via a flickering screen that gets stuck every now and then … (laughs) Even the entrance exams before the summer could only take place online, which was an exciting process - and worked better than you might think. Even in a video situation, you get a good feel for the artistic personality and artistic potential of the applicants. In fact, it was perhaps even easier for some students online because they didn't have to deal with that nervousness that often arises in a live audition. In addition to the classical concert subject, I also created a course on more progressive cello aspects called "Groove Cello," which unfortunately could not be held in presence after the first class together in October, so we have had to make do with weekly assignments ever since. The students record videos of the assignments and I send them feedback videos back. The personal support is perhaps even better this way than in a group, where there is often too little time for the individual. Is the course on progressive playing techniques a first accent you want to set at the Mozarteum University? First and foremost, of course, it's about concert studies and repertoire, that is, mastering the cello in the classical sense. But it's also about this other facet, which has helped me immensely in my personal development - certainly in the sense of liberation on the instrument. Classical concert studies can be associated with a lot of pressure and expectations, and are often characterized by self-doubt and comparison with others. Taking a creative approach to the instrument, listening to yourself and simply being yourself without notes, can go a long way toward developing a healthy sense of self-confidence. This confidence in oneself, in turn, is essential for the interpretation of many repertoire pieces. Teaching the instrument in its entirety is of great concern to me. In 2012 you founded the aforementioned duo BartolomeyBittmann with the violinist and mandola player Klemens Bittmann. Was that your personal "liberation blow"? In a way, definitely, yes. When I went back to Vienna after my studies, I was confronted with a big question mark. Orchestra, solo, chamber music - I simply didn't know where to go. Moreover, my father Franz Bartolomey, as principal cellist, was already the third generation musician in the Vienna Philharmonic. If I had passed an audition with the Vienna Philharmonic (once it was even very close), I would have been the fourth generation. That brings with it a lot of pressure and expectations, and one is quite automatically in a permanent situation of comparison with one's father. Understanding that I wanted to take a different path took a long time, but in the end it was a very rewarding and important process. My parents have always been very supportive of this search for honest identification with my own self, and I am extremely grateful for that. Sometimes my father even envies me for my freedoms - that honors me very much…(laughs) Are you talking about your freedom to break new ground with the instrument? Yes, exactly. The acquaintance with Klemens Bittmann, who comes from the jazz and independent scene and whom I asked out of an intuition whether he would not be interested in a joint project, was actually the initial spark for much that has developed after my studies and fills me with lasting meaning. Accordingly, the project also took off very quickly and seriously. From the very beginning, the duo's idea was to take classical instruments on a new path with our own compositions - one that also includes all the musical genres we grew up with, i.e. rock, jazz and many others. Currently we are working on our fourth program and the duo has become a center of life for me. Meeting Nikolaus Harnoncourt as principal cellist in Concentus Musicus since 2011 has also contributed a lot to this liberation. These last years of his life were marked by an incomprehensible vitality that inspired me enormously. Nikolaus Harnoncourt embodied an unconditionality in music-making that was unique and continues to resonate beyond his death. Classical music, which I sometimes neglected a bit in the early days after my studies, has since come back to the fore - I have returned to my roots, so to speak, and can now fully enjoy them, for example in trio projects with Benjamin Schmid and Ariane Haering, but also in solo concerts and chamber music projects with legendary musicians such as Helmut Deutsch at the piano. As a composer, I am also looking forward to three commissions for next year - for the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, the styriarte Graz and the Vienna Concert Association. With my return to the University Mozarteum Salzburg as a professor, a new phase of my life now begins, which I look forward to with gratitude and joy.
