Aristides Rivas
Aristides Rivas has been a familiar face in the Boston Philharmonic cello section for several years, but this April will be the first time he performs Shostakovich’s Second Cello Concertoand Prokofiev’s Romeo and Julietwith the orchestra. He shares his anticipation of working with guest soloist Natalia Gutman and exploring the pieces through Ben Zander’s interpretation, and reflects on why he believes they will make this another inspiring and unforgettable BPO concert experience.
“Natalia Gutman’s artistry is so complete that it goes way beyond being a cellist. She is amazing—she has such warmth and love for the music and a dedication to the highest of standards. To witness that is an amazing experience; it’s very special and inspiring to be part of the orchestra that supports her. Every minute of every rehearsal with her, it’s not just a performance--it’s like taking lessons with her. We all learn from her, from the way she works, from her playing, from her willingness to be there and share all of her skills with everybody. She has a very sweet way of letting everybody know that she doesn’t tolerate anything below excellence. She won’t be yelling or anything but she makes sure she gets from the orchestra what she deserves.
Technique-wise, she is from the great Russian lineage in the school of Rostropovich. I just love it, and it’s very different from what you see in America. Most of us musicians, we call ourselves the servant of music; Rostropovich called himself a warrior of music—not a servant, but a warrior, in the middle of the action. And he played that way, every note, every bow, every expression every phrase, and Natalia Gutman has that same energy and passion. Last time she was here I was able to play for her for a few minutes before a concert and she was very helpful and eye-opening. And very tough--very tough and demanding, but at the same time she has such a warm motherhood, and I felt like it was just my mother telling me how to do things better. It was a beautiful experience for me to have an opportunity to be that close to her.
The Shostakovich Second Cello Concerto is a major piece in the cello repertoire, and again it all goes back to Rostropovich—Shostakovich composed this piece with Rostropovich in mind. He would write an idea of what he wanted and give it to Rostropovich, who would then rearrange everything and make it even more amazing! I personally haven’t played this piece before, and I will be curious to compare it to Shostakovich’s First Cello Concerto, which I heard with Natalia Gutman a few seasons back. I’ll be looking to see what else he could write that is even more amazing than the first one! I also feel that we are fortunate to have the luxury of time over the course of so many rehearsals so that we can really get involved in Natalia Gutman’s style and learn from her. The dynamic when Ben works with Natalia Gutman is very productive, very harmonious--they learn from each other, they really collaborate, and the orchestra is very happy to witness that interaction between the two of them.
I have played Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet before and I can’t wait to play it again—it’s such an amazing composition. There is no comparison to any other composer when it comes to the way he orchestrates to get such colors from the instruments—they just elevate you. It was originally written for a ballet, and the music puts pictures in your mind—it’s unbelievable. When you take a composer with such beautiful skill and then add the drama of the story for which the music was written, it’s an amazing experience for the listener and for the player. I think this piece will really appeal to audiences because the story is so well-known. You know how sometimes you read a book and you create your own scenario of how it all looks? And then the movie comes out and you wonder if the director will create something that is similar or different to your idea of how it should look. Well, in this case it’s aural instead of visual, but in the same way I think it will be fascinating for audiences to see how this story that we are so familiar with will translate into music. I know it’s fascinating for me.
There are many challenges in this piece; Prokofiev wrote very hard music for orchestra. In the strings, there are very high passages all over the fingerboard and so technically it is very demanding. The next step is to get deeper into the music and into what the composer wanted from it. In a way that’s easier to do with this piece because there is a clear subject, a clear idea of what the composer wanted to describe, in contrast to a symphony where there is no written story behind it and you have to imagine our own story. For example, you know that one moment illustrates a duel of rivals, and another moment is when Romeo and Juliet first meet. So I think the challenge is overcoming the technical difficulties to bring listeners to the ultimate goal of envisioning the story.
The first time I played Romeo and Juliet was in 2002 in Venezuela, where I am from, when I was part of the Youth Orchestra of the Americas conducted by the young Gustavo Dudamel. I have not played it with BPO, and I can’t wait to play it with Ben—it’s always a different experience with Ben! There is always the question hanging in the air as we enter rehearsal: “What is going to happen? What is Ben going to do with this?” And this time around he will be fresh back from Venezuela himself, where he has been conducting and working with kids, and I know he will come back charged from that experience. So I am sure that playing Romeo and Juliet with Ben is going to be unlike anything else, and I am also sure it is going to be amazing.”
Written by Pamela Feo