BY STEPHANIE ESLAKE
Music rarely hides away from the confronting – or the disturbing. Some of the greatest and most loved works in history centre around themes of betrayal, murder, and adultery. Finnish violinist Pekka Kuusisto isn’t afraid to face it all and more, and he kicks off the Australian Chamber Orchestra’s season 2017 with the psychological journey that is Murder & Redemption from February 2.
Pekka is the ACO Collective’s Artistic Director, and as part of these performances he works with American folk artist Sam Amidon to connect the emotional and horrific, the dark and light. They bring together Janáček’s Kreutzer Sonata, a Tolstoy-inspired tale of uxoricide, John Adams’ Shaker Loops, Brackett’s Simple Gifts, and American folk murder ballads as arranged by Nico Muhly.
Pekka, who won the Jean Sibelius Violin Competition at 19 and has been dubbed “the David Bowie of the fiddle” by The Times, chats with us about this daring musical event.
So – sex, adultery, betrayal, murder…tell us more. How did the concept for your grisly show come about?
Oh, come on, it’s not that grisly. It’s hard to trace back the origins of an idea, but I can say the program was not born from a desire to cause horror or religious outbursts. I wanted to do something again with Sam Amidon, and some of the more sinister songs that he sings started to play in my head. One had a jealous murderer in it, and I started thinking about the Janacek. One thing led to another.
It certainly sounds like a dark opener to the ACO year. Yet, intriguing. Why do you think we, as concertgoers, have traditionally been interested in stories which reveal these disturbing acts of human nature?
Coming from Finland, it sometimes feels the only way to really grip an audience is to hold a dark mirror to them. I suppose we all are drawn to negative things. It’s much harder to make a blockbuster film about happy surprises than about disasters.
When did you first hear the Kreutzer Sonata, and why does it draw you in?
I think I must have heard the Janacek Kreutzer Sonata quartet at school. I don’t remember really getting it then. Later on I became addicted to it – there’s a pretty unique physical and spiritual state that you find yourself in when you play it. It’s going to be interesting to see how that happens now that we’re breaking it up with traditional songs. There’s something about the Janacek quartets kind of exploding into the string quartet repertoire without obvious predecessors, and nothing quite similar coming after them, that fascinates me. It’s a bit similar with the Sibelius quartet Voces Intimae – these pieces kind of come out of nowhere, make a phenomenally strong statement, and there’s nothing left for anyone else to say on the matter.
You’ve chosen to combine it with folk songs – how does this work on a practical level?
We’ll see. Sam is great and the arrangements for the folk songs are super, so we just have to work out the details in the rehearsals.
Why this juxtaposition?
The thematic partnerships of people diving into the deepest of darknesses, as well as lifting their gazes to the heavens for salvation, were too inviting to ignore.
How can audiences prepare for the psychological journey of your event?
I don’t want to suggest anything. I just hope everyone goes through some kind of a unique process at and after the show.
Your parting words?
Don’t kill, have mercy, respect the original population of Australia, respect nature, save the planet, go to concerts. Read, listen, don’t listen to people who offer an easy fix that only they themselves can give you. Hug and kiss.
The ACO’s Murder & Redemption will be on Australian tour from February 2-14. Full details and tickets online.
Image supplied. Credit: Mick Bruzzese.
