Alisa Weilerstein Plays Elgar: Exploring Music With An Intense Past
British composer Edward Elgar wrote his cello concerto in 1919 — soon after the end of World War I — and it's suffused with the dark weight of that war.
All Things Considered host Melissa Block sat down with 30-year-old American cellist Alisa Weilerstein to listen to Weilerstein's new recording of the piece, which she made with the Berlin Staatskapelle and conductor Daniel Barenboim.
That in itself is noteworthy, because recordings by Barenboim's late wife, cellist Jacqueline du Pre, became virtually synonymous with the Elgar concerto.
For nearly four decades after du Pre's untimely death, Barenboim didn't perform the work with another female cellist. Now he has — with Weilerstein.
Weilerstein walks Block through the concerto in this discussion. "When I would describe Elgar's music," Weilerstein says, "it's of course very deeply emotional, but it's also very English in that there's a kind of noble resolve, and even reserve.
"However, what's unique to Elgar's music, and what I'm really drawn to, is its deeply, deeply personal quality," the cellist says. "And in this concerto, I think that's actually one of the biggest elements, the personal reflection and tragedy and nostalgia, really longing for an era that would never return. I mean, it was the end of the First World War. It was the absolute end of the Edwardian era, and I think Elgar was quite afraid of what was coming."
Weilerstein tells a story about one of Elgar's most famous themes, a portion of the concerto's first movement. "This is really an amazing story about Elgar," she says eagerly. "When he was on his deathbed, he was speaking to a friend, and he said, 'You know, if you hear that theme from my concerto in the hills when you're walking, don't worry. It's only me.' I mean, with this kind of theme, you can imagine the rolling hills of the English countryside, and somebody walking and whistling this tune — which doesn't end. It's a thread. And then it comes to this incredibly devastating conclusion. It always gives me chills."
The piece shifts very dramatically in the second movement to a kind of perpetual motion. How does Weilerstein recalibrate herself, moving from the sweep of the first movement to this very frenetic pace? "Well, we're very complex beings," she says. "We can come from this really somber, devastating feeling, and then turn around and then be in a complete fantasy world. That's really how I have to think when I'm playing the concerto. It's a 180-degree shift. I kind of think of it like an alternate reality, let's say. It's full of whimsy and fantasy and dancing."
Weilerstein started playing the cello when she was quite tiny — at age 4 — and the Elgar was a piece she'd listen to over and over again. "Jacqueline du Pre was — is, still! — my cello hero," she says. "When I was a very little girl, when I could barely play, I was still very much in love with the cello, and I, in fact, I tried to teach myself all these pieces that were much too advanced for me, including the Dvorak concerto, the Elgar, the Saint-Saens. These were my favorite pieces at the time. I think I listened to every bit of footage of Jacqueline du Pre before I was 10."
Weilerstein began to learn the Elgar concerto in earnest when she was 12 — and she realized that she would have to put the du Pre recordings away. "As much as I adore those recordings," Weilerstein says, "I knew how huge her personality was. I wanted to find my own way with the piece. So I had to put them on the shelf, and I actually haven't heard those recordings in quite a while. I needed to develop my own relationship with the score."
The third movement, a slow adagio, "might be my favorite movement of the concerto," Weilerstein says. "This is where you really look inside. For me, this movement is certainly about nostalgia, but it's also about love. I don't hear this kind of almost nakedness in much other music I can think of at all."
Her favorite moment in the concerto's fourth and final movement comes near the end. "Elgar writes a kind of timing marking on almost every bar," Weilerstein explains. "The ritards [purposely slowing down] kind of go over the bar lines, and the a tempos — when you take the tempo back, in other words — they come back sometimes in the middle of the bars. So you never have a sharp corner. It's always rising and falling. You can imagine someone breathing, or having difficulty breathing."
Soon, the theme heard in the third movement returns. "But here," Weilerstein says, "there's such a past now — the music has a past. You're hearing it again after this massive last movement." And just before the concerto ends, there's a return to the theme from the first movement, "and of course that also has a past." Weilerstein says she approaches it very differently as the piece concludes than she did earlier in the piece.
"This is something that Barenboim talks about a lot," she says. "When something returns, it has a past — so much has happened between when you first heard the theme and when you hear it again."
Weilerstein says that when she emerges from playing the piece, there is a definite release. "When you're so immersed in the music, it's kind of like trying to remember a dream. At the end of the piece, I kind of feel like, 'Well, he's through with the world.' So that's actually how I was feeling in the moment, even if that's not my normal way of thinking. I was very much in character, let's say."
And it's not a place Weilerstein really wants to stay. "It's actually one reason I'm kind of reluctant to play encores after the Elgar," she says. "It's an emotion that needs to clear — and it needs some silence."
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Transcript
AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:
It's ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Audie Cornish.
MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:
And I'm Melissa Block.
(SOUNDBITE OF ELGAR'S CELLO CONCERTO)
BLOCK: We're hearing the opening chords of Edward Elgar's cello concerto.
(SOUNDBITE OF ELGAR'S CELLO CONCERTO)
BLOCK: The British composer wrote the concerto in 1919, soon after the end of World War I and it's suffused with the dark weight of that war.
(SOUNDBITE OF ELGAR'S CELLO CONCERTO)
BLOCK: This is a new recording by the 30-year-old American cellist Alisa Weilerstein. She's playing with the Berlin Staatskapelle conducted by Daniel Barenboim. And that, in itself, is noteworthy because it was recordings by Barenboim's late wife - the cellist Jacqueline Du Pre - that became virtually synonymous with the Elgar concerto. For nearly four decades after Du Pre's untimely death, Barenboim didn't perform the work with another female cellist.
Now he has with Alisa Weilerstein.
(SOUNDBITE OF ELGAR'S CELLO CONCERTO)
ALISA WEILERSTEIN: When I would describe Elgar's music it's, of course, very deeply emotional, but it's also very English.
BLOCK: Very English.
WEILERSTEIN: Yeah, in that there is a kind of noble resolve and even reserve. However, what's unique to Elgar's music, and what I really am drawn to, is its deeply, deeply personal quality. And in this concerto, I think that's actually one of the biggest elements, is the personal reflection and tragedy and nostalgia, really, longing for an era that would never return.
I mean, it was the end of the First World War. It was the absolute end of the Edwardian era, and I think Elgar was quite afraid of what was coming.
BLOCK: Let's keep listening to the adagio, the first movement.
(SOUNDBITE OF ELGAR'S CELLO CONCERTO, FIRST MOVEMENT)
WEILERSTEIN: This is interesting. The theme which is now developed but which starts in the violas. There's this really an amazing story about Elgar. When he was on his deathbed, he was speaking to a friend, and he said, you know, if you hear that theme from my concerto in the hills when you're walking, don't worry, it's only me.
BLOCK: Ah.
(SOUNDBITE OF ELGAR'S CELLO CONCERTO, FIRST MOVEMENT)
WEILERSTEIN: This kind of theme, I mean, you can imagine the rolling hills of the English countryside, and somebody walking and whistling this tune, which doesn't end - it's a thread. And then comes to this incredibly devastating conclusion.
BLOCK: The huge scale.
WEILERSTEIN: Yes.
BLOCK: Up to what note?
WEILERSTEIN: Up to a very high E.
(SOUNDBITE OF ELGAR'S CELLO CONCERTO, FIRST MOVEMENT)
WEILERSTEIN: It actually always gives me chills, this moment.
BLOCK: That's got to be an incredible feeling when you land on that final note.
WEILERSTEIN: Oh, yeah. There's kind of being taken over by the full force of the orchestra right afterwards.
BLOCK: Ah.
(SOUNDBITE OF ELGAR'S CELLO CONCERTO 2ND MOVEMENT)
BLOCK: The piece shifts very dramatically in the second movement to sort of perpetual motion. What do you do to recalibrate yourself emotionally, as you're playing this piece in the dramatic sweeping tones of the first movement, into this very frenetic pace of the second?
WEILERSTEIN: Well, in a way, we're very, very complex beings. And, you know, we can come from this really somber, sort of devastating feeling and then turn around and then be in a complete fantasy world. That's really how I have to think when I'm playing the concerto. Like you said, it is a really, kind of 180-degree shift. I kind of think of it like an alternate reality, let's say. It's full of whimsy and fantasy and dancing.
(SOUNDBITE OF ELGAR'S CELLO CONCERTO, 2ND MOVEMENT)
(LAUGHTER)
BLOCK: How fast can you go?
(LAUGHTER)
BLOCK: Test the limits there.
WEILERSTEIN: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF ELGAR'S CELLO CONCERTO)
BLOCK: You started playing the cello when you were very, very tiny.
WEILERSTEIN: Yes.
BLOCK: And I gather this was a piece that you would play, as a very young girl; you would listen to over and over.
WEILERSTEIN: Yes. Yes.
(SOUNDBITE OF ELGAR'S CELLO CONCERTO, 2ND MOVEMENT)
WEILERSTEIN: Jacqueline du Pre was my - is, still, actually she was my cello hero. And when I was a very little girl, when I could, you know, kind of barely play the cello, I was still very much in love with the cello. And I, in fact, tried to teach myself all these pieces that were much too advanced for me, including the Dvorak concerto, Elgar concerto, the Saint-Saens. These were my favorite pieces at the time. I think I listened to every bit of footage of Jacqueline du Pre before I was 10.
And so, I began to learn the Elgar concerto when I was 12 - I began to learn it in earnest. And then I realized I'd have to put her recordings away very suddenly. Because as much as I adore those recordings, I knew how huge her personality was. And there's just something absolutely wonderful, but I wanted to find my own way with the piece. So I had to put them on the shelf, and I actually haven't heard those recordings for quite a while, because I needed to develop my own relationship with the score.
BLOCK: The third movement is the adagio. Let's take a listen to the start here.
(SOUNDBITE OF ELGAR'S CELLO CONCERTO, THIRD MOVEMENT)
BLOCK: Alisa Weilerstein, talk a bit about the third movement of the Elgar concerto that we're listening to now.
WEILERSTEIN: I think this is actually, might be my favorite movement of the concerto. This is where you really, really look inside. And for me, actually, this movement is certainly about nostalgia but it's also about love.
(SOUNDBITE OF ELGAR'S CELLO CONCERTO, THIRD MOVEMENT)
WEILERSTEIN: And this part now, which we're hearing, if you remember it comes back in the last movement - the very end of the last movement. And when it does it's the most devastating thing you can imagine. It's just heartbreaking. And I think these qualities are really unique to Elgar. I don't hear this kind of almost nakedness in much other music that I can think of at all, actually.
(SOUNDBITE OF ELGAR'S CELLO CONCERTO, THIRD MOVEMENT)
BLOCK: Let's move on to the final movement of the Elgar concerto.
(SOUNDBITE OF ELGAR'S CELLO CONCERTO, FINAL MOVEMENT)
BLOCK: Do you have a favorite part of this last movement?
WEILERSTEIN: Probably right before the end, right before the very opening comes back.
(SOUNDBITE OF ELGAR'S CELLO CONCERTO, FINAL MOVEMENT)
WEILERSTEIN: In this bit that you're playing now, he writes a kind of timing marking on almost every bar. And the ritards, they kind of go over the bar lines, and then the a tempos - when you take the tempo back, in other words - they come back and it's sometimes in the middle of the bars. So you never have a sharp corner. It's always rising and falling. And you can imagine somebody really breathing or having difficulty breathing
BLOCK: Oh.
(SOUNDBITE OF ELGAR'S CELLO CONCERTO, FINAL MOVEMENT)
BLOCK: That breathing you're talking about?
WEILERSTEIN: Yes.
(SOUNDBITE OF ELGAR'S CELLO CONCERTO, FINAL MOVEMENT)
WEILERSTEIN: Yes, he has his accents on each one is a, you know, these deep sighs.
(SOUNDBITE OF ELGAR'S CELLO CONCERTO, FINAL MOVEMENT)
WEILERSTEIN: And very soon, the third movement will come back, which is what I was talking about before.
(SOUNDBITE OF ELGAR'S CELLO CONCERTO, THIRD MOVEMENT)
BLOCK: So you've settled back into that theme?
WEILERSTEIN: Yes, but here it's - there is such a past now.
BLOCK: What do you mean?
WEILERSTEIN: The music has a past now. You're hearing it, you know, after this massive last movement.
(SOUNDBITE OF ELGAR'S CELLO CONCERTO, THIRD MOVEMENT)
WEILERSTEIN: And there, of course, is the opening - also with a past.
(SOUNDBITE OF ELGAR'S CELLO CONCERTO, FIRST MOVEMENT)
BLOCK: Do you find yourself approaching this theme very differently in the final movement...
WEILERSTEIN: Yes.
BLOCK: ...than the first? Exactly. And actually this is something Barenboim talks about a lot. This is, well, when something returns. It has a past. So much has happened in between when you first heard the theme and when you hear it again.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
BLOCK: Alisa Weilerstein, do you remember when you finished playing the Elgar concerto in Berlin with Daniel Barenboim? You come to that conclusion and you look over at him. What was that moment? What happened?
WEILERSTEIN: I'm trying to put myself back in that place because, you know, when you're so immersed in the music, it's kind of like trying to remember a dream in a way. At the very end of the piece, I kind of feel like, well, he's through with the world. So that's actually how I was feeling in the moment, even if it's not my normal way of thinking. But I was very much kind of in character, let's say.
BLOCK: Not a place you want to stay, probably.
WEILERSTEIN: No, no. It's actually one reason I'm reluctant to play encores after the other.
BLOCK: Is that right?
WEILERSTEIN: Yeah. It's something - it's an emotion that needs to kind of clear. I think it needs some silence to clear.
BLOCK: Well, Alisa Weilerstein, thank you so much.
WEILERSTEIN: You're very welcome. Thank you for having me on.
BLOCK: Alisa Weilerstein. Her new recording of the Elgar cello concerto is with the Berlin Staatskapelle, Daniel Barenboim conducting. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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