A "prickly" performer

DANA SCHLANGER

He's the same age as the state of Israel – and, just like his homeland, he never ceases to amaze. A true sabra – he was born in Tel Aviv – Pinchas Zukerman has a no-nonsense attitude, a direct and somewhat sardonic wit and all the natural warmth in the world. He is a renaissance figure of the music world: violinist, violist, conductor, chamber musician, a tireless pioneer in music education and probably the first to laugh at being called a renaissance figure. He'd just turn to his orchestra and say something like, "Let's just all play in tune and with a nice sound, please!"

As music director of the National Arts Centre Orchestra (NACO) in Ottawa since 1998, Zukerman has led several Western Canada tours with his orchestra and, most recently, he and the NACO were in Vancouver in October.

While we witness the glamor of the concerts and revel in the visits of an iconic musician, it is important to know that they view touring as a major opportunity for educational outreach, providing master classes and performing in schools and conservatories, as well. Zukerman has a passion for and an ongoing commitment to music education – the NACO is already benefiting from several youth artists programs, as well as a new conductors program and an Institute of Orchestral Studies. His previous association with the Manhattan School of Music is still going strong and he has established music education programs in Israel, to which he is deeply committed. And, because he is constantly performing around the world as either soloist, conductor or with his group Zukerman Chamber Players, Zukerman has pioneered the use of videoconferencing technology in music education, in order to maintain the personal interaction with his students while his career takes him around the planet.

How does he keep it fresh? This is an ever-present question and a legitimate case of wonder, but when his bow touches the strings, as when he played Mozart's Third Violin Concerto here in Vancouver, you just stop wondering and go with the flow – his natural tone and eloquence of musical phrases are, as always, conquering.

Zukerman once said, "A player's sound is something as inborn and unchangeable as their voice. It's about DNA." There is real magic in the Zukerman sound: it seems to have a life of its own and is as recognizable as his nonchalant smile. You actually feel you get to know him through his sound, his tone; the man, as well as the artist. Zukerman addresses the audience through the medium of the concerto in the most natural and effortless manner and the audience responds to him with rapt attention and enthusiastic ovations at the end. In the elegant dialogue that ensues, whether leading with his violin or keeping the orchestra on track in the introductions and interludes, Zukerman communicates freely, radiating a benevolent energy to the orchestra and the audience.

The conductor's hat is by now as familiar to him and his followers as the violinist's one – he sees them just as facets of his musical personality and often balks when asked which he prefers or with which feels more comfortable. Having started with a mostly classical to early Romantic repertoire, just like the orchestra he's leading, Zukerman and the NACO are now often scheduling later Romantic or modern/contemporary repertoire. This explains the choice of the introductory piece of the Vancouver concert, Alexina Louie's "Infinite Sky with Birds," as well as Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony, one of the most beloved symphonies of all times. Between the strong, dominant motif opening the symphony and the lyrical, song-like quality of the second movement, with its famous horn solo, the NACO maintained a high level of emotional intensity, without losing control. It felt sometimes that Zukerman was pushing for more, asking the musicians to play with the "reckless abandon" that Tchaikovsky had put into this symphony. Altogether, the performance came to a grandiose conclusion that was truly rewarded with a standing ovation.

Dana Schlanger is a Vancouver freelance writer and director of the Dena Wosk School of Performing Arts at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver.

^TOP