Bach to basics
Like all good art, classical music is most exciting when it is used to expand one’s mind. The genre, however, is often associated with status, class and wealth, as it owes its very existence to the generosity of elite patrons. While this unfair cultural legacy “dead people music” is very hard to combat, a crop of young virtuosos is challenging the stereotype by making Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms more appealing to their peers in the digital generation.
Take Charlie Siem. Educated in Cambridge and tutored by some of the greatest living violinists, including renowned Russian-Israeli Itzhak Rashkovsky, the 25-year-old London-born soloist has slowly been changing perceptions of classical music by being both talented and good-looking.
As part of Dunhill’s Voices campaign, alongside principal dancer Rupert Pennefather and broadcaster Sir David Frost, the young Brit, who looks like a more model-y Haley Joel Osment, has already been profiled in VMan and Acne Paper. But it’s his body of work that truly sets him apart from his photogenic peers: At 17, he played with the Royal Philharmonic. Two years ago, he performed in Cuba with the Royal Ballet. Just recently, he released his self-titled album, which he recorded at the legendary Abbey Road Studios with the London Symphony Orchestra. Lady Gaga likes him, which, in today’s parlance, is the ultimate affirmation of one’s pop culture relevance.
Playing with passion
Violin virtuoso: 25-year-old Charlie Siem, part of Dunhill’s Voices campaign, has performed with The Who’s Roger Daltrey and Pete Townsend. GETTY IMAGES Then there’s Nicola Benedetti. At 24, the Scot of mostly Italian extraction is easy on the eyes and on the ears, the closest thing the classical world has to an X Factor winner. After winning the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition five years ago, the pretty fiddler signed a six-album deal with Deutsche Grammophon and went on a punishing carousel of concerts. Fresh from a self-imposed hiatus, the violinist is back on stage, a little older and a lot wiser about her musical development. Her near-burnout was, by all accounts, a case of playing with too much passion.
Born 28 years ago in the Balkan country of Montenegro, Miloš Karadaglic has been hailed by the UK’s Telegraph as the new hero of classical guitar. The Deutsche Grammophon artist’s debut, called simply “The Guitar,” salutes his instrument’s Mediterranean heritage. I have his iTunes EP and his version of the contemporary Italian composer Carlo Domeniconi’s four-part Koyunbaba Suite amazes me every time, as he somehow makes the guitar sound like another musical instrument or a group of musical instruments altogether.
Before ‘Little Einsteins’
Baroque and roll: British actor Max Irons, 25, is set to star in the historical epic Vivaldi, which examines the life of the prolific 17th century Italian composer. GETTY IMAGES As far as the under-20s are concerned, I’ve been watching YouTube clips of Benjamin Grosvenor’s performances. The 18-year-old, the youngest ever soloist in the history of the Proms an annual eight-week summer season of daily orchestral performances held at the Royal Albert Hall in London is also the youngest ever artist to sign an exclusive contract with Decca. The British pianist, by the way, first achieved prominence as an 11-year-old.
I’m an indie electro guy through and through, but seeing and hearing these rising classical music stars has reawakened my appreciation and patience for the single instrument narrative. I was in the second grade when I first learned about woodwinds, brass, percussion, and strings, a fun exercise that called for us to imagine what these different sounds would’ve looked like had they been animals. Then, under the guidance of a tutor, I started tickling the ivories soon after, learning to sight-read sheet music while acquainting myself with Italian music terms such as accelerando and crescendo. This was way before Little Einsteins, mind you.
Crossing boundaries
They say that the older you get, the more likely you are to develop things like taste and discernment. But since I was grounded in the classics, this rediscovery of centuries-old pieces is a homecoming of sorts, a full circle moment, more than a totally new experience. The Amish, for instance, allow their teenagers to rebel as much as they like, so when they come back to the fold, they do so freely. I’m an Amish teen in a way: after years of wilfully ignoring people such as Lizst, Chopin, and Tchaikovsky, I have re-embraced them and now listen to their music with as much amusement as I would a Breakbot remix. As a music fan, I’m only too happy to cross boundaries and have different genres play off each other.
I found it quite refreshing to hear that British up-and-comer Max Irons, who made his film debut in the frankly awful Red Riding Hood, now has a chance to redeem himself, having recently snagged the lead role in the long-gestating Vivaldi. As the 17th century Italian composer, the 25-year-old is set to share screen time with fellow newbie Claire Foy, as well as Elle Fanning, Neve Campbell, and Alfred Molina. Filming has only begun, but I’m already hoping that the biopic will show that you don’t have to be all shades of elderly to enjoy a baroque concerto.
* * *
