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NICOLAS DAUTRICOURT
You’re releasing a recording entirely devoted to an almost unknown part
of the output of Sibelius. When and how did you get to know this music?
Five years ago, by pure accidents of programming, I happened to discover a
number of pieces that were new tome, including some by Sibelius, his
Humoresques
in particular.
After that, as time went by I felt the urge to explore the rest of these pieces,
alongside his symphonic output. They seemed to me, like his corpus as a whole,
to be highly individual, in a wholly personal vein, deriving from no earlier ‘school’
and distinct from any other musical language. I’m fascinated by his extraordinary
independence of mind.
How do you explain the fact that such music is still so neglected?
Perhaps the language is less immediately accessible than in the famous Concerto,
of which unfortunately it’s often only the virtuosic and superficially appealing
aspects that attract attention. The prevailing atmosphere in these other pieces is
more secretive, more intimate, with virtuosity relegated to secondary importance;
of course, the violin can still be pretty dazzling sometimes, but the general mood
is more confidential, closer to chamber music in a way, with the primary emphasis
on colours and impressions.