RIGHT PLACE, RIGHT TIME

For Renaud Capuçon, recording Elgar’s Violin Concerto with the London Symphony Orchestra and Simon Rattle was a dream come true – and one that he couldn’t allow to be derailed by Covid-19’s lockdown restrictions, as he tells Charlotte Gardner

‘W ait, you did this when?’ These aren’t Renaud Capuçon’s words but my own, some way into our Skype conversation about his recording of Elgar’s Violin Concerto with the London Symphony Orchestra under Simon Rattle, and the composer’s Violin Sonata with pianist Stephen Hough.

Until that moment, surprises about this project had been thin on the ground – beyond the unusualness of not having heard a whisper of such a major recording on the grapevine before a press email pinged into my inbox in September. For starters, if ever a violinist should fit these two nobly Romantic works like a glove, it’s Capuçon, with that warmly singing tone of his. Then, you couldn’t hope for more perfect partners: the very orchestra Elgar conducted at the Concerto’s 1910 premiere with soloist Fritz Kreisler, and which in 1932 recorded the work with Yehudi Menuhin, again under Elgar; plus Hough, one of the most intelligent and sensitive interpreters of our times. So, when even our interview has kicked off with Capuçon being deliciously true to form – so fast off the blocks with his thoughts that my intended first question has been left blinking in his cloud of dust back at the starting line – there is a sense of glorious inevitability to the project. But then Capuçon says something truly surprising: ‘It could have been much more complicated, as this was a September recording in London, with everything closed and no direct travel to England from France without a quarantine. So I went through Germany.’

‘YOU COULD FEEL THIS ORCHESTRA HAD PERFORMED THE WORLD PREMIERE. THEY’RE NOT THE SAME PLAYERS, BUT THE SOUND REMAINS’ 

Hence the rewind: it’s quite astonishing that this big-name orchestral programme was first mooted in April at the height of the Covid-19 lockdown, then fixed in May and recorded mid-September. ‘I’d long been thinking of recording the Concerto,’ explains Capuçon, ‘but I needed to do it at the right time with the right people, and usually a recording with Simon and the LSO would have to be booked at least three years in advance.’ However, then came Covid. So, with everyone’s diaries suddenly emptied, Capuçon called Rattle, and Rattle was game. ‘Actually, until the day I arrived in London I couldn’t really believe it wouldn’t be cancelled,’ smiles Capuçon disbelievingly. ‘Simon and I laughed so much, because although we’ve known each other for a very long time, we had never played together – and now we were starting with the longest ever violin concerto! It was a nice way to begin.’

It was another British conductor, Jeffrey Tate, who first kindled Capuçon’s love for the Concerto, back in 2006. ‘I knew the work and wanted to play it, but it was Jeffrey who really gave me the passion for it,’ says Capuçon. ‘We played three concerts in Vienna with the Tonkünstler Orchestra, and I was so excited. He was British, he loved the piece, he was such a wonderful musician and I adored him. Actually, in the first rehearsal it was funny as I was so passionate. Sometimes when you play a piece for the first time, you can give a bit too much. It’s easy to do that in this piece because it’s so romantic – a mix of noblesse, tenderness and elegance. Jeffrey told me, “You’re like a lion, but don’t overdo it!” From then on, I suggested it to concert promoters quite a lot. But I was young, and of course people wanted me to play Mendelssohn, Beethoven and Brahms more than Elgar, which I understand. In the past few years, though, I’ve been able to play it much more, including for my 42nd birthday in Salzburg with the Vienna Philharmonic and Robin Ticciati.’

For this recording, though, it had to be the LSO. ‘I’ll never forget the start of our very first run-through,’ says Capuçon. ‘You could feel that this orchestra had performed the world premiere with Kreisler, and recorded with Menuhin and Heifetz. Of course, they’re not the same players but the sound remains. You can feel that it’s in their blood. Certainly I have my view of the work and my own sound – and Simon and I initially connected to the playing style of Albert Sammons on his 1929 recording with Henry Wood and the Liverpool Philharmonic as we prepared together. But when you hear that first tutti played by the LSO, you don’t begin your own first note as you would with another orchestra and conductor. It’s not that it’s right or wrong – it just feels like home.’

Less homely was an orchestra wearing masks, with plastic windows on their stands and everyone spaced out around LSO St Luke’s in an almost-complete circle around Rattle. Yet still it worked. ‘I was very impressed with how the players handled having masks on during the sessions, and although I was scared that the seating arrangement might feel too distant, the circle actually felt closer.’

Rattle’s way of working also felt like a luxury. ‘Everybody knows how gentle and focused he is,’ begins Capuçon. ‘He also does long takes, which I really loved, especially for this piece which is made solely of long phrases. I know the work well, having played it so much, so I performed every take almost like a concert, really giving everything. In fact, everyone was so happy to be playing that they gave 600 per cent energy. It was particularly noticeable when we made mistakes. It’s inevitable that mistakes are made when you’re playing for two days, but when you’re tired you can try to redo things and they still don’t work, whereas we were able to fix things easily and move on. We were on fire! At the end we played the whole concerto through again in one take, as a concert for five people from the record company.’

Recording Elgar’s Violin Concerto at LSO St Luke’s with a socially distanced London Symphony Orchestra

PHOTOS PAUL MARC MITCHELL 

Conductor Simon Rattle and Capuçon discuss the score

The Sonata, by contrast, is a story of new relationships, even if Capuçon’s first contact with the work precedes his introduction to the Concerto. ‘As violinists in France we don’t play Elgar, and I have no idea why,’ he muses. ‘I discovered the Sonata while studying in Berlin around 1996, thanks to Maxim Vengerov recording it. We were friends, he invited me to the session, and I’ve loved it ever since.’ As for teaming with Hough, ‘I’m so happy about this partnership,’ he says. ‘For almost six or seven years we’d been emailing and saying, “Let’s play together,” but somehow it never worked out. Then, last year we were able to play the three Brahms Violin Sonatas at Wigmore Hall, and when we met to rehearse, we only had to play them through once, as the fit was so much like trying on the perfect shoes. He was anticipating what I was about to do and me with him. We said, “Well, we don’t want to destroy what’s already working, so let’s just go on!” The concert was really special and we agreed to do something else as soon as we could. So, when in May I decided to pair the Concerto with the Sonata, he was the first person I thought of.’

Capuçon then began learning the piece, and the pair recorded it at St Judeon-the-Hill over two days preceding the orchestral sessions. ‘I love Stephen’s style,’ he says admiringly. ‘There is such logic in his left hand that shapes this music so perfectly. I received the first edit of the Sonata yesterday, and I can’t stop listening to it, which is a good sign. It’s really weird, but it feels like it isn’t me – perhaps because I’ve never played it in concert, so it’s completely new.’

As for the Concerto edits, as we speak, Capuçon is yet to hear them, but he knows what he wants from the programme as a whole. ‘I would love listeners to feel this sense of noblesse from the orchestra, from Stephen, and hopefully from me, too. I can’t wait to discover if you can hear the energy and passion we all felt during the Concerto recording, or if it’s all psychological.’ He pauses. ‘But I think you’ll hear it.’

WORKS Elgar Violin Concerto. Violin Sonata 

ARTISTS Renaud Capuçon (vn) Stephen Hough (pf) London Symphony Orchestra/Simon Rattle 

RECORDING VENUES LSO St Luke’s, London, UK (Concerto); St Jude-on-the-Hill, London UK (Sonata) 

RECORDING DATES 18–19 September 2020 (Concerto); 16–17 September 2020 (Sonata) 

CATALOGUE NO. Warner Classics 9029521413 

RELEASE DATE 12 March 2021