MASTERCLASS

Violinist Francesca Dego looks at how to play the final movement of this violin concerto with direction, musicality and a sense of fun

From Mozart Violin Concerto no.4 in D major, K218. Urtext edition, paperbound with marked and unmarked string parts. Ed. Wolf-Dieter Seiffert; pf reduction Siegfried Petrenz; vn fingering, bowing and cadenzas Kurt Guntner. Order no. HN 680, ISMN 979-0-2018-0680-8. €16.50. Printed with permission of G. Henle Verlag, Munich © 2001

The first movements of Mozart’s violin concertos are so often used as audition pieces that sometimes I think people forget the pieces are longer than that!Last movements are frequently the most straightforward and happy, and to me this one in particular is incredibly special. Mozart just pours out idea after idea, and there are so many possible interpretations. It is one of my favourite movements to play with orchestra.

Too often violinists seem to be walking on eggshells when they play Mozart, because they have been told so many rules about what they can and cannot do that they only learn to follow instructions, instead of feeling the music for themselves. They often focus all their attention on playing exactly what is written, with clean shifts, articulate bow changes and good string-crossings and intonation, and their playing moves between sounding sheepish and even more hidden. That can put a real barrier between them and the music.

It’s important to have a scholarly understanding of the music, but you also have to be able to play what is musical, not just what is ‘correct’. One way not to be frightened of Mozart is to play really loudly in the fortes, to bring out the chiaroscuro effect in his writing. Obviously you don’t want to sound heavy or vulgar, but the orchestration is rich and there is a lot going on, so you have to know how to dip in and out of that. Mozart’s scores can look quite empty dynamically, but the music should be full of shapes in between each piano and forte.

Working with a conductor

Sometimes violin teachers focus on the technical difficulties of a piece at the expense of the bigger picture, so it can be useful and interesting to work on this music with a conductor who does not have any violinistic technical barriers in front of them. That may mean that they ask you to do things that are uncomfortable, but that make more sense musically.

DAVIDE CERATI

THE SOLOIST

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NAME FRANCESCA DEGO

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NATIONALITY ITALIAN–AMERICAN

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STUDIED WITH DANIELE GAY, ITZHAK RASHKOVSKY, SALVATORE ACCARDO, SHLOMO MINTZ

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RECORDS FOR CHANDOS, DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON

‘It’s important to have a scholarly understanding of the music, but you have to be able to play what is musical, not just what is “correct”’

Dego’s recording of Mozart’s Violin Concertos nos.3 and 4 with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra/Roger Norrington is available from Chandos

Working on this concerto with Roger Norrington has really helped me to change the way that I think about phrasing and articulation, even though it isn’t easy to do everything he asks, especially where tempo is concerned! He is 87 now, and he has such a freshness of approach.

Rapport with the orchestra

There are many moments of dialogue between the violin and the orchestra in this movement, especially with the woodwinds, which Mozart always uses in a wonderfully active and important way. As the soloist, it’s important to communicate clearly, to show what is happening and to bring the other musicians with you. For instance, the Allegro ma non troppo first comes in bar 15, then again in bar 85 and finally from 224. I like to communicate with them that I want a feeling of waves and lightness each time, with a biting acciaccatura.

In the up-beat to bar 32, I sometimes play an accent to emphasise that I’m interrupting and repeating what the violins have just done, to give more direction, interest and colour. For the section of intense dialogue with the orchestra from bar 37, agree in advance how you are going to interpret this, and play very clearly, because too often the soloist and the orchestra do their own separate thing. I then like to diminuendo into bar 43, so that it’s a surprise when the orchestra enters in forte. The music becomes so much more alive when you work with an orchestra to shape every half-bar and bring out little surprises in response to what you are playing.

Bringing out the rondo form

In my opinion, players sometimes take the Andante grazioso too fast, without making a clear contrast with the Allegro ma non troppo from bar 15. That contrast is important, to bring out the rondo structure of the movement. To highlight that form and remind people that we’re still alive, as Norrington says, I also add subtle decorations when the Andante grazioso returns from bar 70, and even more from bar 178, for some pepper. The last time the Andante grazioso returns, from bar 210, Mozart does this himself, but I do accent the A sharp in bar 214, just to underline that the material is now sweeter and slightly different.

Grace-note style

Even the most knowledgeable violinists disagree about how to play Mozart’s grace notes. I like to play around with them, so that I don’t get stuck on what’s written. Once you have studied Mozart’s writing back to front, there is space to have some fun. For instance, most people play the acciaccaturas from bar 18 so fast that it’s as though they never happened. I prefer to embrace these, by sitting on them on the down-beat, before playing the main note shorter. From bar 101, almost everyone plays the appoggiaturas as up-beats to the quavers (e), taking away from the quaver rests, but it’s important to play on the beat here. In Italian, appoggiarsi means ‘to lean’, so really lean on these notes, to bring out the harmonic clash with the orchestra.

Once you have studied Mozart’s writing back to front, there is space to have some fun

Tipping the balance

I think that it sounds amazing to underline the hemiola in the virtuosic passage from bar 104, to bring out the harmonic groups of four for a sense of being off balance over the orchestra’s triplets. It’s one of my favourite quirks in this movement. I slow down into bar 116, to wind back down into the Andante grazioso again, to regroup and take a deep breath.

A bagpipe drone

Mozart clearly wanted a bagpipe effect from bar 136, but he did not explain how to play this on the violin. Some people play the pedal Gs full length, by changing bow in the middle and repeating the note; others play a bar to a bow, to keep the G going while dipping on and off the D string. To me it makes more sense to imitate Mozart’s writing from bar 144, where the cellos only hold each note for a half-bar. I do the same thing from bar 136, so that I come off the G for the second half of each bar, playing the other notes in one bow but adding a little portato to separate them. I continue the bagpipe effect in bars 152–154, playing full crotchets (q) then very short notes, for a fun contrast with what the orchestra plays to follow.

Open strings, harmonics and vibrato

I use open strings and harmonics to bring out different colours. For instance, I use a harmonic in bar 11, to vary the fingering and add a different effect from bar 3. In bars 12–14 I use open Es because I think they have more character. If it sounds good, it gives musical meaning, and if you think that Mozart would have liked it, then why not?

I only use a little vibrato, and I ask the orchestra not to vibrate at all. To me vibrato is a decoration and it should always make sense as part of a phrase. For instance, I use some in the forte pianos in bars 23 and 27, for a little colour. I prefer not to use any vibrato in bars 121–122, because I want to give the same suspended sound quality as the oboe, which also plays there. The less vibrato you use, the more special it will sound when you do apply it. A little vibrato can help to bring out the playful quality of the Allegro ma non troppo from bar 217, for example, even if the expression comes mostly from the bow. Vary the bow speed for a crisp, light sound, and decide where you want to emphasise the harmony by leaning into the string.

‘Lead-ins’ and cadenzas

I play a short descending chromatic scale and a little arpeggio for the ‘lead-in’ in bar 70. In bar 178 I do something more operatic, but the longest cadenza, of around four lines, is in bar 209. I take inspiration from Franco Gulli’s cadenzas, which are well balanced in length and style, with clear articulations that follow the Urtext. I adapt these in performance, by reacting to the audience and how I’m feeling in the moment. For instance, I might change an articulation or an arpeggio, add a jeté bowing or a trill, and change the tempo. I’ve never fully improvised a cadenza in Mozart, because I find the idea quite scary!