At home with Nathan and Akiko(aka "Stand Partners for Life"*)

*"Stand Partners for Life": Check out Nathan and Akiko's podcast

LA Phil Home Recitals: Nathan Cole & Akiko Tarumoto
[For now you'll have to trust me that there's a reason why we're interested just now. -- Ed.]

Nathan and Akiko introduce themselves and the music, then --
[at 0:55] Wieniawski: Étude-Caprice, Op. 18, No. 2: Andante

And then -- Étude-Caprice, Op. 18, No. 4: Tempo di Saltarella,
ma non troppo vivo

[from their May 2020 LA Phil Home Recital]

by Ken

Back in early pandemic days, like their Los Angeles Philharmonic colleagues first associate concertmaster Nathan Cole and assistant concertmaster Akiko Tarumoto (or, as Nathan has put it in at least one introduction: "No. 2 and No. 4" among the LA Phil first violins) were on their own with their three children at home, and for the online series of "LA Phil Home Recitals" served up this potion of home-brewed music: Nos. 2 and 4 of Henryk (aka Henri) Wieniawski's Op. 18 set of eight Études-Caprices.

The Études-Caprices, as Nathan notes, were written as essentially violin solos with the accompaniment of a second violin, so he and Akiko have done some rearranging to allot equal measures of "good stuff" to the two parts. My original intention was to pluck out one of the two pieces, and I duly made a clip of No. 4, the sparkling Tempo di Saltarella. But it just seemed wrong to jump into it without the setup of the lovely Andante of No. 2 -- so there they both are.


OH, AND HERE'S NATHAN PLAYING "HOME RECITAL" BACH

BACH: Solo Violin Sonata No. 1 in G minor, S. 1001:
i. Adagio

"I'd like to play for you the first movement of Bach's First Sonata for Solo Violin in G minor. Now this is a piece I've played my whole life. It was the very first solo Bach that I ever learned. I'm sure I was 10 or 11 years old, way before I could understand the music of Bach. But I've had my ups and downs with it ever since. I've always loved this music dearly, but I've had some scary moments too. One recital that I played -- this very movement, I got about three lines in, and I had no idea what came next! So, very embarrassing, I had to just stop, start over, and when I got to that spot again, I thought it was going to happen again! Then miraculously I remembered the next notes! So, I'm going to hope that doesn't happen here! I always loved playing solo Bach, and I'm overjoyed to be able to share this music with you during this time. Thanks!"

[from his April 2020 "LA Phil Home Recital" -- watch here]

WHY JUST NOW DO WE CARE ABOUT NATHAN AND AKIKO?

Because as Nathan concludes a statement included in a May 20 press release from the Boston Symphony Orchestra: "My wife Akiko and I and all three of our kids are super-excited about the move to New England!"

Hmm, I may have omitted a detail or two, but we can pick up any odds 'n' ends when we read Nathan's complete statement in just a moment. First, however --

The, um, original Nathan

In the upcoming main post devoted to this event, we're going to hark back to an event in October 2017, when Nathan gave his first public performance of the Beethoven Violin Concerto, with the Azusa Pacific University Symphony Orchestra under Christopher Russell -- playing, via a week-long loan, a 1716 Strad that once belonged to a fiddling hero of Nathan's, whom he's been known to refer to as "the other Nathan": Nathan Milstein. Not surprisingly, Nathan C. devoted considerable thought to his choice of cadenzas. In the main post we're going to eavesdrop on his choice for the first movement: in honor of "the other Nathan," the published version of his cadenza, which turned out to not quite match what Nathan C. heard in any of the live Nathan M. performances of the Beethoven Concerto he assembled.

Let's jump, though, to the third movement, for which Nathan chose the much-loved cadenza by Fritz Kreisler. Here he is road-testing it:

[video posted by Nathan Cole]

And here's a YouTube clip from the performance --

Nathan Cole, violin; Azusa Pacific University Symphony Orchestra, Christopher Russell, cond. Live performance from Oct. 17, 2017

For reference, here's Kreisler playing the whole movement,
from the later of his two recordings of the Beethoven Concerto --

BEETHOVEN: Violin Concerto in D, Op. 61:
iii. Rondo: Allegro

[cadenza by Kreisler at 6:59] Fritz Kreisler, violin; London Philharmonic Orchestra, John Barbirolli, cond. EMI, the concerto recorded in Abbey Road Studio No. 1, June 16, 17 & 22, 1936

AFTERTHOUGHT: You kinda wanna hear Kreisler playing the whole Beethoven Concerto now, don't you? I know I do! Here's the 1936 recording with Barbirolli and here's the 1926 Berlin recording with Leo Blech. -- Ed.

AT LAST, LET'S TURN THE FLOOR OVER TO NATHAN . . .

. . . in the form of the statement from him that was included in the Boston Symphony's May 20 press release announcing his appointment as the orchestra's 11th concertmaster, effective with the start of the Tanglewood season, succeeding (finally!) Malcolm Lowe, who retired in September 2019 after 35 years on the job.

“This opportunity to be the BSO’s next concertmaster feels like something that I’ve been waiting for my whole life. When I auditioned with the BSO back in January [serving as guest concertmaster for concert performances in both Symphony Hall and New York's Carnegie Hall of Shostakovich's imposing 1934 opera Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk], for me it was an immediate, warm feeling both from my colleagues in the orchestra and Andris on the podium. I loved the way that Andris spoke in terms of imagery and was really clear about the sound that he wanted. I felt that he left it to us and our creativity to decide how to get those sounds, but at the same time, he was very specific and persistent about what he wanted, and I loved that. I also felt great support from the orchestra, especially from my fellow violins.

“Looking back, I feel fortunate to have known two people who held the position before me, Malcolm Lowe and Joseph Silverstein. Silverstein was one of my idols, and I grew up with many of the Boston Symphony Chamber Players recordings. Any time that I had to learn a piece, BSCP would have a recording of it with Silverstein leading, so I had his sound in my ear early on and was lucky to get to work with him before he passed away. He was extremely generous with his time and wisdom. He took himself seriously enough to continue working on his craft all the way through the end of his life. But I always got the sense that he knew he was a custodian of the position, and that everything he did was for his colleagues and for the music, and that’s something that I want to carry forward.

“Meanwhile, I’m thrilled to be starting my tenure this summer at Tanglewood. It will be my first time playing there. My wife Akiko and I and all three of our kids are super-excited about the move to New England!”

Oh, that's right, the BSO did have a spot of news to announce.


NOW, ABOUT THOSE "TWO PEOPLE WHO HELD THE POSITION
BEFORE" NATHAN -- THEY HELD IT FOR A TOTAL OF 57 YEARS!

That's right, between them 57 years, from 1962 through 2019. In the proper post to follow, we're going to visit some more with Nathan as well the other violinists who have been the BSO's only concertmasters going back six decades: Nathan Cole (from July 2024), Joseph Silverstein (1962-1984) and Malcolm Lowe (1984-2019).

Coming up in the post proper, "The BSO's soon-to-be-seated new concertmaster, the 'other Nathan,' is only its 4th in the last 104 years."

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