Uto Ughi

Italian violin master Uto Ughi reached out for some ebi tempura.  With deft fingers, he used the tongs to pick up the crispy-coated shrimp and transfer it to his plate. Amazing how the same fingers could pick up the bow and smoothly run it over the strings.

But this is no ordinary musician enjoying his Japanese food during the media lunch at Sofitel’s Spiral restaurant. Considered to be one of the world’s finest violinists today, Ughi is a veritable legend.

Having grown up in an Italian family that treasured classical music, Ughi was exposed to a daily fare of sonatas and arias.  Such was the power of that nurtured spirit that by the age of seven, he had already played the Chaconne from Bach’s Partita No. 2, along with several Paganini Capriccios.  His talent was honed under the tutelage of Georges Enescu, who was also Yehudi Menuhin’s teacher. By the time he reached his fifteenth year, he was already touring Europe and giving concerts in many European capitals. And since then, he has appeared with the most important European and American orchestras like Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Boston Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, and the Washington Symphony. He has also been under the direction of celebrated conductors like Celebidache, Colin Davis, Haitink, Sinopoli, Sargent, Rozhdestvenskj, Leitner, Pretre, Rostropovich, Cluytens, Kondrashin, Chung, Masur, Bishkof, and Ceccato.  Likewise, he has a long list of recordings under the RCA Victor Red (BMG) label, the latest of which are “Il Trillo del diavolo”, a live recording featuring the most popular virtuoso pieces for violin, the Schumann Concerto with M Sawallisch and the Bayerischer Rundfunk, and the Vivaldi Concertos with I Filarmonici di Roma.

Coming from performances in China (where he played in Beijing, Canton, and at the Shanghai Exposition), Ughi was in Manila recently for a concert in celebration of Italy’s national day. In partnership with world-renowned pianist Alessandro Specchi, he romanced and energized the audience using his two violins, a Guarnieri del Gesu of 1744 and a Stradivarius of 1701 (known as “Kreutzer”, named after the violinist to whom Beethoven dedicated his famous Sonata).

Ughi’s Manila concert repertoire included the works of Fritz Kreisler (Praeludium and Allegro in the style of Pugnani), Ludwig van Beethoven (Sonata for violin and piano “A Kreutzer” op 47), Henryk Wieniawsky (Fantasy on Faust Theme op 20), Niccolo Paganini (La Campanella - from the Concerto nr 2 op 7), and Camille Saint Saens (Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso op 28).

Yet, despite the myriad concerts that he has played all over the world, Ughi’s interpretation of these beloved pieces have remained new and fresh.  He reveals his secret.

“You don’t have to repeat the same piece many times.” Ughi shares. “But nonetheless, each time, you can be more creative. What you must try to avoid is routine, the usual thing done always in the same way.  There are no two performances which are the same. You have a different mood, a different psychological attitude in every country, so you must try to recreate the piece in a way not to repeat yourself. You have to change to renew yourself. You cannot eat spaghetti for the rest of your life.”

Ughi does not have a particular favorite among all the pieces that he has played in his illustrious musical career.  In fact, he is inspired by what Rubenstein said. “Rubenstein was one of the greatest pianists and he said, ‘You always like the piece that you are playing.’ When he was asked which was his favorite piece, he said ‘What I’m doing right now’. And when they asked him, ‘Who is the greatest composer?’, he said ‘There is no greatest composer’. Because when you go to an art gallery, you can see Michaelangelo, Rembrandt, or all those artists. And everyone has his own personality, his own life, a different work. So there’s no greater artist. Everyone is interesting, provided he has something to say.”

And as a much loved and respected artist, what does Master Ughi have to say?

“We must try to be humble,” he says. “We are servants of the music. We must not ruin this music.  Because if you don’t like Beethoven, that means the interpreter did not play Beethoven well. It is our fault.”

But that is not to say that the artist’s freedom of expression or interpretation is restricted. Piano master Specchi explains:  “The music belongs to the audience and the performer. So it doesn’t really mean that to be faithful to the composer, you have to strictly do what the composer indicates. There is fantastic freedom to create.”

“We don’t do the same thing all the time. Each performance can be new,” Ugho concludes.  He also narrates an anecdote: “There was an interesting episode of a great violinist who played Franck’s Sonata, a romantic repertoire for the violin. Cesar Franck himself was in the audience with his student. And after the performance, his student asked him ‘Maestro, he has done everything opposite of what you wanted.’ Then Franck said, ‘I think he is right’. So the interpreter can even improve the intention of the composer.  He can make it better. But not very often.”