PLAYING SINCE AGE 4
Violinist Angèle Dubeau
Angèle Dubeau is the seventh of eight children. The home she was born into in Saint-Norbert, Que., near Joliet, was filled with the sound of music so it was natural that she would pick up an instrument early on. At age 4, she got her very first violin and she put away her toys and began a musical career that now spans 50 years.
“All my brothers and sisters were already doing music. It was everywhere in the house. I was so happy to finally be old enough to play my own instrument,” Dubeau said in a recent interview in advance of her Chamberfest concert Nov. 23.
“I was playing with dolls and I had a doll house and I remember when the violin came into my hands. I put away all the dolls and at night I would give my violin a good night kiss and put it in the doll house.
“The violin became part of my life right away. I started at conservatoire at age 8 and finished at 15. After that to Juilliard and then I went to Romania to study.”
Her performing career, which started 40 years ago, has been a celebrated one. She has recorded 40 albums and has played with the great and near great of the classical scene. She has won many international competitions, sold more than 300,000 albums, has a gold record and has performed in more than 25 countries.
In Ottawa, she will be accompanied by the all-female ensemble she formed almost 20 years ago, La Pietà. The show will feature music by some of her favourites, including the contemporary Italian composer Ludovico Einaudi.
“His music is very refined and very pure without artifice.”
The evening will also feature a “bubble” of music by minimalist composers, including Philip Glass, the legendary American composer who will coincidentally be in Ottawa on Nov. 26 as a guest in a concert honouring his career and his recent winning of the Glenn Gould prize.
And she’ll even play some music by Jonny Greenwood, the lead guitarist/keyboard player for the English band Radiohead. Greenwood has a classical side, she said
“He started with the viola. He is inspired by minimalist music.” And, for good measure, she’ll toss in a version of Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells along with some pieces from her recently released double album of music from the film world. In 2012, she released an album of movie music, which sold 72,000 copies.
“Since I released it, people have been demanding more.”
She likes contemporary composers, such as Glass and John Adams because “they create a unique voice. You can listen and recognize them right away. I can explore the complete palette of my instrument with them.”
She began really delving into contemporary composers after the founding of La Pietà.
“For first 20 years of my career as a soloist, I did all the recitals and the concertos and all the really classical repertoire, music that you expect a violinist to play. Then about 20 years ago, I was looking for something different.
“My husband said to me: ‘Why don’t you just put together some friends and colleagues and do your own (program).
“I put some names down on a piece of paper and after a few I realized they were all women. And I thought maybe an all-female ensemble would be a good idea. I came up with 12 names and La Pietà was born.
The creation of La Pietà has given her the ability to choose the repertoire “I want to play.”
“When I started, there were not a lot of women doing this kind of work. Today it is different, you see more and more.
“When I started, women were more teaching than playing. Now it’s not the case, and I am very happy to say that.”
Men have played in La Pieta occasionally. Dubeau recalled one instance when a violist was needed at the last minute and she hired François Vallières to fill in. And when she needed a harpsichordist to complete a Baroque disc she hired another fellow. “But these have been exceptions.”
The core number of players in La Pieta is nine, but it grows as needed. When she adds someone she carefully auditions them looking for that “special energy” that she craves in a colleague.
“I’m looking for energy. I’m looking always for the extra energy.”
La Pietà has put certain demands on Dubeau.
“The biggest difference is I have to conduct while playing. When you get to a larger group. Now I know what to do.
“I’m also doing all the numbers, the office and everything. We are a classical music ensemble the budget does not give me the chance to forget about this. I am into everything ... every aspect of La Pietà.”
But it gives her the musical freedom to play the music she wants to play.
These days, Dubeau is busy, busy. In addition to doing an album a year, she does between 50-55 concerts a year with La Pietà and she organizes La Fête de la Musique gathering at Mont Tremblant every summer.
But right now, she has no plans to slow down.
“I can say that after all the years and albums, I consider right now that I’m at the summit as a musician. I trust myself. I know that I can now play anything without any limit. I doesn’t mean I don’t have to work at it. But I have experience that has helped me grow. Sometimes there are benefits to getting older.
Dubeau learns everywhere, even in Romania when the dictator Nicolae Ceausescu was brutally in charge.
She went to study with a special teacher, Ştefan Gheorghiu, and she learned so much more than she expected.
“I had one of the best teachers. I was free to practise and play music. Of course, it was very difficult to be there at that time, but that’s where I learned about Gypsy music. I learned we could make a violin cry and speak and dance.”
She is also marvelling at what modern technology can do. Her music is being streamed to millions of people, something she would never have thought possible.
“Right now, we can listen to music all the time and everywhere. There are no barriers. You can listen to J.S. Bach beside Jonny Greenwood — and I do.”
Of course, it was very difficult to be there at that time, but that’s where I learned about Gypsy music. I learned we could make a violin cry and speak and dance.