DÉJÀ VU History just keeps on repeating itself…

You wouldn’t want to mess with Andris Nelsons. Standing comfortably north of six feet tall, the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s chief conductor recently reported on Twitter that he has achieved his black belt in karate (left). While doffing our caps in respect, we note that Nelsons is by no means the first leading musician to be able to look after him or herself in a fight…

Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saintgeorges, cut a dash in 1760s Paris, not just as a composer and violinist but also as a fine swordsman, famously making his name by winning a duel against the esteemed fencingmaster Alexandre Picard. More recently, musicians have learnt to defend themselves without weapons. These include the late French conductor Georges Prêtre, who was a skilled practitioner of both judo and karate. ‘I never used it with the musicians,’ he explained, ‘but it intimidated them’. The Argentinian tenor and conductor José Cura, who is a black belt in karate, would doubtless say the same. The Israeli soprano Hila Plitmann has also earned her black belt, this time in taekwondo, while Andreas Haefliger is a master of Shaolin Kung Fu. ‘It’s a meditative martial art and is about the expansion of both physical and mental states,’ says the German pianist, ‘so I’m not beating anybody up!’ And finally, and perhaps most impressively, there’s bassoonist-cum-pugilist Hannah Rankin, who has held the World Boxing Association super-welterweight title, no less, since last November.