Music and friendships: a view from violinist Stefan Tarara
German-Romanian violinist Stefan Tarara was back with a concert at this year’s George Enescu Competition, where he won in 2014. He takes account of the impact of the event and his track record since.
German-Romanian violinist Stefan Tarara was back with a concert at this year’s George Enescu Competition, where he won in 2014. He takes account of the impact of the event and his track record since.
Looking back at the 2014 competition, how has the experience been?
Of course, there was a lot of stress first of all because I was focusing on the competition and there was a lot of work but I can indeed say it was a wonderful time. It is more about what the competition brought to me. It was a spring board and now I have more concerts, especially in the country. Due to winning the competition I was able to record two CDs, both with music by Enescu. I am friends now with Josu [e.n Josu de Solaun, the winner of the piano section of the 2014 competition] and Eun-Sun [e.n. Eun-Sun Hong, winner of the cello section of the 2014 competition], we performed together and we will record together.
It is amazing that the competition brought friendships, concerts and a boost I needed.
You are the assistant of professor Zakhar Bron in Interlaken, Switzerland. What draws you to teaching?
It is something I have been attracted to for a long time, for a number of reasons. The first one is that I enjoy sharing what I know, I like to help. The second one is that I learn a lot from teaching. I see everything a lot more structured, clearer and this comes from teaching. It also helps me with my playing on stage. These are the two things that make me enthusiastic about teaching. I’ve been the assistant of professor Bron for three-four years now, I give master classes in Poland, in Switzerland. I’m starting in February at the conservatory in Bern, I will have my own class and this is really a great responsibility. They will be my students to take further and I like this very much.
What recording projects do you have at the moment?
Two CDs just came out where we [e.n. Ștefan Tarara and his piano partner Lora Vakova-Tarara] recorded the repertoire for violin and piano by George Enescu. The latest one is called “Childhood Impressions” and it covers the Violin Sonata No. 1, the Violin Sonata No. 2 and Impressions d'enfance. The first one, “The Sound of the 20s” was recorded immediately after the competition and it includes Sonata for Violin and Piano no 3 by Enescu, Sonata for Violin and Piano no 1 by Ernest Bloch, and Sonata for Violin and Piano in G major by Ravel. We will also record a CD with the other winners of the 2014 Enescu Competition; we will record an Enescu trio and a quartet. The trio is a very special thing: it hasn’t been recorded many times before, and it is almost never played because the notes weren’t found, we play from the manuscript, the way Enescu wrote them. It is something I am very happy about.
