Monumental undertaking

By WILLIAM DART

Swedish cellist Torleif Thedeen is one of the Auckland Philharmonia's regular soloists - tomorrow he'll make his fourth appearance with the orchestra. The Philharmonia obviously likes Thedeen and the admiration is mutual.

"They have a lot of energy and wonderful drama and passion in everything they play," he says.

This man has played with the world's best. A few months ago, with the BBC Philharmonic under Vassily Sinaisky, he headed a concert in the Barbican's Seeking the Soul festival, a weekend celebration of Alfred Schnittke's music.

His account of the composer's Second Concerto received phenomenal reviews, but Thedeen passes the credit to the composer. "Schnittke's music will definitely survive. These works are really fantastic."

He remembers his greatest moment on stage as playing Lutoslawski's Cello Concerto with the composer conducting. "That was an astonishing experience. The music is quite wild at times but as a personality, Lutoslawski was totally gentle and extremely polite, very soft and kind - not at all what you might expect a crazy artist to be like."

Tomorrow, Aucklanders can hear the Prokofiev Sinfonia Concertante - "one of the big, big, big pieces for the instrument. In fact it's one of the most difficult and complex works in the repertoire. It's monumental in its architecture, but at the same time has all those ironic gestures and sarcasms typical of Prokofiev, not to mention some amazing cantilena melodies".

Does he feel that one is always conscious of the Stalinist wolf outside the door during this piece? Not at all. "The music is so strong that it wouldn't matter if the audience knew nothing at all about the political climate around it."

The Prokofiev must be one of the few concertos Thedeen hasn't recorded for BIS Records. Most are represented in the BIS catalogue, from Elgar and Dvorak to Schnittke and Shostakovich. In 1994, his account of the two Shostakovich concertos carried off the Cannes Classical Prize.

Thedeen is most proud of his recent CD of the Bach solo suites. "This is something I wanted to do for myself, as something of a testament. I wanted to have this in the files when I got old. And, in some ways, this is the best way to play Bach because Bach is ultimately very private music."

On disc, Thedeen can be heard as concerto soloist, chamber musician and solo recitalist. He professes not to have a preference but admits that "playing a concerto is a thrilling experience. It's inspiring to be in the middle of all that orchestral colour and maintain a projecting voice through it all".

He couldn't have a more co-operative partner than his David Techler cello. "Techler was one of the five or six big names in cello-making," Thedeen explains.

"It projects so well that it can carry in a big hall and has a wonderful range of colours. Usually an instrument is either dark or bright in tone, but this one covers the whole spectrum."

On Friday, enthusiasts may be able to hear the Techler instrument up close and personal when Thedeen gives a masterclass at Auckland University Music Theatre.

"This should be a very live experience," he says. "You hear something you've never heard before from someone you've never heard play before; you have to open your eyes and ears, take it all in and react immediately."

Can we expect cut-and-thrust and spontaneity? "A masterclass shouldn't be a seminar. That would be boring and I'd rather read a book instead. It's fascinating and ... unpredictable."

There's a significant pause and a ripple of laughter. "Can I get back in a week's time?"

Performance

* Who: Torleif Thedeen with the Auckland Philharmonia

* Where: Auckland Town Hall* When: Thursday May 1, 8pm.

* Also: Masterclass, Auckland University Music Theatre, Friday May 2, 7.30pm