de 15 Questions to Savadi

I played "Spirits of the Air", Savadi's self-produced debut mini-album, to a friend of mine and he remarked: "You can't go wrong with this group. Everybody is going to love this!" He was right as well. Savadi are an international threepiece made up of Latvian Singer Kristina, French Harpist Marie Bournisien and German Soprano Ulrike Hofbauer and they're so "too good to be true", that you could come to believe they were casted by a marketing agency - except for the fact that casted bands never turn out this natural. Bringing together the very best of the world of 16th and 17th Century music as well as contemporary composers, Savadi are fresh, unconventional, mystical, dreamy, energetic, modern and yet wonderfully traditional. With ensembles like this one, the talk of a Classical crisis is hollow speculation: The aforementioned friend never listens to Classical Music, if you know what I mean.

Hi! How are you? Where are you?
In our harpist Marie’s kitchen.


What’s on your schedule right now?
Making music and making plans for the future and answering 15 questions.


If you hadn’t chosen for music, what do you think you would do right now?
M: be with cows
K: work in a kindergarden or be a city guide
U: lie in the green grass


What or who was your biggest influence as an artist?
K: the sea
M: my plants
U: Aretha Franklin (see also question 14)


What’s the hardest part about being a musician and what’s the best?
K: uncertainty – that’s both best and worst
M: the special moment in a performance between artists and audience


What’s your view on the classical music scene at present? Is there a crisis?
There is always a crisis, but a crisis always also can cause creativity.


Some feel there is no need to record classical music any more, that it’s all been done before. What do you tell them?
Often the music we do has never been recorded. ;-) Different reasons (place, time, culture etc.) cause different performances and developments, and most of all, different musicians with new things to say. Therefore there’s always a reason.


What constitutes a good live performance in your opinion? What’s your approach to performing on stage?
Above all a live performance has to live – that includes taking risks, being aware of the uniqueness of the moment, speaking to the audience, reaching all their senses and being honest by personal engagement.


What does the word “interpretation” mean to you?
Storytelling.


True or false: It is the duty of an artist to put his personal emotion into the music he plays.
We don’t see it as a duty, but to us it’s natural to put our emotion into our music


True or false: “Music is my first love”
False.


True or false: People need to be educated about classical music, before they can appreciate it.
False, but it helps if they are.


You are given the position of artistic director of a concert hall. What would be on your programme for this season?
M: a big mix
K: I cannot imagine myself in such a position
U: I would invite friends only ;-)


What is your favourite classical CD at the moment?
K: Berlioz Les nuits d`été and La mort de Cleopatre
M: Schumann piano music
U: Aretha Franklin, Queen in Waiting


Have you ever tried playing a different instrument? If yes, how good were you at it?
Yes, several. But quality is a matter of opinion.


Discography:
Spirits of the Air 2003

Homepage:
Savadi

By Tobias Fischer, published 2005-12-11

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