MAREK ŠVEJKAR

Marek Švejkar is a clarinettist and an exceptionally versatile person. He was active for eight years in Paris, among other things studying at the prestigious Conservatoire National Supérieur. His journey as a student also led him to important mentors in Italy, Norway, Finland, the Netherlands, and other countries. Besides giving solo concerts, he is also devoting himself to doctoral research, teaching, and opera singing, and he has also studied piano. He gave this inspirational interview just before the release of his debut album on the Supraphon label.

Marek, what inspired you to make a recording that includes works by Luciano Berio and Pierre Boulez?

All of the inspiration for this album comes from my activities abroad, specifically in Paris and later in Rome, which are places where the two composers were also active in the past. In France, I had the unique opportunity to get to know the milieu in which Boulez was living and working and to work with people who had known him personally and had collaborated with him. Then in Rome I took in the atmosphere of the place where Berio spent part of his career and where, like in France, his musical legacy continues to live with great intensity.

This year is the 100^th anniversary of the births of these two musical modernists, so it seemed to me quite natural to devote myself fully to their legacy and to transform my experience, effort, and work into this album. I appreciate all the more that I can have it issued on a label as prestigious as Supraphon.

What meaning is there for you in linking Bach’s Partita in A minor for flute solo to modern music of the 20^th century?

Although it might seem at first glance that Baroque music and musical modernism are alien from each other, but the opposite is true in this case. I shall begin from the opposite end. Bach’s music—and this is nothing new that I’m saying—is a mathematical construct with an enormous overlap into music. We owe the revival of his music to Mendelssohn, specifically for his performance of the St Matthew Passion in 1829. Bach’s music was known, but not on such a scale until after that time. He become one of the key musical figures of the Baroque, and today his works are still core repertoire, often played on modern instruments that did not even exist back then. Like the clarinet. My goal was to bring music of the Baroque closer through the clarinet.

Boulez’s music, which is of key importance on the album, typically has a numerically determined structure, which applies to serialism in general. Above all, my task was to make music from his legacy and only secondarily a mathematical construct. For me, Bach offers a wonderful parallel to this because with him, the path goes in exactly the opposite direction: from internal structure, through musical rhetorical figures, to a natural musical line. And one would expect it to be exactly the other way around.

What challenges did you have to overcome in interpreting works for solo clarinet by Berio and Boulez?

I’d say that this kind of repertoire is a challenge in and of itself, but even so, I would divide the whole working process into two levels.

The first was to master the programme from a technical perspective and to absorb it properly. Honestly, I had not originally planned to record the Berio, but as is usual with me, in the end I decided to throw myself into his solo music. That was a step into the unknown, but thanks to that I advanced myself as a player. Then there was Boulez’s Dialogue de l’ombre double, for which I first had to pre-record half of the composition, adapting it in the studio in accordance with the given technical parameters, and only thereafter did I put the solo part in with it—that was also a completely new kind of work for me.

The second challenge was putting together an album that would have real content and something worthwhile to say, so the recordings would not just be like a balancing act, as often happens with this kind of repertoire. It sum it all up: I went after the musical horizon in pursuit of maximum expression and meaning.

How did your experiences at prestigious institutions like the Conservatoire National Supérieur in Paris and the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome prepare you for this project?

I’ve already hinted a bit that it was thanks to experiences abroad that I got around to repertoire that is almost seen in this country as being like climbing Mount Everest. Had I not gone abroad back then, and had I not been influenced by some of the greatest figures of classical music, those are waters I probably would never have entered. But it wasn’t just about Paris or Rome. My stays in Finland, Norway, and Switzerland had a great influence on my musical journey; even the Netherlands where I was able to meet true masters, people who greatly shaped me and moved me forwards.

What kinds of interesting activities await you in the new season?

The coming season will be really important for me. I’m preparing my biggest project so far. I don’t want to talk about it yet, but I already feel that it will be a big milestone for me. Besides that, I’m really looking forward to a number of concerts and other activities that I think offer interesting, meaningful content. After my debut at this year’s Krumlov Festival, several appearances await me, where I will again be returning to programming that is very dear to me, combining music of the Baroque with modern repertoire. I also greatly appreciate being invited to clarinet courses in Slovakia by Ronald Šebesta, the principal clarinettist with the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra. Then in the autumn, I’m recording another album.

Now I would like to move forward with some of my projects not only artistically, but also in terms of managerial aspects. I increasingly feel the importance of being surrounded by a team of people who help turn good ideas into reality and who given them a long-term form and direction. I believe that just now, it is the right time to take the next step in that direction. It seems that a quite busy period awaits me, and I am sincerely looking forward to it.