An All-Dvořák Program with Rachid, Ferrández, and the BSO

INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT (lightly edited for clarity):

Brian McCreath I'm Brian McCreath at Symphony Hall with Samy Rachid, who is conducting an all Dvořák program for this week, two spectacular pieces. Samy, thanks for a little of your time today. I appreciate it.

Samy Rachid Thank you so much for having me.

Brian McCreath I love that this is a cello concerto because you yourself are a cellist, but it brought to mind the question, when you're a cellist conducting a cello concerto, do you have to sort of unlearn the piece that you thought you knew as a cellist to relearn it as a conductor? Or do you already know it so intimately that it's kind of an easier thing to take on as a conductor?

Samy Rachid I mean, of course, it's more familiar than, for example, a piano concerto or a violin concerto, even the very famous ones, because you studied it, you grew up with it in a more intimate way. But people associate it as easier. It's not because, now I'm not playing the cello, I'm conducting the orchestra, so I have to learn a new part of it because everything is different. And Dvořák especially is a very complex concerto to do because it has been written almost as a symphony. It's almost Dvořák's 10th Symphony, so this requires a lot of work on dynamics, on texture with the soloist to redefine the common ground, more than just, we accompany it in a beautiful way. It's really almost like with both Brahms piano concertos, which are very symphonic. So, I think it's a wonderful piece and so moving with all his personal history at the end of the concerto when he rewrote the ending of the concerto with the passing of both his very close friend and his stepsister that he was in love with. So, it's really one of the big masterpieces of the repertoire, and I'm thrilled to do it here with the Boston Symphony, which has such a long tradition with this piece, with Rostropovich, with Yo-Yo Ma, and all the great conductors. I feel privileged this week. It's really wonderful.

Brian McCreath It was recorded by the BSO with Piatigorsky as well, so, I mean, a great, great history, as you say. But tell me, when you did pull this apart as a conductor to really sink into the score, was there something that revealed itself to you through that lens that you hadn't really recognized studying it as a cellist?

Samy Rachid Yeah, but you know, it's the same thing as any other pieces. Every time you reopen the score, you discover new things, and you rethink about the general piece. So, it's a non-stop evolution. This is the beauty of art in general. The job is never done.

Brian McCreath Was it your choice to do it all Dvořák program, or was this more something that the BSO asked you to take on with the Cello Concerto and the Eighth Symphony?

Samy Rachid No, we first thought about doing a Dvořák symphony, then we decided to do the Eighth, and then we said why not the Cello Concerto, you know, so it came quite fast in the process, that we all agreed it was a nice idea. And Czech repertoire is something I haven't done yet with the orchestra because we did Russian, American, French, German, and now we do some Czech music so it's a new string in the set that I'm doing here with the Boston Symphony, so it's wonderful.

Brian McCreath And that was on my mind, too. Tell me about what it means to conduct Czech music compared to these other composers that you've conducted. You've conducted Russian and French music. What does it mean to conduct Czech music, especially Dvořák's music?

Samy Rachid I think Czech music is one of the styles which is so close to the language. There is something extremely sharp in the articulation and, as you know, it was part of the German Empire for such a long time, and Dvořák had to learn Czech as a young adult, because German was the mother tongue of Czechoslovakia, which was not Czechoslovakia at that time. And especially in the Eighth symphony, there is a very radical change in his style to incorporate even more folk music from the Czech culture. And all the spice of it comes with the sharp articulation, and it's very fascinating when you listen to all the recordings of the Czech Philharmonic, there's a bite, there is a way to pace the phrase, which is absolutely phenomenal. And very often Dvořák is played in a very... heavy way. And I think to give some lighter spirit and a bite to it gives more relief to the phrasing, and I think it's a very fascinating genre to work on because it's very specific as is for example French Impressionism, which is also very specific, so I would put it in a very specific category.

Brian McCreath I love that you brought up the relationship to the language because, certainly, I hear what you mean. Those recordings of the Czech Philharmonic or other Czech musicians, there is such a defined character to it, isn't there? Yeah.

Samy Rachid Yes, absolutely.

Brian McCreath Well, tell me you're in your third season as Assistant Conductor now. And we've talked before about your life as a quartet cellist and how that was sort of left behind when you made the sharp decision, "I need to be a conductor. This is where I have to go." And in these seasons that you've been with the BSO you've seen a lot of things both behind the scenes as a conductor. Also, you've had to step in on extremely short notice in one occasion, for sure. Tell me how you have changed as a conductor in these last few years that you've been with the BSO.

Samy Rachid I have changed in every possible way. Here, you are very privileged to evolve among the best, the best players in the orchestra but also the best conductors and Music Director. It's just a non-stop evolution, and I can definitely say that I'm not the same conductor as when I first came in, and person. I'm completely different now because you live so many wonderful experiences here, and these three years will definitely be the most exciting of my life so far. It has been wonderful, and I'm already a bit sour that it's coming to an end. It's the natural thing, but still, I had a wonderful life here for three years, and - now two years and a half - but it was a magical experience.

Brian McCreath I've got to imagine that, as your career has picked up, you've gotten more and more engagements, you're doing things in opera, in Europe, in Asia. Can you think of times when you've shown up at a new place and something that might have rattled you in the past, you felt perfectly fine with because of the experience you've had here.

Samy Rachid Absolutely. In the work process, you learn here where and when it's important to push. Or, more important, not to push, that some things need to be just shown, and some others need to be repeated many times. And you learn that with experience, here or in other places. You know, conducting life is a very, very long and slow process. I mean, some things are going fast, but the understanding of how an orchestra works and reacts is an extremely long process because you need to see a lot of different orchestras to have the full palette. Because if you refer only to one single orchestra, it's not enough. You need to have different cultures and different traditions to understand what is an orchestra because it's a very wild animal, an orchestra. And you need to know how to apprehend it. So that's the beauty of this job.

Brian McCreath That's wonderful. Such wise words, that sometimes you have to push and sometimes you do have to not push. And absolutely, I can see how your time here observing other conductors and working with the orchestra yourself, that would become clearer and clearer. Samy, it's great to hear you work with the orchestra again and thanks for your time today. I appreciate it.

Samy Rachid Thank you so much. Thank you, so much.

INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT (lightly edited for clarity)

Brian McCreath Dvořák's Eighth Symphony has a terrific flute part, really one of the best flute parts maybe in the entire orchestral repertoire. But what is it about his writing for flute that is maybe distinctive from other composers, just in general, and also even in this piece itself?

Lorna McGhee There's a beautiful sweetness to it and a liveliness as well. Dvořák was very inspired by nature, so the flute is often playing little bird calls, like at the beginning of Dvořák 8, for example.

[plays flute solo]

And that develops a little bit. You hear that bird call coming all the way through the first movement. I'll just play you where it comes back and then he loves to vary the major and the minor as it develops.

[plays flute solo]

So I often feel like the flute is almost like this harbinger of joy and life and of the sort of wonder of being in nature.

Brian McCreath And that especially comes through in the last movement, I think, right? There's a really lovely, beautiful solo in the last movement. But but while you're looking at that, tell me about what this piece is like for a flutist to play compared to other orchestral pieces. Is this one that, when you see it on the schedule, you sort of feel like, oh, I have to be ready for that? Or does it come very naturally? Is it well written for the flute?

Lorna McGhee Oh, it's beautifully written for the flute. I think the way he writes for the flute is so songful. You know, it's just singing all the time. One of the aspects of his flute writing is it's just so often incredibly melodic, all of the woodwind writing actually. We all have beautiful moments in it, every single member of the woodwind section. So there's this soulfulness to it. It's like the melodies really breathe. Here's another beautiful little melancholy melody in the minor key.

[plays flute solo]

So you have that sort of melancholy waltz that is so delicious to play.

Brian McCreath And it gives you lots of opportunity to find color within the different ranges and the notes of the flute and the dynamics. I mean, I hear you playing with the sound that you're creating with the instrument.

Lorna McGhee Yeah, sort of living and breathing. And you know, he was so inspired by nature, and not only the inspiring, life-giving forces in nature, but also just the cycles in nature, the natural cycles of death and decline and grieving. So this piece sort of encompasses all of that, the tenderness of that. So I just love that little melancholy waltz. And then you were asking about the last movement. So there's a famous flute solo in the last movement of Dvořák 8 that is one of my favorite things ever written for the flute. It's actually quite a handful for the breathing. [laughs] But I'm always thinking in terms of narrative or the essence of a narrative when I'm playing. So in this solo, it's sort of the feeling of when you're in love for the very first time or the beginning of falling in love and your heart is bursting and you can't wait for that phone call or the text message. So it has that kind of feeling of youthfulness and exuberance, like being totally head over heels in love.

[plays flute solo]

Brian McCreath That's amazing.

Lorna McGhee And I love that sassy little ending.

Brian McCreath But to hear you describe the feeling of this and what you think about emotionally that's going on in this. I hate to get too pedestrian here, but I also see what you mean by the challenge of the breathing. And it seems like something that you have to plan really specifically where you're going to catch a breath here and there, is that right?

Lorna McGhee Yes. I mean there's different places you could choose to breathe, but you know, some conductors don't want you to breathe after the long notes, so then you have to sort of tuck them in. And luckily there's a bit of covering fire from the rest of the orchestra. [laughs] Probably left myself very exposed there.

Brian McCreath That's beautiful. That's really wonderful.