Sonia Wieder-Atherton
Portrait by Xavier Lacavalerie
« Nothing is ever really permanent forever...»*
-  n
the depth of her eyes, all the random wanderings of the world
In the depth of the eyes of the cellist Sonia Wieder-Atherton,
one can find traces of all the random wanderings of the world.
No, not any of those uncertain diversions imparted to melancholic
chance, but those of the long, slow, inner searchings, illuminated
by signs which our Oriental masters so naturally call the Voice…
Her first name, for example, with its Russian resonance (Sonia,
as in sound, song: that which engenders dreams or visions),
followed by melodic vowels. It is as though her name foreshadowed
her initiation; her voyage to what was then called the Soviet
Union. She was twenty years old, the age of exigency, of pureness,
of the quest for absolute truth. Defying appalling living conditions,
Sonia, who was raised comfortably between California and Paris,
braved the bitter cold, solitude, anxiety, and the shortage
of just about everything plus the interminable lines just to
get something to eat,. Not to mention the iron barriers imposed
by Brejnev’s politics. She stayed in Moscow for two years,
attending the Tchaikovsky Conservatory, where music was made
and played in the absolutely superlative tense and there became
her lifelong symbol of good fortune and happiness.
- art and secret of the singing cello
The great cellist and teacher Natalia Chakovskaia there came
into Sonia’s life. She taught her student, in the way a
relay runner passes the baton or in the way one pays an old
outstanding debt, the art and secret of the singing cello…instrumentally.
How to go from one note to the next smoothly yet precisely,
how to obtain clearly articulated phrasing with absolute ease…
these were all revelations for our little “Sonietchka”…
- her endless quest
Sonia was born an explorer. Her endless quest – this wandering
I mentioned above – of a Promised Land, ever deferred,
but towards which she knows she has been called, has forged
the depth of her character. At first she studied piano, then
took up the guitar. She was most likely very talented, yet unsatisfied.
One fine day, she heard a recording of Vivaldi’s Cello
Concerto in e minor. What an extraordinary revelation : this
instrument which talks, sings, cries, laughs – all so close
to the human voice ! She immediately began to study cello. Mstislav
Rostropovitch himself revealed to her the love of a beautiful
sound and the exceptionally lyrical effects of bowing.
But it wasn’t always easy. At that point she attended the
Paris Conservatory, back in the rue de Madrid days, and studied
under Maurice Gendron, and then did post-graduate studies in
chamber music with Jean Hubeau.
Then came her Soviet experience and the start of a new life…
Sonia Wieder-Atherton’s repertoire is a faithful witness
to her attraction to untouched territories. Most virtuosos covered
with awards and prizes as Sonia is often content themselves
with merely perfecting the main classics within the cello literature,
of “concerting” with the most popular conductors and
orchestras, and “chambering” music with a few, selected
partners, often the same, as long as they are at the peak of
their career….
- her indefatigable curiosity draws her to unknown territories
Sonia prefers to venture into unknown realms. Of course, she
plays and records Brahms’ crown jewels or Shostakovitch’s
fiery notes, takes flight in Grieg’s romantic pages or
capsizes in Schumann’s dark harmonies. But her indefatigable
curiosity also draws her to unknown territories, always beyond.
Film music, for example (Chantal Akerman’s Night and Day).
Or the famous Jewish Songs, born of a secular tradition where
popular intonations mingle incessantly with sacred accents,
which she transcribed, often reconstructed, and sometimes harmonized
with the composer Jean-François Zygel (for the film Food,
Family, Philosophy)…
- a few seconds of images and the audience is in
a state of grace
And let’s not forget in Coline Sereau’s film The Crisis,
when the hero, in the heat of his hassles, finds a short moment
of respite, of grace when he goes to a concert of chamber music.
On the stage of the Gaveau concert hall, we witness fugitive
images, yet so incredibly intense, all eyes are on Sonia. Sonia
who plays in the same way as one dies, as one gives oneself,
as one suffers, entirely possessed by her inner world, in complete
rapture – as our dear old Dr. Lacan would say – which
is not pleasure, contrary to what we may believe, but merely
submission to the archetypal demons of our unconscious.
A few seconds of images and of music and the word is out : the
audience is in a state of grace.
* text reproduced thanks to Xavier Lacavalerie's authorization |
