{"id":109777,"date":"2024-11-26T13:25:38","date_gmt":"2024-11-26T18:25:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=109777"},"modified":"2024-11-26T14:55:44","modified_gmt":"2024-11-26T19:55:44","slug":"interview-cellist-fiona-robson-talks-quator-magenta-canadian-tour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2024\/11\/26\/interview-cellist-fiona-robson-talks-quator-magenta-canadian-tour\/","title":{"rendered":"INTERVIEW | Cellist Fiona Robson Talks About Quator Magenta And Their Canadian Tour"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Quator
Quator Magenta L-R: Fiona Robson (cello), Claire Pass-Lanneau (viola), Elena Watson-Perry (2nd violin), and Ida Derbesse (1st violin) (Photo courtesy of Quator Magenta)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Quator Magenta will be performing a recital in Toronto on December 1. The quartet, based in Paris, France, is bringing a mixed program of contemporary and traditional repertoire to the Kingston Road United Church as part of the Kingston Road Village Music Series.<\/p>\n

The musicians are Ida Derbesse (1st violin), Elena Watson-Perry (2nd violin), Claire Pass-Lanneau (viola), and Fiona Robson (cello).<\/p>\n

London, Ontario born and currently, Paris, France based cellist Fiona Robson is a co-founder of Magenta. We spoke to her about her musical journey from London to Paris, and the music they\u2019ll be bringing on tour.<\/p>\n

Cellist Fiona Robson<\/h2>\n

\u201cMy very first instrument was the piano,\u201d recalls Fiona Robson, cellist and co-founder of Quator Magenta. She remembers growing up surrounded by a musical family, where most members played the piano, and her sister played the violin. \u201cI wanted to be her,\u201d she laughs. It led to studying violin as well, but at some point, she came across a child-sized cello, one of several that had been donated to an organization locally. She made the switch on the precocious reasoning that it might be easier to get work playing in an orchestra.<\/p>\n

She began with private studies in London, where she performed as a soloist with the London Youth Orchestra, London Community Orchestra, and London Concert Band. She followed up with a Bachelor\u2019s degree from McGill University, where she studied with noted cellist Matt Haimowitz, and performed in his Grammy-nominated ensemble Uccello on an international tour.<\/p>\n

During her time at McGill, she was a founding member of the Lafontaine String Quartet. They would go on to win the 2018 McGill University chamber music competition, and place as semi-finalists of the 2019 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition.<\/p>\n

During the summer before her final year of school, she crossed paths with someone who talked up the idea of applying to the Paris Conservatory, and she decided to take the plunge. \u201cI spoke some French already,\u201d she says. It made Paris seem less intimidating than Germay, Italy, or other European options \u2014 a move across the Atlantic that had always been her dream.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did my Master’s from 2019 to 2021,\u201d she says \u201cThey gave us an extra year because of the large COVID interruption.\u201d Fiona completed her Master\u2019s degree in cello performance at the Conservatoire National Supe\u0301rieur de Musique de Paris in 2022.<\/p>\n

Quator Magenta was founded during that second year, just after the end of the first lockdown period. The four musicians, while attending the same school, hadn\u2019t met previously.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur first violinist, she was looking around for people to do a string quartet with,\u201d Fiona says. Word of mouth led her to the opportunity.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut, we all had this dream, especially after COVID. We were feeling the need to play together […] a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Quator placed as finalists in the Haydn Competition in Vienna in March 2023, and they have plans for more competitions in 2025, along with a full schedule of concerts in France and elsewhere in Europe, including a performance with Gautier Capu\u00e7on at his festival Un \u00c9t\u00e9 en France, and at the String Quartet Biennale at the Philharmonie de Paris, among others.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s on top of their graduate studies with the \u00c9b\u00e8ne Quartet in Munich.<\/p>\n

\"Quator
Quator Magenta Back (L-R): Ida Derbesse (1st violin), Fiona Robson (cello); Front (L-R): Elena Watson-Perry (2nd violin), and Claire Pass-Lanneau (viola) (Photo courtesy of Quator Magenta)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Canadian Tour 2024<\/h3>\n

The current tour will be the first for Quator Magenta in Canada, but Robson herself has returned frequently to perform, including duet recitals and house concerts with pianist Raymond Truong, a connection she made while performing at ScotiaFest in Halifax.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith him I\u2019ve been almost yearly doing little recital tours in Canada,\u201d she says. \u201cWe premiered this piece by Christopher Goddard written for us.\u201d The work, as she describes it, was inspired by a painting by the composer\u2019s great uncle, Canadian painter Walter Tandy Murch. She\u2019s hoping to give the work its European premiere this season with French pianist Elsa Bonnet, who is a frequent collaborator. As part of Duo N\u00e9v\u00e9 with Bonnet, Robson was invited to perform at the Concours International de Musique de Chambre de Lyon in April 2022.<\/p>\n

Fiona is a champion of contemporary music, and commissioned an original piano reduction for Philip Glass\u2019 Cello Concerto No. 1, in 2018, along with Goddard\u2019s piece, the four-movement suite Murch Studies, in 2023.<\/p>\n

For their Toronto concert, Quator Magenta will be performing Haydn\u2019s Emperor Quartet, Ligeti\u2019s \u201cMetamorphoses Nocturnes\u201d, and Schumann\u2019s String Quartet No.1, Op.41 No.1. It\u2019s a program, as she describes it, \u201cin constant flux between dramatic darkness and pure musical sunshine\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe main body of this program, the two centre pieces are Ligeti\u2019s […] and Schumann’s first string quartet.\u201d<\/p>\n

The quartet performed the Ligeti Metamorphoses Nocturnes at the Haydn competition. \u201cWe really learned it and got deep into it,\u201d she says. \u201cIt’s a totally magical piece. It’s a crazy piece.\u201d She cites the pieces vibrant colours and effects. \u201cThere’s so much humour in it too. I loved learning it.\u201d Fiona says that audiences love it back.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the surprise element in the programming. \u201cThey think it’s the Haydn they’ll love,\u201d Robson says. She\u2019s seen first hand the way audiences respond to Ligeti\u2019s musical inventiveness. \u201cIt really makes people’s imaginations come to life.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Quator has been working on the Schumann quartet for this season as a concert piece.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe find it pairs well with the Ligeti,\u201d she says, noting the juxtaposition of musical lightness and darkness in Schumann\u2019s work. It\u2019s a different sound world, one that leads you on an emotional roller coaster.<\/p>\n

The addition of Haydn\u2019s Emperor quartet is a nod to the historical tradition. \u201cWe love Haydn as the base of string quartet playing,\u201d Robson says. \u201cIt’s always an opportunity to put as much personality into the work as possible. It\u2019s a playground for us,\u201d she adds. \u201cThe slow movement of this piece is a special one.\u201d<\/p>\n

The movement features a theme and variations around the German national anthem, in a kind of historical echo of Ligeti\u2019s very contemporary treatment of theme and variations structure.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey’re very, very different pieces, but there are little connecting threads that loop through it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Quatuor Magenta perform the Allegro Molto Moderato from Henri\u00ebtte Bosmans\u2019 Quatuor \u00e0 cordes:<\/em><\/p>\n