NEC's Weilerstein Duo Celebrates 30 Years
It all started at the Aspen Music Festival. That’s where Donald Weilerstein, founding first violinist of the Cleveland Quartet, met pianist Vivian Hornik. He was impressed with the “dynamic quality" of her playing. She thought him “one of the world’s greatest chamber musicians" and was dazzled by “his fantastic understanding of the piano."
So began a musical and personal partnership that has resulted in a 30-year marriage, a 30-year run as the Weilerstein Duo, two musical children, and, for the last three years, faculty positions at New England Conservatory. He occupies the Dorothy Richard Starling Chair in Violin Studies; she directs the Professional Piano Trio Training Program and teaches chamber music. They also perform regularly with their cellist daughter Alisa Weilerstein as the Weilerstein Trio. Their son Josh, a violinist, is a freshman at NEC and concertmaster of the NEC Sinfonietta.
On April 6, the duo will celebrate their three-decade milestone with a Jordan Hall recital. Simultaneously, their entire discography on the Arabesque and Azica labels will be reissued. This includes a two-disc set on Arabesque of the complete Violin/Piano Sonatas of Ernest Bloch that Fanfare rated a “must" on its “Want List." The Weilersteins will also join forces with faculty colleagues cellist Laurence Lesser, violist Kim Kashkashian, and soprano Delores Ziegler on the April 3 First Monday at Jordan Hall concert where they will play works of Silvestrov and Mozart. (For information, check out the NEC Concert Calendar. The Weilersteins and Katz will be the featured performers on the Tamvenova Concert Society’s program, Sunday April 23 at Epiphany Catholic Church in the Georgetown section of Washington, D.C. With proceeds benefiting the NEC Scholarship Fund, that event is a highlight of the Conservatory’s D.C. Alumni Club season. For information, contact Mee Eun Jeon ’87 M.M. ’03 D.M.A..
For the first two years of the Weilersteins’ acquaintance, it was an “on and off" relationship, Vivian recalls. “Don was in the Cleveland [Quartet] and away a lot." The liaison continued to be “long-distance" during much of the first 13 years of their marriage until Don left the Quartet in 1989. But the two continued to play as a duo throughout all those years, only cutting back somewhat as “the trio got going."
“From the beginning, playing together seemed like the most natural chemistry," Vivian says. “Don had a feeling for the piano that was most unusual for a string player. He even knew the solo piano literature." What’s more, his music-making was full of “lyricism, poetry and passion."
For his part, Don says he loved the “exuberance and passion" of Vivian’s playing.
It’s not uncommon for musicians to fall in love with one another’s artistry and to make that mutual delight a foundation for marriage—not always with happy results. There are plenty of couples who split up who feel that the only love left is musical, Vivian says. The Weilersteins, however, are among the lucky ones. “I don’t think I’m being too idealistic," Vivian muses, “when I think that the quality of the playing matched the quality of the personality. I always assumed that the playing reflected the inner soul and personality."
So how has their music-making changed over 30 years? “When we rehearse, it is so instinctive we don’t need to discuss as much," Vivian says. “In a way, it’s more intimate. The playing can be more spontaneous because we have so many years to draw on. We’ve been brought closer through shared life experiences."
Throughout their career together, the duo has chosen to explore some of the less frequented corners of the repertory—particularly works by Eastern European composers. “It wasn’t necessarily new music," Vivian explains. “But we were always interested in lesser-known sonatas. For example, you never hear the Third Sonata of Schumann. And Enesco has only recently gotten popular." For the April 6 concert, the couple will focus on music they have recorded and the program will consist of the Janacek Sonata, Dvorak Romantic Pieces, Bartok Second Sonata and Bloch Sonata No. 2 “Poeme mystique."