Double delight from master violinist

Canadian concert violinist James Ehnes. Photo / Supplied.

Canadian violinist James Ehnes first visited us in 2008 and when he played the Tchaikovsky Concerto with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra it was like hearing a well-worn, perhaps over-familiar classic for the first time.

Next week Ehnes returns for not one but two concerts with the APO. On Thursday he conducts the orchestra as well as taking the solo part in Vivaldi's Four Seasons; a week later, with Dutch conductor Otto Tausk on the podium, we can hear the Canadian in the Walton Concerto that earned him a Grammy Award two years ago.

I catch up with the man in Melbourne, where he is engaged with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Ehnes is clearly smitten with this part of the world. "New Zealand is like what a lot of Canadians think Canada should be," he says. "No matter where you go, you don't hear people saying they can't stand New Zealand. And it's nice travelling as a Canadian. Not that many people have been there but they kind of like the idea." Although Ehnes is now based in Florida, he feels his success was very much due to those years spent above the 49th parallel.

"There's so much support for the arts in Canada," he stresses. "It's certainly one of the reasons you get all these musicians coming out of that country. After all, I don't think it's anything in the water ... or the snow."

The violinist is looking forward immensely to working on Vivaldi's Four Seasons with the APO players and points out how his interpretation of this piece can vary much more than it would with a Brahms or Beethoven Concerto.

"It depends on the hall, the way the other musicians play, the size of the group," he explains. "That's what makes the rehearsal process such fun."

Many of us lamented that Ehnes did not play Walton two years ago, a Concerto that he first came across when his mother gave him a cassette of the Heifetz performance for his 10th birthday.

"I learned it as a teenager, played it once and then it sat on my list for 10 years and no one asked for it. Now it is called for at least once a season and I'm really thrilled with that. Mind you, it's really hard. If I didn't love it so much, I'd definitely retire the piece."

When I ask about the special relationship between soloist and conductor, he says, "It can be quite something. Just recently I did the Elgar Concerto with Ashkenazy. I came offstage and said how there was this special moment in the second movement. Ashkenazy finished my sentence and he knew the very moment I was talking about. It's amazing when you're locked together in that way."

Another significant relationship is that between player and instrument. His 2008 Homage, a CD/DVD tribute to the many violins and violas of the Fulton Collection, showcased his artistry on a succession of superb 18th century instruments. However, in real life, he is happy with his favourite 1715 "Marsick" Stradivarius.

"It's my baby," he laughs. "If I had to choose one description, I'd have to say it was adaptable and multi-purpose. It will do anything you ask of it, if you can find out how to achieve what it is that you want.

"There'll be a week when I play the Shostakovich Concerto and people will tell me my violin was made for this piece - dark, gutsy and gritty. Then it will be a Mozart Concerto and others will praise it as bright, sparkling and pure. It's all of those things and more."

Performance

What: Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra

Where and when: Auckland Town Hall, Thursday at 8pm