Philippe Rosset met María Dueñas at the Lahti Sibelius Festival

María, thank your very much for receiving me for this interview for the French website « Résonances lyriques ». My very first question is : have you had any mentors or teachers who inspired you? 

Yeah, well, I would say, I think, from the moment I started with the violin, there have been people who have inspired me. For instance, like, I would name Oïstrakh or Jascha Heifetz, that were, like, the first idols I ever listened to. And then, of course, along my career, I’ve been meeting teachers, also conductors, orchestra. I think everyone gives me something. So, I’m a person very open to everything that one can learn. And, lastly, of course, my teacher in Vienna was Boris Kuschnir, who has, of course, been very crucial for my sound and for my search for a very personal way of playing, yeah.

If the violin were a character in a novel, what would it be? And how would you describe it? 

I would say, like, the first time I heard the violin, I felt like it has so many different faces. Like, people with a lot of faces, because on one side it can be very warm, it can be very dulce and very soft, but on the other hand, of course, it can be very wild. So I would say, yes, someone with a lot of temperament as well.

I know you are also a composer. So if you were to compose a piece of violin, that represents best your life, your young life, what would be the title of this piece you would write? 

Well, the title, that would be hard to choose, I think, because of course the pieces that I’ve written depend on their content, so the title is normally the last thing. But yeah, I would say very personal and very unique, that would be maybe the title. I feel every little experience I’ve had has given me something and has made me to the person that I am now.

And if you could share the stage with one musician, living or deceased, who would be your choice and why? 

Well, I would love to have met Maria Callas, for sure. That would have been very, very inspiring. But there are so many also young conductors and still living conductors who I would love to play with. I had the immense pleasure to play with Blomstedt a couple of months ago, so that really was a dream come true. 

Such a legend, isn’t he? 

A legend, for sure, yeah.

And what is your most important challenge for the next few years? I mean, the repertoire or what you want to choose? It would be my last question. 

Okay, yes. So I’m very interested in presenting also works to the audience that have not been played as much as I did, for example, with my album. So there are some pieces which are not as known, but I think that’s very important for the audience and also for the orchestras to have some different repertoire that is not played as much. For instance, I will play Halvorsen’s Violin Concerto in a couple of months, which is kind of a hidden jewel of music. It’s a very, very nice concerto. And also modern music like the  contemporary Violin Concerto, which was written for me from Gabriela Ortiz. So I will try and present to the public as much as I can. And well, my challenge would be, I don’t know, I would just love to make people happy with my music. So that’s my main goal, I would say.

Maria, thank you so much, I think you goal is totally achieved with the concert we had with you tonight¹ ! Thanks 

Philippe Rosset

2023, September 8th.

María Dueñas plays on instruments by Nicolò Gagliano from 1734 and Guarneri del Gesù “Muntz” from 1736, both violins on loan from the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben and the Nippon Music Foundation, respectively. In addition, as winner of the 2021 Menuhin Competition, Jonathan Moulds is lending her a Stradivarius from his private collection.

María Dueñas calendar :https://www.mariaduenasviolin.com/en/calendar