Nicola Benedetti

1987年7月出生于蘇格蘭艾爾郡，4歲時受到8歲的姐姐斯特芬妮(Stephanie，小提琴演奏家)的影響開始學琴。她的母親每天開車一小時，把姐妹倆從家送到學校，聲稱如果不好好學，就把小提琴沒收。意大利裔的父親喬萬尼-貝納德蒂(Giovanni Benedetti)是英國著名商人，擁有數千萬英鎊的資產，然而小富家女并沒有因家境優(yōu)越而在學業(yè)上有所倦怠，尼古拉9歲就通過了小提琴八級的考試，她曾說：“我從來不認為自己是個天生的小提琴家，唯一的秘訣就是認真練琴。”
 
成長經歷
 
1997年，剛過10歲生日，尼古拉便接到了梅紐因音樂學校的錄取通知書。11歲時，尼古拉已經在梅紐因指揮的巡演中，與學校管樂團一起演出巴赫的《d小調雙小提琴協(xié)奏曲》了。據說在梅紐因去世前計劃中的合作名單上，除了拉妮-米契爾(Priya Mitchell)、張莎拉(Sarah Chang)和瓦迪姆-列賓(Vadim Repin)外，還有一位便是年僅12歲的尼古拉。14歲時，尼古拉迎來了演奏生涯中的第一個里程碑：她一舉奪得英國杰出天才比賽大獎(Britain Brilliant Prodigy Competition)。不久之后，尼古拉就因各種演出邀請而無法兼顧學業(yè)，“既要參加各種演出，又要參與學校的眾多音樂會，我實在難以做到兩全”。頂著老師和家長的雙重壓力，尼古拉毅然從梅紐因音樂學校退學，轉而聘請英國室內樂團前小提琴首席馬切伊-拉科夫斯基(Maciej Rakowski)做私人輔導。17歲時，成為2004年BBC年度青年音樂家得主，被小報稱為“蘇格蘭最性感的明星”，她拒絕了模特公司的邀請，打算致力于改變古典音樂在年輕人中的形象。
 
無論運氣和實力的比例如何分配，總之一路戰(zhàn)績輝煌的蘇格蘭女孩又成了BBC眼中的“天之嬌女”，從而順利進入主流媒體的視線。一個月后，她在2004年度英國最大的戶外狂歡音樂節(jié)格拉斯頓伯里音樂節(jié)(Glastonbury Festival)上面對上萬觀眾演奏，又在愛丁堡邊緣藝術節(jié)(Edinburgh Festival Fringe)上與蘇格蘭室內樂團合作。同年10月，尼古拉在新蘇格蘭議會大廈落成儀式上為女王陛下獻演。
 
在更為關心少女成長的部分英國媒體看來，這份基礎過于薄弱而風光來得過早的演奏生涯，顯得有些“畸形”，到了這個份上，女孩的心理和生理上都有透支之嫌。每年一張專輯，之后是緊鑼密鼓的宣傳巡演，最忙的時候，尼古拉幾乎每兩天就要開一場音樂會。上海演出前，怕耽誤大事，僅答應接受10-15分鐘的簡短采訪，但就在演出前一天，又不明原因地匆忙取消，即便是郵件采訪，尼古拉也因“總在巡演路上”為由，拖延了近一個月才回復。面對英國媒體也好，接受本報采訪中也好，尼古拉不止一次地反復重申，打算逐年減少音樂會的數量，但這同她與日俱增的知名度之間，似乎又有難以化解的矛盾。 在上海音樂會上，一頭蜷曲金色長發(fā)的尼古拉身材挺拔，演奏門德爾松的《e小調小提琴協(xié)奏曲》時，身體劇烈晃動，展現出無限的青春活力。但是平日里，尼古拉更愿意給世人留下一個“乖乖女”形象，她對《獨立報》說，自己從小接受正統(tǒng)的古典音樂教育，對陳美等跨界音樂人的道路提不起興趣。接受《鏡報》的采訪時，她又表示：“我從不去酒吧，也不愛喝酒、抽煙，幾乎從不嘗試稍顯奔放的衣服。”
 
于是，媒體紛紛將“蘇格蘭玉女”的帽子往她頭上按，尼古拉不僅被視為蘇格蘭的驕傲，更被英國國內眾多知名作曲家寄予厚望。她的蘇格蘭老鄉(xiāng)詹姆斯-麥克米倫(James MacMillan)以及英格蘭作曲家約翰-塔文納(JohnTavener)本都以創(chuàng)作具有深刻宗教精神的作品著稱，卻也心甘情愿為尼古拉創(chuàng)作作品，兩部獻給她的協(xié)奏曲《Fragment for the Virgin》和《From Ayrshire》分別被她收錄在第一和第二張專輯中。
 
不僅如此，尼古拉更是勇?lián)厝?，視自己為推廣古典音樂的“青年代表”，個人官方網站的名稱就是“尼古拉邀您加入到音樂”(Nicola Benedetti invites you to take part in Music)。除演出和錄制唱片外，從2005年起，她還跟隨“薩金特兒童癌癥關護實踐機構”(CLICSargent)遍訪英國的學校，鼓勵所有的小朋友學習樂器，引導他們熱愛古典音樂。2006年初，她在蘇格蘭格拉斯哥的猶太國家基金大會上為美國前國務卿鮑威爾演奏，同時，她還被聘為聯(lián)合國兒童基金會的愛心大使。
 
很難想象，這是一個21歲的女孩必須面對的生活：每天超過6小時的練琴時間，外加慈善、教育、音樂會、唱片公司、媒體---周旋其中，每一樣都要保持良好狀態(tài)，這聽起來多少讓人覺得有些殘忍。在接受英國媒體采訪時，尼古拉時不時會掩飾不住“累”，堅強的外表下，一顆疲憊的心溢于言表。但在接受本報采訪時，尼古拉卻不愿意讓中國讀者知道這一點，或者說，她更愿意相信自己能承擔這一切。她說：“音樂是我的熱情所在，理想所在，我愿為它傾盡所有。”
 
(by Hilary950922)
 
* * *
 
‘…it was thrilling to hear and watch Nicola Benedetti in a truly risk-taking performance that lived so much in the body and fused the sinews of the violin and the nerve-system of the player.’  - Hilary Finch, The Times
 
Nicola Benedetti is one of the most sought after violinists of her generation. Her ability to captivate audiences with her innate musicianship and dynamic presence, coupled with her wide appeal as a high profile advocate for classical music, has made her one of the most influential classical artists of today.
 
With concerto performances at the heart of her career, Nicola is in much demand with major orchestras and conductors across the globe. Recent and future performances include engagements with the London Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra del Teatro La Fenice, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, WDR Cologne, Danish National Symphony, Strasbourg Philharmonic, Orchestre National D’Ile de France, Beethoven Orchester Bonn, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Chamber, Philadelphia Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra of Washington D.C., Dallas Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony Vancouver Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, Melbourne Symphony and Hong Kong Philharmonic amongst others. Nicola will also embark on tours with the Bergen Philharmonic (Germany), Camerata Salzburg and BBC Scottish Symphony (India).
 
The 14/15 season will see Nicola further her passion for music of the Italian Baroque and historical performance realized in collaborations with Andrea Marcon and WDR Cologne, Venice Baroque Orchestra and a European tour with La Cetra Barokorchester Basel.
 
These international appearances have resulted in her working with a host of distinguished conductors including Vladimir Ashkenazy, Stéphane Denève, Christoph Eschenbach, James Gaffigan, Valery Gergiev, Alan Gilbert, Jakub Hrusa, Louis Langrée, Andrew Litton, Ji?í Bělohlávek, Sir Neville Marriner, Diego Matheuz, Kristjan Järvi, Neeme Jaarvi, Paavo Järvi, Donald Runnicles, Yan Pascal Tortelier, Pinchas Zukerman, and Jaap van Zweden.
 
With her regular duo partner, pianist Alexei Grynyuk, Nicola frequently performs in recital making appearances in in the world’s leading concert halls. Most recently, she performed at the Dresden Musikfestipiele, the Sapienza in Romea and Maison Symphony in Montreal and prior to this has given recitals in London, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Hong Kong, Paris, Sacile, New York, Boston, and Washington D.C. Future recitals include performances at the Royal Albert Hall, Wigmore Hall, Symphony Hall Birmingham, Aix en Provence and Trieste Italy.
 
Nicola is a devoted chamber musician and collaborates with cellist Leonard Elschenbroich and pianist Alexei Grynyuk, who have been performing as a trio since 2008. They recently undertook an extensive tour of Scotland in March 2013 including performances at the Edinburgh Usher Hall and Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. Recent and future highlights include concerts at LSO St. Luke’s, Frankfurt Alte Oper, Die Glocke Bremen, Hong Kong City Hall, two tours of South America South America and, at the Ravinia, Schloss Elmau, Istanbul and Cheltenham Festivals.
 
Fiercely committed to music education and to developing young talent, Nicola has formed associations with education establishments including schools, music colleges and local authorities. In 2010, she became Sistema Scotland’s official musical ‘Big Sister’ for the Big Noise project; a music initiative partnered with Venezuela’s El Sistema (Fundación Musical Simón Bolívar). As a board member and teacher Nicola embraces her position of role model to encourage young people to take up music and work hard at it, and she continues to spread this message in school visits and masterclasses, not only in Scotland, but all around the world.
 
In addition, Nicola recently developed her own education and outreach initiative entitled The Benedetti Sessions. Piloted in March 2013 at Glasgow’s Royal Concert Hall, these sessions gave hundreds of aspiring young string players the opportunity to rehearse, undertake and observe masterclasses culminating in a performance alongside Nicola. She will present The Benedetti Sessions at the Royal Albert Hall in September 2013 and Nicola has plans to develop this exciting initiative on an international scale.
 
Winner of Best Female Artist at the 2012 Classical BRIT Awards, Nicola records exclusively for Decca (Universal Music). Her most recent recording, The Silver Violin, is particularly renowned for its success in reaching No. 30 in the UK pop charts simultaneously to topping the classical charts for months. Her past six recordings on Universal/Deutsche Grammophon include a varied catalogue of works including the Szymanowski Concerto (London Symphony Orchestra/Daniel Harding), newly commissioned works by Tavener and The Lark Ascending (London Philharmonic/Andrew Litton), a disc of virtuosic works (Royal Liverpool Philharmonic/Vasily Petrenko), Tchaikovsky and Bruch Concertos (Czech Philharmonic Orchestra/Jakub Hrusa) and most recently Vivaldi, Tartini and Veracini Concerti (Scottish Chamber Orchestra/Christian Curnyn).
 
Nicola was appointed as a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours in recognition of both her international music career and for her work with musical charities throughout the UK, and, has to date received five honorary degrees.
 
Born in Scotland of Italian heritage, Nicola began violin lessons at the age of five with Brenda Smith. In 1997, she entered the Yehudi Menuhin School, where she studied with Natasha Boyarskaya. Upon leaving, she continued her studies with Maciej Rakowski and then Pavel Vernikov, and continues to work with multiple acclaimed teachers and performers.
 
Nicola plays the Gariel Stradivarius (1717), courtesy of Jonathan Moulds.