Behind the ScORe
A Candid Conversation with Catalin
Our September guest artist, international superstar Catalin Rotaru, sat down for a brief interview with SOR Artistic Director Maria Larionoff and shared some of his musical adventures and thoughts on life.
ML: Was double bass your first instrument, and how old were you when you began taking lessons?
CR: I was about twelve years old when I began taking lessons, and yes, the bass was my first musical instrument. I do believe in destiny – that I came into this lifetime to do this on the planet. The universe arranges everything in your life, so you just follow the course that is pre-set. That is my personal take!
ML: You play a lot of concerti written for other instruments – Haydn cello concerto, Mozart violin concerto #5, Tchaikovsky Rococo Variations, Paganini violin caprices (wow!!). How do you select the repertoire for your arrangements?
CR: This is connected to what we just discussed about pre-destination. You know, as I am driving, I will hear some tune on the radio, one of these beautiful classical concerti, or maybe I am at a music festival and I hear another colleague performing something, or I can simply be at school in the hallways and hear somebody practicing a certain piece. Usually, if one of those pieces really sticks in my head the first question that pops into my mind is – can I do that on the bass? This is 99.9% of how I chose these pieces. I simply grab the original part that the music was written for and try it on the bass. Most of the time it actually works! I think there were a couple of exceptions where it was unplayable on the bass, so I gave up.
ML: You tour and perform constantly all around the world. This summer I know your itinerary included Taiwan, Germany, Amsterdam, and Mexico, among other places. My husband, double bassist Barry Lieberman once said that traveling with a bass is like going on a vacation and taking your refrigerator with you! Can you tell us what it is like to constantly travel with your bass? Where are your favorite places to visit?
CR: Traveling with the bass is not an easy feat. Often airlines will give you a hard time – this happened especially at the beginning of my solo career. After I built up some frequent flyer miles with the airlines they stopped asking me questions – of course, after you fly so much with them they kind of trust you! I always have my flight case with me (a bass trunk) and I always check it in. In a way, it’s better than cellists, who have to buy an extra ticket for their instrument. It’s a little cheaper for me but much more risky – twice so far in my life they broke the case and the bass! But again, it comes with the territory.
As far as my favorite places to travel, that is a really hard question for me to answer precisely, to pinpoint one location on this planet. I just simply love the planet and everywhere I go I try to see the beautiful sights of every single place. Of course, they are sometimes quite different from one another in political, social, economic and developmental respects. I try to look at the positive aspects because I think this is the way we all should approach life.
ML: I know you are an avid movie buff, especially sci-fi and fantasy. What else do you like to do in your free time?
CR: Yes, I do like sci-fi and fantasy movies! I would also say that when I am traveling, walking through airports or driving somewhere, I listen to classical music and also audiobooks. Since I was a kid I have been obsessed with two primary subjects: existence and extraterrestrial life. And not just a little bit interested, but really obsessed! I am trying constantly to find answers to these questions: Who are we? Why are we here? Where are we going? This is a passion of mine.
ML: Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us Catalin – we are looking forward to hearing you play with SOR in September!