In Sonia Wieder-Atherton’s series of concerts titled ‘The Odyssey in India’, it is not her, but the cello that tells the story.
“What is significant about the project is that I meet different people and musicians in the different cities that I visit. We spend some time together and I play some parts of the Odyssey, they choose a part that vibes with them and they either play along with it or tell stories. Every time (in each city) it’s something different and these voices nest themselves in the Odyssey each time,” explains Sonia who was recently in Bengaluru for the concert at the Alliance Francaise, as part of the travelling Bonjour India Festival.
‘The Odyssey in India’ is accompanied by an imaginary choir and a soundtrack that contains sounds of the elements in nature. “The impressions that remain with me simply happen as part of my journey. And they happen unexpectedly. They are quick and strong, but they can’t be predetermined,” explains the cellist who studied at the Conservatoire National Supérieur in Paris and at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow.
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Sonia has performed as a soloist under several conductors including the Paris Orchestra, French National Orchestra, Belgian National Orchestra, Liège Philharmonic, Israel Philharmonia, and Philharmonic Orchestra of Luxembourg. She also works with musicians such as Imogen Cooper and Raphaël Oleg. India, she says, has also been a strong influence on her, especially musically.
“This is such a strong country with such strong images and rhythms. I spent some time with a few Kathak dancers in Pune and I was struck by the rhythm, its strong contrasts and its almost introverted expression, which is also bright at the same time.”
Indian music, she points out, has a different relationship with time, in comparison with Western classical music. “It’s something that few Europeans can manage to feel and it’s so different. It’s almost as if the musician is waiting for something to happen. This is special to Indian music and I’m deeply fascinated by it.” Her interest in the cello also originated from that deep, abstract space, Sonia explains what drew her to the cello was simply a ‘voice that caught on’ to her.
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She is also known for ‘pushing the boundaries’ of her art form, having worked on projects such as ‘From the East in Music’, a show designed with footage from Chantal Akerman’s film ‘D’Est’; ‘Night Dances’, with Charlotte Rampling, featuring works by Benjamin Britten and Sylvia Plath; and Marguerite Duras’ ‘Navire Night’ with Fanny Ardant. She has also worked on projects such as (translated from French) ’Jewish songs’, a cycle for cello and piano inspired by the art of the Hazzan ; ‘Songs of Slavic Lands’, for cello and instrumental ensemble, conceived as a journey from Russia to Central Europe ; and ‘Vita’, for cello solo and three cellos, in which she tells the story of Angioletta-Angel through two timeless geniuses, Monteverdi and Scelsi.
The need to experiment, she explains, stems from her belief that music needs to travel. “Music needs to move, it has to discover, to meet and to mix because this is how it was born. Music is a language, one that has to be shared. And when that happens, when people from far away countries meet, suddenly they feel as though everything is so close and connected. That’s what I like,” she says. “Most of my work is classical. I play Bach, Schubert, Brahms and Beethoven. But I don’t categorise music as being classical or experimental. I see this tendency to box music into categorise in India. I cannot think like that because I feel categorising music is tantamount to labelling people and saying they cannot mix. It puts a stop to life.” Sonia does not have a vision as an artist, because she believes in the multiplicity of visions. “I don’t look at life as a series of images, or as one story. I look at life as a state of being.”