Sergey Malov: tradition and rebellion
In the world of classical music, many outstanding practitioners specialize in an instrument, a musical period or style. The versatile Sergey Malov is determined to be an exception. “I prefer,” he tells me from his home in wintry Berlin, “to breathe a musical air that is rich in all possible styles and as much of the beauty that music is offering as possible.”
When he joins a starry line-up of visiting international artists at the Adam Chamber Music Festival in Nelson, New Zealand - the Takács String Quartet, Hungarian pianists Dénes Várjon and Izabella Simon, Canadian clarinetist James Campbell and Japanese contrabassist Hiroshi Ikematsu - Malov is bringing not only his violin, the instrument with which he first made his reputation. Also in his bags are a viola, a violoncello da spalla and a set of loop pedals.
Born in Saint Petersburg to musical parents, Malov first came to the attention of New Zealanders when he won the Michael Hill International Violin Competition in 2011, performing around the country with Michael Houstoun on the Winner’s Tour afterwards and impressing Helene Pohl and Gillian Ansell, artistic directors of the Adam Festival. They invited him to their Festival five years ago but that event coincided with the birth of his daughter and so his return to Aotearoa was postponed.
Winning the Michael Hill Prize opened an exciting new musical chapter for Malov, enabling him to follow a dream to commission and purchase a little-known string instrument, the violoncello da spalla. Dating from the Baroque period, it is played on the shoulder (spalla), unlike the violoncello da gamba which is held between the knees. He’d found the instrument on YouTube, video clips by Netherlands-based luthier Dmitry Badiarov, who subsequently made Malov’s instrument. “I was already playing the viola; it was clear to me, if to no-one else, that this was the next step. I definitely knew this was going to be my thing,” he tells me. “And then the sudden interest in it from others came by surprise and, ten years later, that interest is not waning.”
Sergey Malov with his violoncello da spalla
“…an incredible source of happiness.”
The violoncello da spalla has five strings and is supported on his right shoulder by a belt around his body. “It’s not heavy,” he says. “It’s floating in front of me, very light, once you get used to it it’s very easy to play.” A month ago, he and the luthier made some changes to the set-up, custom-made for him. “The left hand is now much freer, and you can get it much higher on the string. It’s all specially made for me, plus the case is painted specially. It’s an incredible source of happiness.”
Malov will perform J S Bach’s 6th cello suite on the violoncello da spalla in a “Bach by Candlelight” concert in Nelson and is convinced Bach composed it for the instrument. He points to many clues. “First, the five strings and the size of the instrument. There are a few chords that are impossible to play on the larger cello. There is no direct proof that it was the spalla or gamba, but there are some hints that it was played on the shoulder. Bach was a violinist, not a gamba player, so if it was written for him, it’s more logical that he would choose something more like a violin. But he was a genius, you cannot assume anything.”
String players and concert presenters are eager to know more about the instrument. After his performances at the Adam Festival, Malov, professor of violin and other strings at Zürich University, has been invited to four prestigious American tertiary institutions - the Curtis Institute, Manhattan School, Yale and Indiana Universities – for string masterclasses and presentations about the violoncello da spalla.
He is developing and widening what he describes as a “niche” for himself on the instrument. “Most people push the violoncello da spalla into a narrow Baroque corner, but for me it’s also a highly modern instrument; it’s about waking up and finding many opportunities for the great things you can do on it.” It certainly works beautifully in this performance by Malov of Schubert’s Arpeggione Sonata, written for the now extinct six-stringed arpeggione and often played on cello or viola.
This creative and independent thinker is also a keen improviser. How do you improvise if you’re playing Bach? “Well,” Malov smiles, “very, very carefully! In many movements Bach has written out the improvisation and it’s best to leave it as it is. But for some concerts, I play Baroque suites on the da spalla and then shift to five-string electric violin, which is as modern as possible, just a black stick, the antipode of the historical instrument. Before a baroque Gigue I might take an Irish jig and, with electric violin, improvise on that. For a Sarabande I make a loop based on the harmonies of the first four bars and improvise on that before going back to the original Sarabande on da spalla.”
Audiences in Nelson will be offered a taste of Malov’s versatility - and those loop pedals - in an adventurous afternoon concert with New Zealand harpist Helen Webby. The collaborative programme includes Whales, a duo by New Zealander Anthony Ritchie and the world premiere of Patiently Shouting for violin and loop, a work written for Malov by Armenian-American composer Mary Kouyoumdjian.
Aged just 40, Malov hopes to continue his multi-faceted career path. In December the part-Hungarian musician hugely enjoyed playing with the Budapest Festival Orchestra in a Baroque programme, leading the ensemble from his instrument. “Conducting and leading and playing myself - that’s something I want to do more.” He’s also currently practising trumpet and clavichord, finding the latter “an amazing connecting link between strings and keyboard, a keyboard instrument that can vibrate.”
“I’m idealistic enough to hope,” he says, smiling, “that I can set a little trend, based on the way I am working. A mix of established ways and traditions with some rebellion. I like to think of it in a balanced way. There are so many incredible pieces of music that are immortal and must be played – and then I can also have modern music encounters and play complete improvisations of my own. That would be the dream.”
Adam Chamber Music Festival in Nelson February 1-10, 2024. More information, programmes and tickets here.
Sergey Malov will perform in six Festival programmes, join Artistic Director Gillian Ansell for a Meet the Artist session and offer a Saturday afternoon masterclass with young string players.