Powerhouse Cellist of Brentano String Quartet
Nina Lee
“This may sound a bit over the top, but I mean every word when I say that I credit Joel Krosnick with everything good that has happened to me as a musician.”
Nina Lee is a powerhouse cellist, chamber musician, teacher and member of the Brentano String Quartet. Born in Chesterfield, Missouri her studies included the Curtis Institute of Music and The Juilliard School, with mentor Joel Krosnick. She taught at Princeton and Columbia Universities and is on the faculty of Yale University where the Brentano is Quartet-in-Residence.
Lee has collaborated with such luminaries as Mitsuko Uchida, Jonathan Biss, Felix Galimir, David Soyer, performs at the Marlboro and Tanglewood Music Festivals and enjoys a cornucopia of concerts with the Brentano Quartet. She appeared in a non-speaking role in the film A Late Quartet, of which the soundtrack featured the Brentano Quartet (2012). Nina Lee shares thoughts about performing and teaching with Editor Leonne Lewis.
You became a member of the Brentano Quartet in 1998. The cello is an integral part of a quartet’s soundworld, so how do you determine when to play out or blend in?
I find the subject of voicing and whether or not to blend pretty self-evident in most of the music we play by studying the score and the intentions of the composer. Rarely will we have debates about who or what is the main line. The various decisions that go into interpreting a work – balance, vibrato, phrasing, etc. – and how certain lines are revealed or presented are what I believe give a group their character.
I am very lucky to have found three others that share the same kind of matched playing aesthetic. Since we have been playing together for the past eighteen years, we have developed an innate communication that resolves a number of issues without having to verbalize them. A keen sense of listening, reacting and leading is essential in sustaining a coherent narrative.
What makes a compelling performance is how an idea travels, converges and comes to the fore between the four of us over the course of the entire work. Nothing we decide is ever set in stone and the opportunity to play a work multiple times allows us the opportunity of exploring different interpretations.
The Brentano Quartet’s repertoire is quite varied and includes Haydn, Beethoven, Shostakovich, Vijay Iyer and Bruce Adolphe. Do certain composers require more collaborative insight?
Actually, the nature of all chamber music fundamentally requires collaborative insight and whether a composer is from the past or present does not make a difference in this regard.
The Brentano Quartet is Quartet-in-Residence at Yale University. Can you share some tips about ensemble playing that you offer students?
We are so fortunate to be working with students at the Yale School of Music. My work with each group presents a different list of challenges depending on what the repertoire is and the people playing. In a general sense, I always try to shed light on “red flags” in the score. That is – harmonies that are surprising or dissonances that seem to make the thread of the journey take a different course, and phrases that are shorter or longer than expected.
I often ask, “Does this create a sense of humor, longing or urgency? How does the quality of the sound and pulse change in ways that would make these decisions more compelling?” Highlighting these peculiarities can be a good place to begin a conversation in rehearsing a piece.
The Brentano Quartet recently participated as collaborative ensemble in the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. Was it difficult to rehearse and perform the same works with different contestants– such as the Franck or Dvorak Piano Quintets?
Brentano String Quartet
It was not too difficult to adapt to different versions of the same work as each pianist was so unique – although I did have different copies of my part to make sure I didn’t confuse certain decisions that were made between pianists playing the same work. It was our job to know the pieces backwards and forwards so we could be as flexible as we needed to be.
The contestants were all amazing and poised despite only having a single 75 minute rehearsal and a 30 minute dress rehearsal before our performances. Because of these time constraints, a successful performance hinged on a very clear sense of the composition as well as a keen sense of communication with us. We stepped into these experiences with the challenge of trying our best to bring out their vision of the work.
How was The Brentano Quartet’s Art of Fugue multimedia presentation received?
It was a thrilling journey to have played the Art of Fugue, with generous support from the wonderful people at the 92nd St. Y in New York. This project was the brainchild of our first violinist, Mark Steinberg. His desire was to give the listener different pathways into Bach’s epic collection of 18 fugues using an artist’s installation, dance, play and various poems and text.
One may think an evening of 18 pieces all based on the same subject may make the listener wary, but I think it allowed the audience unique opportunities to understand Bach’s construction of the Fugue. We hoped to shed a different light on Bach’s genius and how he conveyed such beautiful music within the extreme compositional rigors of fugal writing.
One of my favorite moments of the evening was taking part in the fiercely clever play by Itamar Moses, of which the form was based on and mirrored the fugue. Speaking to the audience afterwards, they seemed appreciative of having the opportunity to get inside this masterwork and had varied opinions about which fugues left more of an impression and why. It was a wonderful conversation to be a part of!
During your studies with Joel Krosnick at The Juilliard School, could you mention some tips he told you about practicing and performing?
This may sound a bit over the top, but I mean every word when I say that I credit Joel Krosnick with everything good that has happened to me as a musician. There isn’t a week that goes by without his voice inside my head, encouraging me to find ‘my sound.’ As there are so many things that Joel taught me, it is difficult to share just one. But if I had to choose one that has become foundational to my approach to music, it is the discipline of ‘doing the work.’
Practicing one’s musical craft is often a solitary and self-punishing endeavor. One ALWAYS continues to work on aspects of playing. It is important to break things down to a level where there is a very conscious thinking of how to execute the technique of playing one’s instrument.
When one is preoccupied with this kind of self-criticism, it is very easy to get discouraged. Joel was able to encourage me in a way that always made me embrace the next opportunity to try again. He would always tell me how important it was to do slow work, but to always end each day by shaking off the conscientious meticulous work and playing with a full heart.
Some teachers think that it is better to just start from zero and build up, but that would have been too damaging for me. Joel found a way for me to continue to work intensely and diligently while also keeping me connected to why I love playing the cello.
Your cello dates from 1724. Who is the maker?
I have the incredible privilege to play on a Matteo Goffriller that is generously on loan to me from a private benefactor.