Five Questions with... Isabelle Faust

What is the inspiration behind your new album?

The SOLO album combines my very favorite solo baroque pieces outside Bach’s repertoire for solo violin. I became interested in the larger baroque violin repertoire senza basso continuo while working intensely on Bach’s sonatas, and while searching for possible influences around Bach I ended up with these jewels which I then recorded during the very first Corona lockdown period in Berlin.

What are five of your favourite records of all time (any genre allowed)?

This differs certainly following my mood and also my age….difficult to pin down. But I would probably always fancy some Duke Ellington, Busch-Quartett, Bach/Gardiner or Debussy/Gieseking recordings to name just a few…

You may have heard the aphorism, "Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire." What are your thoughts on the relationship of innovation and tradition in classical music?

All our most famous and loved composers have always been inspired by music which was written earlier, they always studied their ancestors carefully, incorporated, rejected, transformed and found new ways towards future master works. Contemporary music would not exist without the long tradition before. And music would not be kept alive without contemporary composers.

Creating music can be both a solitary and a social activity. Can you tell us about the importance of community and/or collaboration in your work?

I am extremely lucky to have a wonderful circle of fantastic friends and colleagues with who I love to work and who always make me learn a lot. Chamber music projects are a very essential part of my musical life, they make me rethink music and always question my choices. As a soloist with orchestra one has to be lucky to work with a conductor who lives in the same musical orbit and enjoys developing an interpretation together. If this is the case, playing with an orchestra actually almost feels like chamber music…

Which artist - dead or alive - would you most like to work with and why?

If I have to choose one then I guess it’s J.S. Bach. His musical heritage seems to me unequalled and we know so little about him…

Solo is out on IDAGIO now.