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The purity method: an interview with the young cellist Tomas Jamnik.

Article Excerpt
What questions is a promising Czech cellist confronting in his first exciting season? We talked with Tomas Jamnik, winner of the 2006 Prague Spring Competition, about the process of forming his own conception, the context of the time, and different approaches to performance.

Let's begin with the essentials. Do you have a particular ideal of sound?

I am very much a stickler for overall purity or cleanness of sound. This starts from the practice stage, since first I rehearse a piece very slowly, without vibrato, in completely clean, pure form. For me, vibrato definitely isn't something I would begin with, keeping it the same from start to finish. Generally I enjoy playing with sound. On the other hand you mustn't overdo the purity, because it can detract from the sound; often the clean approach doesn't allow for such intensity of expression and certainly you couldn't play a Brahms sonata that way, for example. But even with Brahms I have to have an idea of a constant structure, to which I then add expression. It is important for me to know the completely clean prototype.

So music is an abstract thing for you, not some outpouring of feelings ...?

At concerts I definitely have to stir people's feelings and electrify them, but I still always need to have a basic vision of the work to keep to.

And do you practice the emotions, or are they just a question of the mood of the moment?

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Earlier, when I was younger, playing was more a matter of on-the-spot "podium ideas" (laughs). Essentially I created everything on the podium. When I was younger I didn't practice pieces so much as wholes, but concentrated more on technique and particular passages. I would then glue it all together on the podium--that was definitely exciting in its way ...

A dangerous game ...

Exactly. But now I do it less, or in fact not at all, because even what I add to the structure ought to have a conception behind it. It can't be just animal playing. And a conception means you avoid needless mistakes.

Do you fight or have you fought with any of your professors?

The transition from my high school teachers Mirko Skampa and Martin Skampa to the Prague Academy of Performing Arts (AMU) was not entirely easy. With Professor Chuchro I started to practice in a very physical way. For example initially I had 4-hour lessons with him and that was really a slog. One reason was the need to keep up an ever larger repertoire for concerts. I got into better physical condition, and acquired more tonal power, and I learned to practice for longer...

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