Solo Spotlight: Concertmaster Nathan Cole

In October, the BSO performs three works that have famous solo passages for the concertmaster, i.e., the first first violin. The concertmaster is the leader of the violin sections and, more generally, a liaison between the conductor and the rest of the orchestra. 

BSO Concertmaster Nathan Cole plays the solo in Richard Strauss’s Heldenleben, a singular piece that illustrates the life of a "hero," often understood to be Strauss himself. We sat down with Cole to discuss how he's been preparing for this first of several big moments this season.

You’ve been a concerto soloist as well as an orchestral violinist. How is playing an orchestral solo different from being a soloist in a concerto? 

For me, the biggest difference is switching roles. It’s certainly not easy to be a world-touring concerto soloist, but your role is well defined: your interpretation really should carry the day. In playing concertmaster solos, likely I will have been playing from within the ensemble for three minutes, five minutes, half an hour, and then here comes a solo, and the mentality has to switch. It can be tricky! With my colleagues here in the BSO, it’s a lot less tricky because I can be confident that I’m playing with other great soloists. 

How do you prepare contextually or historically for these pieces? Do you delve into histories and what this music means or how it has been interpreted in the past? 

I think it’s very useful and interesting to look up quotes and stories and listen to old performances and yellowed newspapers and all of that. I love looking at those and getting what context I think is useful for what will be our performance. Ultimately, it has to come across to the listener and it has to be convincing to me whether it’s a solo or to all of us as an orchestra.  

So, with Heldenleben, Strauss would very often say, well, this is not about me. If you read the rest of what he said, it’s pretty clear this was very much about him. And at one point he did give an interview where he said, yes, the violin solo [represents], the hero’s beloved. “That is my wife.” For me, the fun part about knowing that is making all of the characters very human characters. … The hero’s companion turns on a dime, really very, very capricious. I can be this character and then immediately this one, like someone in the midst of a passion or an argument. And that’s really fun because that is not generally my own character. 

Some of these works can be very taxing physically. Do you have to prepare differently? 

Part of what I have to do to prepare as I get older is to make sure to start earlier, because the worst situation is to say to myself, "Okay, I've got to prepare this really soon," and then, "oh, the next thing is this and I’ve got to prepare that." If you can get in good playing shape and stay there and always be working ahead, that gives you not only the physical confidence, but also that mental space, that breathing room to sit with the music for a while and to look for fresh inspiration. 

Have you heard from your colleagues about being excited to hear you? 

Yeah. There's some talk at breaks and off stage and there’s a lot of well wishes, there’re folks saying, “Oh, big week coming up for you," "Oh, Heldenleben coming next week!” As if I’d forgotten! And no, I love that. It’s all about the people that I get to make music with. They know this is important to me and that I’m looking to represent them the best way I can. So, I appreciate that they ask and that that’s part of the fun. 

Robert Kirzinger is the BSO's Director of Program Publications.

Maya Shwayder is the BSO's Senior Contributing Editor and Copywriter.