With composer HK Gruber

Taken from an interview with Viennese composer HK Gruber, after performances of his cello concerto in which he conducted the soloist Robert Cohen.

“The ideal partner for a composer is an interpreter who not only plays what’s indicated, but also discovers what is meant by the notation and then expresses the thoughts and intentions of the composer.The ideal composer’s partner is a co-inventor who, like the composer hopefully does, brings into balance feelings and intellect. Beside that, he must of course have virtuosic technique – the more the better – but not used as an end in itself. He must also have a passion for contemporary music and take the risk to learn such a difficult piece, though he knows that the market’s possibilities for it are rather limited, compared to a classical one.So he is also a hero who can not get enough thanks and praise for initiating and keeping alive the music; convincing audiences through outstanding personality, integrity and total lack of vanity.Such a musician one normally finds in a composer’s dreams. Only a few of them one finds in reality, and providing one has the privilege to work with such a magician, one experiences that composing makes sense.One of these big, rare and lucky chances of mine and my Cello Concerto’s life is Robert Cohen.”