Emotion and energy – in perfect harmony – that is what Argentinian cellist Sol Gabetta strives for when she performs. She is one of the most renowned soloists in the world today.
For one so young, she is only 29, she has achieved much, she has won Major competitions and several awards, she teaches and even created her own festival in Switzerland where she now lives. Euronews met up with her in Copenhagen: "I think my personality developed through the music in a positive sense, because I freed myself from what the others think or like or dislike, but I´m happy with myself and with what I do and being able to share with other people is what's given me that freedom."
Born in Argentina from a multicultural background Sol Gabetta first learned violin, but she soon discovered her love of the cello. There was no time for stage fright, she began performing at the age of eight accompanied by her mother on the piano. She plays one of the rare cellos built by G. B. Guadagnini in 1759, it is the Stradivarius of cellos. The instrument is valued at three million euros. Her relationship with the cello is profound: "I see myself as the custodian of the cello. Although I always travel with the cello one must pay attention to it , it happens when one is tired. I travel a lot, sometimes at four o´clock in the morning, sometimes very late in the evening after the concert, it can happen very quickly that you leave it behind even though its very big. It can be left somewhere because for two minutes you have your mind elsewhere. That's the reason why I always think about it, how much luggage I have, how many kids do I travel with, I always have just one child."
She and her cello, she calls Mr Gabetta, are rarely apart. If she is not recording they are travelling around the world together. In Copenhagen she played with the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Sir Edward Elgar's Cello Concerto. She loves the stage experience and has a secret that helps her excel in performance. "I have dark chocolate and ten minutes later I´m like a bomb. It´s strange, but it´s a good feeling also inside to have the power. It´s good." The power and concentration she demonstrates in performance contrasts with a very down to earth person off stage…a person always on the lookout for the next musical adventure.
