Daniel Hope
(Swedish Television SVT 57 min.)

and

Daniel Hope performs Mendelssohn-Bartholdy
(ZDF/arte 43 min.)

A film in two versions by Gösta Courkamp

A clip can be seen

interview

There are many artists’ biographies. Many of them interesting – not all of them special. Therefore, it is mostly not very informative to introduce these. Nevertheless, in the case of Daniel Hope an exception has to be made:

Born in South Africa, with German ancestors of Jewish faith (from the maternal side) who had to flee because of the Nazi pursuit from Berlin, the family Hope emigrated to England, because Daniel’s father, an author, had difficulties because of his opposition against the apartheid regime. Unfortunately white South Africans were not welcome in Great Britain and therefore the Hopes had to accept the Irish Citizenship (Mr. Hopes father was an Irishman when he immigrated to South Africa).
Now settled in London Mrs. Hope became the assistant of Yehudi Menuhin, who realized Daniels artistic talent and began to support him.
Baptized a Catholic, confirmed a Protestant, Daniel Hope now lives with his German wife in Amsterdam and Hamburg.

For all these different influences, illustrating the history of the 20th century, Daniel Hope finds a language which is independent and in which he can express the link between everything: music.

At the age of 33 Daniel Hope already belongs to the top violinists. In Stockholm he met another very young and equally exceptional talent: the conductor Daniel Harding, musical director of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra (and musical director of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra as well as constant guest conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra).

 In the “Berwaldhallen” they performed one of the best known, and rarely played in the original version (“Urfassung”), violin concerts in the history of music: Mendelssohn-Bartholdys „e minor concert op.64 ".
If you look at this version you will understand why so many violinists have shrunk back from it. Far more technical skill is demanded from the virtuoso, as for the “last” ("letzte"), the version mostly played nowadays – the one Mendelssohn in his time “smoothened” for the violinist Ferdinand David.

This film features the first collaboration between Daniel Hope and Daniel Harding, although they have known and cherished each other for a long time. The film reveals pictures of the two sympathetic and charismatic musicians working as a team in such intimacy as is seldom seen before.
The aesthetics of the film take this into account with quick cuts, brushed the wrong way, which is unusual in classical music, and: it always stays close to the musicians.

When watching Hope and Harding at "work", you might think, a soulful choreographer produced the performance - it is, however, just the music that carries them - creating an atmosphere which is probably out of reach for most musicians.

While the ZDF/Arte version of the film focuses on Hopes interpretation of Mendelssohn, the "Swedish" version also directs the attention to another, not insignificant facet of Daniel Hope. As mentioned before, his family has a moved history and Hope a strong affinity to the Jewish culture.

In the new opened, wonderfully restored synagogue Rykestrasse in Berlin Hope describes this essential influence and performs Erwin Schulhoffs „sonata for solo violin - andante cantabile“ as well as Maurice Ravels "Kaddish" in his own editing. Both pieces are so important for Daniel Hope that he plays them over and over again as encores to his numerous concerts all over the world.

After this our path leads us to Berlin Mendelssohn's grave in the Berlin Trinity cemetery. Then in the impressive scenery of the Berlin “Konzerthaus”, just around the corner from the former residence of the Mendelssohn family - on Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdys very own territory so to speak – Daniel Hope plays his transcriptions of Mendelssohn-Bartholdys songs "Suleika" and "Witch's song", accompanied by Sebastian Knauer on the piano.

„Music infects you, whether you want to or not, independently from language, nationality or faith. If you are willing to widely open your ears it is the most beautiful thing ever."
Daniel Hope

The longer version of the film (57 min.) which Gösta Courkamp produced for the Swedish television SVT was broadcasted in January 2008 and reached a viewer rate of 8% - very unusual for a broadcast about classical music.