For many years now Christian Lindberg
has remained a cornerstone of the
BIS catalogue, having notched up over
twenty-five CDs of music for the trombone.
It is a statistic that is even more
astonishing when one considers the
fact that until Lindberg’s arrival
on the scene in the early 1980s, very
little music for the instrument had
been recorded at all. Indeed, Lindberg’s
single-handed quest for the trombone
to be internationally accepted and
recognised as a legitimate solo instrument
has also created an entirely new repertoire,
with many internationally acclaimed
composers including Luciano Berio,
Toru Takemitsu, Mark Anthony Turnage
and Kalevi Aho having written concertos
specifically for him. In all, over
eighty concertos have been dedicated
personally to Lindberg, a phenomenal
precedent by any standards.
It is therefore particularly
fitting that BIS is responsible for
the release of this generously packed
DVD, with approaching three and three
quarter hours worth of documentary,
music and comment on Lindberg from
many who have known him from the very
beginning of his career. These include
friends and playing colleagues, composers
and the head of BIS Robert von Bahr,
who gave the young Lindberg his early
recording opportunities.
From the point of
view of von Bahr, Lindberg’s marketability
has been further boosted in recent
years by his diversification into
the fields of composition and conducting.
Both are areas in which he has made
a considerable impact, particularly
through his conducting work with the
Nordic Chamber Orchestra and Swedish
Wind Ensemble. Not surprisingly his
work as a composer has now produced
a good number of pieces for his own
instrument although not exclusively
so. His several high profile commissions
include a Flute Concerto for Sharon
Bezaly, The World of Montuagretta.
The multi-faceted
musician that Lindberg has evolved
into has enabled BIS to produce two
contrasting hour long films. The first
of these, To Follow Your Own Star,
was produced by Lindberg’s son David
and centres on Lindberg’s career in
the broadest terms, taking in his
early development as a trombonist
and soloist to his more recent work
as conductor and composer. The film
is often visually appealing with Lindberg
pictured at work in his scenic country
home in his native Sweden, as well
as in rehearsal with his two orchestras,
on tour in Japan and in conversation.
It is in the latter context that we
learn the most about Lindberg the
man and philosopher. His comments
reveal an initial reluctance to compose
and conduct - both advances in his
career were the outcome of prolonged
pressure from persuasive friends.
That same reluctance eventually gave
way to the dogged determination that
had already seen him build his reputation
as a soloist against the odds.
The second documentary,
Across the Pond and Beyond,
charts Lindberg’s progress from conception
to performance as he works on a commission
for Chicago Symphony Orchestra bass
trombonist Charlie Vernon. The resulting
concerto, Chick ‘a’ bone Checkout,
is a virtuosic vehicle for Vernon’s
extraordinary ability to switch between
bass, tenor and alto trombones. The
documentary focuses on Lindberg’s
collaboration with the soloist during
the course of composition as well
as the acclaimed first performance
in Chicago.
As trombonist, Christian
Lindberg has always been closely linked
with the composer Jan Sandström,
largely through his many memorable
performances of Sandström’s Motorbike
Concerto. In 1992 Lindberg filmed
performances of four contemporary
works with which he had become closely
linked including the Sandström,
Berio’s Sequenza V, Solo
for Sliding Trombone by
John Cage and Mauricio Kagel’s Atem,
with all four works being re-released
on this DVD.
Anyone who has witnessed
Lindberg’s unforgettable performances
of Sandström’s Motorbike Concerto
with soloist clad in red biking leathers,
will appreciate something of the stage
presence Lindberg possesses. In their
differing ways all four works can
be thought of as examples of music-theatre,
the Kagel and Berio most explicitly
so. Even so, the Sandström is
a work that has captured audience
imagination like few others, with
Lindberg having made it his own to
a point where it is difficult to imagine
any other player creating quite the
same impact. Lindberg’s extrovert
personality plays a major part in
his performances of all four works,
from the mute juggling of the Cage,
a feat of manual dexterity almost
as impressive as the playing, to the
"acting" of the Kagel and
Berio. The latter sees Lindberg dressed
as a clown in Berio’s nod to Grock,
the famous musical clown who was a
neighbour of Berio during the composer’s
childhood.
The Sandström
has never needed a helping hand in
its path to audience acclaim, yet
in Lindberg’s short introduction to
each work he touches on his battle
to convince audiences of the intrinsic
value of such works as the Cage and
Berio. This battle that has become
something of a personal crusade for
Lindberg who has tirelessly championed
works of the "high avant-garde"
throughout his illustrious career.
A little more light-hearted
novelty value can be found in Fredrik
Högberg’s Brassbones,
a witty twenty minute film featuring
Lindberg and a good number of his
brass playing friends including the
trumpeter Håkan Hardenberger.
Authentically shot in the style of
a spaghetti western and complete with
trombone fights outside the saloon
bar, it’s undeniably great fun although
some of its more subtle touches might
be a little lost on those who are
not immediately familiar with the
oft whacky world of the brass player.
Likewise, Lindberg’s own Bombay
Bay Barracuda, a video shot in
the style of an "MTV video"
and featuring Lindberg along with
Jan Sandström is entertaining
in a curiously quirky kind of way.
The fact that it was commissioned
by Swedish television for the 1999
New Year’s Eve Celebrations gives
more than a hint of the esteem in
which Lindberg is held in his own
country.
It is somewhat inevitable
given the long list of Lindberg’s
friends and collaborators interviewed
in the two documentaries, that at
times there is a danger of the DVD
as a whole coming across as something
of a testimony by Lindberg’s own personal
fan club. The fact that the danger
is avoided is largely down to one
common denominator that comes through
time and again; namely Lindberg’s
incredible energy, single-mindedness
and total devotion to his cause. Having
been told repeatedly during the early
years of his career that he was wasting
his time in trying to achieve acceptance
for the trombone as a solo instrument,
he went on to prove his many doubters
irrefutably wrong, whilst carving
a place in history for himself as
one of the greatest virtuosos of the
instrument ever known.
The signs are that
he is already directing that same
sense of purpose to his work as composer
and conductor. Given what we now know,
it would take a brave man to bet against
his achieving similar success in these
fields in the years to come.
Christopher Thomas
See also interview
with Chris Thomas
BIS DVD-1678 [93:39]
