Anthea Chronicles No. 6: My many obsessions, my latest obsession
My life has been a series of obsessions. I spin out, devote myself to a new but related skill, and before I know it I’m in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan or learning how to make stained glass.
I don’t know if other people are as obsessive as I am. I suspect that any semi-successful classical musician must be at least ridiculously obsessed, and I guess I’m on the deep end of that. People regularly ask me if I ever sleep, or slow down, and wonder aloud if I’m on the spectrum or something. I say “I don’t really sleep through the night, or slow down except very rarely but actually not, and I have no idea if I’m on a spectrum but aren’t we all? Isn’t a spectrum a continuum, and if we aren’t on a range, what the heck are we on, anyway?”
I was looking for a Bach cello suite on YouTube about 10 days ago, and I came across this super wack-a-doodle instrument, it was like a baby cello with 5 strings but the person had it strapped across their shoulders and was playing it sort of like a violin. And the guy sounded amazing. And he also was really attractive, looking like the cross between a young vampire and a drawing of Paganini, with shiny long black hair pulled back into a tight bun and these tight black pants with little silver buttons towards the tapered calf, and a starched white shirt that had one of those really tall collars like Beethoven and Napoleon used to wear. I mean, who is this guy, and what the heck is that instrument??? Plus, he just sounded amazing. Did I say that already?
I started to get obsessed. I did research and found out the instrument is called the violoncello da spalla (shoulder cello), a small, 5-string cello that you hold against your chest, larger than a viola but smaller than a cello, and it was popular during the late 1600s and early 1700s. Some think it’s the instrument Bach had in mind for his cello suite. And the addition of a 5th string makes it like a violin plus viola but down an octave like a cello. It’s sound is so different from any instrument I have ever heard. And I need one. I need to figure out how to play it.
After a bit of research, it becomes apparent that there are very few that exist. They went out of favor in the mid-1700s, completely disappeared or were taken apart and fashioned into small cellos for children, and have only been revived recently. In 2003, the early music specialist Sigiswald Kuijken was keen to see if a shoulder cello could be built from drawings, and the Russian-Dutch luthier Dmitry Badiarov, based in The Hague, built one for him, researching and reconstructing from historical records. This Dmitry makes gorgeous instruments, each one tailored to suit the specific person who commissions it. Such as our mystery vampire player.
I have now found 4 makers. One in the States, one in Canada, one in Italy, and of course the father of them all, Dmitry in Holland. And not one cello de spalla available anywhere. There are so few in existence, it takes a year or more to have one commissioned, and there is no way for me to try one out to see if I can play it.
I joined the Facebook da spalla page (because OF COURSE), which has 212 passionate members, and posted “hi! I’m interested in a Da Spalla – does anyone have advice?” Lo and behold, the maker from Italy reached out to me. I asked if she knew anyone who has a Da Spalla that I could meet, and she said “there is a man in Coos Bay who has one of my instruments” and she gave me his number.
I texted him immediately. It was 9:44 pm. I didn’t care. He wrote back right away, saying “you have a very unusual name. Are you by chance a member of the Quartissimos?” I wrote back “Yes, that’s my family quartet with my kids and husband,” and he said “I have tickets for your Sunday show – the presenter is my teacher.” How is this even possible? The triangulation of these disparate parts is more random than a granny-square quilt. He agreed to meet me an hour before the show to let me try his instrument and give me some pointers.
I wrote to the presenter and she said, “oh yes, he’s a lovely man, an adult beginner, and he bought 3 Da Spalla so other people can play with him.” So here’s a guy, living way out there in Oregon, with enough disposable income to be an adult beginner and buy 3 custom built legacy instruments. In my mind I picture a quiet, studious, wealthy man, aged 70-80. Probably a retired lawyer or something.
I arrived at the venue, and a burley 35-ish year-old man with a bushy beard, wearing jeans and an untucked plaid flannel shirt in pinks and oranges came up to me and said “My Da Spalla is in your dressing room. Feel free to try it and play it in the concert if you would like to.” He works at the ER, doesn’t have kids, and just loves music. And to me, that encapsulated what Oregon is all about. The whimsy, the spontaneity, the desire to find your rabbit hole and just dive right in.
I tried it. I loved it! I played the Vivaldi Double Cello Concerto with my daughter on the concert, and tomorrow morning I have an early morning meeting scheduled to talk to Dmitry Badiarov from The Hague. He’s going to build me my very own Da Spalla. I don’t know where this obsession will lead me, but I’m so ready to dive right in and let it take me where it will.
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