Open, quick-witted and deeply reflective – that’s how the Finnish violinist Pekka Kuusisto comes across in conversation. On New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day 2024/25, he performed Bryce Dessner’s violin concerto at the Elbphilharmonie with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, written especially for him by the American rock guitarist (The National). It is a fascinating, thrillingly virtuosic piece that requires musicians to push themselves to their absolute limit both technically and physically for almost the entire duration of the performance. Despite the fact that the work has only been around for a few years, Kuusisto has probably performed it some twenty times on the world’s great concert stages. He describes in vivid terms how rigorous the physical training is for this challenge each time, and how much easier some things have become for him thanks to Pilates.
On the morning before the first concert, he took time out from his schedule to talk about his life in Elbphilharmonie Talk, which celebrates a wide variety of music. He talks about his brother, whom he lost far too early, and offers a uniquely Finnish explanation for how he became a capable conductor even though he never formally studied it. Spoiler alert: alcohol is involved in the story.
In the interview, Kuusisto chats about a new album of songs he has just completed – together with Gabriel Kahane, a man who, like himself, is challenging traditional genre boundaries with his work. His playing draws from a rich reservoir of influences, including pop, singer-songwriter music, contemporary classical music, and folk, while always infusing his own fresh energy to these styles.
Pekka Kuusisto had a brother he was very close to who was two years older than him. Jaakko Kuusisto, a violinist and conductor, died of a brain tumour in 2022. Pekka talks openly about his loss and seems to have a profoundly personal relationship with death. He also mentions his elderly father, who used to play jazz in cafés and still loves music more than anything, even now living in a nursing home.
This intense exchange on New Year’s Eve morning also saw him open up about the power play and all-powerful fantasies of some of his fellow musicians, none of whom Pekka Kuusisto mentions by name.
