Teaching

When Nikolaj Znaider came to Boris Kuschnir, he had already made major concert appearances. Yet he was willing to revisit fundamental questions of technique. In his conversation with Irene Suchy for Fidelio, Kuschnir recalls this fresh start: Znaider worked consistently and made rapid progress within a year. Later, his teacher accompanied him for several weeks to the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels.

Working on the details

Katharina von Glasenapp describes this work in a report for the Lindauer Zeitung. Alexandra Soumm plays Franz Waxman’s Carmen Fantasy. She and Kuschnir then examine the difficult passages individually: movements, impulses and the shaping of phrases. In a lesson with Eung-Soo Kim on César Franck’s Violin Sonata, the focus is on musical flow and building tension without tightening the shoulder.

In the same report, Kuschnir explains that he wants technique and musicianship to develop together. The position of the violin and bow should suit the individual’s body. Finding a suitable solution may take months or years; he offers no single prescription for everyone.

Practising with a purpose

In his Teacher Talk column for The Strad, Kuschnir explains how he encourages practice: a concert, recording or competition can provide a concrete goal. Crucially, however, a teacher must also demonstrate how to resolve technical and musical difficulties. Simply asking a student to practise more is not enough.

He also approaches the question of how long to work on a piece through the learning objective. If the aim is a particular bowing technique or musical style, a new work can follow once sufficient progress has been made. Preparation for an important performance or recording, by contrast, may take months or even years.

A career of one’s own

In the Fidelio interview, Kuschnir also discusses the limits of his work: he accepts students whom he believes he can help. Wanting to have a career like Julian Rachlin’s, he says, is the wrong starting point. His students should follow their own paths.

They include Julian Rachlin, Nikolaj Znaider, María Dueñas, Lidia Baich, Dalibor Karvay and Alexandra Soumm. Their careers are presented on the students page.

Universities and masterclasses

Boris Kuschnir has taught at what is now the Music and Arts University of the City of Vienna since 1984. In 1999 he was appointed full professor at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz, where he is now emeritus. His work also includes masterclasses at institutions such as the Verbier Festival Academy and the Kronberg Academy, and jury service at competitions including the Queen Elisabeth Competition and the International Tchaikovsky Competition.

Masterclasses · Teaching and juries in the biography

Further reading: Conversation with Irene Suchy, masterclass report by Katharina von Glasenapp and Teacher Talk, January 2011.