Α stage presence made of pure magic, as her body is pulsating in accordance with the bow, with the violin in her arms, immersing us into the infinity of music.
Danae Papamatthaiou Matschke
violinist of the new generation
Text: Marni Hatziemmanouil
She touches our soul with her timbres, her pauses and her expressiveness. Starting out from a fluttering that gradually leads to stormy feelings, full of long sobs, as French poet Paul Verlaine would write, violinist Danae Papamattheou-Matschke is one of the most talented musicians of her generation, with a impressive CV and first prizes in international and national contests under her belt, among which stand out Andrea Postacchini (Italy), Henri Marteau (Germany), Jugend musiziert (Germany), the Hellenic Association of Theater and Music Critics for the album BRIDGES. Her scope as an artist involves the educational field as well, as she works as an assistant professor at Hamburg’s University of Music and Theater, as well as at the University of Macedonia’s Department of Music Science and Art. “I cannot imagine my future
without music or without offering guidance to young people through this thick mystery,” she mentions.
Her stage presence is made of pure magic, as her body is pulsating in accordance with the bow, with the violin in her arms, immersing us into the infinity of music. Her unique bond with music is perfectly described by the classical music critic Anthony Tommassini’s words, who once wrote in the NY Times that “the relationship between a violinist and a violin is like a marriage.” “Even those who have never been married, we are aware of a marriage’s difficulties. The violinist learns from really early on that even the slightest movement of the body could affect the sound or the tonal accuracy, whereas the days of poor studying may end up having a toll on all other activities. The violin becomes an extension of yourself, that’s why any musician tries to come up with tailor-made solutions to render the relationship with the instrument more effective. After all these years, I have come to the conclusion that the violin is like a sensitive living organism. Even a change of weather can have an impact on its sound.”
Born in Maroussi, Athens, Danae is the daughter of the acclaimed pianist and university professor Uwe Matschke and classical guitar teacher Stella Papamattheou. “I received my first violin courses, along with my first violin, as a birthday gift at the age of five from my parents. Up until I reached the age of thirteen I had private classes with Michalis Kommatis, Nina Volynskaya, Polyvios Kiranidis and Vassilis Papas.” Danae made her first live appearance at eleven, accompanied by her pianist father, in concerts held in Hydra and Syros. “Since then, we have been playing as a duo, going into the third decade of their collaboration, which is characterized by a sense of familiarity and the unfiltered tensions always triggered by family ties. The feeling of forwardness is the most defining trait of our music partnership. Without much talking, almost instinctively, the performative process is materialized, transforming shared experiences and emotions into an act of art.”
Her parents’ consent for her to study at the Music High School Schloss Belvedere, in Weimar, Germany, was neither easy nor without second thoughts. “Their experience as musicians and teachers, the unethical and fragmentary nature of the music education in Greece, and of the educational system as a whole, which raises often insurmountable obstacles instead if helping young people to develop their special skills and talents, were the main factors that played a key role in their decision. Her long-standing studies at Schloss Belvedere were followed by studies at Salzburg’s Mozarteum under Igor Ozim and Hamburg's University of Music and Theater under Tanja Becker-Bender. “Mozarteum has been and still is a passage hub of important music personalities, so I had the chance of getting acquainted with top-notch musicians such as András Schiff, Janine Jansen, the members of Hagen Quartett and Ivry Gitlis. At this point, I must not fail to mention my profound admiration for Leonidas Kavakos ever since I was a child.”
In 2023 she successfully completed her PhD thesis at the University of Macedonia on “Greek and Greek-originated composers of the diaspora, featuring compositional work after 1950 – Sonatas for violin and the piano – Analysis, interpretation and critical evaluation of the Sonata for violin and the piano by Dinos Konstantinidis and Boris Papandopulo.” As she points out: “I consider it my obligation to perform and propagate the works of Greek composers, and whenever I have the chance I try to include such works in my repertoire.”
The way I see it, the elements that outline my course over the years is devotion to music, meticulous studying, the constant effort to maintain a positive attitude in a fiercely competitive field riddled with the frustration of confirmation through publicity and not through the artistic outcome. Disciplined work in tandem with talent, mental vigor, goal-oriented persistence, as well as good luck, are in my view the most noteworthy common features of those who succeed to make a name for themselves in the international stage.
“The way I see it, the elements that outline my course over the years is devotion to music, meticulous studying, the constant effort to maintain a positive attitude in a fiercely competitive field riddled with the frustration of confirmation through publicity and not through the artistic outcome. Disciplined work in tandem with talent, mental vigor, goal-oriented persistence, as well as good luck, are in my view the most noteworthy common features of those who succeed to make a name for themselves in the international stage.” She has appeared in many countries, such as Germany, the USA, China, Italy, Austria, Algeria, Spain, Switzerland, Slovenia, the UK, Norway, Estonia, Finland, Sweden, North Macedonia, Cyprus, having teamed up as a soloist with numerous symphonic orchestras. “The 2nd concert for violin and orchestra by Karol Szymanowski, in which I joined forces with the Athens State Orchestra, besides an enchanting piece of music, is transformed into a true colossus of sounds when the composer has uniquely and brilliantly opted for the use of double-casting in the orchestra.
In May she teamed up for the first time with the exceptional pianist and musician George-Emmanuel Lazaridis, in a recital hosted at Thessaloniki Concert Hall featuring works of Beethoven and Brahms, and the two of them offered the spectators a rapture of timbres. “The art of the violinist is introverted during the first stage of the
demanding studying and rendition of the musical text before becoming extroverted in the second stage of the performance, either in collaboration with an orchestra and a maestro or with other musicians in chamber music, even with the audience, as the forging of communication is the fixed goal and challenge of every performance.”
Danae Papamattheou-Matschke’s recordings have been broadcast on German, Greek, Slovenian and Croatian radio and TV. Her discography includes the albums Violin Recital (2012) and Sonatas for violin and the piano: L. v. Beethoven, C. Debussy και M. Ravel (2014) released by IRIDA Classical. “The whole point is to reach out and enable the audience of a recital to experience the joy offered by the empathy of an aesthetic outcome. The performer needs to attain the maximum level of focus during the materialization of the artistic endeavor. The occasional glance towards the audience is nothing more than a mechanical movement that serves the process of the performance.”
As a soloist and a member of chamber music ensembles she has performed in great music festival and venues, such as: Gewandhaus in Leipzig, National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing, Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, International Mendelssohn Festival in Hamburg, Athens Concert Hall, Thessaloniki Concert Hall, Pharos Arts Foundation in Nicosia, Samos Young Artists Festival, Molyvos International Music Festival etc. Her aspiration for the future is to perform chamber music works by Franz Schubert; as for the importance of a good maestro she stresses that “it’s the wish of every soloist when teaming up with an
orchestra, and feelings are mutual from the maestro’s side. Before the first rehearsal there’s always a lengthy discussion between the maestro and the soloist in order to jointly outline the guiding principles of a work’s performance. In a successful collaboration, the orchestra follows the soloist with the support of the maestro and not the other way round.”
According to Danae Papamattheou-Matschke, each era has a different prevailing perception of things, “depending on the importance attributed by society to culture and the evolution of society. Today, any work of art is being regarded as a “product”. Almost inevitably one would argue, the “product” of the classics is not financially tempting, as it involves a limited target group, leading to the decay of many institutions that are crucial for keeping a society on its feet in the areas of humanity and progress, and the shrinking of education and all scientific fields that revolve around humanitarian studies and arts, which do not generate profitable “products”. The gradual withering of culture is the natural consequence of all the above. So, to answer your questions, no, the classics are not in the first line of interest, in contrast with anything easily digestible and lucrative “product” that does not demand a cultivated audience or a costly education.”
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