A fresh take on classical music: Steven Walter, artistic director of the Beethovenfest Bonn, invites young stars to talk shop, cook and make music. Episode 3: Cellist Isang Enders on conformity and the desire for freedom.
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00:00I was just a terrible yuppie. I was crazy about money, didn't know where to go with it.
00:07Stage jobs are not to be combined with a normal family life.
00:13To be honest, I think I'll leave the potatoes in the oven.
00:18Okay, I'll tell you, you're a magician.
00:31Welcome to Stephen Walther's tiny house.
00:34Stephen is the artistic director of the Beethoven Fest in Bonn.
00:38When he's not working, Stephen likes nothing more than to retreat to his tiny house in Burgessesland, Western Germany.
00:48Cocoa Lane is a professional violist and singer who tours with a band.
00:53Cocoa chose not to pursue a career in the classical music scene,
00:57preferring to make music that explores the boundaries between classical and popular music,
01:02blending pop, jazz and classical styles.
01:06In the tiny house, the two meet internationally renowned musicians to talk, cook and make music.
01:13Today's guest, cellist Isang Enders, a rising star in the classical music scene,
01:19At just 20 years of age, he became the principal cellist at the Dresden State Orchestra.
01:24But he gave it all up to work as a soloist.
01:27Today, he's performing at the tiny house for Cocoa and Stephen.
01:31He speaks candidly about discrimination, competition within orchestras and his life as a musician and father.
01:40I don't hear anything.
01:42Do you want something to drink?
01:45I don't hear anything.
01:47Do you want something to drink?
01:49We have...
01:51Is it good?
01:52Very good. Yes, please.
01:54Welcome to the tiny house.
01:58You brought a cello. What kind of cello is that?
02:01That's a cello by Carlo Tononi. You don't necessarily know it, but it's 300 years old.
02:06And it's probably expensive.
02:08Well, yes.
02:10I studied cello in the dark ages.
02:15And the greatest cellists are the Bach Suites, of course.
02:18You already recorded them when you were 25.
02:22I always grew up with Bach. My parents are also church musicians.
02:26And then it was somehow in my nature.
02:30And that's when I thought, this is the first time I'm really doing what's important to me as an artist.
02:36Shall we play?
02:37Yes, shall we?
02:38Mr. Map.
02:41Evergreen.
03:08Evergreen.
03:38Evergreen.
03:58So beautiful.
03:59But most often used in advertising.
04:02It's so simple, but so wonderful.
04:05You brought a recipe. What are we cooking today?
04:08I'm originally from Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main.
04:11And somehow we can never get by without Frankfurt's green sauce.
04:14Of course, every family has its own recipe.
04:16So do you, the Enders.
04:18But we're going to make it a little more traditional first.
04:21I can't reveal the secret tips now, of course.
04:24But first, the potatoes go in.
04:26I made a mistake again.
04:28It was a mistake from the beginning.
04:31You were 20 when you were in college, right?
04:35And you suddenly became a solo cellist for the Dresdner Staatskapelle.
04:40It must have been really crazy to suddenly get into such a leadership position.
04:44How was that for you?
04:46You have to sort it out a bit.
04:48We start early, of course.
04:50From my point of view, it's like becoming a captain at FC Bayern when you're 20.
04:57For the football fans, right?
05:01Okay, we can take the others.
05:03It was definitely a highly privileged job.
05:06They asked me if I was interested.
05:08I went there.
05:09I didn't expect it.
05:10I had completely different life plans at the time.
05:12And kaboom, three hours later, I got the job.
05:15And that's a place where you don't say no.
05:18It was also through the press.
05:20It was a sensation because no one so young had ever landed this kind of job.
05:26At a certain point, I wished I was a little more mature.
05:31My daughter had a bit of life experience.
05:33It can't hurt here.
05:34Ultimately, that also contributed to the fact that a few years later I said,
05:39I want to be free again.
05:41And I'll give it my all.
05:44But I thought, now it's time again.
05:46I want to take something with me from the years I've missed.
05:51And an orchestra is a pretty rigid structure, right?
05:56You have the conductor, the patriarchal leader in the orchestra.
06:01And then you have the concertmaster.
06:03It's like a pyramid, where you were pretty high up.
06:06But also where these power structures are very clearly and in a way old-fashioned.
06:12Did that stress you out too?
06:14These traditional structures.
06:16You have to say, the Dresden State Chapel is the oldest orchestra.
06:21Not only in its demographic, but also internally.
06:25It's just a very old orchestra.
06:30In Germany, there is a unique cultural landscape when it comes to the orchestra.
06:34And traditionally, there was a way of working that is now called black pedagogy.
06:42It's basically a form of Darwinism in the orchestra grave.
06:48And despite the fact that black pedagogy is not good,
06:55unfortunately, there are a lot of success stories.
06:57And because there is this success, the belief is maintained
07:00that this form of drill, hierarchy and patriarchal structure leads to success.
07:10There are very different models of conducting in the orchestra.
07:14They do it very differently, where the orchestra members are also participants
07:18or owners of the orchestra.
07:21I changed the orchestra. It's been ten years since I left.
07:25You have to say that everyone is already interested in the process of change.
07:30A lot is happening.
07:32A lot is happening.
07:34And I personally think an orchestra, the way it works, is an honorable institution.
07:39I'd say salt was already in here, right?
07:41Yes, it's already in there.
07:47What can I do wrong next?
07:49To be honest, I think I'll run over the potatoes.
07:53Too much water, finger failure.
07:56But it takes a lot of courage to just throw everything away.
08:00How long did you work in the Staatsrepertoire?
08:02Four, five years.
08:03Four, five years. So you were 25, 26.
08:05And just to say again, I'll throw everything away,
08:08leave everything behind and start a new life.
08:11I was very far in my career, but personally I was still a child.
08:15I was totally green behind my ears.
08:17And then I noticed that I couldn't cope with this way of life.
08:20I was just such an animal yuppie.
08:22I just took a lot of money, didn't know where to go with it.
08:25And that does something to you, doesn't it?
08:28It also changes your character traits.
08:32Somehow I wasn't honest with myself
08:35and honest with the things I like to do.
08:38And that's why I wanted to redefine my success story.
08:45The potatoes are burning.
08:48Yes, that's right.
08:50Success is when the potatoes survive.
08:56I've prepared something here.
08:58I don't know if you've seen it yet.
09:00Why is there gum in my tiny house?
09:04I've been asking myself that the whole time.
09:06There are different balls with different questions on them.
09:09A few unpleasant questions are also included, of course.
09:12As God wills.
09:22I'm looking forward to the game.
09:24You have no idea what to expect.
09:27Do we go to the middle or what?
09:30This way?
09:32Ison, do you want to go first?
09:40Can I read it?
09:41Yes, absolutely.
09:42Lucky cookie.
09:45What feelings do you have for your cello?
09:49Well...
09:50Yes.
09:57You have to feel deep.
09:58Yes, I have to feel deep first.
09:59Because I have several cellos.
10:02Oh, sorry.
10:03This polyamorous cello-like.
10:11I like it very much.
10:13I love playing cello.
10:15But I also know that it drives me crazy sometimes.
10:19And every cello is very, very different.
10:22A bit like with every partner.
10:24It's really very, very different.
10:26Sometimes you get it right, sometimes you don't.
10:29Can I throw it in?
10:30Absolutely.
10:31Let's go.
10:32I'm curious.
10:38What is the most unpleasant thing that has ever happened to you on stage?
10:42You may have noticed that we make music from the tablet again and again.
10:46Instead of notes, we have our tablets with a Bluetooth pedal.
10:51The absolute horror is, of course, that such a tablet makes an update on the way.
10:56Or turns off or runs out of battery, that you forget to charge it.
11:01But with me, I thought about everything.
11:04And it was also Suntory Hall in Japan, in Tokyo.
11:08This is the most important concert hall in all of Asia.
11:11It was also my debut.
11:12I sit down there, put my headphones down and think everything is going well.
11:16And then kaboom.
11:18It doesn't flash.
11:20The pedal we have, so that the strings don't flash, it just doesn't work.
11:25Oh shit.
11:26Show must go on.
11:28It's running, it's running.
11:29And I was like, oh God.
11:30And then I really lost it.
11:32In the end, it turned out that, like many Asian souls, they have a radio interference.
11:37So the moment the concert starts, no phones work anymore.
11:41So no Wi-Fi, no Bluetooth and nothing.
11:44And of course that also has consequences.
11:46Of course you don't think about it.
11:47What are you thinking about?
11:48And yes, it should be a lesson to me.
11:50But that was a horror.
11:51That was really a horror.
11:52Yeah, crazy.
11:56Okay.
11:57It was all about me.
11:59Okay.
12:00I think I want something else to happen now.
12:02Okay.
12:04Uh-oh.
12:08So that's the Joker card or what?
12:10You could say that.
12:11Okay, play a rhythm that the others can improvise on.
12:27Okay.
12:28Okay.
12:33I know that.
12:41Okay.
13:11Okay.
13:41Okay.
13:42Yes, I would say the task is accomplished.
13:44Go with it.
13:45Good, it's over now.
13:46It brings us the joy.
13:47Exactly.
13:48Sorry, I'll clean this up.
13:50I just picked up something here.
13:53You brought it with you.
13:55Oh, is that cute.
13:57I'm so happy.
13:58I'm so happy.
13:59I'm so happy.
14:00I'm so happy.
14:01I'm so happy.
14:02I'm so happy.
14:03I'm so happy.
14:04I'm so happy.
14:05I'm so happy.
14:06I'm so happy.
14:07I'm so happy.
14:08I'm so happy.
14:09I'm so happy.
14:10Oh, is that cute.
14:11As you can see, I was hit on the piano when I was a little kid.
14:15It still looks relatively self-determined.
14:19Really cute.
14:25Who are you?
14:26Yes, typical Christmas scenery.
14:29So here I am standing there a bit moppily with a cello in front of the Christmas tree.
14:35My brother was still playing the trumpet back then.
14:38But it almost seems like you just had instruments at home from scratch.
14:43My mother studied composition.
14:45That's why they came to study in Germany, from Korea.
14:50And my father is originally a church musician and pianist.
14:54And they also got to know each other in college.
14:58And then my brother and I grew up with instruments in the house all day long.
15:03Wow.
15:04Ah yes, here you are in the orchestra.
15:06School orchestra.
15:07School orchestra.
15:08That's also the reason why I play the cello.
15:10Because I had the thought that I should play an instrument that you can play in an orchestra.
15:15Until then, I only sang and played the piano.
15:18I can understand that.
15:19I somehow found the youth orchestra so beautiful.
15:22Because it wasn't really about doing it professionally.
15:26It was just about making music together.
15:28It was totally beautiful and inspiring.
15:30Quite the opposite to the orchestra job later.
15:35We already talked about the hierarchies and the patriarchal construct.
15:39Unfortunately, I also have to talk about discrimination issues.
15:46How did you experience discrimination in the orchestra as an Asian person?
15:52I have always been socialized in Germany.
15:54I grew up here and went to school here.
15:57And I didn't dream of identifying myself as Korean.
16:02But of course, as you just mentioned, I am read with this background.
16:08Not only in the supermarket, but also in our industry.
16:14Our industry has a high rate of globalization.
16:20There are many people from many regions of the world.
16:23But there is also a concentration from the East Asian region.
16:29And there are recurring clichés and stigmas.
16:34My mother came to Germany over 40 years ago.
16:41They think that we are stubborn.
16:44There are also these clichés that you know in the classical industry.
16:51The Asian, super technical, perfect musician.
16:57But with a feeling.
16:59It's difficult with the feelings.
17:02It often annoyed me so much when I confronted people.
17:06It's such a widespread cliché.
17:09It's a widespread cliché.
17:11You might call it expressionless.
17:13You can learn a craft to a certain level.
17:18You can get pretty far with it.
17:20But it's missing the heart.
17:22It's a very sensitive topic.
17:24Nevertheless, these people of Asian origin prove in many competitions and for decades
17:33that they are at the forefront of this career tone.
17:42It doesn't matter if they are American, Asian or European.
17:49But it's very easy to judge and categorize people.
17:55Ultimately, it's a matter of education.
17:57Isn't it racially motivated?
17:58No, it's uneducated.
18:00So you would say that every human being has the responsibility to contribute to education.
18:05No matter what kind of background they have.
18:09But we, the people affected, don't have the responsibility to judge these people.
18:18I've been following you on Instagram for a long time.
18:22I recently saw a post about your son.
18:26How old is he now? Three and a half?
18:28Yes, three and a half years old.
18:30You took him with you on your concert tours.
18:33You travel a lot.
18:36How is that?
18:38I think it's totally crazy to put everything under one roof.
18:41Soloism, career and then also fatherhood.
18:46Of course, this also has a downside.
18:49First of all, I'm partly self-taught.
18:52That's a result of the pandemic.
18:54It affected many people.
18:57But for my self-image as a father,
19:02I feel a certain attention, time and energy with my son as natural.
19:11But since I have to combine my work with it,
19:15I started taking my son with me again and again.
19:20First of all, he's doing a great job.
19:22But it's a huge logistical effort.
19:25You have to say that the structures are not made for this.
19:28No matter where you go, whether it's a concert hall or an orchestra,
19:31nobody is prepared for child care.
19:37That's a systemic and structural problem.
19:41I have to say this from my own experience.
19:44My parents are both at the opera.
19:46They can't cope with a normal family life.
19:50That's a structural problem.
19:52Absolutely.
19:54At the moment, my biggest success or my most important goal
20:00is to be a good father for him.
20:02And to combine that with my work.
20:05Okay.
20:17It doesn't matter.
20:22You're a freelance soloist and chamber musician.
20:25You do a lot of different things.
20:27Very niche things.
20:29Mainstream soloist things.
20:31How do you decide which project to do?
20:33I like to be in a position to have absolute control
20:39or the absolute choice about what I do.
20:42Of course, that's a privilege that very, very few people have.
20:47But thank God, I only have projects in my calendar
20:54that I like to do or am willing to do.
20:58I do a lot of things.
21:00That's why it's difficult to put me in a category.
21:03You can't say, he's a soloist or a chamber musician.
21:06I know that the market sometimes wants that.
21:09Or that an Instagram profile should be very clear.
21:12I wanted to ask you.
21:13Do you have a team that supports you?
21:15Or do you do everything alone?
21:17Correspondence, communication, everything alone.
21:19In Brandy, it's also about looking for your niche,
21:23profiling yourself.
21:25I want to do well in the things I do.
21:29If my quality standard is that I do a lot and do everything,
21:36then that's my profile.
21:39You also do really crazy projects.
21:41For example, you studied all the cello works by HĂ€nsel.
21:46We're going to hear one of them now.
21:49Franz Werner HĂ€nsel died ten years ago.
21:53He was probably Germany's most important post-war composer.
21:56Very controversial.
21:58He had a free-outing as a homosexual.
22:00He was totally against the mainstream avant-garde.
22:05His messages, his pacifism,
22:07and all the questions he asked about the social norms and recognition,
22:11especially in our conservative music business,
22:14are all justified questions that are still relevant.
22:17What I want to play now is a piece by Epitaph.
22:20A grave inscription.
22:22He wrote it for Paul Dessau when his composing colleague died.
22:26Ultimately, I want to dedicate this piece, which is very short,
22:31to all those who had to let go of their lives
22:35during all the crises we're going through.
22:39Ultimately, every message has to reach the heart.
22:52Cello plays softly
23:22Violin plays softly
23:53Violin plays softly
24:05Violin plays softly
24:22Violin plays softly
24:52Violin plays softly
25:03Okay, you say you're not an artist.
25:06You're not a magician.
25:08It's not just beautiful music.
25:11There's a kind of grief and hope at the same time.
25:15It's incredible.
25:18Oh, guys, I'm so tired.
25:21Let's eat.
25:23We're done.
25:25Okay, potato pie time.
25:27For everyone.
25:28And green sauce.
25:29Green sauce.
25:30Thank you.
25:31Magic ingredients.
25:32Okay, guys, let's eat.
25:34Everyone else can join in, of course.
25:36Yes.
25:37Come here.
25:38This is nonsense with the camera.
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