Baroque cellist Mime Yamahiro Brinkmann Photo: Mime Yamahiro Brinkmann
Mime Yamahiro Brinkmann is a virtuoso baroque cellist, soloist, and chamber musician – she's been described by Strad Magazine as ‘a musician who captivates audiences with a musicality that flows as naturally as breathing’.
She’s in New Zealand for a series of concerts this Friday and Saturday (10 and 11 May) with NZ Barok, featuring three contrasting baroque cello concertos.
Mime Brinkmann studied the modern cello growing up in Japan, but changed her focus to the earlier version of the instrument after hearing a French baroque orchestra rehearsing at a Tokyo university music school.
RNZ Concert’s David Morriss spoke with Mime Brinkmann what about the differences between the baroque and modern cello, and what captivated her about the period instrument sound.
"The soundscape was [like] nothing I had ever heard before, especially the colour of gut strings - that actually caught me really hard."
"I thought, 'this is something I really want to do'... so I did."
Music in the interview:
Bach, Johann Sebastian: Cello Suite No 1 in G BWV1007 (1) – Mime Yamahiro Brinkmann (baroque cello) (Arcantus Musikproduktion ARC19014)
Boismortier, Joseph Bodin de: Cello Sonata in G Op 50/2 (4) - Mime Yamahiro Brinkmann (baroque cello) (BIS BIS2214)
