The BBC Young Musician competition has produced its fair share of memorable moments in its 46-year history, plus some pretty sensational winners. You may well remember, for instance, oboist Nicholas Daniel in 1980, clarinettist Emma Johnson in ‘84 or pianist Freddy Kempf in ‘92. None, though, made quite the same impact that Nicola Benedetti did in winning the 2004 final.
That winning feeling... a flood of offers
When the 16-year-old violinist from Ayrshire wowed judges and live TV audience alike with an astonishingly accomplished performance of Szymanowski’s Violin Concerto No. 1, the musical world really sat up and took notice.
The subsequent flood of offers of concert appearances, public engagements, newspaper interviews and product endorsements was predictable enough – fairly standard for the winner of such a high profile competition in fact. Rather less predictable, however, was the million-pound recording contract from Deutsche Grammophon that soon followed. The sum, for a six-disc deal, was simply unprecedented.
BBC Young Musician... How to approach the big night
Unsurprisingly, Benedetti still has a strong affection for Young Musician. As someone who has ‘been there, done that’, Benedetti is as good a person as anyone to advise this year’s finalists on how they should approach the big night. When I ask her just that, though, she hesitates.
‘I feel very odd giving advice to musicians on how to cope...’ she admits. ‘For me, the main priority, and the reason why I managed to stay calm throughout the day, was to have absolutely no expectations of the competition side of it. I had this opportunity to stand up in a beautiful hall with a lovely audience, to work with a great orchestra and conductor and to perform a concerto that was being televised. It is pressure, yes, it is nerve-wracking, yes, but it is also a great opportunity, and anyone who gets it should grasp it with both hands.’
Dealing with stress and anxiety
Benedetti admits that such an answer may sound all-too-easy coming from someone who’s actually won the thing, but her ‘be grateful for the chance’ advice does seem genuine, especially as it comes from someone whose own path to the final was noticeably fraught.
‘After both my first and second rounds I came off the stage nearly in tears thinking “I’m not going to get through”,’ she recalls. ‘That really is the truth. After the first round I was adamant that I hadn’t played well enough. It happens sometimes.’
And worse was to come in the semi-final when, mid-performance, her violin’s tailpiece broke, sending the strings flying – the sort of disaster, in short, that could have reduced some players to as much of a wreck as the instrument itself had become. Benedetti, after dashing off stage for some rapid instrument repair work, soon made her way back to resume business, composure seemingly still intact.
BBC Young Musician... What's the atmosphere like?
No wonder, then, that she was thankful for the chance to appear as a finalist in Edinburgh’s Usher Hall. But what is appearing in the final really like? Is it cut-throat?
‘Actually, there seems to be this atmosphere of just a general enjoyment of music,’ she replies. ‘Perhaps it’s a British thing, or perhaps it’s because there are different instruments in the final – it’s not all violinists playing things as fast as they possibly can.
'In 2004, there was lots of talk about (pianist) Benjamin Grosvenor. He was, what, ten or eleven, and playing like a 20 year-old! I’d also heard that the flautist was wonderful, plus lots of fine things about the trumpeter and the percussionist. On the day, though, I didn’t really want to focus on what they were doing.’
'Classical babe'? Marketing the winner...
Few would admit it, but the A & R people must have been praying for either Benedetti or Grosvenor to win. Glamorous female violinist or brilliant child prodigy – both are highly sellable. No surprise, then, that even as Benedetti was collecting the trophy, the pre-emptive gossip began, accompanied by speculation of her potential worth to the record companies.
Would she choose to sell out and be playing the glamour card? Would it be just pop from now on? ‘Oh Gawd. “Classical Babe”!’ groans Benedetti when I ask if she was aware of all the talk. ‘I was very aware of it, because I was being confronted with it every time I spoke to anybody! I could not understand why it was there – I had never said anything that was going to imply that I was going to start playing pop music tomorrow. Whether it’s to do with image, I don’t know, but interview after interview I had to say “I am a classical violinist. I am going to do a recording of classical music…”.’
BBC Young Musician... Handling the pressure of winning
Proof of her intentions soon came when, following the signing to DG, her debut disc, featuring the Szymanowski concerto, showed not a trace of crossover. While this led to the ‘classical babe’ furore dying down, her profile as a musician continued to remain high nonetheless, and the diary was frighteningly full.
For someone who was also still developing as a player, her lifestyle sounds a lot to manage. ‘I tried to do the studying, the lessons, the learning of the repertoire, the recording and the performing all at the same time,’ she agrees.
‘It can be very hard to maintain a balance, and the further I progressed, the more I realised just how difficult it can be! Such as, you think you can learn, say, a couple of little sonatas in a month and be able to perform them to a certain standard, but do you don’t take into account all the other things that will take up your time. You don’t take into account getting ill, or just being too tired late in the evening to pick up your violin and practise. It can be tough.’
Benedetti's advice for this year's winner...
So, would she advise this year’s winner to do differently? ‘For somebody winning the competition, I think I’d have to say “Listen to yourself, as much as you possibly can”. Before you win the competition, try to think what you’d be doing anyway – what is important for you, not what other people tell you is important for you. That’s something I’ve tried hard to do, but it’s really difficult.’
But back to that day in May 2004… ‘Winning the Young Musician of The Year was one of the best days of my life,' says Benedetti. 'I know people won’t believe me but, genuinely, it’s not because I won the competition. That performance of the Szymanowski was one of my best to date. All the things that make a performance special were there: the tiny little nuances, the fact that I felt in control of the atmosphere, was able to be creative, didn’t feel the pressure, was incredibly well prepared. Because of all that, I went home knowing that I’d done a performance to be proud of.’