“I love to communicate, even outside of music. I love to meet people!” explains violinist Hans Christian Aavik. Born in Estonia and currently based in Germany, Aavik combines a probing intellect and curiosity with an extroverted charisma that has made him one of Europe’s most exciting young talents to watch.
Aavik explains his beginnings in music. “I was five years old. I have an older brother who started with violin first, but then switched to trumpet. The violin was just left at home, and my family says that I was always in my brother’s room looking for it! My mother asked me whether I’d like to learn, and I said yes.”
After high school, he moved to Germany to study at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Frankfurt. “It was a big shock coming from Estonia and suddenly being in a big city. At first it was a bit overwhelming. It was hard to choose which concert to go to, because every evening there were so many options!”
“The environment is so motivating for me. This is why I went there, just to be in the cultural home of so many composers,” Aavik explains. “I’m very happy that I took the courage to go – and I needed a lot of it, because I was just finishing high school and it’s always more comfortable at home. I remember the first evening in the dormitory, I didn’t have anything – not even a blanket or a pillow – and I remember wondering whether I had made the right choice. But I do really enjoy it now, so it was a good choice!”
Aavik is still in the beginning of his career, having recently turned 22, but has collected a multitude of awards and prizes throughout Europe, most recently winning first prize in the 2020 Estonian String Players Competition. Does he think competition success is a requirement for young artists today? “I must admit to having somewhat mixed feelings about competitions! I don’t think it’s necessary for an artist to do competitions, but they have helped me a lot in providing a goal. I feel like I always develop a lot when I have a competition to prepare for: it’s not so much about the success, but about the chance to really focus on preparing and understanding a huge range of music.”
Despite his youth, Aavik already performs with his own unmistakable voice. How does a young artist go about developing their own artistic perspective? “I’m studying with Erik Schumann, who I met in Estonia – I only played a couple of notes for him, but already I felt that we really clicked. I have been with him for three years and we really think alike for everything, not just in music. His students are never the same – they don’t sound the same, they don’t have the same personality. He really focuses on making sure your own personality comes out, to take your perspective on things and make them even stronger. It’s not technical at all: it’s more about how you see things, how you want to see things, and the perspectives you bring.”
Aavik performs on a 1610 Giovanni Paolo Maggini, on loan from the Estonian Foundation of Musical Instruments. Does this also contribute to his artistic voice? “Violins really have their own character,” he concurs. “I’ve tried many great instruments but this one is really special to my heart. It’s amazing to me that it was made in 1610 – Bach wasn’t even born! Actually, the former player was Vladimir Sapožnin, who was a great friend of David Oistrakh. When Sapožnin passed away, the violin just stayed under a bed for 20 years until it ended up with the Estonian Foundation of Musical Instruments. I’ve had the violin since 2017 and I hope to play on it for a lot longer.”
He also has another trick up his sleeve: studying the composers’ original manuscripts. “I always feel that you are closer to the composer when you can see how they wrote and the decisions they made,” he explains, “and you can see how the composer thinks by how they write on the page. I remember I played once the Mozart G minor string quintet, and he had changed so many things! But you could see behind what he scribbled out. I tried playing those scribbled out options and suddenly it gave me a whole new perspective.”