2023-09-02 06:32:43
Andris Nelsons regarding his two professional homes, Leipzig and Boston. And regarding Gustav Mahler.
When conductors hold several offices, it often has the reputation of polygamy. Is it even possible to combine the traditions of two or more orchestras in one person? And how does a conductor ensure that one orchestra feels no less loved than the other? High time to ask Andris Nelsons regarding it.
Mr. Nelsons, you are the chief conductor of two world-renowned orchestras that I would like to talk to you regarding. Which one should we start with?
Andris Nelsons: I’m sitting here in Leipzig right now, so let’s start with the Gewandhaus Orchestra. Well, maybe we should start with Boston. Difficult …
The problematic question of which own child you prefer. Let’s start with the Gewandhaus Orchestra. How would you describe its sound culture?
Nelsons: It is the sum of what the orchestra has played over the centuries and with whom it has worked: Bach, Mendelssohn, Schubert, Brahms, then came Mahler and Wagner. The sound can be very full and rich, but also fragile, gentle, transparent, which certainly also comes from the Mendelssohn tradition. The musicians play a Schumann forte differently than a Brahms forte: Because it also plays opera, it is extremely flexible. This, in turn, pays off with a Mahler symphony, in which you always have to give more than 100 percent – and you also have to demand more than 100 percent from the audience! Afterwards, the musicians and the concert-goers sweat alike (laughs).
There are some prophecies of doom that, in general, the world’s great symphony orchestras are becoming more and more alike in terms of sound.
Nelsons: The Mahler Festival in Leipzig this year proved the opposite. You might not only tell the individual orchestras apart by how they played, but also by how the individual groups of instruments sounded – there are sometimes worlds between the respective orchestras! A direct comparison is particularly easy when different orchestras play a composer in a short space of time.
Let’s stay with Mahler and come to the Boston Symphony Orchestra. You conducted a great deal of Mahler both in Leipzig and in Boston.
Nelsons: The first symphony I ever conducted with the Boston Symphony Orchestra was Mahler’s Ninth, in rehearsal before my official debut with the orchestra. That was the moment I fell in love with the orchestra.
© Marco Borggreve
Andris Nelsons is chief conductor of two world-famous orchestras
This invites a direct comparison. In this sense: What regarding the sound culture of the Boston Symphony Orchestra?
Nelsons: I think a lot can be derived from history, from the conductors, but also from the orchestra members. There was a time when, in addition to German conductors, there were also many German instrumentalists with the Bostonians, who brought their own musical culture with them. But we also have the strong French tradition here, if you think of Charles Münch (music director from 1949 to 1962, ed.) and his very exciting Ravel and Berlioz interpretations. French symphonic music is still part of the core repertoire of the orchestra today. There was a bon mot back then: If you want to hear perfect and authentic French symphony, you have to go to the Bostonians. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that myself, it would be very unfair to the French orchestras (laughs). The influence of Münch’s predecessor, Sergei Koussevitzky, can still be felt today, with the numerous new compositions he commissioned. Tanglewood and the whole education complex goes back to him. So there is a German, French, Russian, and also Slavic sound culture there. Of course, you can also hear the typical American brilliance.
You yourself are like a link between the two orchestras: there is a Boston Week in Leipzig and vice versa in Boston a Leipzig Week, and joint commissions are often given, for example to Jörg Widmann…
Nelsons: … and also Sofia Gubaidulina. It is very interesting that the audiences in both cities have a great musical understanding and are extremely open, especially to compositions from our time. That is why so many composition commissions are possible with both orchestras. In the meantime, there is already an expectation among the audience that they will hear something new or unusual in the concerts, as in the coming season of the Gewandhaus Orchestra. We will be celebrating the 200th birthday of Carl Reinecke, who was conductor at the Gewandhaus for over thirty years and wrote a large number of compositions that are largely unknown today. So for the vast majority of listeners, this will be completely new music.
© Marco Borggreve
Conducts a lot of Mahler: Andris Nelsons
Arthur Nikisch took over as conductor of the Gewandhaus following Carl Reinecke. Previously he was chief conductor in Boston for four years. One can get the impression that the orchestras of Boston and Leipzig are musical siblings.
Nelsons: Yes, that’s interesting. Musicians who studied in Leipzig also later went to Boston. The concert hall there is even modeled on the second Gewandhaus. As part of our orchestra alliance, in addition to the exchange of musicians, we have also realized joint recording projects such as the joint Richard Strauss cycle and we also play together from time to time if it is possible. The cities also have a lot in common: They are not very big, have respected universities and colleges, and they also have a lot to offer in terms of sport – Leipzig for football, Boston for American football and basketball. The quality of life is very high both here and there.
Another similarity: the composer Thomas Adès. You worked with him in Boston for three years, and now the Brit has been the Gewandhaus composer for two years.
Nelsons: He is one of the greatest composers of our time, he has so many great and diverse musical ideas. A very kind person with a great sense of humor. Every piece of his, no matter how difficult, if he works with difficult rhythms, turns out to be great music in the end. We need so many more compositions from him! He is also a great conductor, and not only in his own works – we are back with Gustav Mahler …
… and with Felix Mendelssohn: conductor and composer in personal union, Gewandhaus Kapellmeister. You also have plenty of experience with his works.
Nelsons: Mendelssohn and Leipzig simply belong together. The Gewandhaus Orchestra reproduces the sound of Mendelssohn, the brightness, the melancholy, the deeply sad moments in an inimitable way. I conducted a lot of Mendelssohn before my time here in Leipzig, but through the Gewandhaus Orchestra I was able to learn so much more regarding Mendelssohn and the performance tradition of his works. Here we are once more, with the very own sound culture of the Gewandhaus Orchestra!
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