“It’s like I didn’t finish last season” – Newspaper Kommersant No. 154 (7355) of 08/24/2022

Conductor Vasily Petrenko, Russian by birth and education, British by current nationality, is one of the world’s top ten musicians of his generation. At the moment (in addition to honorary positions in the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra), he leads the London Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) and the European Union Youth Orchestra. It was assumed that from the beginning of the upcoming season he would take the post of artistic director of the Moscow Svetlanov State Orchestra, but the conductor temporarily suspended his cooperation with Russian ensembles. The number of concerts with his participation in Europe, however, after that almost increased. About how festivals improve the climate in the academic music industry, what digitalization brings with it and what to expect from women at the conductor’s stand, Vasily Petrenko told Vladimir Dudin.

– How did your tour and festival summer turn out?

– Saturated. From the first that comes to mind – Israel, Liverpool, Melbourne, Singapore, Perth, Aspen, London … Recently performed in Gstaad, Warsaw and Ljubljana, then there will be several more tours in Europe in September, a festival in Tsinandali. Everything is planned for the next two years almost completely, with the exception of three to four weeks.

– As for festivals, how much do they, according to your observations, influence the growth of the philharmonic audience?

– The point is that each summer festival has its own focus. In Aspen and Gstaad, these are not only concerts, but also academies, master classes for young musicians. Aspen, for example, collects as many as three orchestras, where the accompanists of each of the groups are musicians from leading American orchestras, and the rest are students. In Gstaad, there is not only a master class for young conductors, but also prize-concerts in the upcoming seasons with Swiss orchestras. In Tsinandali they also work with young people, but in addition to musical tasks, they pursue the goal of uniting the different peoples of the Caucasus, setting an example of how fruitful work can be done together instead of conflicts and wars. Well, the Proms in London, of course, has been a review of the world’s best bands and one of the most prestigious festivals for many years. And it is visited by a huge number of the public, over half a million listeners – with an increase, everything is obvious.

Are you no longer making epidemic adjustments in your schedule?

– Yes, in principle, most countries are already returning to intensive dock-based activities, and that is why a lot of performances are planned around the world, from Los Angeles to Hong Kong, from Oslo to Sydney, from Buenos Aires to Auckland. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, which I lead, is an extremely active touring group, and even in difficult travel conditions, this is one of the priorities.

— What kind of music is expected from you in these countries?

– I perform a lot of very different music – Scriabin, Beethoven, Wagner, Copland, Prokofiev, Vaughan Williams, Walker, Rachmaninov, and many others. At RPO concerts in Warsaw and Ljubljana, for example, Sibelius, Chopin, Moniuszko and Britten will sound. I have a very extensive repertoire, so there are no stereotypical compositions that would be asked to be played everywhere. But I try to educate the public, as far as possible, with the music of composers who are not so well known, but deserve attention, for example, Myaskovsky, Hindemith, Walton, Alfvén.

– You have been officially heading the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra for a year now. Is that enough to create the perfect working relationship?

– In the vast majority of orchestras in the world, artistic directors are appointed exclusively in agreement with the musicians of the orchestra, and the initiative and candidates come from the orchestra members. So the “not accepted” option, if we are talking about it, cannot be by definition. Of course, there are differences with the Liverpool Orchestra: the pace of life and the level of professionalism in London are even higher, respectively, and the preparedness of the musicians before the start of rehearsals is even better. This imposes certain obligations on the conductor as well, since it is necessary to prepare even more carefully for each rehearsal and to study each composition even more deeply.

— How is the “star map” changing in the industry of academic music? First, a pandemic, then a total deterioration in the international situation caused tectonic shifts. What trends would you highlight first?

Now, it seems to me, the main task of classical music all over the world is to return the pre-pandemic audience to concert halls and opera houses. Overcome the fear of crowds in public places, especially among the elderly. To attract a younger audience that is in great financial difficulty, to try to interest sections of the population of all nationalities and races in classical art, who often have never even been to a concert. Of course, everyone would like an end to conflicts and greater stability, both political and epidemiological, but most cultural organizations have already adapted to live in the new conditions and are ready for replacements in the composition of performers at any time for various reasons.

– Unlike interstate politics, where there are no traces of diplomatic courtesy left, in the world of philharmonic music and musical theater, the situation seems to be much better. Nevertheless, more contacts with Russian musicians have been preserved than cancelled. The Salzburg poster was full of the names of our singers again, the Mezzo channel is holding a month of Tchaikovsky.

– Personally, I have never experienced any hostility abroad, not a single concert has been canceled, not one of the planned musical compositions has been changed. On the contrary, more than once people asked how they could help me.

— Digitalization of the processes of philharmonic life is more likely to attract young people or not? What is more noticeable here, pluses or minuses?

– Both. Many things have become much easier, such as finding and listening to a record or buying a ticket online, but there are also difficulties. But due to the huge amount of information in the public domain, it is now becoming increasingly difficult for many to distinguish the true from the hyped.

– The gender balance of power in the art of conducting has also changed rapidly in recent years, where women have rushed forward. The number of new names is already in the tens. Is this a sign of a new era in the world history of conducting?

– In my opinion, this is due to the total number of women who have decided to devote their lives to the art of conducting. There are now much more of them, and, as you know, competition drives progress, so I hope there will be even more in the future. However, there is a subtle point – it should be first of all important what kind of conductor you are, and it does not matter at all whether you are a woman or a man. I am not inclined to divide the world by gender, everyone, especially among conductors, is an individual, and everyone is able to bring something new.

– Have you left a place for opera projects in your performance schedule?

— Opera projects, if taken seriously, require a lot of time and rehearsals. Unfortunately, it is difficult to find enough windows for them in my schedule, but I try. For example, there are plans to return to the Zurich, Bavaria, Paris Operas, the Met and La Scala, debuts at Covent Garden and the Amsterdam Opera, I hope all this will take place in the next three to four years. In addition, in London in the 2023/24 season, the Royal Albert Hall will host performances of Tchaikovsky’s Iolanthe, Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, and a historical reconstruction of Wagner’s concertos, which he himself once conducted there.

When do you open your new season?

– It is difficult for me to define the opening of the new season as such, since I seem to have not finished the last season – I continue to perform weekly. The Royal Philharmonic does not have a holiday as such. Nevertheless, perhaps I will celebrate Mahler’s Eighth Symphony in October, in which about 650 people will participate.

– In Russia, do not wait for you yet or do you have plans?

– I hope that someday I will have the opportunity to perform in Russia, and I really look forward to this moment.