Journal 2013.2014Die jährliche Hauszeitschrift der Konzertdirektion

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The appointment of Andris Nelsons as Music Director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra
is a milestone in many respects. For the 34-year-old Latvian conductor it is a pinnacle in
his already impressive career, and the venerable orchestra will also welcome its youngest
music director in more than a hundred years (Arthur Nikisch was 33 years old when he
took up the post in 1889). In the international orchestral landscape, Nelsons’s appointment
is indicative of the promising new generation of conductors, which also includes
Yannick Nézet-Séguin in Philadelphia, Gustavo Dudamel in Los Angeles, and Philippe
Jordan at the Opéra National de Paris. A bold decision – particularly in Boston, where,
after the thirty-year tenure of Seiji Ozawa, the orchestra opted for the safety of older
maestro James Levine; even Ozawa was four years older than Nelsons when he was
appointed. Like many other orchestras, the long-established Boston ensemble has had
a particular preference for distinguished conductors thus far – among them Bernard
Haitink, the late Sir Colin Davis, and Kurt Masur. In light of this, when Managing Director
Mark Volpe asked the musicians for their suggestions for guest conductors every year,
he almost had to plead: “Please, conductors under 70!” Now the time has finally come.
Only a few artists are invited by the world‘s best orchestras
early on in their careers; and only a very few artists are
asked to come back again and again.
in creating an atmosphere; hence he is immediately able to captivate the audience and
the orchestra. It is therefore no surprise that he is also a successful opera conductor:
both as a regular guest of the Vienna State Opera, and as the youngest conductor in the
history of the Bayreuth Festival (with Lohengrin in 2010). He feels particularly at home
with symphonic works when the music tells a story: like several other conductors, he
champions Richard Strauss’s tone poems and Stravinsky’s ballets, not to mention Mahler
and Shostakovich’s epic works. His explorations of sacred music are equally powerful:
no one who heard his breathtaking interpretation of Britten’s War Requiem will ever
forget it.
Only a few artists are invited by the world’s best orchestras early on in their careers; and
only a very few artists are asked to come back again and again. Andris Nelsons, who,
amongst other engagements, is invited annually by the Berlin Philharmonic, definitely
falls into the latter category; and judging from his current schedule, he will soon have to
decline several invitations. But Andris Nelsons has not only proved himself as a guest
conductor: he first served as Music Director of the Latvian National Opera (2003 – 2007);
then as Chief Conductor of the Northwest German Philharmonic in Herford (2006 – 2009);
and subsequently began his tenure with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra,
where he is currently Music Director and has made several award-winning recordings of
works by Strauss, Tchaikovsky, and Stravinsky for the label Orfeo International.
Nevertheless, it would not be appropriate to refer to an exceptional artist like Andris
Nelsons as a “young conductor”. Although his boyish face and somewhat unassuming
demeanour during applause reflect his youth, they stand in contrast to Nelsons’s maturity,
composure, and charisma. Rarely has the discrepancy between private person and
artist been so striking: In personal conversations, he is a gentle, even shy man who almost
excuses himself for being there. On the podium, however, he is a combination of incredible
grace and agility and, at other times, a lumbering giant, whose natural authority and
overwhelming power seem to electrify the orchestra playing under him. Such passionate
intensity naturally brings with it the risk of self-importance and an inclination towards
showiness or sensationalism. That Andris Nelsons never succumbs to such temptations
can be explained by the fact that his elemental force is constantly balanced with humility
and an unshakeable belief in being true to the composition. This faithfulness to the score
and his distaste for showy effects are, not coincidentally, also the chief qualities of his
teacher, mentor, and fellow countryman Mariss Jansons – the ethos of the interpreter
who devotes himself to the service of the composer is an obvious common ground between
the two men. Even Nelsons’s gestures are reminiscent of those of his mentor; as
are the strong back, bent slightly forwards, the arms beside his chest; and the high
conductor’s stand. Moreover, neither of them has any qualms about using the score,
since conducting from memory could otherwise easily turn into self-aggrandizement. At
a very early age, this seriousness earned Andris Nelsons the esteem of experienced,
seasoned orchestral musicians who were often thirty to forty years older than him.
“I have great respect for these musicians. The most important thing is that they are convinced
that what I ask of them is not demanded by me but by the music. A conductor
should not say ‘I want’ but rather ‘the music wants’”, he once told me. As a former trumpeter
with the opera orchestra in his native city of Riga, Andris Nelsons is familiar with
the thinking and expectations of orchestral musicians. His strength as a conductor lies
It was love at first sight between Nelsons and
the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Andris Nelsons’s contract with Boston begins at the start of the 2014 / 2015 season and
initially runs for five years. He will conduct 12 weeks each season in Boston, in addition
to the Tanglewood Festival during the summer. Thus the relationship between Nelsons,
the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Konzertdirektion Schmid comes full circle: not only
because the conductor is under contract with Schmid both for general management and
for tours and PR; but also because the company’s owner, Cornelia Schmid, gained her
first practical experience as a guide at Tanglewood. Furthermore, the company’s Founder,
Hans Ulrich Schmid, brought the Boston Symphony Orchestra to Europe for an extensive
tour more than 40 years ago, in April 1971. The orchestra played no fewer than
17 concerts in 20 days during the tour, conducted by Music Director William Steinberg,
his assistant Michael Tilson Thomas, and Boston Pops conductor Arthur Fiedler.
It was love at first sight between Nelsons and the Boston Symphony Orchestra when the
young Latvian stepped in at short notice for the indisposed James Levine and conducted
Gustav Mahler’s Ninth Symphony; a typical music director’s work which was a
staple of the repertoire of his two predecessors, Ozawa and Levine. He later proved
himself in Ravel’s La Valse, recalling that earlier, under Pierre Monteux and Charles
Munch, the BSO was the most French of all the American orchestras; a tradition which
Ozawa also continued.
In short, Andris Nelsons and the BSO are one of the most promising combinations on
today’s music scene!