Interview with Kent Nagano

 

Question: Over several years, a close partnership has grown up between the DSO, you personally and DW. For example, there was the 13-part series by DW-RADIO, "Kent Nagano in Berlin", then concerts in Sofia, Moscow, Bucharest and Warsaw, and now the innovative TV series "Classical Masterpieces". How important are these projects for the orchestra and for you yourself?

Kent Nagano: The cooperation between the DSO and DW is extremely valuable. We work together very closely with DW and greatly enjoy doing so. We have found partners there who, like us, are interested in establishing a lively and, above all, meaningful concert practice and who see it as their business to make what is special about our work known to an international audience. The fact that we have travelled with DW to Bucharest and Warsaw and will soon be going to Abu Dhabi is something that is not to be taken for granted in the present-day orchestra touring business. We are grateful and happy that Deutsche Welle has provided us with opportunities like these.

Over the past few years with the DSO here in Berlin, I have been able to establish a mode of work that is supported and highly rewarded by our audience, which in general shows the orchestra great appreciation. DW has seen what is unique about our work and come to the conclusion that it should be communicated - at an international level as well - more effectively than is possible with just guest performances and tours. But a partnership like this one also entails responsibilities and obligations. That is what is special about this kind of cooperation. It constantly produces new impetus and new demands on one's capabilities.

Recently, you were in Warsaw and Bucharest, where you conducted concerts at the initiative of DW. What was your impression of the audience reaction?

It was amazing how warmly we were received in Warsaw and Bucharest and what splendid audiences we had there. The reaction in Bucharest to our special programme with two young composers - the Korean composer Unsuk Chin and Jörg Widmann from Munich, together with Mozart's Clarinet Concerto and the Jupiter Symphony - was extraordinary. This guest appearance and programme allowed us to show something that is very characteristic of our style of working. This is precisely what such a guest performance is about. In this sense, we really do see ourselves as »ambassadors«: ambassadors for a living musical practice.

The filming of "Classical Masterpieces" is over. What expectations do you have regarding this DW-TV series?

This series is something that is very special and important. We present six masterpieces, including Bruckner's Symphony No. 8, Mozart's Jupiter Symphony and Beethoven's Eroica. The concept aims to give the audience some background to the works regarding the process of their creation and the various technical and aesthetic aspects of musical composition, all in a very original way. But this is done in close connection with the actual work of the orchestra. We hope that this series - which has been designed specifically for the medium of television - will awaken a new interest in the media presentation of classical music and give it fresh impetus.

What role can the media play in the dissemination of art and culture, and particularly of music?

The media of course play a significant role. For me, however, one important point is whether the media focus mostly on spectacular aspects or whether the idea is really to convey to the viewers and listeners the uniqueness of artistic works in the sense of their existential significance.

What can you do as an internationally renowned conductor to win over a new, younger audience to classical and contemporary music?

We observe a great interest in classical music all over the world, but we also see the problem that young people today obviously have difficulties appreciating it. Here, the status accorded to music and arts in the education system certainly plays a considerable role. But I believe in the power and continued significance of classical music. I think we have to think much more about the structure of events where classical music is presented. This is where young people may have problems.

To put this in concrete terms: in Berlin we now do a lot to try and interest young people in our work and in »great« art music. We run projects with musicians from our orchestra that are specially designed to familiarise young people with classical music and give them many different ways of getting to appreciate it. As conductors, especially when we receive a lot of public attention, we have a great responsibility here to offer our services to promote classical music.

You are giving up your position as chief conductor of the DSO to become the musical director of the Bavarian State Opera in Munich in autumn, so you will continue working in Germany. Is that just a matter of chance, or have you made a deliberate decision to do so?

Being able to work in Germany is something that is tremendous for any musician. You can feel the traditions here, and they are cultivated on a scale that is not to be found anywhere else in the world. There are well over a hundred professional symphony orchestras here - quite apart from all the other activities. I am very happy that my artistic career has brought me to Germany and Berlin. The position as musical director of the State Opera in Munich was offered to me by the Bavarian minister of education and cultural affairs, and I am delighted about being appointed.

What do you see as the differences between musical life on the two sides of the Atlantic?

there are considerable differences. They have their roots in the different cultural traditions and the way these are embedded in the respective societies and socio-political structures. Cultural life in Europe, and perhaps particularly in Germany, is flexible yet stable, despite the recent serious financial problems. You have the impression that the question of the meaning of art and artistic work is taken very seriously and is still more important than the aspect of prestige. In the USA, the latter plays a big role. But the only things that can be prestigious on an international scale are those that meet the highest demands of quality. That is one of the reasons why there are now so many good orchestras in the USA and why their work is taken so seriously there: high achievement is what makes the necessary financial support possible.

The orchestra scene in Berlin is in a state of change. Where will this lead and what are the prospects for the DSO?

Unfortunately, it is never possible to say where these developments will lead. But I think that we, the orchestra and I, have built up something very important in our years of working together: we have given the concerts and work of the DSO a very individual profile and a new quality. We can see this in the positive reactions in Berlin and everywhere else we play in public. We have tried to give our work an externally recognisable »meaning«. In keeping with this endeavour, we have extended the scope of our work. We invite composers as composers-in-residence and carry out several projects with them each season; we have set up a Schoenberg Prize for important contemporary composers; the orchestra runs projects for children and young people that are designed to build up long-term interest. All of this creates very positive prospects, especially as the special and very attractive role played by the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester has now been recognised even beyond Berlin.

May 2006

Source: Deutsche Welle