Riding, football & dancing

The Olympic pentathlon used to include the discipline of show jumping. One special feature was that the horses for the competitors were drawn by lot shortly before the competition. If you wanted to win, you had to be able to ride all the horses - and not just one in particular.

Or: if you want to be a good dance partner, you have to harmonize with everyone. And not just with one that they have known for a long time.

But why these two non-operatic examples? Because conducting is no different. You first have to acquire the technical skills and learn to conduct potentially any orchestra. And not just one or two specific ones.

At least if you want to survive as a conductor in the repertoire business.

First of all, the most important thing is always to realize what options you have in a situation. There is a difference between having six weeks for an opera premiere and directing a repertoire evening for which there are significantly fewer rehearsals.

However, if I rehearse for six weeks, I am not necessarily a "better" Adam Fischer - but I am undoubtedly a different person. As chief conductor, I recorded a major Mozart cycle with the Danish Chamber Orchestra - no one else "interfered" with me and I was able to work in peace. Of course, it is possible to give a project a very specific direction in this way.

If, on the other hand, I conduct a repertoire evening at an opera house, I have to orient myself more towards the prevailing habits. I have to know what is customary in this house and deal with it carefully.

For example, if I come to a part that is traditionally played in either A, B or C at this theater, the musicians look at me: Which way is he going to go? I can choose between A, B and C. But I shouldn't try to choose option D without much opportunity to rehearse. That would only cause confusion.

What is feasible in particular always depends on the house, of course: at the Vienna State Opera, for example, the possibilities are much greater than elsewhere. But which paths are available in the current situation: you either know that from experience or you sense it. And you get this feeling... through experience.

As a conductor, I am particularly interested - and it doesn't matter in what situation - in making chamber music with everyone involved. In other words: I don't want to determine everything at all costs, but try to achieve the maximum together with everyone.

Of course a conductor has to lead and coordinate. Of course he is responsible for everyone. Nevertheless, the ideal function is to create a framework within which many things can be achieved.

If I may use a comparison from religion: the Pope is there to rule - and to serve. And a minister is, according to the origin of the word, a servant. It's the same with my profession.

In truth, a conductor is not at his best when a musician says after an evening: "Today you conducted brilliantly", but when he says: "Today I played brilliantly." It's like in soccer, where a midfielder shouldn't want to score goals at all costs.

In opera, this means that the singers, the choir and the orchestra score the goals. The conductor, however, must ensure that everyone gets the ideal template for a goal.

So you don't just have to create, you also have to help: If I sense that a singer needs more time today, then I slow down the tempo. I increase the tempo to help a flautist create a phrase on one breath. I have to react when a mistake happens. I have to keep ensembles together.

I remember a key moment in my life: as a young student, I met an older musician in a canteen, who was sitting at a table looking sorrowful. When I asked him what was wrong, he replied: "Sometimes I feel like I'm being paid to have no musical conviction.

What did he mean? That he always had to play what conductors demanded of him, regardless of how he personally felt about it. In other words: every work was translated by the conductor, as it were, and he was only the performer.

At that moment, I swore to myself that if I managed to become a conductor, I would always make sure to give musicians their artistic space. Because how else could I expect them to enjoy making music?

In practice, this means, for example: We come to a point in a piece where the composer wanted to express surprise. Now I can tell them: We play an accent! Or: We play a subito piano, i.e. a very sudden piano. And so on.

Or I can tell the musicians: Give me a surprise! And how it turns out depends on them. Of course, it will turn out much better if I don't dictate exactly what they should do. After all, they are all artists who know their trade! (Of course, this only works if the musicians are very good)

Incidentally, the great Gustav Mahler had a completely different opinion on this point. In his scores, he not only describes what he wants, but also the technical way to achieve it. Sometimes he even states that, as a conductor, you should hit something on four or two. I personally find that almost insulting..

But of course, making music in partnership requires a lot of technical skill. Because being able to react spontaneously is more difficult than simply going your own way.

And there is really only one answer to how to learn this craft. Namely through lots of practice. It's like dancing again: You can't learn a couple's dance alone in front of a mirror. You can only do it if there are two of you... and you dance.

And one more thought about learning the traditions at an opera house: what's interesting about an orchestra like the Staatsopernorchester is that the musicians learn the traditional playing styles very quickly. They are in the air, so to speak.

The trick is that you always put a greenhorn next to an old fox, so the new and the old combine harmoniously to form a whole.

Now there are always conductors who complain about the repertoire system. They say there is not enough rehearsal, it is not artistically valuable and so on.

"Don't despise the masters," sings Hans Sachs in Die Meistersinger. And it is the same here. There have always been excellent repertoire evenings, artistically at the very highest level. - If everyone involved knows what they have to do, wants to do it and has the appropriate technical and artistic skills.

Experience has shown that concentration is particularly high on evenings for which there has not been a great deal of rehearsal. The musicians sit "on the edge of their seats", as they say. And due to the daily changes in the repertoire, the musicians - especially here at the Vienna State Opera - have an extraordinary ability to react, great attention and an enormous knowledge of the repertoire.

Precisely because there is no comfortable routine here, the orchestra has its ears on the stage and never falls into a rut. Another example: If I give a cue but a singer is late, at the State Opera the orchestra will follow the singer, no matter what I suggest as conductor. Why is that? Because they can react at lightning speed and make up for the mistakes of the others.

But if something doesn't work out, as a conductor you should never complain along the lines of: "The orchestra doesn't understand me. They can't do it". That would be wrong! The conductor must be able to express himself in such a way that everything runs smoothly. This is also part of the good craft, which you should have as a matter of course.