You Conducted the Vienna Philharmonic in Their Annual Ball at the Musikverein, the Day Before Yesterday

Interview with conductor Semyon Bychkov Tutti-magazine: You conducted the Vienna Philharmonic in their annual ball at the Musikverein, the day before yesterday. What did you take away from the experience ? Semyon Bychkov: It was an extraordinary experience, it is hard to find words to describe it. The women and the debutantes were dressed in sumptuous ball gowns and the atmosphere made it feel as if one were in the 19th century. For someone like me who sometimes wishes they’d lived in the 18th or 19th centuries, the evening reminded me of a style approrpriate to a particularly beautiful past. As I’ve said many times to your colleagues, I would be very happy if this beautiful and joyful spirit could be shared by as many people as possible and offer an alternative to the vulgarity and violence which occur daily in the world today. As I was leaving on tour with the Vienna Philharmonic, I arrived to drop my things off at the Great Hall of the Musikverein in the afternoon – the following day we would be playing in Hamburg at the Elbphilharmonie - the Hall was deserted and the view was so extraordinary that I couldn’t resist taking some photographs : all the stalls seats had been removed and replaced by flowers and tables. Of course I also noticed the wall covered with photographs of conductors who had worked with the orchestra, and thought: «So here is the conductors’ wall of fame»… That evening, immediately after our concert, everything that had been installed was moved to the large empty space under the floor of the Hall. This famous empty space surrounds the Hall on every side and is part of the mystery that creates the legendary acoustics of the Musikverein. Once the space was completely cleared, people began to dance and the atmosphere with extremely joyful. Different parts of the Musikverein were filled with the sounds of different styles of music, from disco to waltzes and polkas. The ball started at 10pm and finished around 6am in the morning. I didn’t stay until the end but, speaking to you, I’m still under the spell of that evening and struck with admiration for those who worked non-stop to transform the place in such a short space of time. The New Years’ Concert, which is broadcast across the whole world, gives you an idea of the type of events that are hosted by the Musikverein. But, especially at this time of year, it is only one of many events. The only important event that isn’t at the Musikverein takes place at Schönbrunn Palace. I played with the Vienna Philharmonic there in May 2016 and something in the region of 150,000 people came to the concert, while another 100,000 couldn’t get in. The crowds spilt over into the gardens… In short: this is what music means to Vienna! Is it good for your own internal sense of well being to alternate between conducting light and dramatic music, such as Tchaikovsky’s? Absolutely, because diversity is what keeps you sane. You can’t live with tragedies and extreme emotions entirely. Lightness is also a part of being alive. The balance between these two extremes is very important. But I’m not good at achieving this balance over the course of a season – it’s a goal that is easily forgotten when, like me, you are obsessed with musical masterpieces, such as the repertoire that I conduct most of the time. It is necessary however to identify with these profound works and live through them. It is the same for actors, who have to immerse themselves in a role in order to become the character they are playing. Without this process, it just doesn’t work… So, although it is not easy music to play, I benefit from the respite that light music offers me. A simple waltz contains so many details that need to be understood and fine tuned before it can be played correctly. And, to achieve this, a hundred musicians have to breathe in unison. In Vienna, this kind of music is in the musicians’ blood. Because of this, there are certain things that you don’t have to explain because they feel them instinctively. But there are so many other elements to fine tune that make rehearsals necessary, even for the short Overture to the Merry Wives of Windsor by Otto Nicolai which the musicians really wanted to play. This Ball marked the Vienna Philharmonic’s 175th birthday and Nicolai was one of its founders so this splendid eight-minute Overture - filled with so many beautiful musical ideas - was performed as a hommage. I was really happy because we managed to reach a state of pure grace. The first volume of your Tchaikovsky Project was released on 18 November 2016 by Decca. How did the idea of this cycle come about? In life, it sometimes happens that things come together, almost at the same time, without any forethought. And so, this is how the Tchaikovsky Project was born. The first request came around two years ago from the New York Philharmonic who wanted me to create a Tchaikovsky Festival to take place over three weeks with three programmes being repeated three or four times. I accepted this offer with joy because we’re talking about music that is very close to my heart… Two months later, the record label Decca and the Czech Philharmonic asked me to record a Tchaikovsky cycle. In this case also, I was completely on board. To tell you the truth, my only question I asked myself was whether this was really the orchestra I wanted to record this repertoire with. But it only took me another 30 seconds to say «yes» because I was convinced that this group would give me what I wanted to hear in this music. The history and tradition of this orchestra, as well as their geographical position at the crossroads of Slavic, Western and European cultures, seemed to me a very interesting mix to play Tchaikovsky’s music… so I thought that with the New York project on the one hand and, the project with Decca which would keep me busy for several years on the other, I should really programme something similar in London. And now I’ve just conducted the BBC Symphony Orchestra in three programmes over two weeks… So the Tchaikovsky Project sprung from pure chance, but one that was very welcome. Which works will make up your Tchaikovsky cycle ? The project will feature all Tchaikovsky’s symphonies, that is to say Nos. 1-6 as well as the Manfred Symphony and the three Piano Concertos – the first played by Jean- Yves Thibaudet and the second, and first movement of the third, by Kirill Gerstein, the Romeo & Juliet Fantasy Overture, Francesca da Rimini and the Serenade for Strings. Decca had wanted me to conduct the whole of Tchaikovsky’s œuvre, but I would have had to dedicate my entire life to make that possible. In fact, only the Piano Concertos will be recorded live. The Symphonic works will be recorded in the Orchestra’s Hall – the Rudolfinum – followed by tours. You can imagine how long this project will take. The Pathétique Symphony and the Romeo & Juliet Fantasy Overture alone - which brought us great satisfaction - took more than 16 days including rehearsals and recording sessions. At the beginning, the idea was to record the Symphonies live, just as the Orchestra did with the Symphonies of Dvořák. But , as there is already a formidable discography of Tchaikovsky recordings with many legendary soloists, in order to justify our recordings, we have to aim for the highest possible level. From the moment we have something to say in this music, we have to find the best possible way to say it. Regarding the Decca cycle, the first disc featuring the Pathétique Symphony and Romeo & Juliet Fantasy Overture is already out, and we have recorded Symphony No. 3. In April, we continue with Manfred, the Serenade for Strings and Francesca da Rimini for a recording to come out in August. After that we continue to record, but we do not plan any further releases until the end of the project, which should be at some point in 2019. You said that masterpieces follow a conductor throughout their life and grow with them. Did this Tchaikovsky Project come about at a good moment in your career? Tchaikovsky’s works have followed me for as long as I can remember. The music stays the same, but we change. When I started my collaboration with Philips in 1985, it was with the release of The Nutcracker and Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5 with the Berlin Philharmonic recorded practically at the same time. Around two years later, I recorded Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6 with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. I was about 35 then, now I am 64. Everything I lived through over the last 30 years, and not only with Tchaikovsky which I continued to conduct, but the experiences I gained through playing all the other composers, made me realise that the moment had come to commit myself to this Tchaikovsky cycle. You’ve already explained how Tchaikovsky’s music is able to reach the listener’s emotions with extraordinary force. When you conduct the Pathétique Symphony, do you have to stop yourself from being overwhelmed by a flood of emotions? It would be impossible for me to conduct without also opening myself to emotions. I always compare the state in which I find myself to someone who has a split personality.

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