With Joana Mallwitz (Hildesheim, 38 years old) it is no longer news that a woman is the conductor of a major orchestra. It is the most natural thing in the world. Her extraordinary ability on the podium has never been overshadowed by sexism. And she trusts in a society where authority is not at odds with mutual respect. It is no coincidence that she has followed the traditional Ochsentour of many German conductors, such as Herbert von Karajan, beginning his career in provincial theatres, such as Erfurt and Nuremberg, before joining one of the major orchestras in the capital, Berlin.
His inaugural concert as headliner at the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, at the end of last August, coincided with an intense campaign on billboards throughout the Berlin capital. We are talking about the third major orchestra in the German city, after the Philharmonic and the Staatskapelle, where he succeeded Christoph Eschenbach. But also the youngest person to assume the musical direction of one of the main Berlin orchestras, in addition to the first woman.
Mallwitz has arrived in Berlin with the backing of a solid track record in Ertfurt and Nuremberg, with quality productions and new concert formats. But she has also landed in the German capital after triumphing at the helm of the Vienna Philharmonic at the 2020 Salzburg Festival or, more recently, at the helm of the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.
In May 2023 she signed as an exclusive Deutsche Grammophon artist and will release her first album, The Kurt Weill Album, next August 2. But his image can now be seen in many German cinemas, after the release of Joanna Mallwitz – Momentuma film by Günter Atteln that recounts the two years before her arrival in Berlin. And a film that shows the behind-the-scenes of her work and her personal life with her husband, the tenor Simon Bode, and their son who was born in 2021.
Mallwitz spoke to EL PAÍS via Zoom from his office at the Berlin Konzerthaus. A meeting to discuss his upcoming album release, and also his debut, in October, leading the National Orchestra of Spain. But where the German director also speaks of her admiration for Leonard Bernstein as a conductor and musical promoter, of how changes in society are reflected in his work, of the communicative capacity required for orchestral conducting, of his successful Expedition Concerts with the Berlin public, or her physical resemblance to Cate Blanchett, the protagonist of Tar. It would not be surprising if we are looking at the next head of the Berlin Philharmonic or the first woman to conduct the New Year’s Concert.
Ask. On his 13th birthday he was given a score of the Unfinished Symphony, by Schubert, where he wrote in pencil: “This is my first score and, hopefully, also the first piece I will ever conduct.” Did you already know that she would be an orchestra director?
Answer. I knew very little about symphonic concerts or conducting. I wasn’t even aware that conducting could be a job. I had played piano and violin since I was very young, and I didn’t come from a family of musicians. But at that age I entered a special program at the Hannover University of Music, where I had the pianist Igor Levit as a classmate, and I was able to develop my passion. We worked on that Schubert symphony along with scores by Wagner and Stravinsky. And I decided that I would dedicate my life to studying them. Then I was told that I would have to learn to conduct. And so I started.
Q. Did you have idols and models?
R. I had no role models, as I was just starting out in this world. But I do remember that when I was a teenager, Simone Young was appointed director at the Hamburg State Opera. And knowing that an Australian woman was coming to Germany to conduct all the big operas was very inspiring for me. Now, after some time, I have gotten to know her and she is a very dear colleague.
P. And do you have them now?
R. There are many musicians that I admire. But if I had to choose an idol, I would choose Leonard Bernstein. I will give him three reasons. The first is his ability as a musician, since he was a conductor, but also a pianist and a composer. The second is his style of conducting, which seems instinctive and spontaneous, but involves a deep study of the scores; the music comes from his head and reaches his body through his heart. And the third is his way of treating his audiences as equals, both children and adults, with that ability to communicate and transmit his passion for music.
Q. How has orchestral conducting changed since Bernstein?
R. I don’t think it has changed. Conducting is about achieving the greatest expressive power with authenticity.
P. And don’t you see any changes in the relationships, for example, between the conductor and the musicians?
R. Yes, but what has changed is our society. Nowadays, the way we communicate is very important and authority is achieved through mutual respect. That is very positive and I hope it continues. But conducting an orchestra is still the fastest and most complex way of communicating. Everything moves very fast and cannot be reduced to words. You have to have a clear idea and have capable musicians to carry it out. You have to be completely involved and leave your ego aside. You have to be open to the energy that an orchestra gives you in order to be able to manage it.
Orchestral conducting is about achieving the greatest expressive power with authenticity.”
P. You are also interested in deepening your relationship with the public. And this season, in Berlin, it has developed new concert formats, such as the so-called Expeditionary Activities (Expedition concerts). What’s your objective?
R. I started the expedition concerts ten years ago in Erfurt. They started from my intention to accompany the public, since each concert we go through compositions that we can see as an adventure and a journey. I also made them in Nuremberg and now I have brought them to Berlin.
Q. We are talking about one and a half hour concerts focused on a well-known work (the Italian Symphony by Mendelssohn, Spring consecration by Stravinsky, etc.), where he plays the piano, explains the music and illustrates his comments with the orchestra. And, in the end, he performs the entire explained work.
R. It’s a way of combating the fear that some people have of coming to a concert hall. They think that they don’t know enough, that they won’t be able to appreciate what they’re going to hear. But they don’t have to know anything, just come and let themselves be carried away by the music. I aspire to make our audience more curious and open to experimentation. We have a lot of new audiences, but also regulars who somehow discover something different.
Q. As a conductor in the German tradition, I am surprised that I have never conducted an Anton Bruckner symphony.
R. I need to feel that the time is right for each work. And with Bruckner, that hasn’t happened yet. Maybe it will happen in the future. I don’t rule anything out.
P. But I understand that one of the scores he has studied the most is the opera Tristan and Isoldeby Richard Wagner, which he has also never conducted.
R. I studied it day and night without rest. And it was like a poisoned sweet that I couldn’t stop eating. I would like to conduct it in a few years when I have a more relaxed life, because this piece is a monster. It drives you irrationally crazy.
P. He has focused his recording debut on Deutsche Grammophon on Kurt Weill’s more Berlin- and European-inspired compositions, with his two symphonies and The seven capital sinshis latest collaboration with Bertolt Brecht. What attracts you to Weill’s music?
R. Weill has achieved something that is reserved for great composers: having a recognizable sound. Anything of his you hear has an unmistakable harmonic edge and articulation. But it is also a harsh, honest music that represents the speed, modernity and melancholy of Weimar Republic Berlin, with its fresh trauma of World War I and the sense of what was to come. You can hear it in the first movement of the Symphony no. 2which is a masterpiece, where we hear those singable lines with sharp rhythms underneath where the notes seem to have teeth.
P. Next season he will have several important debuts, such as the Metropolitan Opera in New York or the Berlin Philharmonic. But also, in October, with the National Orchestra of Spain, where he will conduct a program similar to the one in Berlin with the overture of War and peaceby Prokofiev, the symphony of Matías the painterby Hindemith, and The waltzby Ravel. What connection do these pieces have?
R. They are works where history and society are reflected in art. In Hindemith’s symphony the artist appears in the face of repression and in Ravel the traumatic experiences of war. In Prokofiev the theme is the same. I am interested in appealing to the magical power of music to guide us in difficult times and bring the public closer to emotions from different times, whether they are from 100 or 200 years ago or even the future. There are three works that connect people and tell stories about people.
I am interested in appealing to the magical power of music to guide us in difficult times and bring the public closer to emotions from different eras, whether they are from 100 or 200 years ago or even the future.”
Q. This season he has gone from Nuremberg to Berlin, as head of the Konzerthausorchester, a city with seven major orchestras and three opera houses, where colleagues such as Kirill Petrenko and Christian Thielemann work. How has the change been and what relationship do you have with his colleagues?
RI love being in Berlin and participating a bit in its amazing musical life. It is a wonderful city where you have unique things to do and also a lot to choose from. And I know both Petrenko and Thielemann personally and admire them very much. I have been to concerts of both of them and when Petrenko was conducting the Bavarian State Opera I went many times to see their rehearsals.
Q. You have confessed that you are a very private person who is intimidated by a room full of people. But your work has brought you significant public exposure. You began this season by appearing on billboards all over Berlin and the documentary that Günter Atteln filmed about you is being shown in dozens of cinemas throughout GermanyHow do you combine something like that?
R. Public exposure is always stressful, since I am an introverted and reflective person by nature. But that’s good for a conductor. My main job consists of studying scores alone, I read music for many hours in silence and everything happens inside my head. And at the same time, my job involves being in huge spaces with many people. But the energy of the public helps me a lot. I try to internalize it and try to connect it with the music. It’s an incredible experience, but in the end I always end up exhausted.
Q. Have you seen the documentary?
R. Yes, of course. Günter Atteln is a film director I know well and I have a lot of faith in his work. That’s why it was possible for him to accompany me for three years with his camera.
Q. And the movie Tar? At the beginning of the season, there were many comparisons (completely wrong in my opinion) between you and the protagonist of Todd Field’s film.
R. I think Cate Blanchett is a great actress and I’ve always been told that our hair is a bit alike. But I haven’t been able to see the movie yet.
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