Jonathan Darlington, Conductor

Politically Correct?

jpdarlington — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 00:45:52 +0000

JD’s opening night of this very colourful Magic Flute for Opera Australia has been and gone. What you may ask has a picture of Angelo Soliman got to do with it all.

Angelo Soliman was a fascinating figure in Viennese history. When he was a child he was taken as a slave to Marseille from his home in what today is northeastern Nigeria/northern Cameroon. He was later given as a gift to count Lobkowitz, an Austrian Fieldmarshal. From then on he gradually worked his way up through the echelons of Viennese society, gaining his freedom on the way. He spoke several languages fluently and was very highly regarded by the city’s cultural elite. The emperor Joseph II held him in high esteem. He was a friend of Mozart’s and they were both members of the same Masonic lodge ‘True Harmony’. He eventually even became the grand master of that lodge. It is quite possible that the ‘enlightened’ character of Bassa Selim in Die Entführung aus dem Serail was modelled on Soliman.

When he died of a stroke in 1796, something happened which to us today is unthinkable. The director of the Imperial Natural History Collection asked permission from the emperor Francis II, (permission duly granted), to have Soliman skinned, stuffed and put on display as a ‘curiosity’. No good Christian burial for him! He eventually went up in flames during the October revolution of 1848.

All of which brings me to this: modern society often has trouble with controversial lines from libretti, plays etc. of bygone eras that are, or may at least appear to be, discriminatory or downright racist. In The Magic Flute Monostatos is quite plainly described in the list of characters as a ‘Moor’ – like Othello – and therefore black. In his aria when he tries to steal a kiss from Pamina, (incidentally marked pianissimo, almost whispered with the piccolo adding a Turkish ‘zing’ to it), he sings:

Weil ein Schwarzer häßlich ist.

Ist mir denn kein Herz gegeben?

And in the next strophe:

Eine Weiße nahm mich ein,

Weiß ist schön! Ich muß sie küßen;

Monostatos is obviously in deep emotional distress and both Mozart and Schikaneder make us feel very sympathetic towards this tortured character. When, a few minutes later, he is discovered trying to kill Pamina because she doesn’t reciprocate his love, Sarastro speaks these lines:

Ich weiß nur allzuviel. – Weiß daß deine Seele eben so Schwarz als dein Gesicht ist.

Ouch! How does one cope with that line in our politically correct society? Many productions just leave it out but I often wonder if that’s the right solution. Mozart, as I have said, was a friend of Soliman’s – and it is quite possible that Schikaneder was also. It is highly unlikely that, preaching the Masonic virtues as they did, they would think that purely because of someone’s skin colour they were good or evil.

Mozart’s Vienna, just as our society is today, was full of paradoxes. At one and the same time Joseph II’s reign as emperor encouraged freedom on all fronts (even abolishing the death penalty), while installing a repressive secret police when things began to go a bit pear shaped. Soliman rose to the highest rank in social and intellectual circles but was then unceremoniously stuffed like an animal.

Instead of cutting it, keeping that small but troublesome line of text in to my mind opens up avenues of territory to be explored. I like to think that it simultaneously and very succinctly represents both the hypocrisy at the heart of 18^th century Viennese society and, by their sympathetic treatment of Monostatos – and by that I mean showing us the pain and rejection of an outcast – Mozart and Schikaneder’s coded condemnation of it. It is a sort of transposition of Merchant of Venice if you like.

I don’t believe that things, as in life, in The Magic Flute are altogether what they seem: – no real good or evil, no black or white. Only grey paths that take us deeper and deeper into our own white/black souls.

JD

Happy and peaceful 2012

jpdarlington — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 13:53:05 +0000

‘A world that has produced a Mozart is a world worth saving. What a picture of a better world you have given us Mozart. ‘ Franz Schubert.

‘In my dreams of heaven I always see the great masters gathered in a huge hall in which they all reside. Only Mozart has his own suite!’ Victor Borge.

JD is preparing ‘The Magic Flute’ for Opera Australia in Sydney opening on January 6^th.

There is a labyrinth of thematic paths to follow through the ‘Die Zauberflöte’. One path that particularly appeals to me is that of vengeance -“die Rache” – or rather how it must be avoided at all cost. I think it must have been very close to Mozart’s heart. It is the meat and drink of ‘La Clemenza di Tito’, written the same year as ‘Die Zauberflöte’ and he underlines the theme very strongly almost a decade earlier in ‘Die Entführung’ which in many ways is a sketch/prototype, (a perfect one!) for ‘Die Zauberflöte’. At the end of ‘Die Entführung’, when Osmin is banished, the quartet of lovers – Belmonte/Constanze and Pedrillo/Blondchen – sing directly to the audience “Nichts ist so häßlich als die Rache”. It is an incredibly powerful moment and reinforces the Pasha’s clemency in the most perfect way imaginable.

In the Magic Flute I would say vengeance becomes almost a character in its own right in the opera. The plainest example is the juxtaposition of the second arias of Sarastro and the Queen of the night in the second act. The Queen sings: “Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen…” in the dark key of D minor and a hectic ‘allegro assai’. Immediately afterwards, Sarastro sings: “In diesen heil’gen Hallen kennt man die Rache nicht!” and offers us a solution if by any chance we fall into revenge’s trap: “Und ist ein Mensch gefallen, führt Liebe ihn zur Pflicht.” The key is a bright E major, full of light and a calm ‘Larghetto’. The arias come back to back, leaving us in little doubt as to the seriousness of the message.

Pamina and Papageno earlier in the opera sing: “Nur der Freundschaft Harmonie mildert die Beschwerden, ohne diese Sympathie ist kein Glück auf Erden.” It is music – as Mozart saw it – that opens the door on that “Sympathie”, and as musicians, crossing the threshold of the year 2012 we would do well to remember what Mozart tried to tell us more than 200 years ago and spread the word!

Ever the optimist I hold with what Einstein said: “We cannot despair about mankind knowing that Mozart was a man”.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

JD

Between Mozart and Mozart…

jpdarlington — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 18:56:01 +0000

JD is off to Australia to do the Magic Flute after a fine Entführung production, (Grand Théâtre de Genève) which presented another very different and interesting way of approaching the theme from the Swedish director Mira Bartov. Here he reflects on a singer’s perennial plight and offers a thought or two touching Entführung..

As a conductor it’s a relatively easy balancing act to perform ‘swinging’ between different productions: even with directors who may have radically opposing views of how the piece should be brought to life on the stage. For the singers however it can be a much more difficult acrobatic feat. – A director telling you one thing, a conductor another, a choreographer yet another and so on. I have a huge respect for singers in general and a great deal of sympathy for their plight!
They also have to make sure they’re healthy and that their voices are functioning how they want them to. Seasonal colds and allergies of one sort or another add to the everyday singers’ burden! As conductors we have it easy: a score we can bury ourselves in without anyone telling us how we should do it, and even if we’re at death’s door somehow we can still get up and wave a stick around.We are however the captains of the ship and bear the responsibility if the vessel sinks or stays afloat. We are cannon fodder for the critics if you like.
Entführung is one of Mozart’s operas that I’ve conducted the most. Even so, going back to the drawing board, as I always try to do no matter how many times I’ve conducted a piece, I realize how many subtleties there are still left to explore and marvel again at the infinite depth of Mozart’s musical mind. He is working on so many levels at the same time and using the building blocks of harmony, rhythm and melody in such an inventive,revolutionary way that one can go on for ever finding new ideas. He has so many secret gardens!
The character of Osmin has always fascinated me. In the original libretto Osmin sang very little – just one short song – and Mozart asked the librettist to give him a more important role. The result is a complex Caliban-like character around which the piece revolves both as regards the plot and also as regards musical structure. The music for Osmin, so said Mozart, apparently existed in his head before the libretto had even been written and contains elements of rare musical violence; rare that is for the period and Mozart. As he said, ‘a man who finds himself in a state of such violent rage exceeds all rules. …..’ JD

Music Award of the City of Duisburg 2011

jelenakovacevic — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 23:56:49 +0000

For nine years, Jonathan Darlington has been at the helm of the Duisburg Philhamrmonic. For his influence on Duisburg’s musical life, he has now been honoured with the Music Award of the City of Duisburg. The prize has been awarded “for special services to music” to outstanding personalities since 1990. Previous awardees include Pina Bausch and Michael Gielen.

Watch a summary video of the event …

Watch the acceptance speech (in German):

For our non-German speaking readers, here’s the English text of the acceptance speech:

This has to be one of the proudest moments of my life. I never thought that I would be honoured in this way, and looking through the list of previous prize winners makes me feel very humble indeed.

As a schoolboy music was always part of my life: there was music in the home and family musical gatherings were commonplace. I was also a cathedral chorister at Worcester Cathedral which gave me the best possible introduction to professional musical life – although I didn’t really appreciate it at the time. I was much more interested in kicking or throwing a ball around. I certainly didn’t envisage a life in music at that age and it wasn’t until after my degree from Durham University and my studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London that I decided to try and make my way as a performing artist.

My path to conducting was not one of choice but I suppose more of destiny. Until I was in my mid thirties it was not a career that I considered seriously. I was a chamber musician by training and inclination. The turning point came when I ‘jumped’ in to conduct a series of performances of “Le nozze di Figaro” at the Paris Opera – in a cast containing Renee Fleming, Caecilia Bartoli, Feruccio Furlanetto, Jane Berbier etc. etc.. – and that was that. I had had very little previous experience of conducting a full symphony orchestra and had certainly never taken a conducting lesson.

Music is a passion for me and I count myself incredibly fortunate to be able to earn a living doing something that is not a ‘job’. Sometimes perhaps in the music industry – as we like to call it – we don’t realize just how lucky we are. I consider myself above all incredibly very fortunate to have been associated with the cultural life of Duisburg and the Duisburger Philharmoniker for a decade or more. That is a great honour in itself.

Thoughout my time here in Duisburg I’ve had immense support from musical colleagues, Stadt Duisburg personnel, the wonderful Förderverein to whom I would like to extend a special word of thanks, the Deutsche Oper am Rhein and of course all members of the Duisburger Philharmoniker and the Verwaltung, past and present. They are too many to number but none of them is forgotten! I have also made great and lasting friendships, for which I will be eternally grateful.

A special thanks goes to one or two key people in my professional career. First and foremost to Prof. Tobias Richter for inviting me to become a member of the Deutsche Oper am Rhein musical team all those years ago and without whom I wouldn’t be here today. Then to Dominique Meyer, the Director of the Vienna State Opera who gave me many productions to conduct both in Lausanne and Paris at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées at the beginning of my conducting career letting me get some conducting ‘baggage’ together: – essential for inexperienced conductors. To Rolf Arnold for entrusting me with the fate of the Duisburger Philharmoniker back in 2002 and his wife, both of whom have graciously given me undying support over the years. And to Rolf Arnold’s successor, Dr. Alfred Wendel, for the fruitful and genial teamwork during my last years as GMD of the Duisburger Philharmoniker.

Last, but certainly not least, to my parents who sadly are not here today but who made so many sacrifices to give my brother and me a good education. And of course to my wife and family. I can say with total sincerity that without their understanding and patience, I wouldn’t have had the courage and strength to carry on in this profession which, despite its obvious rewards, can be very hard on those one loves.

Thankyou Stadt Duisburg, thankyou the musicians of the Duisburger Philharmoniker, thankyou the Köhler-Osbar Stiftung. Thankyou one and all.

Conductors’ Curiosa #2 – The Tailcoat

jelenakovacevic — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 23:10:06 +0000

Photo: Christoph Müller-Girod

In the second part of Conductor’s Curiosa, we’ll have a look at another myth-ridden feature of conductors: the tailcoat? Read Jonathan Darlington thoughts on why many conductors today choose to abandon the “penguin”…

‘Demigods’ in Tailcoats or ‘Penguins’?

Once a regular evening and festive dress, the tailcoat’s former social significance is today but a dim memory that only rarely resurfaces on wedding invitations that demand “white tie”. But the days of the “white tie” seem numbered. In the past two decades conductors slowly began to follow a trend set by soloists (especially violinists) to change the outdated garment for something more comfortable.

Pierre Boulez, who JD was heavily influenced by, called out at various occasions: “Get rid of that tailcoat!”

Jonathan Darlington also thinks of tailcoats as “rather anachronistically bizarre”.

JD: “Ever since I was a child I have wondered why it was necessary to look like that on stage. Did it make them play better? Had they stopped off on their way to some fancy dress party? It makes a strong impression on a child’s psyche and to this day it still amazes me.”

(It will seem that even educational children’s literature on classical music has to try and familiarize young audiences with this outfit: http://www.kinderbuch-couch.de/weidinger-erich-moritz-und-der-dirigent.html)

‘Tie’d up in History

When one thinks of tailcoats, images of Fred Astaire come to mind, as do the old conductor masters like Strauss, Stokovski or Beecham.

The invention of the tailcoat is mostly attributed to none other than the ur-dandy George (Beau) Brummel in the 1830ies. It evolved from the English riding coat (which eventually shrank as the coat was cut away to make riding easier). What Brummel wore was new, chic and quickly immitated. Already by the 1850s it became regular evening wear of the gentry and slowly lost it’s dandy image.

In the beginning, tailcoats were not necessarily black, but came in all colours. Just think of Goethe’s Werther and his famed blue tailcoat with yellow trousers!

As evening wear, they thus automatically became the regular equipment of conductors and musicians alike – since concerts are given in the evening – and certainly by 1900 they were always black.

The main reason for its popularity among musicians was the freedom of movement that the tailcoat provides compared to other garments of the time: It doesn’t shift with the arms to reveal the shirt when a conductor raises his arms, as would any other suit.

But why does the orchestra dress code cling to it after it has lost its social meaning?

JD: “I can think of no good logical reason for it except that perhaps the very act of dressing up lends the event some sort of ‘special’ aura. The ladies however, although usually dressed in black as well, are thoroughly modern in their clothing. Should they not also be bedecked in something equally anachronistic?”

Photo: Christoph Müller-Girod

A change in role?

Several well known conductors today have made their different attire a trade mark (John Eliot Gardener comes to mind). But this change brings a dilemma: How to chose a functional outfit without looking too casual, how to still maintain a festive aura– or should a concert be festive at all? Should the conductor stand apart visually from the musicians – and if yes, why?

The change of costume seems to come with a change of role: conductors today are no longer the austere figures they used to be, unquestionable authorities with white ties. With a changed view of leadership, the robe of authority is put into question.

Can a change of dress influence the perception of the conductor?

JD: “It gives us a sort of style and, like all dress wear, makes a statement about who we are and what image we are trying to project. It’s a part of communication -with both audience and orchestra.”

Photo: Christoph Müller-Girod

The Maestro’s New Clothes

Jonathan Darlington’s own “conversion to the cause”, as he puts it, is relatively recent and happened very much for the same reasons that had made the tailcoat popular in the first place: functionality and style.

JD: “It was mainly because I kept on forgetting various articles of the normal clothing which led to some embarrassing situations. – Try standing up in front of an orchestra with half your shirt buttons missing, a bow tie that won’t stay on and trousers that have difficulty staying up and you’ll see what I mean.”

Not surprisingly, like with his batons, the maestro had his new outfit custom made by Parvin Mirhadin, a costume designer at Vancouver Opera. It was modeled after another leisure coat that he had purchased on a trip to Asia.

JD: “It is fitted – rather as a dancer’s costume would be – to give me maximum flexibility without (I hope) looking like a sack. It is rather ‘Pandit Nehru’ – as a friend once described it -in design and only goes to show I guess that I’ve exchanged one illogical fancy-dress outfit for another. At least it consists of fewer pieces for me to forget.”

Tchaikovsky CD receives ECHO Klassik Award 2011

jelenakovacevic — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 21:10:24 +0000

The live recording of Tchaikovksy’s violin concerto with Susanna Yoko Henkel and the Duisburg Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Jonathan Darlington has been awarded the with the ECHO Klassik 2011 by the German Phono Akcademy. The CD has convinced the jury in the catergory “Best Concerto Recording of the Year (19th Century)”.

The CD is justly called a milestone in the orchestra’s cooperation with the audiophile label Acousense in the Darlington era. The young violinist Susanna Yoko Henkel, Artist Residence of the orchestra’s 2009/10 season, combines the enchanting atmosphere of a live performance with a multi-faceted and skillful adaptation. In combination with Ralph Vaughan Williams’ “Fantasy on a Theme by Thomas Tallis” the CD also carries the mark of Jonathan Darlington’s trademark repertoire.

Das Strad Magazine (1/2011) wrote in a review of the CD:

“… Beautifully recorded live in a natural perspective that exchanges the spotlit presence of Stern and Heifetz for a gentle, velvety seductiveness, Susanna Yoko Henkel plays throughout with a phrasal sensitivity, tonal beauty and unrushed sincerity that never allows the work’s pyrotechnical extravangances to get the upper hand. …

Whereas a number of adrenalin-fuelled accounts Tchaikovsky’s patchwork-quilt strusture starts to fray around the edges, Henkel, sympathetically supported by Jonathan Darlington and the Duisburg players, segues between the various musical interfaces with effortless poise. …

The Vaughan Williams coupling is … notable for its heartfelt radiance.”

Julian Heylock, The Strad

See the full list of this year’s awardees.

ECHO Klassik is one of the best known international music awards. ECHO Klassik prize winners are determined by a judging panel made up of eleven personalities from politics, the arts and media and the classical wing of the German music industry association. Every year the German Phono Akademie – the cultural institute of the German music industry association – honours the outstanding and successful performances of national and international artists with this award. The award ceremony will be held 2. October 2011 at 22:00 h at the Konzerthaus Berlin and will be transmitted on TV by the ZDF, the official partner of the ECHO Klassik since 1996.

The CD is available from Acousense and Linn Records. Listen to the full stream here.

Kurt Weill’s “Street Scene” at the Semper Opera – from the Exile’s Melting Pot

jelenakovacevic — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 22:58:08 +0000

After his success with Manfred Trojahn’s “La grande magia” in 2008, Jonathan Darlington returns to the Semperoper Dresden for Kurt Weill’s “Street Scene”. Before the curtains rise on Sunday, read the maestro’s journey into this demanding piece …

Learning a new piece is always a fascinating journey and usually takes me a very long time, depending on the work’s length and complexity of course. Kurt Weill’s Street Scene has indeed taken me a long time and we open on June 19th here in Dresden at the Semperoper. I learned the piece in English but found out rather late in the day that we were doing it in a German translation by Stefan Troßbach. Benjamin Britten was very keen on his operas being performed in the vernacular and I think that Street Scene, which contains so much dialogue and ‘melodramas’, will be much more appealing to a German audience in translation. The purists may not be so enthusiastic!

The first piece I ever conducted as an undergraduate at university was Weill’s ‘Threepenny Opera’ and I’ve always loved his maverick-like musical personality. When he fled from Germany in 1933 Weill first went to France, then England before travelling to America. Once there he tried as hard as he could to become as American as possible. After 1941 even the letters he wrote to his wife Lotte Lenya were in English even though their mutual native tongue was Geman. With Street Scene he set out to write an ‘American Opera’ (he also referred to it as a ‘Broadway Opera’). It is a vast melting pot for every possible musical idiom imaginable. Jazz, blues, grand opera, melodrama, Broadway dance numbers .You name it and it’s there. It’s a musically virtuosic tour de force and he considered it to be his masterpiece.

One of the challenges of the piece is for the singers who have to be able to sing, act, dance and speak like actors. In the original production the four principal roles were taken by opera singers and the rest of the cast were Broadway artists. In our production all the singers are members of the Semperoper ensemble who are doing a great job in combining all the necessary artistic disciplines. Put that together with Bettina Bruinier’s lively production and the wonderful Staatskapelle orchestra and it should be an evening to remember!

Read more on the production on the Semperopera’s website.

The production is also a part of the exhibition “Muted Voices” in tribute to the deported and exiled composers, singers, musicians during the Third Reich.

New CD released: Gustav Mahlers 5th Symphony

jelenakovacevic — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 21:03:27 +0000

After the very successful recording of Mahler’s 6. Symphony, Jonathan Darlington and the Duisburg Philharmonic Orchestra present an equally convincing live-recording of Mahler’s 5. Symphony.

The CD is now available online at Linn Records and directly from the label Acousense .

Reviews are in – Mahler Symphony No. 2

jelenakovacevic — Sun, 29 May 2011 11:26:14 +0000

Photo: Christoph Müller-Girod

The “moving” and “touching” gestures that dominated Jonathan Darlington’s last concert with the Duisburg Philharmonic Orchestra were not restricted to the speeches, but were communicated musically as well. The press univocally praises the rendition of Mahler’s “Resurrection Symphony” as a highlight showcasing the ten year’s work in increasing the orchestra’s quality …

Frederik Wittenberg, Klassik.com, 18.05.2011

“Darlington’s rendition of this score so brimfull with colours connected all its components to a convincing whole. What we heard was both a very personal work of farewell and renewal, as well as the shatteringly poignant all-encompassing world spectacle of apocalypse and divine love. Already the beginning turned out so distinctive and precise with its forward spurring double basses, one had to fear this level of tension would not be kept up throughout the piece. This luckily wasn’t the case, as Darlington was aptly avoided a slackening in the softer passages through a round moulding of melodic progression. He also managed to emphasise the secondary voices, which I have never yet heard in such clarity, without sacrificing the balance. The orchestra followed his gestures congenially […]. One must praise Darlington’s overall control over the sound masses, which he was able to unleash or restrain at will with intelligent and organically developped dynamics. The fateful tenor of the first movement, for example, gained an enormeous impact with its bone-chilling sound eruptions. [...] Ingeborg Danz turned out to be an ideal interpreter of the primordial light. The “voice of naive faith” (cf. Mahler) touched the heart with its infinitely tender and warm colours.”

“A touching farewell”

PETER KLUCKEN, Rheinische Post, (21.052011)

“Many concertgoers in the sold-out Mercatorhalle concert hall had tears in their eyes as Jonathan Darlington bade farewell to his orchestra with a personal handshake for each musician. The cheer after the terrific rendition of Mahler’s “Resurrection Symphony” morphed into a prolonged ovation of gratitude for the past nine years, in which music director Jonathan Darlington has undoutedly greatly elevated the quality of the Duisburg Philharmonic Orchestra.

“A moving farewell”

Ingo Hoddick, Rheinische Post, 20.05.2011

“The concert was one of the best Jonathan Darlington and the Duisburg Philharmonic have ever given. What an enormous development this conductor has undergone during his tenure in Duisburg was demonstrated by his Mahler-expertise.”

Mercator Badge for Special Services to Culture

jelenakovacevic — Tue, 24 May 2011 23:07:51 +0000

At the 10th Philharmonic Concert on May 18th, his last concert with the Dusburg Philharmonic as its music director, Maestro Jonathan Darlington was awarded the “Mercatorplakette” in hounour of his achievements in the fields of music and cultural life of the city and the region…

In the sold out Mercatorhalle, the Duisburg Philharmonic’s concert hall, lord mayor Adolf Sauerland presented the medal and gave the laudatio, in which he pointed out that Mr. Darlington’s greatest achievement has been to firmly establish the Duisburg Philharmonic in the city, the region and beyond.

Jonathan Darlington, yet again, whishes to express his deepest gratitude for the honour, which marked a very moving and memorable farewell concert.

More impressions from the evening are to be found on the official blog of the Duisburger Philharmoniker as well in the press.