That’s all for today
Tzctguar asks:
Which female conductors do you admire the most?
Guardian contributor At last the tipping point has come where we have so many wonderful female conductors. And it's not been a matter necessarily of ability in the past, but of lack of opportunity. A decade ago it was not taken for granted and now it absolutely is, which is the healthiest sign. When I look round and think without any particular order of.. .Simone Young, Natalie Stuzmann, MIrga G-T, Karina Kanellakis, Barbara Hannigan... what a thrilling time. And these five totally different personalities will give us a whole different vision of our music and I think it's one of the healthiest developments of the last few years.
Haydn is the composer I would most like to have dinner with
Hoogensteen asks:
I played in an orchestra that recorded lots of Haydn and really enjoyed the work. How have you felt about conducting Haydn?
Guardian contributor I am so biased.If there was only composer i was allowed to conduct there is no doubt in my mind it would be Haydn. This music has everything within it without ever drawing attention to itself. .. Humanity, wit, warmth,intellect - it's all there. And while he incidentally also invented the string quartet and the symphony. He's the composer I would most like to have dinner with. But he never answers my texts.
squirrelhead asks:
Why does London deserve yet another concert hall instead of some part of the UK which lacks such a venue?
Guardian contributor While realising that London has many riches of its own, we do not have a magnificent concert hall - as Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Gateshead , for instance, do. London is the capital and as it happens I'm conducting the London Symphony Orchestra, who desperately need a hall where they can grow and develop and where we can build a kind of beacon for music all over the country.
What we are trying to build here is not simply a concert hall, although of course that is part of it, but to intensify and increase all the magnificent work that is going on in music education and to make a place that will be a magnet for people of all ages to learn about music and to be infected by this hopefully incurable virus. An orchestra's life int he 21st century is not simply a matter of playing great concerts. This is apart of it but everything we do is inform by the work around it and the necessity to be evangelists for the cause. Yesterday I met for the first time the young students at the East London academy, which is one of our new initiatives and an important way to keep young people moving forward, kids who come from the kind of backgrounds that would not normally support their music making.
TheBigBadWolf asks:
Where do you stand on applauding between symphony movements? Are there any particular audience annoyances you have?
Guardian contributor applause between symphonic movements used to be completely expected and composers in the 19th century would have been very upset if it hadn't happened. Brahms was thrilled when at the first performance of his second symphony the third movement had to be played three times before the audience would allow the finale to be played. We've got a bit far away from that now! Although an experience from this summer in Edinburgh with the LSO will remain with me forever: at the close of the First movement of John Adams' Harmonielehre - which ends like a rocket - a woman in the audience went "WOW" and everyone was silent for a moment and then laughed and then applauded. We all loved this and felt that that music is wow but we don't normally have the guts to be spontaneous - as you would in a jazz concert. And it's a shame.
On the other hand, sometimes an intensity of silence is the best reward.
It's best to try to be yourself even if you're not that impressed with yourself
sceptic100 asks:
My question is about listening to recordings. Do you as a conductor (seeking to communicate your own vision of a piece) find it useful to hear recordings of the classics from other great conductors? If so, do you worry about being over-influenced? Does the answer differ for newer/less familiar pieces? When you listen to other conductors’ recordings, do you enjoy them and are you moved by them, or have you reached the point where, for example, only your own Brahms 4 will feel “right”?
Guardian contributor It's a good question, i don't know if i have a good answer because it's complicated. I must say apart from the sheer quick getting to know of a piece from other people's recordings, the most useful time to listen is just after i've done a series of performances. Because then you know how you have packed your own suitcase. I'll never forget driving in a car after a week of performances of Elgar's second symphony and listening to a recording of Sir Adrian Boult on what was then a Walkman and thinking What a wise old owl was that! But i wondered if i would have completely understood how masterly he was if I hadn't had to deal with the problems first. But there's no doubt that if you try to imitate other conductors either physically or musically you end up simply with a version of the mannerisms and at the end of it all it's best to try to be yourself even if you're not that impressed with yourself.
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PeterMFKaan asks:
Many years ago I saw the great jazz saxophonist James Moody perform at the Ronnie Scott’s Birmingham venue. Were you there too? It looked like you were sitting next to me, but I couldn’t be sure and I’ve always wondered ...
Guardian contributor I never heard James Moody although I went to Ronnie Scotts a lot. I do hope you were there for Betty Carter which were three of the most unforgettable evenings of my life.
I once had batons confiscated from my cabin baggage
hardatwork asks:
Does the baton go in the hold or cabin luggage?
Guardian contributor I once had batons confiscated from my cabin baggage. People have said i've been slaughtering music for years but i've yet been accused of murder! But fortunately I dont have the problems of string players who have such enormous problems of where the instruments can safely go - will a cello be allowed an airline even if a ticket has been bought for it?!
ABearWhoHums asks:
Does the concert hall design and space ever influence your style of conducting?
Guardian contributor I wonder whether non musicians will ever understand how deeply the place in which you play is tied up with how you perform. It is the difference between having a great violin and a mediocre one, for instance. Music goes out into space and therefore the room in which it is contained is the very essence of what we do and it changes absolutely everything about how you play and perform. Sometimes halls seem to have their own personality that pushes you in unexpected ways and a hall in which th audience can feel involved and enveloped is the absolute ideal. IN these moments you feel no distance between performer, music and audience. It sounds pretentiously mystical but for us it's a fact on the ground.
JohnPJohn asks:
Which composers, working and writing now, would you seek out and support? Is there a recent work you would consider ‘up there’ with the great pieces?
Guardian contributor There are really great composers out there here and now. Probably in the same proportion that there always were - which is a very small percentage. And what we might thikn of as 'great' changes from decade to decade. It is clear now that Kurtag is one of the masters. 30 years ago it would not have been clear. But I can think of a goodly number of pieces that were written in this century that I know my great grandchildren will be playing and listening to. One we played last week - Hans Abrahmsen's Let Me Tell You. Haas In Vain is another obvious choice, as is George Benjamin's Written in Skin. Sofia Gubaidulina is still writing masterpieces at an advanced age. Betsy Jolas is a shamefully recent discovery for me but doesn't make her music any less extraordinary ... but i will fill too much space if i start on this.
I presumed I would start my life as a percussionist or as a repetiteur in an opera house
GorseBush asks:
How rare is it for a musician to start professional life as a conductor? Most I can think of were instrumentalists for years before building a conducting career. But I can remember my brother as a child being regularly conducted by you (as a student, I imagine) so it seems that you were a conductor from the off?
Guardian contributor Although I always wanted to conduct i presumed i would start my life as a percussionist or as a repetiteur in an opera house or both Because I won the Bournemouth Conducting competition when I was 19, life moved rather quickly. But if I had gone into that competition with any idea that I could have won it, I'm sure I would ever had got past the first round. My girlfriend had to force me to take the set of tails there i was so sure i wouldn't need it!
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fairisfoul asks:
I am 38. I did not go to music college (hand injury at 14 meant serious piano playing done at that point; got very down about it, did English degree instead). Needing to earn a living, I am a tax lawyer by day (and yes, that’s nearly as exciting as it sounds!). I have, however, done a whole lot of conducting.
That includes: Mahler 2, Mahler 8, the Rite, complete Beethoven and Brahms, most of Sibelius, 15 premieres by local composers, goodness knows what else. I’ve given around 80 concerts over the last 15 years and, for all of those, I’ve been responsible for finding the money and the players, and doing the large majority of the organising. I can give you references from some two very serious soloists with whom I’ve worked a lot, one of whom has played in Berlin with you at the Waldbuhne; and one very serious conductor (for whom you yourself played at the Philharmonie, albeit briefly...).
On the strength of the Mahler 2 (earlier this year) I have, to my utter astonishment, been offered my first professional concert - with the LPO, no less (in 2021, date TBC). I gather that this is, to say the least, quite the achievement for someone who isn’t already a full-time musician. It is absolutely my intention to do this for a living, full time.
However: I have not the foggiest idea how to make that jump from regular amateur work to regular professional work. No agents will even meet me for a cuppa to discuss it, never mind actually come to a concert. “Oh”, they said. “You’re a bit of a late starter”. As if I hadn’t been doing it for years already.
Please could I ask you to make a few concrete suggestions (or even one would do)? I’m pretty sure that there isn’t much else I can physically do with amateur players, but having thought about how to make that next step about - ooh - once every thirty seconds for the last 15 years, I’m no closer to working out the answer.
Let’s be clear: I am not young, I’m pretty sure I’m not (even in my own household...) among “the most exciting XYZs of my generation”; but I do have a repertoire as long as your arm, years of experience of dealing with people and a knack for and love of conducting. I’d be very grateful if you could share any ideas for how competent non-child non-prodigies might turn that into a career that’s a whole lot more fulfilling than the current desk job.
Guardian contributor Dear Fairisfoul
if someone in the LPO has seen you conduct Mahler 2 and believes you should be invited then you must be a better conductor than you say you are. I'm sorry no-one will meet you for a cup of tea to discuss it but i happily will when i'm back in London in janaury if you want to contact the LSO office. Your story sounds fascinating and I would love to meet you.
Dodesy asks:
As a fan of Liverpool FC, how did you celebrate the team’s Champion’s League victory? And what do you think are the secret of manager Jürgen Klopp’s leadership skills?
Guardian contributor My family and I still live in Berlin and both my sons are avid football fans. At least one of them is a liverpool supporter. We were at our local Greek restaurant that is frequented by a number of football players and we were all crammed round the big screen they have shouting. It's interesting being a Scouser in Germany watch a great German manager transform a team and be loved by fans and city. The energy is infectious but even more so is the good will and the lack of pretension and bullshit. As you can hear I'm a fan.
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LesleyDennis asks:
Which conductor has had the most influence on you and what do you think of the music app Nkoda? I think it’s an absolute revelation, and I saw that you have supported it.
Guardian contributor Nkoda is a marvel and it's at the beginning of its life but some way or other it's going to be part of music and performing. It's a publishing app where you can find an immense number of scores and orchestral materials and you can alter them as you go.
I find people talking about Beethoven's flaws rather frustrating
chris1729 asks:
I once watched an excellent documentary about Beethoven, the title of which I now frustratingly can’t remember. In it, there was a British musicologist who said Beethoven’s 9th symphony wasn’t that great; as he was saying it, he had an expression on his face that said he really believed what he was saying, but that he knew that his (apparently well-grounded) opinion would be met by howls of protest from the mob.
This has fascinated and intrigued me ever since. What is your opinion of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony? What are its flaws, and, if you don’t believe it has any, what flaws do you think other musicologists might identify?
While I’m on - I’m absolutely certain there shouldn’t be a rall at the end of Shostakovich’s 5th Symphony: what do you think?
Come on, Sir Simon: don’t let me down, or I shall have to ask Sir Mark.
Guardian contributor I do find people talking about Beethoven's flaws rather frustrating. This was a really inconvenient personality and composer and sometimes the music is ugly, sometimes it's awkward, it very often asks more than any human performer can give. But I really don't think these are flaws. This is part of what was an outsize personality and someone who was not just painting on the canvas but on the frames and the walls and the ceilings as well.
And you're completely right about Shostakovich 5!
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Callum Smith asks:
I enjoyed your recent Proms performance of Charles Koechlin’s ‘Les Bandar-log’. Any plans to perform more of Koechlin’s very underrated but significantly under-recorded work, particularly his groundbreaking Second Symphony?
Guardian contributor Charles Koechlin is one of those extraordinary composers who often slip off everybody's radar and he wrote so many pieces that you have to be careful what you pick. I knew Les Bandar-log as a child and that was pure chance. But now in the world of YouTube it's much easier to find more of his music. I have a particular soft spot for the Seven Stars Symphony of which the stars are Greta Garbo and Charlie Chaplin as opposed to anything astronomical! I hope we get a chance to explore some more in the future.
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Simon Rattle is with us now ...
Post your questions now!
Liverpool-born conductor Sir Simon Rattle begins his third season as music director of the London Symphony Orchestra this week. Under his inspirational leadership, the orchestra has confirmed its place as one of the world’s foremost ensembles, supporting new – and overlooked – composers, and bringing bold ideas and fresh insights to better-known works. Rattle has will open his 2019 season with an all-British programme, including a world premiere by young British composer Emily Howard. As well as new music, he is a passionate supporter of youth education and music (he once held the world record for the world’s largest orchestra, made up of nearly 4,000 school children). At the LSO, there are new initiatives such as the half-six fix – a shorter concert introduced by the conductor, and the launch of the East London Music Academy, an attempt to address the lack of diversity in London’s orchestras and choruses. In addition, some ambitious plans for a brand new world-class concert hall are becoming a reality, and many of the LSO’s concerts can now be watched free online.
But is all rosy? “[Had I known about Brexit at the time] I would have been extraordinarily wary [of taking the job] – but we will make the best of it we can,” Rattle said, in a 2017 interview. He was one of the signatories on an open letter last year warning the government that Brexit could bring Britain’s cultural industry to its knees. What does he make of things now? And what of the continuing crisis in music education, while the arts die by a thousand cuts? The conductor will be answering your questions live on Monday 16 September at 1.15pm. Post your questions now and join us on Monday.
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I'm signing off now as I'm on a typical LSO schedule .... I'm feeling so guilty that there are so many interesting questions that i have got through so few. Thank you for your interest. We really need you out there!