Salzburg Festival Part 1 - Thielemann's Wiener

Vienna Philharmonic / Christian Thielemann - Großes Festspielhaus,  11 August 2013

Finally I have time to write about my week in Salzburg before it slips from my memory entirely. Until Karajan is resurrected (something the Salzburgers appear to be working on), the holy trinity of Bruckner, Wiener Philharmoniker and Christian Thielemann is about as Fest-perfect as you can get.

The Sunday night concert was devoted entirely to Bruckner's 5th Symphony. Scoreless, Thielemann demonstrated the simultaneous grasp of detail and sonic architecture that has placed him in Karajan's shoes. The Wieners  - or at least a crack section of the 160-strong troupe - displayed an attentiveness and precision which was to elude them for the rest of my stay. Quiet sections were exquisitely calibrated, climaxes thundered, and time stood still for an hour and half. The ovations went on for another twenty minutes or so, with Thielemann called back for a final solo bow even after the orchestra had left the stage. Way to go on.

And the best part? With a pillar to one side allegedly obscuring the view, my seat cost just 10 euros.

Comments

[Rose-Mary Hyslop]

10 euros to watch the million-euro-a-year conductor? A bargain!

[Tinkerbelle]

I am truely envious, it sounds a marvellous concert!

[SJT]

I should guess that there are at least fifty conductors in that category operating today. And it's perfectly possible to encounter most of them here in the Royal Festival Hall over the course of a season or so for no more than the equivalent of ten euros (though not, alas, Thielemann, who doesn't do London any more).
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Intermezzo replies - Thielemann conducted in London a couple of years ago.The problem is a shortage of the right invitations, not any aversion to the city.

[William Lau]

Fifty conductors of Thielemann's category? I can't even count fifty of Thielemann's category within a century, let alone the same time. Stay in London if you enjoy the category you think Thielemann's in.

[SJT]

Dear me, no. He's never stopped being invited by the Philahamonia, which he used to conduct regularly. The LSO has tried. So has the ROH, where he appeared season-in, season-out in the 1990s, up to and including the last revival of Palestrina in 2001, since when zippo. In each case I have been informed that his response is that he no longer wishes to conduct here, concentrating his career on the traditional Vienna/Berlin/Salzburg/Dresden axis.
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Intermezzo replies - He only took over at Dresden, now the bulk of his workload, less than a year ago. It's 'interesting' that he's already taken them to the US, but not the UK.

[Nikolaus Vogel]

I've heard that he may be making a return to Covent Garden soon in a Strauss opera.

[SJT]

I don't know if you're being deliberately dense for outraged effect, or merely misread what I wrote. The "category" to which I was referring is not, as you seem to think, qualitative but merely cash-based. The original poster gave - me, at least - the impression that she regarded million-dollar euro conductors as something exceptional, which they most certainly are not: they're virtually ten-a-penny these days.

[William Lau]

I agree to SJT's feeling that Thielemann opts to concentrate on Berlin/Vienna/Dresden, and the tours by these orchestras, including Salzburg Easter. Jansons these days operates likewise, Concertgebouw/BRSO/Berlin/Vienna, that's it. Thielemann's certainly not a lazy conductor but he's not the type to fill up all gaps in his calender, like so many conductors do.

By just taking Berlin/Vienna/Dresden he could get his hands full. He has a massive tour with the Vienna Phil this autumn, which might explain why he's not appearing with Berlin Phil this season.

In response to Intermezzo, I agree that Thielemann's not going to London is not due to personal aversion. But the demand for Staatskapelle Dresden's foreign tours has risen so much even before Thielemann formally took over. And therefore the orchestra's not likely to take one or two UK dates which could complicate a continental itinerary. Paris, Vienna, Frankfurt, Baden-Baden, etc are enough to snatch all Thielemann's available dates.

On Intermezzo's counterexample of Thielemann's already toured US, I think money certainly plays a part of it, which is more to the orchestra's purse than to Thielemann's. And that US tour is well-organized, four US East Coast dates, plus one concert in Bonn. One of the programme is Brahms 4 which was played at Salzburg Easter. The other programme was Bruckner 8, a Thielemann specialty that won't need much time to rehearse. So this 5-concert tour could've taken just ten days from the start of rehearsals to arriving home.

I didn't mean to slam SJT, but your claim that good orchestras and conductors could be had in UK for so cheap, might have indicated that the promoters in UK are not likely to pay good money to get Thielemann there, because they can always find 50 other conductors for little money and sell just as well. If there are only one or two low-paying London gigs for the whole UK, then it is understandable that UK is on lower priority than the continent, which explains Intermezzo's view of "a lack of the right invitations".

[SJT]

If you mean Renée's farewell Marsha Lynn, I wouldn't be inclined to hold your breath...

[inter mezzo]

Absolutely. It would make far more sense for Thielemann to visit with the Staatskapelle than do a one-off with an now-unfamiliar orchestra. The best solution would be a short residency like the Gewandhaus have at the Barbican. Unfortunately these matters get fogged up by politics, which is why we end up with the inferior NY and LA Philharmonics instead.

[William Lau]

And...I just heard Thielemann's Bruckner 5 in Dresden this morning! It didn't match your description...it was much better! I never knew that Semperoper is so good for symphonic concerts. Sound is full but not noisy. I like Salzburg Festspielhaus very much but Semperoper is even better.

I might speculate that the Dresden strings would do better than Vienna Phil of your concert, not because they are better, but because they carried out Thielemann's wish to the letter. But the big hole in this orchestra is that their brass is just sub-par. Still, I urge you to fly to Dresden next weekend to hear it again. The orchestra sounded much better than I heard them in Salzburg this easter, and Berlin two years ago. You won't regret it.