Features
Welser-Möst in Vienna
An ambition fulfilled
…one who asked me if I would be prepared to take on an important role in Vienna’s musical life after 2010. I said yes, but that it would depend of the circumstances. I didn’t meet the arts minister again until May, and then in June, the day before the announcement came through, while I was rehearsing in Cleveland, I started to get calls from journalists asking if I knew anything, but I didn’t. Next thing, I got a call from the right hand of the arts minister, asking if I would consider becoming Generalmusikdirektor alongside Dominique Meyer as Staatsoperndirektor. I said, well, I met him once, but basically turned it down. Then I spoke to Holender and others, finally with Dominique himself—we chatted for a long time, and my instincts told me he was very good. So I called the ministry and said that if they wanted to they could use my name the next day. And the next day, when the phone rang in Cleveland, it was a friend from Vienna who said, ‘Congratulations, I’ve just heard it on the radio”. That was the first time I knew for sure.’
All very Viennese, yet as an Austrian, Welser-Möst could hardly have said ‘Nein danke’. ‘I don’t know, but they might have taken away my passport!’ Indeed, when he previously turned down Holender’s offers of the music directorship, the emperor-like Intendant was evidently very surprised. ‘There’s a saying in Vienna, “Who cares who’s the next president? We’re worried who’s going to be the next boss of the opera house”. Of course I’ve been critical in the past about the Viennese operatic scene, but if you’re given the chance to do something, you have take it. Holender and I have talked a lot about the house over recent months. We’ve developed a good relationship, with a lot of respect on both sides.’
The operatic aesthetics of Vienna and Zurich may be poles apart, but discussion with Welser-Möst suggests that he will remain true to himself, continuing in the manner that has brought him success in the Swiss city. ‘Of course, I will have input on non-musical issues, but basically Dominique will lead strategically. There’s enough to do musically, and when it comes to being music director in such a big house, you need to influence not just the performances you’re conducting. The “show card” of any repertory house is not its opening nights but the day-in, day-out performances. If you have a great Three Ladies in Zauberflöte, if your Flowermaidens in Parsifal—or the Jews in Salome, the Maids in Elektra—are musically good, that for me says a lot about an opera house. And that’s why the music director has to look after the ensemble: it’s an enormous responsibility.’
‘So, sure, I’ll conduct new productions, but I’m almost more interested in conducting a lot of repertoire, even without rehearsal. What I’ve…
