A versatile conductor at major opera houses
In the coming summer Philippe Jordan conducts Mozart's Così fan tutte
He was in the headlines not so long ago when he gave the European Cultural Capital Graz the cold shoulder: Philippe Jordan, principal conductor of the Graz Philharmonic Orchestra since 2001/02 – at the time aged 27 the youngest general music director in the German-speaking area – is leaving Graz at the end of this season. He will not have time to get bored. In the season 2004/05 he is conducting Ariadne auf Naxos at the Semper Opera in Dresden as well as at the Bastille Opera in Paris and also new productions of Werther and Entführung at the Vienna State Opera. But before then Così fan tutte in the coming festival summer in Salzburg.
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| Next summer Philippe Jordan conducts Così fan tutte at the Salzburg Festival. |
Born in 1974 in Zurich, the son of the conductor Armin Jordan came to music at an early age. When he was ten years old, as a member of the Zurich Boys Choir he sang the role of First Boy in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte. Then he had violin and piano lessons and studied music at the Zurich Conservatory. From 1996 Jordan was first kapellmeister in Ulm, from 1998–2002 assistant to Daniel Barenboim and kapellmeister at the Deutsche Staatsoper Unter den Linden. Important stages in his career were also assistantships with Jeffrey Tate at the Théâtre du Chatelet and in Aix-en-Provence.
In the past season Philippe Jordan made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera New York (Die Fledermaus); he also made his first appearance at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden (conducting Die Zauberflöte). In this season Jordan will make his debut at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich (Parsifal). He still has several engagements at the Deutsche Staatsoper Unter den Linden where in this season he is conducting Henze’s Elegie für junge Liebende. And at his resident opera house in Graz he conducts premieres of Eugen Onegin, Benjamin Britten’s The Turn of the Screw and Peter Grimes, Die Fledermaus, Don Carlo and Strauss’s Ariadne – works which demonstrate the versatile repertoire of this conductor who is not yet thirty. This autumn he opened the season in Graz with a production of Parsifal; Die Zauberflöte and Otello are also planned for this season.
It is almost a miracle that he still has time to conduct concerts (this year for instance in Graz Mahler’s Second Symphony and Das Lied von der Erde with Thomas Hampson as soloist). And occasionally Philippe Jordan can also be heard as a chamber musician and lied accompanist.
Reinhard Kriechbaum
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| W.A. Mozart, Don Giovanni |
In search of one's own strenghts
An interview with Philippe Jordan
From Die Zauberflöte to Henze’s Elegie für junge Liebende – you are highly in demand on the international scene as a very versatile conductor. Which areas do you like to concentrate on?
Variety keeps me alert and sometimes I am myself curious to know how things will turn out. At my age (Jordan is 29 years old, ed.) it is a question of investigating my strengths and weaknesses. At any rate it is precisely the variety of music and theatre that is the most exciting thing for me at the moment.
You have climbed the ladder to international success very quickly. Who were outstanding personalities for you on the way?
First and foremost my father (the conductor Armin Jordan, ed.). When I was working at the Deutsche Staatsoper Unter den Linden I learned a lot from Daniel Barenboim about sound and how to make music speak.
You were Jeffrey Tate’s assistant on many productions.
He is a man of incredible knowledge. I learned a lot from him about working with singers.
For a young generation of conductors it almost goes without saying that they have to be equally at home conducting early music as well as working with “modern” orchestras. What are your thoughts about historical performance practice?
I have to admit quite frankly: I grew up with modern instruments and the romantic tradition. Early performance practice does not mean much to me. However, I would certainly like to find a different sound: for my next production in Graz, Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, we are going to use natural horns and trumpets.
Which brings us to Mozart. Next summer you are going to conduct Così fan tutte, an opera that appears often in your curriculum vitae.
I worked on the opera in Aix-en-Provence as assistant to Jeffrey Tate and then when I was at Ulm I conducted it in German. Geneva was where I first rehearsed and conducted it on my own and then there were also some performances in Berlin.
So you do have a close relationship to Così?
It is one of the most beautiful operas of all, the lightness in the score coupled with intense seriousness … I am grateful that I can do this opera in Salzburg with Karl-Ernst and Ursel Herrmann; I worked with them already in Brussels on Rossini’s Il Turco in Italia. Incidentally the Herrmanns had great reservations about Così for a long time because the improbability of the action is a special challenge.
What fascinates you in particular about the Così score?
Working on the text, the sound – it is a particularly charming ensemble piece.
Now you’ve mentioned the word ensemble. With your time-consuming international obligations how can you build up an ensemble in Graz?
In Berlin I was particularly fortunate in being able to be part of Daniel Barenboim’s ensemble. One person alone cannot do that. In Graz I was lucky in that the artistic director Karen Stone was very concerned about looking after the ensemble. I would also have had such hopes in my preferred candidate as Stone’s successor, Roland Geyer.
But now things have turned out differently. The fact that Geyer was not appointed made you decide to leave Graz opera house. What experiences from Graz will you take with you?
The city has a marvellous potential and it is certainly the most beautiful opera house in Austria, but of course that does not mean it has the best acoustics. Unfortunately there is not much exchange between the institutions, for instance between the opera and the music academy.
So now you will soon have additional free capacity. Do you have plans for festivals anywhere else?
I have specific plans with Glyndebourne but at the moment I am concentrating on Salzburg.
And what about the concert conductor Philippe Jordan? In Graz this season you have made a name for yourself as a conductor of Mahler.
It’s a taste I am gradually getting used to. It is important for me to study the repertoire thoroughly. Especially when I give a guest performance elsewhere it’s important for me not to conduct pieces there for the first time.
Occasionally Philippe Jordan can also be heard as a pianist …
The day after the performance of Mahler’s Second Symphony I was happy to be able to play Die Winterreise. Occasionally it’s nice to play oneself and not always have to tell the others how they should play. As I conduct between fifty and seventy times a year it is of course a question of time. But this autumn I am going to make sure there is time to play Schubert’s ‘Trout’ Quintet and Beethoven’s Piano Quintet in Graz with section leaders from my orchestra.
Reinhard Kriechbaum interviewed Philippe Jordan