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Christoph Eschenbach is in his second season as music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra, a position to which he was named in 2001. He brings a long career as a concert pianist to the podium, and he maintains that skill through his frequent concerto performances and chamber music appearances. He and Renée Fleming have collaborated on three recordings, two of music by Richard Strauss and one of Franz Schubert's songs, with Mr. Eschenbach accompanying. Mr. Eschenbach spoke to GREAT PERFORMANCES the day after the Carnegie Hall gala.
GREAT PERFORMANCES: What do you admire about the Philadelphia Orchestra?
Christoph Eschenbach: Well, it is the Rolls-Royce of orchestras! [Laughs.] When you are conducting them, all the technical problems are already worked out. They can play all music, from the beginning up to the 21st century. Taking them through a program like they played yesterday, highly virtuoso music, and they just play natural, there is such an ease and such a joy, despite all the technical things, all the counting: they are just there, they are just perfect. And you can trigger the most profound musicality out of them. So that's, in a few words, what makes my life with the Philadelphia Orchestra fascinating.
GP: How would you rehearse an orchestra like that, then, where you don't have to work through those detailed, technical problems?
CE: Well, I think there is always something to rehearse in terms of ensemble, in terms of perfection; you know, perfection doesn't know any limit. So you can work on sound, which I do very much; on colors, on changing of colors; and it's very inspiring work, I must say, for the orchestra and for me.
GP: Back in the early 20th century, Leopold Stokowski was a very strong proponent of the contemporary music of his time, and that's also something that you are very interested in, the contemporary music of today. So how do you bring that music into the orchestra?
CE: Well, I just bring it in! [Laughs.] I think the orchestra and the audiences have to be at least informed of what is written today. And if you speak of Schoenberg or Berg as modern music, then you are wrong, because it is old music; it's 100 years old, or 70, 80, or 90. But speaking of 21st-century music, which I care very, very much for, I take it to the orchestra and the audiences and the New York audiences. For example, the orchestra and I are [to] bring a piece to New York in December -- or is it November? -- in a month, we bring a piece by Matthias Pintscher, which was written in 2001 and which I premiered and recorded, and the composer is not known here or not known much here, and it's a very complex piece. So I think that we all have to care about the living composers. If that were not so, we would not have Beethoven. If the time of Beethoven wouldn't have cared about him, we would not have his testimony.
GP: Are there any sort of styles you try to favor, or do you try to run the gamut from, say, minimalism to Pierre Boulez-type modernism to everything in between?
CE: I would like to say in parentheses, that composers nowadays do not like to be fixed in an -ism, like minimalism or post-Webernism or post-Romanticism or what -isms you have. I like to be free and choose music which speaks to me. And I don't know, maybe there's a minimalist piece which I like, but I am not such a big fan of minimalism. But the composers from, let's say, the last 15 years, they don't care about -isms, and therefore they are more interesting than ever.
GP: You've collaborated with Renée Fleming a great deal. How did you first meet her, and what is it about her that attracts you to continually collaborate?
CE: Well, it was in Houston [at the Houston Grand Opera] where we did a production of "The Marriage of Figaro," a new production, and the leading Countess got sick and canceled just before the rehearsals started. And the director, Mr. [David] Gockley, came up with some choices of replacements, and there was also Ms. Fleming. I had heard a little bit about her, but only from co-students of hers. And so I said, "Why don't we take Miss Fleming?" And so she came. And I heard this wonderful voice, and this charming person, this great actress, and this musical singer. So from then on, I took enormous interest.
We created many of her roles for the first time. One of her roles was the "Four Last Songs"; she did with me for the first time, and we recorded it; she did her first Marschallin [in "Der Rosenkavalier"], her first Arabella ["Arabella"], her first "Missa Solemnis," her first [Brahms] "Deutsches Requiem"; we did many, many things. She has grown so much, and she now has everything to express herself. She has this wonderful way with this golden voice, exquisite, and with deep musicality.
GP: Are there any stark differences between working on lieder with her and when you're leading an entire orchestra?
CE: No, I mean, for her it's the same emotion, and for me also. We did an album of Schubert songs and several recital programs. She's very, very interested in different languages, so it was a great recital program for both of us. She had sometimes, six, seven different languages. German for Schubert, French for Debussy, some Turina in Spanish, some Rachmaninoff in Russian, some Barber in English, and it's amazing. She mastered everything in a particular style and a particular language fantastically.
GP: Since you've held a position in Houston and have a position in Philadelphia, what do you think are the strengths and weaknesses of the current orchestral establishment in America?
CE: Well, the American system in art is different than in Europe, where the orchestras and museums and dance companies are subsidized by a government or city or what have you, [and are] public servants. Here it's privately subsidized. It has its advantages and disadvantages.
[We're] beginning to have success in Philadelphia, to convince the board that what we have to do with the orchestra is the right thing. That means that we continue to play new music, that we have to play all kinds of repertoire, and not just stick to -- and I of course have nothing against them -- Beethoven and Tchaikovsky only; and if one succeeds in that, then the life of orchestras is on a good track here.
I find ... the question of union rules antiquated, and [they] have to be revised in a very unrigid way, I think. The orchestra is seeing that. The orchestras -- four are in negotiations right now -- they are seeing that right now in their negotiations. But I think if they see it from a new point of view -- and that doesn't mean that the union rules have to be terminated or something, not at all. They are there, they are right. But they have to be reviewed and revised. And the orchestras work on that. It's a good sign.
Also the question of media, the orchestras and media. They [orchestras] have to stretch out their hand again and lean towards the media, otherwise the media won't come to them [orchestras] anymore because they are just too expensive. So they are working out things, and I am pretty confident.
Interview by Marc Geelhoed for GREAT PERFORMANCES Online conducted in October 2004 (photo: Jessica Griffin/The Philadelphia Orchestra Association).
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