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Franz Welser-Möst was not exactly a household name when he was chosen to succeed Christoph von Dohnányi as music director of what many consider to be the greatest American symphonic institution, the Cleveland Orchestra. But the Austrian-born conductor, now 46, quickly made his mark. Only five months after he started his tenure in September 2002, his original five-year contract was extended to 2012, an extraordinary expression of confidence. Opening the 2006-2007 season at Carnegie Hall in a concert that will be aired on GREAT PERFORMANCES is but one more acknowledgment of the Cleveland Orchestra's continued stature.
GREAT PERFORMANCES: Can you remember when you first encountered the Cleveland Orchestra and what sort of impression you had about the ensemble before you ever had an opportunity to conduct them?
Franz Welser-Möst: The first time I heard the Cleveland Orchestra was on an old LP in the early '70s, with George Szell conducting Tchaikovsky's Fifth. I was 11 years old or something like that, and I couldn't tell much difference between one recording and another. I was just easily excited about music altogether. The Cleveland Orchestra didn't have such a big presence in Europe when I was growing up. I was more familiar with European orchestras, of course. But I soon learned that the Cleveland Orchestra was an incredible instrument -- very clean, with lots of precision.
GP: Did the initial experience of making music with the ensemble as a guest conductor live up to your impressions?
FW-M: That first time was in '93, and I actually thought that things were not going well between them and me. It didn't seem to click. The orchestra was very sophisticated, the people were friendly, but distant. I was surprised that they reinvited me.
GP: What was it that disappointed you musically on that first occasion?
FW-M: Their playing was very clean, but it was not what I was used to, especially in Schubert's "Third Symphony." The phrasing was not right. I grew up with [such conductors as] Karl Böhm, Herbert von Karajan, of course, and so on. We like a singing quality in Schubert. Somehow I didn't feel I was getting that in Cleveland. But every time I came back I felt better.
GP: Can you provide an example of how your rapport with the orchestra improved?
FW-M: Music that sounds easy is often the hardest. On my second visit to Cleveland [as a guest conductor], I did Johann Strauss with them. They played the "Fledermaus" Overture technically very well, but the tiny little rubatos that are part of the music, they just were not used to. It took us some time, but now they play a sensational "Fledermaus." Now they know this Viennese style, how to play a dotted note, how to hurry the second beat [of a waltz]. You can say that Johann Strauss is only a tiny part of the repertoire, but if an orchestra can play this repertoire well, play it idiomatically, it can play anything. I've done this overture with other orchestras in this country, including one of the most famous. There was a young percussionist at that one who played the snare drum in the "Fledermaus" Overture. He was as white as the wall just before the concert. He was so nervous about how to play it, even though I had explained it over and over again. You can't learn something like that in two days.
GP: On regular concerts by the Cleveland Orchestra, you have often included works by Johann Strauss, a composer most American ensembles confine solely to pops programs. You seem quite comfortable putting so-called "light" music alongside works by Mozart and Mahler.
FW-M: In Bach's time or Mozart's time, that distinction between pop music and serious music didn't really exist. And when Wagner and Brahms talked about Johann Strauss, they were full of praise and admiration. They didn't look down on him. I don't think anything can be said against a good tune. This is great music, refined, wonderfully crafted music, but it must be played very well. Otherwise, it sounds cheap.
GP: You started out on a path to becoming a violinist, but a car accident in the 1970s made that problematic. Is that when, and why, you began to consider conducting?
FW-M: Actually, I started conducting two years before that accident. A teacher thought I had a talent for this. I enjoyed it, but I didn't take it that seriously. Then, I was very privileged in 1979 to get to know Karajan personally. We kept in loose contact for years. He taught me a lot about the business, not just conducting.
GP: What do you find particularly rewarding about conducting the Cleveland Orchestra?
FW-M: I love chamber music, and there is a partnership between the Cleveland Orchestra and me that is like a chamber music partnership, with its taking and giving and where everyone has a responsibility. I love the intimacy of the Cleveland Orchestra's playing. The pianissimi this orchestra can play are almost unmatched today.
GP: During the long tenure (1946-70) of its brilliant, if rather authoritarian, music director, George Szell, the orchestra developed a particularly strong reputation for the discipline of its playing. Is that a quality you also give extra attention to?
FW-M: Fifty years ago, the joke was that the columns in the concert hall stood straight up when Szell came in. I don't think conductors can have that kind of power today, and I don't think it's right anyway. It goes against my basic philosophy. I don't want the musicians to be perfect soldiers. I want to nurture respect and acknowledge that everyone has a job to do in this institution. Everything we play deserves 100 percent in performance. Getting to the top is one thing for an orchestra; staying there is much more difficult. You have to put your heart and brain into it every day. Every single piece we play, we must just try to do as well as possible. Someone asked me if Carnegie Hall was more important than other halls we play in. I said, "No, the music is important. Where it is played is secondary."
GP: Pianist Leif Ove Andsnes will be performing with the orchestra at the Carnegie Hall gala. What has been your experience collaborating with him?
FW-M: The biggest compliment we can pay soloists who appear with the Cleveland Orchestra is when we call them family. Leif Ove I've known for more than 15 years. His is one of the rare careers that shows natural growth and consistency. He just gets better and better and better. He is easy to work with and his depth of musicality is a real joy. It is beautiful to watch him grow as an artist. At the age of 70, he will be considered one of the greatest pianists of all time.
GP: With another six years to go in your current contract as music director, what sort of projects are on your wish list for the Cleveland Orchestra?
FW-M: To play more opera [in concert form]. We are doing "Der Rosenkavalier" [by Richard Strauss] at the end of this season. I can't wait to hear the Cleveland Orchestra play that score. And I would love to hear them play "Tristan und Isolde" [by Richard Wagner] one day.
GP: You have conducted many of the world's finest orchestras, including the Berlin and Vienna philharmonics, but your career has included a certain amount of negative reactions from critics, especially in England, when you were music director of the London Philharmonic in the 1990s, and now again in the local Cleveland press. How have you been affected by this?
FW-M: There was a time when I felt deeply hurt. But you learn to handle it. You know as well as I do that reviews are not always reviews, whether they are saying that somebody is fantastic or if they are trashing somebody. There can be something else behind it. You just have to take it for what it is. You have to respect the opinion. But it doesn't mean that if I get a bad review for something, the next time I do that same work I feel, "My God, now I have to do it differently." I can only do what I believe in. If the critics like it, fine. If not, fine. If you get trashed, that's just part of life. When I left London, people said I would be finished, but here I am. That is all I can say. And the Cleveland Orchestra is more in demand abroad than ever, and that says something, too.
Interview by Tim Smith for GREAT PERFORMANCES Online conducted in September 2006 (photo by Joe Sinnott).
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