Sto that she is only the fifth woman to direct an opera at the Stairs? «The fifth already?» she laughs, reversing the perspective, Simone Young. Which, in fact, boasts many other positions. «At the Wiener Staatsoper I was the first, and there it was really something special because there were no women even in the orchestra” she specifies. «I was also the first in Munich, Dresden, Berlin and Paris. In New York, however, the second, and in London the third. I’m happy to be in Milan, this was the last great theater I missed. I remember coming there with a friend in 1982: I was in the gallery watching the Falstaff».
“My heart beats for opera”
Simone Young (photo Sandrah Steh).
She arrived for the Peter Grimes by Benjamin Britten, the awaited new production directed by Robert Carsen which will debut on October 18thbut – due to Zubin Mehta’s illness – he will be on the podium as well the Philharmonic, from 11 to 14 October, with Yuja Wang on the piano and Cécile Lartigau at the Onde Martenotan electronic synthesizer: scheduled for Symphony n. 38 by Mozart and Turangalîla-Symphonie by Olivier Messiaen, which he conducted in May with the Berliner Philharmoniker.
«Today I perhaps dedicate myself more to symphony concerts, but operas occupy a special place in my heart» he explains in his excellent Italian. By the way, when did you learn this? «I’ve been studying it since I conducted Verdi and Puccini. Thirty-five years ago I spent a summer in Pisa to perfect it: they criticized me because I spoke a nineteenth-century language” smiles. «It is fundamental for a conductor know Italian, French, German and understand Russian well.”
“Diversity is scary”
With the English of Peter Grimes (October 27 live streaming on the platform LaScala TV) instead plays at home, being Australian. «I love it, I’ve directed it many, many times. It is musically wonderful, so courageous (Britten’s masterpiece, despite being only his second opera) and very current for its theme: the story of a man marginalized in a fishing village because he is “different”. And “diversity” is scary even today, we see it every day.”
“The singularity of Australia”
Simone Young with Cate Blanchett in Sydney previewing “Tár” (Getty Images).
The first opera you saw? «At 14 years old Salome and then Simon Boccanegra: they remain two of my favorites in the entire repertoire: this was the period in which opera was first established in Sydney (Jørn Utzon’s iconic theater opened in 1973, ed)» says Young, who returned to her city in 2022 as Chief Conductor of the Symphony Orchestra. Was he already clear that the direction was his path? «No, it happened gradually. What was clear was only that music was a part of me, even though I come from a non-musical family (my father was a lawyer, my mother a costume designer). I discovered it at school: I studied piano, flute, composition, I sang in the choir… We put on Gilbert and Sullivan operettas.”
But legend has it that she began as a child practicing on her grandmother’s piano… «It’s true that she had it, but I played it very little… Things aren’t that direct: if she had had a telescope, I would have become an astronomer ?” she laughs. «Now I’m 62 years old, I’m the grandmother and my grandchildren play my piano, but it’s another case».
And from the conservatory to the podium? «I worked a lot as a pianist accompanist and, at 24, I conducted for the first time in Sydney. The singularity of Australia is that, if the conductor he has an indisposition, no one can arrive in two hours to replace him: you have to look there! When I arrived in Germany, in ’86, I had more than 60 performances under my belt. I started working at the Cologne Opera, then in Bayreuth with Daniel Barenboim (I was his assistant for four years)and then the “invited master” phase began in Vienna, Berlin and Munich.”
“Four points against”
Did you have any female role models? «No, there were too few directors. I looked at Carlo Maria Giulini, Wilhelm Furtwängler, Arturo Toscanini, Carlos Kleiber, Vittorio Gui, Fausto Cleva, Victor de Sabata.” It won’t have been easy to fit in. «Yes, but in the end being a woman wasn’t the biggest problem… When I showed up, aged twenty-five, in Cologne I was young, Australian (a country certainly not known for the classical arts) and, above all, I spoke German very badly… Four points against me. I said to myself: on the “woman” and “Australian”, that’s for sure, I can’t change the cards on the table; but nature will help me by making me grow old (laughs) and I can learn languages well. So it was”.
She directed with her belly. «Yes, in the seventh and eighth months of pregnancy, and I started again two weeks later. I enjoyed good health, why should I stop? We shouldn’t impose limits on ourselves.” Is there a “female way to management? «No, but there isn’t even a “male way”: just as there are tall, short, fat, thin, strong, weak, old, young men, there are many types of director. I direct as I direct, my gestures don’t have to look good for photographs. I am a musician and my instrument is the orchestra.” Some conductors give up the baton… «It’s essential, especially in a large theater like La Scala. And in any case I prefer to eat with a fork than with my hands (laughs)».
Work & career
The secret to reconciling career and family? «I’m very lucky: my husband was an incredible supporter and, what’s more, he taught languages, he was easily “exportable” (laughs) in Germany, in France… We now live in Sussex. He has recently become passionate about Italian: every weekend we go to visit some art city. We met more than 40 years ago: they taught at the same college. The presence of him also helps me keep my feet on the ground as much as possible.”
Maybe too much… In Knowing the Scorethe documentary-biopic produced by Cate Blanchett, he says that he defined music as “the industry of broken dreams and dashed hopes”. Demotivating, like imprinting… «It was clear to him that I would achieve something in life with music, but when we met I was a very young pianist: who could only dream of the sequel? However, consider that I am half Irish and half Croatian (a typically Australian mix) and the Irish are known for being stubborn. If someone tells me: “You can do this”, then I’ll try everything to do it!».
Tára psychodrama
Cate Blanchett in “Tár”.
How the project was born Knowing the Score? «The idea of following me around the world came to the producer Margie Bryant, we started filming before Covid. We chose that title because knowing the score can mean both “knowing how things go”, in a figurative sense, and “knowing the score”, and I am someone who does a lot of research: twelve years ago I spent some time in Milan to see Verdi’s autographs before tackling three of his lesser-known operas, THE Thembardi at the first crusade, The battle of Legnano And The two Foscari».
«Simone Young is one of the world’s most significant and pioneering masters and it is a great privilege to represent a small part of this documentary which celebrates her life, her work and her triumphant return to Sydney» explained Cate Blanchett. How did you involve her? «She found out about the filming when she filmed it Tár and offered to become executive producer: it is an important support for Australian artists.” Maestro (as you prefer to be called, while for you director or director it’s the same, “respect is enough”), what did you think of the film in which the star plays an orchestra conductor? «I found it interesting, a dark, almost Hitchcockian psychodrama: Cate was gigantic as usual, what can we tell her? But I believe it could also be done with a university professor, a doctor or a politician… But music guarantees an emotional level that doesn’t exist in other professions.”
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