Every week, Bor Beekman, Robert van Gijssel, Merlijn Kerkhof, Anna van Leeuwen or Herien Wensink take a stand in the world of film, music, theater or visual arts.
It must be a relief for the musicians of the Concertgebouw Orchestra. For four years they were asked the same questions at birthday parties. One: don’t you have a conductor yet? Two: who will it be? Three: why don’t you just take Jaap (from Sweden, red.† Inevitably followed by the comment that they should just choose conductor so or so. With the presentation, last Friday, of the 26-year-old Finnish super talent Klaus Mäkelä, there is at least some peace of mind.
Hopefully this music journalist will also be given some rest in the field of conducting, because I’m a bit tired of conductors by now. Chief conductor: I am increasingly wondering what the title actually represents.
Before the Second World War, orchestra musicians still looked at the same man during almost every rehearsal and every concert, nowadays they see twelve to fifteen conductors per season – changing contacts, that is. The interesting thing about this practice is that we always come into contact with conductors with different insights and specialties; the disadvantage is that a conductor hardly gets the chance to build anything.
We also don’t see the chief conductor that much in many cases. The Noord Nederlands Orkest barred its chief Eivind Gullberg Jensen for, to begin with, only six weeks. The intention is that Klaus Mäkelä will be with the Concertgebouw Orchestra for at least twelve weeks a year from 2027 (only then, because until then he is tied up with orchestras in Oslo and Paris; in the meantime he becomes an ‘artistic partner’). So twelve out of 52. In such a week he will always lead about three rehearsals.
Undoubtedly, the collaboration will yield memorable concerts and recordings. But although people don’t like to admit it in the classical music business, the chief conductor in 2022 is first and foremost a billboard. Tickets are mainly bought based on the name of the only man or woman on stage who is not supposed to make a sound. A tour with an unknown name cannot be sold internationally, even if you are the Concertgebouw Orchestra.
In the comments after Mäkelä’s arrival, there was talk of securing the international reputation as one of the best orchestras in the world. The Concertgebouw Orchestra was once again played in the top 3 associated with the Berliner and Wiener Philharmoniker, something that is subjective in any case, but is increasingly difficult to substantiate. Not because the Concertgebouw Orchestra has become ‘less’ (although musicians earn less than in Bamberg in Bavaria), but because the level of many other orchestras worldwide is also sky-high. And thanks to the Berliner’s ‘Digital Concert Hall’, Berlin has weekly audiences from numerous countries; if there’s a top, it’s a top-1.
But what difference does it make, that international reputation? Would we like to be proud as Dutch people, is that it? Above all, let the orchestra be the best version of itself and maintain its individuality. The good news is that even after four chefless years, the Concertgebouw Orchestra still sounds like the Concertgebouw Orchestra. I hope Mäkelä keeps what is good, without getting stuck in the past. And that in twelve weeks a year.