IF A CONDUCTOR CANNOT INSPIRE, WHAT’S THERE TO DISCUSS? Bamberg Symphony’s Music Director Jakub Hrůša talks about selection process and criteria at the Mahler Competition
WFIMC: What was your first experience with a conducting competition? Jakub Hrůša: I took part in a small competition in Prague, in 2000. It doesn´t exist anymore today, but back then, it was really important for me. I was a complete beginner and had never worked with a professional orchestra. Anyone can pick up a decent violin or a trumpet, but not a symphony orchestra. It´s an incredible feeling for a conductor, this “first time”, it´s a big step, and it´s also a big problem for us in the context of applications for the Mahler competition. What criteria do you apply to judge a video of someone conducting a school orchestra? Or a piano duo? Again, for a violinist, it’s fairly easy to produce a high- quality video, but not for a young conductor. You must have been doing something right in Bamberg, though- beginning with the very first edition, the “discoveries” of the Mahler Competition are remarkable: Gustavo Dudamel, Oksana Lyniv… …Lahav Shani, and many others, yes. What do we do differently? We take time. Of course, it also depends on finances, facilities, awards, etc. but in a way, it is Bamberg that makes the difference. The orchestra, while very critical, is incredibly motivated, focused and friendly. The management, the jury, the musicians show a positive attitude towards the young candidates that is remarkable. It´s very unusual, but maybe it can somehow be explained with the general atmosphere and quality of life in the city.
Lots of efforts are also made to support the candidates who have already dropped out. They get to talk to jury members, to orchestra musician, so they can really make the most out of the stay at our competition. Besides, the quality of the orchestra is extraordinary, and the repertoire is great. No curiosities, no unknown compositions, but only the really important works- the classics, Mahler, and some contemporary music.
But it’s not easy repertoire, either.
It must not be easy- a competition is a competition. But the repertoire should help to show the qualities of a candidate. I find that in competitions, conductors are often being judged too quickly. They don´t even get a chance to build a working relationship, a basic feeling of mutual trust, with the orchestra. But in Bamberg, we want to support this process, this first interaction with the musicians, because it shows human qualities and characteristics. It’s more about mechanical engineering than about cultivating art. May I get back once more to the topic of video selection. Who looks at these videos, and how? How do you make sure that someone like Gustavo Dudamel, who back in 2004 had “only” conducted youth orchestras in Venezuela and probably had no money to produce a high-quality video, how do you make sure that someone like him gets selected? I think it’s a combination of objective judgement, of instinct, and of intuition. You
Conducting Competitions
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