Interview with Christian Thielemann

Richard Strauss’ Arabella, directed by Florentine Klepper. Cast of November 10, from left: Gabriele Schnaut (Gräfin Adelaide), Daniel Behle (Matteo), Hanna-Elisabeth Müller (Zdenka), Anja Harteros (Arabella), Christian Thielemann, Thomas Hampson (Mandryka), Albert Dohmen (Graf Waldner), Daniela Fally (Die Fiakermilli)

Talking about Strauss, have you heard of the Polish soprano Aga Mikolaj?

Yes, I have. She sang for me here. She’s very good.

Is it true that you will soon launch a new Lohengrin here starring Anna Netrebko?

Yes, we’ll do it right here. With Piotr Beczała as well.

As the music director, do you get to choose singers for the operas? Or is it the “privileged” job of the stage directors?

I ask for them. But the stage directors sometimes go against my suggestions and would say, “He’s too fat.” I’d reply, “But he has the best voice!” And I’m not going to have somebody with less than the best voice.

These are eternal problems. Again and again and again!

Richard Strauss’ Capriccio, directed by Marco Arturo Marelli. Cast of November 16, from left: Adrian Eröd (Olivier), Steve Davislim (Flamand), Renée Fleming (Die Gräfin), Christoph Pohl (Der Graf), Christian Thielemann, Daniela Sindram (Clairon), Georg Zeppenfeld (La Roche), Christina Poulitsi (Italian singer)

Do you have much control of how far stage directors can go? One example is the 2012 Bayreuth Tannhäuser I saw you in.

I only did it for one year. I substituted for somebody. I stepped in, and I stepped out. [Laughs]

One has to be tolerant. But tolerance ends at certain point.

It may not be what one desires, but it’s nevertheless interesting to be confronted with something unusual. I try my best to understand these things. I try to be flexible. But when it’s something I cannot make peace with, then it’s all OVER!

You will be performing Bruckner’s no. 9 on your upcoming tour in Asia in February. What version of the symphony will you be using?

There is only one version: I ONLY play music written by Bruckner. Music or partial music by Bruckner will not be included in my programme.

I have studied the various fourth movement completions; they are really interesting. And I have also listened to several recordings of them. But one should not complete something when the composer is no longer there. I don’t feel that it has the same quality. There are of course a few exceptions to the case, like the Süssmayr version of the Mozart Requiem; otherwise you wouldn’t have the Lacrymosa, and you would have to stop abruptly and then the whole Requiem feeling is over.

Another example is the third act of Lulu. It’s very well done by Friedrich Cerha; he respected all the surviving bits written by Alban Berg. But in my opinion, it’s not Berg. It’s Cerha-Berg.

So in Bruckner we finish at the Adagio. I think Bruckner himself was afraid of completing the dreaded “no. 9”, so he probably left it at that. After the Adagio, he felt he wasn’t able to continue and he also wasn’t in the best physical condition to write more.

I know there’s a project combining themes from his other symphonies (no. 5 and 8). Such a contrapunctus masterpiece would be very interesting. But listening to it will ruin the Bruckner impression.

And it would have been the longest symphony ever!

Yes. Mahler even suggested an intermission for his symphony no. 2.

I notice that for the label PROFIL Edition Günter Hänssler, you have an SA-CD as well as an LP version of the Bruckner no. 8, recorded live right here at Semperoper in 2009. Are you a big fan of the LP format?

I don’t know why they released it on LP. They say it’s for the sound.

I have at home some very old equipment, but I would never throw them away. They are wonderful receiver and loudspeakers made by Sony. These loudspeakers are the best I’ve ever heard. One should not be too complicated with these things; otherwise one becomes obsessed. And then you don’t enjoy the music anymore.

My suggestion is to get the best you can, but don’t be obsessed with it.

Where we sit now there’s a wall of pictures showing your predecessors.

Yes, certainly some of the predecessors.

Joseph Keilberth, Carl Maria von Weber, Karl Böhm, Fritz Busch are among them. Wagner was the Hofkapellmeister here. And Weber was his predecessor.

“Die gläserne Manufaktur” is the main sponsor of the Staatskapelle Dresden. This spectacular “transparent factory” is the manufacturing plant of VW’s flagship sedan Phaeton, and the Bentley Continental.