»And thus I took my stick and hat and chose to travel.« Like Urian in Matthias Claudius’ Reise um die Welt (Journey around the World), the Mahler Chamber Orchestra also chose to travel – not laden with stick and hat, but instead with violin case and orchestral score. And now, starting last year, the journey brings the ensemble regularly to North Rhine-Westphalia, or more specifically to the Konzerthaus Dortmund, the Philharmonie Essen and the Philharmonie Köln.
Here, in three major concert halls of this German state, the MCO Residence NRW has established itself through impressive concerts, the orchestra has become a familiar presence, and the arrival of the musicians for a new concert, rehearsal, or academy project is awaited with great anticipation. The predictions made at the March 2009 press conference in Düsseldorf by State Secretary for Culture Hans- Heinrich Große-Brockhoff and Dr. Fritz Schaumann, President of he Kunststiftung NRW, are well on the way to coming true: »The Mahler Chamber Orchestra, as ›resident orchestra in North Rhine-Westphalia‹, will represent North Rhine-Westphalia’s culturally innovative atmosphere to the world and at the same time bring new impulses to the cultural landscape of our region.«
And that means new impulses for the entire federal state! From the very beginning, the concept of the MCO Residence in NRW has included thoughts on how to get audiences, young musicians and other cultural institutions involved in the most diverse and lasting ways and help the residence take strong hold in the region.
The MCO Residence in NRW was inaugurated on 16 May 2009 at the Konzerthaus Dortmund with – literally – a loud bang: with Kilian’s well-aimed shot in Weber’s opera Der Freischütz, played under the direction of Thomas Hengelbrock. As opera rehearsals got underway, an elaborate educational programme as well as the MCO Academy took their first steps. While aspiring orchestral musicians wiped the sweat from their foreheads during lessons and auditions at the Orchesterzentrum, classes of school children experienced the story of the opera in workshops on dramatic interpretation just 200 meters away in the Konzerthaus orchestra rehearsal room. Outfitted with hunter’s hat and rifle, standing, singing and speaking on an imaginary stage, participants experienced first-hand through interaction with others why hunter’s apprentice Max is so worried, why his bride Agathe is so distraught, how the hunters’ chorus sounds when you sing it yourself, and exactly what role the orchestra plays.
Adult concert-goers gathered similar experiences in their own workshops, and these efforts were developed further at the end of October in connection with another concert performance of an opera: this time, for Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde, MCO musicians brought their instruments into Dortmund’s schools. And not only schools were involved – young participants in the Roland Berger Foundation’s scholarship programme »Fit für Verantwortung« (»Fit for Responsibility«) also visited rehearsals, heard an introduction to the work by MCO General Manager Andreas Richter, and had the chance to ask the musicians questions. At the same time, a special workshop for adults, the »Wagner Werkstatt« at the local Adult Education Centre, attracted interested participants.
On the eve of the performance of Tristan, a first experiment: the first classical music lounge in the Ruhr area took place in the club Freizeitzentrum West, or FZW, located near the »Dortmund U«. A chamber ensemble of MCO soloists inaugurated the »Klassik im Club« (»Classic at the Club«) series – musicians and lounge guests enjoyed Mozart, Beethoven, Bartók and Piazzolla; DJ Canisius and VJ Safy Sniper, well known from Berlin’s »Yellow Lounge«, contributed audio and visuals to the scene. There was wide-ranging media interest: three branches of West German Broadcasting reported on the event via radio and television, and late in the evening, the conductor of Tristan also came by to listen. The result: the MCO is also well received in new locations and in different formats, even by a club audience. One attendee made the point: »I thought it was wonderful to experience classical music in such a young and modern way. The audience sat on bar stools, on the stairs, or even on the floor, and I noticed that there really were a lot of young people there. The live acts were the highlight of the evening – in particular, Bartók’s Duos for two violins really rocked!«
Just after Tristan, a second successful experiment was carried out: no fewer than fifteen students of the Orchesterzentrum|NRW qualified to take part in the Academy Concert and join the orchestra in Cologne and Dortmund not only for Stravinsky’s Le Sacre du Printemps, but also, somewhat spontaneously, in Beethoven’s Violin Concerto, with French violinist Renaud Capucon as soloist. At the »Meet the Orchestra« reception afterwards, percussionist and academy player Markus Mayer explained how exciting and inspiring the concerts were for him, and MCO clarinet player Jaan Bossier said of the younger colleagues: »They basically already play like professionals.«
At Cologne’s Philharmonie, the MCO was greeted by a large audience of about 10 000 people at the »Tag der offenen Tür« (Open House) on 30 August 2009. The open rehearsal in the morning, under the direction of George Benjamin, with Heinz Holliger on the oboe, was followed by a »Meet the Orchestra«; in various workshops, children learned more about different types of instruments; composer Jörg Widmann was featured in a special room on contemporary music, and at lunchtime an ensemble of soloists from the MCO played Brahms’ Clarinet Quintet op. 115. In the evening, the highlight: the MCO’s orchestral concert with the German premiere of Widmann’s Oboe Concerto. The orchestra received so much good feedback that it will definitely return for the next Open House in 2010.
When the Philharmonie in Essen has its first concert with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra as part of the MCO Residence in NRW on 16 June 2010, more wide-ranging and ambitious musical outreach projects will be launched: the conductor of the concert, Andrew Manze, will design his own introductory talk on the all-Mozart programme featuring soloists Janine Jansen and Julian Rachlin, as part of the series »The art of hearing«. On later occasions, Daniel Harding, Ton Koopman and Pierre-Laurent Aimard will also appear as introductory speakers.
Children and young people benefit from encounters with the MCO in the programme »Philharmonie: Learning« – experiencing and understanding music in the classroom, in the concert hall and on the rehearsal stage. In Essen, too, it will be shown how exciting it can be to leave the traditional concert hall context behind, when the MCO plays in the new Folkwang Museum and builds up inspiring and intense connections between contemporary American visual art and music from the same period.
What else is planned for the future? Among many other things, perhaps one important key word: »JeKi«. Cooperation with the foundation »Jedem Kind ein Instrument« (JeKi, »An Instrument for Every Child«) in the Ruhr area is of great importance. JeKi children have already had the chance to attend MCO rehearsals; in December 2010, the KinderOrchesterRuhr will play together with the MCO at an »MCO Family Concert« under the direction of Ton Koopman in Dortmund. To be continued!
