In conversation. On September 4th, the whole of Linz celebrates Anton Bruckner’s birthday. The International Bruckner Festival Linz opens on this day with a concert in Ansfelden and invites you to the broadcast in Linz’s Donaupark with free admission.
200 years are worth celebrating: that’s how long ago Anton Bruckner was born in Ansfelden near Linz. The International Bruckner Festival will be celebrating this in a particularly intense way from September 4th to October 11th. The festival begins with a concert by the Cleveland Orchestra under Franz Welser-Möst in the birthplace. To ensure that as many people as possible can take part, the already sold-out musical event will be broadcast to Linz’s Donaupark. Admission is free and you can be there when Welser-Möst and his musicians congratulate Anton Bruckner with a performance of the 4th Symphony. In an interview, the conductor talks about his long association with the person celebrating his anniversary and the Brucknerhaus, as well as about open-air concerts and the appeal of broadcasts.
Your relationship with Anton Bruckner is long and intense. When did it begin?
Franz Welser-Möst: I was still in elementary school when a friend of my mother’s, a piano teacher, lent me the record of the 2nd Symphony. From then on, I listened to it every day when I came home from school, at full volume, until my mother returned the record after three weeks. This recording opened up worlds of sound to me that I had not known before – and from then on, Bruckner became my close companion. When I went to the USA several times as a guest conductor at the end of the 1980s, people always said: “He’s from Upper Austria, we’d like to hear Bruckner from him.”
Yes, absolutely. The composer has always been with me since I started. I also had a phase early on in which I was intensively involved with various versions of his symphonies. And when I was invited to the Bruckner Festival for the first time, when I was chief conductor in Norrköping in Sweden, we played the 4th Symphony in the original version, which is rarely played. I have to say: when you deal with Bruckner’s symphonies, you never really come to an end.
What is it about his works that fascinates you?
I am impressed by the incredible balancing act he manages. On the one hand, he comes from the Baroque tradition and on the other hand, he already points to the modern era. If you listen to passages from the Ninth, it is not only close in time to the Second Viennese School, but also musically. Bruckner must have been obsessed with adapting works. But he never just polished anything; he always developed it further. I find that very fascinating.
What do you particularly appreciate about the Fourth, which you will now play in Ansfelden?
More than other symphonies, it has something of a nature-inspired quality, which I really like. Even when you hear the beginning, you can hear some natural sounds. And of course later on in the famous “Hunting Scherzo”. Bruckner also uses theatrical effects, when the music sometimes seems to come from a distance and then hits the listener with full force. That is very special for his way of working.
You have often described Bruckner as “challenging,” both for the conductor and the musicians and for the audience. What is the best way to deal with this?
I’ll start with the conductor: he has to pay attention to the architecture. It’s not enough to create beautiful moments. It’s not for nothing that Bruckner is called a cathedral of sound. He developed his own form from that of Beethoven. This structure has to be observed precisely. If, for example, in the Seventh the cymbal crash doesn’t come exactly in the middle, then in my opinion the finale doesn’t work either. That’s to do with the construction. The cymbal crash, which refers to the divine, forms the top of a pyramid. And that only works if you don’t play the first movement too slowly. Or in the Fourth Symphony, which we’re now performing: he originally gave the second movement, which is often interpreted as a funeral march, Andante alla breve, but later added Andante quasi allegretto. If you pay attention to that and don’t extend the second movement too long, the fourth movement works much better. For the orchestra, on the other hand, Bruckner is really difficult in terms of strength and playing technique, especially in his obsession with rhythm. There are also special dotted notes that have to be executed correctly, which is not easy. You can’t just rely on the beautiful, rich sound. I don’t know of any music from this period that has such rhythmic extravagances – that must have been really important to Bruckner. And I advise listeners to really get involved in the journey that a Bruckner symphony represents.
What does it mean to you to perform this symphony in Ansfelden as an open air event?
I have absolutely no problem with that, especially after 22 years in the USA. You basically have to play for the microphones. Despite the acoustically difficult conditions, you have to act as if you were at home, you have to think about that.
The concert will be broadcast in the Donaupark . . .
I think that’s great. While some people used to fear that something like that would popularize the music, today we know the value of such broadcasts. I think it’s fantastic when people come together to celebrate Anton Bruckner’s 200th birthday – even if it’s just with a broadcast. That’s wonderful. That way, many people can see how valuable this music is – and they can be there when an orchestra deals with it intensively. If something of the depth of engagement and the heartfelt feelings of this music is transmitted, then that is a great enrichment.
What relationship does the Cleveland Orchestra have with Anton Bruckner, which was certainly influenced primarily by you?
My predecessors also played Bruckner again and again, but during my time we naturally intensified this. We once performed four Bruckner symphonies at Lincoln Center, and it was no coincidence that I was awarded the Bruckner Society’s medal of honor. I have always made sure that this music has a natural place in the repertoire. Now that I am leaving in three years, my musicians have given me a list of pieces that they definitely want to play – and lo and behold, Bruckner is on it. It was certainly an awakening for the orchestra when we played in St. Florian for the first time. The acoustics there simply solve any balance problems that you can have in a conventional concert hall. And I believe that Bruckner contributed to this in each of his works.
The Brucknerhaus Linz was important for your career. . . What are your most important memories?
When it opened in 1974, I had just started music school. The Brucknerhaus became my place of education. I heard the Vienna Philharmonic live for the first time there, as well as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. And the list is long: Wilhelm Kempff, Anton Dermota . . . When you sit in concerts of the greats as a young person and have an afternoon of piano and violin study behind you, you realize that the bar is set high. That was a great incentive for me – and it was impressions from the Brucknerhaus that had a big impact on me. When I return today, I remember many of the musical “crimes” I “perpetrated” there. It is a wonderful feeling, simply like coming home.
