The French conductor made a very strong impression during her debut at the Metropolitan Opera. But his remarks in the New York Times were not appreciated by the musicians, who let it be known.
Nathalie Stutzmannn has just made a remarkable debut at the pulpit of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in New York where, for the past few days, she has been conducting not one but two Mozart operas: The Magic Flute et Don Giovanni. “The orchestra sounded perfectly for her, with weight without being too heavy, the winds were beautifully present in the textures from the Overture, the singers never covered. There was no sense of rush taking the place of liveliness, but the tenderness never got bogged down either,” the reviewer wrote. New York Times about Don Giovanni.
Everything was therefore for the best in the best of all possible worlds, until the conductor made comments in the same newspaper that upset the musicians: “There is nothing more boring than being an orchestral musician and being in the depths of a cave without having the slightest idea of what is happening on the stage. Can you imagine spending three or four hours, five for Wagner, at the bottom of a pit and having no idea what is going on above you? »said the one who is now musical director of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.
Susceptibility
The intention was not malicious, since Nathalie Stutzmann was delighted that, in The Magic Flute, the orchestra is exceptionally elevated and certain instrumentalists take part in the theatrical action. But nothing being more likely than a symphony orchestra, the words of the conductor provoked the annoyance of the musicians of the Met who, on their Facebook page, did not fail to make it known. “We were discouraged to read our guest conductor’s guess that the Met orchestra might get bored playing in the pit”, they wrote, before arguing: “The time we spend in the orchestra pit is anything but a mundane experience, and we do not consider it a cave. Even if we don’t see the great visual spectacle unfolding above us, we know exactly what is happening on stage. We would like to highlight the passion we have for our craft and the enormous amount of preparation we undertake to have a deep understanding of what we cannot see. We study the score and the synopsis and are perfectly aware of our role at all times – sometimes support, sometimes soloist. We intuitively understand the challenging acoustics of our huge opera house, and have cultivated a state of artistic flexibility that allows us to smoothly adapt to the sometimes difficult times of live theater. We are very attentive to the needs and choices of singers, who are constantly evolving, and we like to collaborate with them to combine the art of the stage with that of the pit. This is how we offer our audience a new artistic perspective, night after night. In short, we are not bored, but exhilarated. And we are extremely proud of our ability to support opera’s biggest stars and be one of the greatest orchestras in the world. »
Nathalie Stutzmann must find the Met orchestra in a few hours for a new performance of The Magic Flute. To grease the wheels, it is likely that a little discussion will be needed…
2023-05-22 10:47:00
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