Oregon Music News

Photo by OREGON SYMPHONY/Leah Nash

Just this past week, it was announced that Oregon Symphony music director Carlos Kalmar will take over the conducting reigns of the Orquesta Sinfónica de RTVE during the 2011-2012 season. The RTVE, one of four symphonic ensembles in Madrid, Spain, performs a full series of classical concerts that are broadcast on TV and radio. The RTVE website contains the press announcement (in Spanish).  

I wanted to know more Kalmar’s new work arrangement and how that will fit with his job with the Oregon Symphony. So, I met him at his office in downtown Portland and peppered him with a few questions.  

Can you tell us a little more about the orchestra in Madrid?  

Kalmar: It is larger in size than the Oregon Symphony with probably around a hundred musicians.  

The radio symphony orchestras in Europe have traditionally played a lot of modern music, including the new music from the home country. But that role has changed over the years, especially in Austria where its radio symphony orchestra is not as adventurous as it used to be.  

The RTVE orchestra has a well-balanced program, but, of course, any new conductor will discover a niche here and there of music that has not been touched. When I took over the Oregon Symphony, it was very centered on the Romantic repertoire of a certain era with occasional glimpses of music from other periods. Now the orchestra is pretty much everything under the sun. And the RTVE orchestra in Madrid is doing everything as well.  

Three days ago, I received a message from the RTVE, because I’m creating programs for the next season, and I asked what standard repertoire symphonies have not been played over the past five years. The list that they sent to me was very short.  

This is an orchestra that gives over twenty subscription concerts. They don’t have a pops series. They do a number of special concerts, just like we do in the Oregon Symphony.  

How many concerts will you be doing with them?  

Kalmar: In the first two seasons, I will give them twelve weeks. We haven’t figured out how many concerts will be subscription and how many will be specials. They typically do more special concerts than we do at the Oregon Symphony. We have about a year and a half to make adjustments. My feeling is that a music director should do half of the subscription concerts plus one. The people at the RTVE orchestra have told me that traditionally the music director does not do half of the subscription concerts. So, we’ve got room for discussion about that topic.  

You are going to be very busy, bouncing from Madrid to Portland and back.  

Kalmar: I’m not sure yet how my calendar is going to work out. The difficulty, aside from the travel, is that the schedules of the orchestras have to be just right. That’s why I went to my English management, which covers a lot of countries. I told my English manager that she will be assigned the task of assembling my calendar.  

Over the years, I’ve always done my own calendar, but it’s a lot of work. You always have to consult with four people at the same time about the same dates. Now that everything is a little more complicated, I don’t want to do that anymore.  

As a result I won’t have all that much additional work. Starting in September of 2011, my guest conducting will be substantially reduced.  

Since you enjoy leading concerts of new works, when do you have time to study them? Do you study in airplanes?  

Kalmar: Yes, of course, I have to use my travel time in airplanes! I’m fortunate to have the ability to learn pieces very fast – from 0 to 85% very quickly – depending on the difficulty of the piece. Of course, it’s the 15% that is left that makes the performance worthwhile. That 15% requires more time and several visits to the piece of music. I know by experience that a piece gets better after you visit it a second time, and, of course, it continues to improve from there… hopefully!  

I’m not interested in doing the same pieces over and over again. I have colleagues who build a season on 15 pieces – give or take. That’s all they want to focus on. It’s a different approach to the job, but that doesn’t do the job for me.  

If I’m a composer, what the best way for me to get you to consider my work?  

Kalmar: Just send it to me at the Oregon Symphony.  

Then I just have to hope that you take a look at it?  

Kalmar: It happens, but it takes time. I get a lot of pieces to look at.  

[Kalmar pointed to some bulky manila envelopes on one of the shelves that line the walls of his office.]  

Composers usually send me a score of their music, and they also send a CD if they have one. The recording makes the process of going over the score much faster. I always invite composers to send me their works, but advise them that it might take time before they hear back from me.  

What is the most difficult aspect of being a conductor and what is most enjoyable?  

Kalmar: The most enjoyable aspect is the magic moment that happens during some concerts when you hear and feel the unification of what you are doing with your musicians and you have a sense of unity with your audience. It’s incredibly rewarding. When I lose the sense that we are playing and you behind me are listening, then there’s a sense of separation. You have to work at overcoming this sense of separation. But when the unity between the musicians and the audience happens – that’s truly magical.  

The most difficult thing for a conductor is to deal in the right way with people. I see this in a broad context. Part of my job involves looking at scores, figuring out music, listening to music, getting an idea of what I want to do to overcome the technical difficulties of the piece. But the real challenge is beyond how rehearsals work and learning music. The most difficult part of my job is how to provide the real leadership that this needed for this job and at the same time have very open ear and heart to what people bring to the table. That’s very obvious in rehearsal work, because I have very talented musicians in front of me and they bring something to the table. I always see that as a give and take. The same applies to situations at the office when we need to talk over things to solve a problem. Working with people can be difficult and presents challenges, but I say this in the most positive way. I don’t say that this is the biggest burden of my job. You learn a lot about the human species and about yourself, and I am still learning.  

You will be coming back to Portland on April 24th to conduct a concert with Midori in the Sibelius Violin Concerto. Will you be doing some guest conducting while you’re away?  

Kalmar: It’s not that much, but I’ll be conducting the Nashville Symphony next week and follow that with a week in Madrid with the RTVE orchestra. Then I’ve got a little time off before going to Dublin to conduct the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, which is the orchestra for Irish radio.  

You were just in Ireland a couple of months ago.  

Kalmar: Yes, but that time I was in Northern Ireland to conduct the Ulster Orchestra. This time I’ll be in the Republic of Ireland. It’s kind of funny because in Belfast you have to use pounds and in Dublin, you use Euros.  

Then it just depends which wallet you are using?  

Kalmar: [Laughing] That’s what I do! I carry two wallets! What else can I do!  

On Charles Noble’s blog, there was a comment that gave you the nickname of “Big Hair Daddy.”   

Kalmar: [Laughing] I saw that! Cute! Maybe some day I will transition from “Big Hair Daddy” to “Big Hair Grandpa.”