Maestro In Spe

Hvor er chefdirigenten? #2

noreply@blogger.com (Jesper Nordin) — Tue, 28 Apr 2015 09:12:00 +0000

For fire år siden skrev jeg dette indlæg om fordelingen af chefdirigenter i Danmark i sammenligning med Finland, Sverige og Norge.
Hvorfor ikke følge op, og se om tingene har ændret sig.

Lige som i den første udgave, har jeg begrænset mig til de ti største institutioner og derunder inkluderet to kor og samt det største militærorkester i det pågældende land.

Finland

Finnish National Opera: Michael Güettler (Tyskland) - P.S. Den Finske nationalopera har 7 finske gæstedirigenter i denne sæson. Til sammenligning har Det Kgl. Teater 1 dansk gæstedirigent i sæsonen 14/15; nemlig Michael Schønwandt i Saul og David)
Helsinki Philharmonikerne: John Storgårds (Finland)
Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra: Hannu Lintu (Finland)
Tampere Philharmonic: Santtu-Mattias Rouvali Finland)
Tuurku Philharmonic:. Leif Segerstam (Finland)
Lahti Symphony Orchestra: Okku Kamu (Finland)
Kuopio Symphony Orchestra: Alberto Hold-Garrido (Spanien/Danmark)
Oulu Sinfonia: Johannes Gustavsson (Sverige)
Finnish National Operachoir: n/a
Kaartin Soittokunta (den Finske livgarde): Jyrki Koskinen (Finland)

Nu: 10 stillinger, 6 finske chefer - jeg kunne ikke finde oplysninger på de største Finlske kor. Måske nogen kan hjælpe?
Før: 10 stillinger 9 finske chefer
P.S. Finnerne er gode til at udskifte afgående Finske chefdirigenter med nye Finske chefdirigenter.

Sverige

Kungliga Filharmoniska Orkestern: Sakari Oramo (Finland)
Sveriges Radios Symfoniorkester: Daniel Harding (England)
Göteborgs Symfoniker: Kent Nagano (1.gæstekapelmester) (Japan)
Kungliga Hovkapellet Leif Segerstam (Finland)
Kungliga Operakören: James Grossmith (Skotland)
Helsingborgs symfoniorkester: Stefan Solyom (Sverige)
Malmö symfoniorkester: Marc Soustrot (Frankrig)
Göteborgs Operan: Henrik Schaefer (Tyskland)
Norrköpings symfoniorkester Michael Francis (England)
Arméns Musikkår: Mats Janhagen (Sverige)

Nu: 10 stillinger, 2 svenske chefer
Før: 10 stillinger, 4 svenske chefer

Norge

Oslo-Filharmonien: Vasily Petrenko (Rusland)
Den Norske Nationalopera: John Helmer Fiore (USA)
Bergen filharmoniske orkester: Andrew Litton (USA) / Edward Gardner (England)
Trondheim Symfoniorkester: Krzysztof Urbanski (Polen)
Stavanger Symfoniorkester: Christian Vasquez (Venezuela)
Kristiansand Symfoniorkester: Giordano Bellincampi (Danmark)
Kringkastningsorkestret: Miguel Harth-Bedoya (Peru)
Operakoret: David Maiwald (Germany/France)
Det Norske Solistkor: Grethe Petersen (Norge)
Forsvarets Stabsmusikkorps: Andreas Hanson (Sverige)

Nu: 7 stillinger, 1 norsk chef
Før: 10 stillinger, 3 norske chefer

Danmark

Det Kongelige Kapel Michael Boder (Tyskland)
Radiosymfoniorkestret: Fabio Luisi (Italien)
Sjællands Symfoniorkester: Lan Shui (Kina)
Odense Symfoniorkester: Alexander Vedernikov (Rusland)
Århus Symfoniorkester: Marc Soustrot (Italien)
Aalborg Symfoniorkester: Rumon Gamba (England)
Sønderjyllands Symfoniorkester: Shao-Chia Lü (Taiwan)
DR Koncertkoret/Vokalensemblet: Florian Helgath (Tyskland)/Marcus Creed (England)
Den Jyske Opera: Ingen chefdirigent
Livgardens Musikkorps: Ingen chefdirigent (såvidt vides?)

Nu: 8 stillinger, 0 danske chefdirigenter
Før: 10 stillinger, 2 (1½) danske chefdirigenter
DRUO er ude af listen, da orkestret som bekendt er nedlagt. Jeg har i stedet taget DR's kor med, da det er det største af de professionelle kor herhjemme. For en god ordens skyld skal nævnes, at de to næststørste kor (Operakoret og Den Jyske Operas kor) begge har danske korsyngemestre, henholdsvis Bo Lundby Jæger og Kaare Hansen)

Denne simple undersøgelse taler sit tydelige sprog. Finland er stadig milevidt foran de øvrige nordiske lande med hensyn til at udvikle og ansætte egne dirigenter. Danmark ligger nogenlunde på niveau med Sverige og Norge, da tendensen dér har været den samme som herhjemme; man ansætter bare ikke chefdirigenter fra eget land.
.
Hvad gør Finland anderledes? Det håber jeg de danske orkestre, kor, musikkonservatorier og kulturelle embedsmænd stadig er nysgerrige efter at finde ud af.
Det er en ringe trøst at Giordano Bellincampi og Alberto Hold-Garrido er danske (eller i hvert fald delvist danske) chefdirigenter med egne orkestre i Norden, for det gavener ikke det danske musikliv en tøddel.
Vi skal lære at udvikle og vedligeholde en stærkere dansk dirigentstand, og orkestrene og skal også yde en indsats herhjemme - en aktiv og vedholdende indsats, som helt konkret indbefatter at man i samarbejde med Kulturministeriet opretter et antal mindre, tidsbestemte stillinger til unge, danske gæstedirigenter (a lá den ordning de f.eks. har i Helsingborgs Symfoniorkester).
Det er vel i alles interesse, at man også i fremtiden har stærke, danske dirigenter, som kan tage kampen op med de internationale gæstestjerner og være med til at præge og udvikle dansk musikliv?

Det er værd at nævne som afslutning på denne lille undersøgelse, at en lille håndfuld danske dirigenter har god succes og indtil flere chefdirigentstillinger i udlandet (Michael Schønwandt, Thomas Dausgaard, Thomas Søndergaard, Giordano Bellincampi).

Kommentarer?

- Jesper

Restraint & humility (a small youtube treasure hunt)

noreply@blogger.com (Jesper Nordin) — Fri, 16 Jan 2015 10:44:00 +0000

In this post, I will simply guide you to a couple of the more interesting conducting videos I have come across on youtube. Each video touch on an important aspect of conducting.

"I am glad that noone could destroy my soul"

The seemingly ancient Kurt Masur, with some moving words on silence and childhood.
(at 2 min. 23 seconds in)

"More and more I less believe in what a conductor can do"

From Ricardo Muti - a master of restraint (if not exactly a master of the english language) - come wize words about letting musicians do what they do best, without meddling. I love this approach. The best conductors, conduct themselves 'out of the picture' so to speak. They are merely channels for the music and the musicians, not themselves more interesting or important than those that compose and play.

"Big promise, but it didn't happen"

As a contrast to Muti, here is a man of no restraint, Valery Gergiev. I admire his insane energetic output, and at the same time, I recognise how that conducting student must have felt at that moment that Gergiev took over. He no doubt left the podium feeling extremely insignificant. I always hated that feeling as a student in masterclasses.

Smug Dude

That look on his face at the very end means: "Did you guys see how good I was?"
I don't know why that bugs me, but it does to no end. That said, The Dude is one of the busiest, most popular conductors in the entire world, and I'm sort of a provincial nobody.

Concert Format Ideas

noreply@blogger.com (Jesper Nordin) — Wed, 24 Sep 2014 09:03:00 +0000

Here's another set of Concert Format Ideas for all thoes out there who are hungry to renew your orchestras profile.

All these ideas are ©Jesper L. S. Nordin 2014 and may not be used without my prior consent or participation. Inquiries can be made at jn@jespernordin.dk

"Play vs. Pay"

Very simple: Set up an equation, based on your union regulations, wherein you calculate exactly how much of a given piece the audience gets to hear, based on how much they pay at the entrance.
Entrance fee is up to each audience member, but their gathered total determines how much music they get to hear. This should serve to clearly illustrate the dangerous discrepancy between actual and percieved value of a classical concert.

Very speculative example:
Total ticket sales equals 1000$.
Price for a musician pr. minute, based on union regulated fees = 0,5$.
Total number of musicians = 25.
Minutes of music performed: 1000/25*0,5 = 20 minutes of music.

"But wait, how is that possible?? That is ridiculous...1000$ for only 20 minutes of chamber orchestra? That only amounts to something like an early Haydn symphony?"
Yes, isn't that weird? What if ticket prices reflected the actual value (as calculated according to union regulations)? Would anyone want to pay 200$ to hear a Brahms symphony, and that's not even including the conductor's exorbitant fee? The answer is of course a big, resounding "No!".

"Variations"

Inspired by italian clown Paolo Nani's brilliant performance piece "The Letter", this set of variations is not a set of musical variations, but a set of circumstancial variations. You pick a piece of music, and you perform x times, depending on the number of variations.
Examples:

With the back to the audience
With the lights off
With orchestra members switching instruments
With the orchestra conducting and the conductor singing
With everyone in the orchestra singing their part
With the orchestra smiling (forced)
With the orchestra lying on their back
With the orchestra mixed in with the audience
The music is played backwards. The conductor must conduct backwards etc.
etc. et.

"Out with the old, in with the new"

Select a know piece of music (i.e. "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik"). Start the performance with a band consisting of Period Instruments, tuned to 415hz. One by one, replace the musicians with other musicians playing modern instruments tuned to 443hz. Physical and visual representation of the whole period vs. modern instrument discussion. How will it sound to the audience? More and more disturbing as the ratio of 415 to 443 approaches 1:1, and then gradually resolving into a modern orchestra sound.
Whether or not to lock instruments and musicians into their tuning by using barrée (to avoid any natural adjustments they might make) or other accesories is up to you.
Maybe you want groups of instruments tune to 331 filling in the middleground?
Maybe you want only strings, maybe you want harpsichords tuned to each group etc.

More concert format ideas here and here

Udtalelser vedrørende lukningen af DRUO

noreply@blogger.com (Jesper Nordin) — Wed, 10 Sep 2014 22:10:00 +0000

Herunder et udpluk af kommentarer, udtalelser og bemærkninger der vedrører lukningen af DR Underholdningsorkesteret.
Disse er taget fra Facebook opdatereringer, blogindlæg, kommentarer og lignende og fremstår uredigeret og i tilfældig rækkefølge.

Skriv til jn@jespernordin.dk hvis du har links til relevante udtalelser som bør inkluderes i denne dokumentation.

Se desuden denne ressource-samling vedrørende lukningen af DRUO

___

Maria Rørbye Rønn, Generaldirektør i DR (via bt.dk chat)

[...] jeg er enig i at det er et tab, at Orkesteret bliver lukket...Og jeg har stor forståelse for den sorg og vrede som musikere og artister giver udtryk for. Men når man vælger fra politisk hold, at skære i DRs rammer, og stille nye krav, så har det desværre konsekvenser. Også for kulturen

Tine Smedegaard Andersen, kulturdirektør; DR (via Politiken.dk)

Vi skal skabe kultur. Ligesom Det Kongelige Teater skal levere teater, ballet og opera, skal vi levere levende og klassisk musik på højeste niveau, og det gør vi med blandt andet store resultater i Koncerthuset. Den klassiske musik kan ikke leve på markedsvilkår, men er en vigtig del af vores kulturarv.

Michael Christiansen, formand for DR's bestyrelse

DR's bestyrelse har i dag drøftet situationen om beslutningen om nedlæggelse af DR UnderholdningsOrkestret og gennemførelsen af en ny musikplan. Bestyrelsen besluttede at afvente kulturministerens udspil til ny public service-kontrakt mellem regeringen og DR. I perioden indtil da vil DR i ønsket omfang fortsat bidrage til belysning af baggrunden for og effekten af de trufne beslutninger, herunder om DR's nye musikplan« (Politiken 14/9)

Adam Fischer, Chefdirigent for DRUO

Statement from Adam Fischer
Chief conductor, The Danish National Chamber Orchestra

Like most of those affected I have only now heard of the plans to close down the Danish National Chamber Orchestra. Right now I am in a state of shock; I can hardly believe that this is true, nor can I envisage an artistic future without the orchestra. I have been working with the musicians for 17 years. We have succeeded in developing an internationally unique and characteristic musical style admired – and rightly so – all over the world.

And at the very time when our work is beginning to bear fruit, when the orchestra is getting invitations from important music centres worldwide, all is in ruins – I would have sworn this was impossible. To destroy is easy; to build up and restore the lost confidence is many times harder. We do not all have 17 more years to begin all over again. I certainly do not.

Over the past few years I have seen constantly enthusiastic audiences in Copenhagen. And I'd like to think that sometimes during the concerts we have created some truly life-affirming moments. I know that the orchestra costs money. But I would like to believe that the moments of joy that the musicians of the Danish National Chamber Orchestra give their audiences are more valuable. Anyone who has ears to hear will know what I mean.
I appeal to all those who have taken pleasure in our concerts, who have delighted in experiencing Beethoven and Mozart, to think about how the orchestra can be saved.

Adam Fischer
September 10th, 2014

Musikerne i DRSO (Danmarks Radios Symfoniorkester)

Støtteerklæring

Mandag morgen d. 8. september modtog vi beskeden om, at DR skal spare penge og derfor har besluttet at nedlægge ca. 200 stillinger og lukke DR UnderholdningsOrkestret!
I DR SymfoniOrkestret er vi chokerede og lamslåede .
Det er rystende at forestille sig, at om 3 måneder findes DRUO ikke mere. Ganske enkelt ubærligt at tænke på!
Med et politisk vedtaget medieforlig bliver dansk musikliv amputeret per 1/1 2015. Dansk kultur bliver fattigere. Den danske befolkning bliver fattigere.
Som public-service station har DR en mangfoldighed, der er enestående. Ikke mindst takket være de mange forskellige ensembler i DR Koncerthuset, er der mulighed for stor fleksibilitet i programlægningen. Man kan lave egenproducerede udsendelser med varieret musikalsk indhold.
For os er DR UnderholdningsOrkestret en stor og markant del af det indhold. Og netop indhold er det, der gør DR unikt.
Det er vi stolte af og det er vores højeste ønske at det må forblive sådan.
Musikerne i DR SymfoniOrkestret

DR KoncertKoret

Støtteerklæring
I DR’s professionelle kor beklager vi voldsomt nedlæggelsen af DR Underholdningsorkestret.
Familien af DR’s ensembler har til opgave at bevare og udvikle den klassiske musik. Med tabet af Underholdningsorkestret uddør et betydningsfuldt familiemedlem – og dermed en vigtig del af den danske kulturarv.
Danmark vil mangle et orkester, som når ud til det brede publikum og som bygger bro mellem kunstarterne. Et orkester, som i særdeleshed er eksperter i at åbne dørene til den klassiske musik.
DR’s professionelle kor mister en helt enestående samarbejdspartner indenfor både kammermusik, barokmusik, klassik samt til de mere alternative projekter. Gennem orkestret har korene tillige fået muligheden for at nå et meget større og anderledes publikum.
Et orkester som DRUO kommer ikke igen. Det bliver ikke det samme – det bliver ikke lige så godt.
Vi håber og appellerer til at orkestret må reddes.

DR VokalEnsemblet og DR KoncertKoret

Musikerne i Det Kongelige Kapel

Vi musikere I Det Kgl Kapel er bestyrtede over DR ledelsens planer om nedlægge DR Underholdningsorkestret. Orkestret har i mange år, sammen med chefdirigent Ádám Fischer, specielt i det wienerklassiske repertoire leveret friske og provokerende tolkninger, som har givet genlyd internationalt og inspireret mange kolleger i musiklivet. Også i Det Kongelige Kapel har DR Underholningsorkestrets tilgang til Mozart, Beethoven og Haydn sat sine spor. Samtidig er DR Underholdknngsorkestret med deres forankring i populærmusikken det orkester i Danmark som når ud til det bredeste publikum. Orkestret er i kraft af dets kvalitet og alsidighed det fineste eksempel på public service i DR, og en nedlæggelse vil ikke kun være en katastrofe for de berørte musikere og deres publikum, men for hele Danmarks kulturliv.Måtte denne beslutning blive omgjort.
På vegne af Det Kgl. Kapels musikere,
Bestyrelsen for Kapelforeningen

LandsdelsorkesterMusikernes Fællesråd

Støtteerklæring

LandsdelsorkesterMusikernes Fællesråd følger med stor bekymring den aktuelle situation i DR.
I begyndelsen af denne uge meddelte DR, at DR Underholdningsorkestret skal nedlægges, som følge af besparelse i forbindelse med det nye medieforlig.
Med en nedlæggelse af DR UnderholdningsOrkestret påfører DR det danske musikliv et meget alvorligt tab.
DRUO har med sin særegne profil stor betydning som kulturformidler, for vækstlaget og rekrutteringen af fremtidens musikere.
Den klassiske musiks betydning for menneskers selvforståelse og identitet, bør ikke undervurderes - men den er også skrøbelig.
Med nedlæggelsen vil færre mennesker opleve mødet med levende klassisk musik, og den klassiske musik i Danmark vil være blevet mere utilgængelig for den almindelige dansker.
En udvikling der berører alle musikere og orkestre i Danmark i negativ retning.

LMF vil derfor udtrykke sin fulde støtte til DRUO og appellere til DR om at omgøre sin beslutning.

Forsvarets Musikkorps: Bevar DRUO

Så gjorde de det igen – Danmarks Radio (DR). Med et pennestrøg slettede de et stykke dansk musik- og kulturhistorie med nedlæggelsen af DR UnderholdningsOrkestret.
En kulturel deroute, der heldigvis har givet anledning til store protester i såvel Danmark som i resten af verden. Vi – de tre professionelle musikkorps i Danmark - vil gerne tilslutte os protesterne.
Det er ganske enkelt urimeligt, at et velrenommeret, velspillende og alsidigt orkester som DR UnderholdningsOrkestret nu må lade livet, fordi DR’s generaldirektør, Maria Rørbye Rønn mener, at DR i højere grad skal være til stede på de sociale medier!
Behøver nedlæggelsen af DR UnderholdningsOrkestret være prisen for det?
Vi kunne godt pege på andre områder, hvor der kunne spares betydelig flere penge, end det koster at holde DR UnderholdningsOrkestret kørende.
Bestyrelsesformand Mikael Christiansen sagde, i den pressemeddelelse, der blev udsendt i forbindelse med nedlæggelsen af DR UnderholdningsOrkestret:
”Vi ønsker at omlægge DR's levende musiktilbud, så befolkningen med DR's ensembler også i fremtiden har mulighed for at opleve levende musik af allerhøjeste kvalitet!”
Hvorfor så lukke DR UnderholdningsOrkestret?
Det er jo netop orkestret, der har stået for den allerhøjeste kvalitet og det oven i købet indenfor mange forskellige genrer? Et stykke dansk musik- og kulturarv, der med et pennestrøg bliver sendt på pension – selvom alle andre end DR’s ledelse kan se, at den er helt gal.
”DR UnderholdningsOrkestret repræsenterer en særlig del af den danske sjæl gennem 75 år. Skal alt det virkelig forsvinde? Havde aldrig troet, at ånden ville flyve så lavt i DR. Sørgeligt,” skrev Venstres Jens Rohde i Berlingske Tidende.
Vi kan ikke være mere enige. Hvor er det sørgeligt. Lad os i fællesskab arbejde for, at det ikke kommer til at ske. Lad os vise, at vi kan stå sammen om en sag, der vedkommer os alle – og som alle i hele Danmark har en holdning til.
Bevar UnderholdningsOrkestret! DR skal have bredde og niche, men forsvinder nicherne, står kun bredden tilbage, og den er der jo mange, som har (citat: Per Stig Møller).

Eric Enstrøm, orkesterchef, Livgardens Musikkorps
Thomas Späth, orkesterchef Slesvigske Musikkorps
Henrik Thorngaard, orkesterchef, Prinsens Musikkorps

Musikerne i Berliner Philharmoniker

Berliner Philharmoniker er rystede over DR's beslutning om at nedlægge DR UnderholdningsOrkestret. Det er en skændsel for dansk kulturpolitik at lukke dette orkester, der under Adam Fischers mangeårige og fremragende ledelse har været en enestående del af det danske kulturlandskab. Vi støtter derfor uforbeholdent vores danske kolleger.
Med venlig hilsen, Berliner Philharmonikerne.

Medlemmer af Wiener Philharmonikerne

The Vienna Philharmonic wishes to express with this statement its solidarity with the Danish National Chamber Orchestra.
The shutting down of a musical ensemble always signifies a loss of established culture and musical diversity. Any orchestra, and especially the DNCO, which under the direction of Adam Fischer has become an indispensable component of Danish cultural life, promotes the propagation of musical knowledge and, in addition, strengthens identification with one's own culture.
The Vienna Philharmonic stands behind its Danish colleagues and hopes that in this wonderful country, people will reconsider and do everything possible to keep this orchestra alive!

Musikerne i Oslo Filharmonien

Til ledelsen for DR
Kulturvandalisme!
Vi leser med stor beklagelse og forferdelse, at ledelsen i DR har besluttet å legge ned Underholdningsorkesteret.
Vi har forståelse for utfordringene det er å styre budsjettene i en trang økonomi, men å legge ned Underholdningsorkesteret gjør så stor skade på hele Danmarks kulturarv, at vi vanskelig kan forstå at DRs ledelse er klar over hva den er i ferd med å gjøre.
Det tar mange tiår å bygge opp et symfoniorkester. Det består for det første av hver enkelt musikers ekspertise, som er bygget opp gjennom et langt liv med mange tusen timers øving. All denne ekspertisen skal så settes sammen til et orkester, gjennom møysommelig leting og utsiling. Dernest skal disse musikerne gjennom tusener av timers samspill, danne den unike organisme som utgjør et symfoniorkester.
Underholdningsorkesteret er ikke bare en pool av dyktige musikere, men en slik organisme, som utgjør en viktig del av Danmarks kulturliv.
Ved å legge ned Underholdningsorkesteret rammer dere ikke bare hver enkelt musiker i orkesteret, dere gjør også Danmark til en fattigere kulturnasjon.
Det er ufattelig og tragisk at noe som har blitt møysommelig bygget opp gjennom 75 år, skal kunne tilintetgjøres av en uklok beslutning på et møte for å spare penger.
Vi avslutter derfor med å sitere en god gammel norsk fjellvetsregel:
DET ER INGEN SKAM Å SNU!
Hilsen musikerne i Oslo-Filharmonien

Musikernes Fællesorganisasjon i Norge

Bevar DR UnderholdningOrkesteret!

Musikernes fellesorganisasjon i Norge har med vantro mottatt nyheten om at DR (Dansk Radio) vil legge ned det sagnomsuste UnderholdningsOrkestret fra 1. januar 2015. Orkesteret har oppnådd stor anerkjennelse og popularitet i Norge likesom i Danmark. Vi har registrert at DRs ledelse taler vakkert om å skape et nytt tilbud for å skjerpe profilen. Men det som skinner igjennom, er at her skal lange tradisjoner og et velfungerende orkester ofres og erstattes av noe som mindre og framfor alt billigere. Det har tatt 75 år å bygge opp dette orkestret, som noen nå med et pennestrøk vil rive ned i løpet av få måneder.
Vi har sett denne utviklingen i andre land i Europa, men vi trodde i det minste at våre nordiske allmennkringkastingsselskaper hadde større respekt for sitt publikum og større forståelse for sin plikt til å levere et bredt musikktilbud til hele befolkningen. Både på vegne av oss selv og våre danske kolleger beklager vi denne hodeløse beslutningen av et styre som neppe vet hva de gjør. Vår klare oppfordring er en påminnelse om den viktigste av alle norske fjellvettregler: Snu i tide! For går man for langt så er det for sent å snu.

Musikerne i Kringkastingsorkestret

Kringkastingsorkestret (KORK)
Vi i Kringkastingsorkestret (NRK) har i dag oversendt dette brevet til DRs ledelse og styre for å vise vår støtte til musikerne i DR-Underholdingsorkestret:
Kjære DRs ledelse –
kjære danske søsken med den rike kulturhistorie som vi nordmenn beundrer!
Det nordiske publikum og DRs Underholdningsorkester er i våre tanker. Som orkestrets tvilling, NRKs Kringkastingsorkester, ble vi selv - i 2005 - reddet fra nedleggelse av en fremsynt kulturminister. Siden den gang har vi styrket vår innsats og er til fulle blitt "hele landets orkester". Vi møter våre lisensbetalere der de bor – gjennom utstrakt turnévirksomhet, tv-, nett- og radiosendinger, nasjonale seremonier og i daglige møter med grunnskoleelever.
Til høsten skal NRK lansere en ny tv-serie – 10 programmer i beste sendetid - med vårt orkester i hovedrollen: "Da Kork kom til bygda". Det er NRK Kulturavdelingens største egensatsning noensinne. Den viser med humor, alvor og varme orkestrets samspill med musikere og publikum i fem norske bygder.
Vår sjefdirigent, den internasjonalt anerkjente Miguel Harth-Bedoya (bosatt i USA), valgte bort andre smigrende tilbud til fordel for oss. Han så at en lisensfinansiert allmennkringkaster kan gi sitt publikum et enestående musikktilbud gjennom et godt, allsidig og kreativt orkester. Det er fremtiden.
I den kommende tv-serien, som ellers, spiller vi - i likhet med Underholdningsorkestret - klassisk musikk, opera, rock, pop, hiphop, folkemusikk, jazz og disco. I vår tid er de vanntette skott mellom genrene heldigvis borte. Det gjør Underholdningsorkestret til et fremtidsrettet, fiks ferdig gullegg for dere. De representerer høyeste kvalitet innen alle sine uttrykk. En kvalitet som kan sette standard for hele DRs virke.
Musikeres arbeidsplasser er viktige. Langt viktigere er hvilken styrke det danske folk, samfunnsliv og demokrati henter i et levende kulturliv. Det kan ikke måles i penger.
Som kystland kjenner både Danmark og Norge nødvendigheten av broer. Underholdningsorkestret er ikke én bro, men et avansert bro- og veisystem mellom ulike musikalske landskaper, mennesker, tider og tanker. Broer er en investering, ingen ren utgiftspost.
Vi vet hvordan det gikk i eventyret da de slaktet gåsen for å hente ut gulleggene. Vi er trygge på at dere som forvalter kulturarven i H C Andersen, Carl Nielsen og Karen Blixens land, rolig legger slaktekniven ned.
La Underholdningsorkestret fortsatt skinne over Danmark!
Med vennlig hilsen
Musikerne i Kringkastingsorkestret / NRK, v/ tillitsvalgte

Pia Kjærsgaard, MF/DF

Jeg mener, det er en uanstændighed og en regulær skandale fra Danmarks Radios side, at de vælger at nedlægge netop UnderholdningsOrkestret. De kunne have valgt at nedlægge så meget andet – blandt andet Tv-kanalen DR3. Det er min opfattelse, at UnderholdningsOrkestret fortsat skal være en del af public service-aftalen, og Dansk Folkeparti har meddelt ministeren, at vi ikke ønsker det skrevet ud. (27/10)

Søren Bojer, Direktør; Den Obelske Familiefond (via Facebook)

Det er meget trist at læse at DR nu vil nedlægge DRUO. Trist fordi det er et billede på den vej samfundet går i disse år, hvor ikke blot kunstnerisk kvalitet og -kunnen får stadig trangere kår, men hvor faglig professionalisme i det hele taget bliver nedvurderet og nedprioriteret. Se på folkeskolen. Se på hospitalsvæsenet, se på hele det offentlige system.
I anledning af de nye besparelser og omprioriteringer i DR kunne jeg tænke mig at få lavet følgende undersøgelse, med udgangspunkt i 1994, hvor Danmarks Radio fik sin første DJØF-generaldirektør:
1) Hvor mange cheflag, og ansatte chefer, er der i DR i dag i forhold til i 1994?
2) Hvor mange ansatte er der i HR- og udviklingsfunktioner i DR i dag i forhold til i 1994?
3) Hvor mange ansatte er der i centralt administrative (ikke programproduktion) stillinger i DR i dag i forhold til i 1994?
4) Hvor mange ansatte er der i programadministrative stillinger i DR i dag i forhold til i 1994?
5) Hvor mange ansatte er der i egentlig programproduktion i DR i dag i forhold til i 1994? Fordelt på radio og tv.
6) Hvor mange sendetimer er der i dag - ikke genudsendelser - på radio og tv i dag i forhold til i 1994?
Mit bud på svarene er, at hvis de blev tegnet ind i en graf ville svarene på spørgsmål 1 til 3 vise en støt stigende linje over hele perioden.
Svarene på spørgsmål 4 og 5 vil vise en støt faldende linje over hele perioden, mens svaret på spørgsmål 6 formentlig vil være nærmest eksponentielt stigende.

Jacob Soelberg, direktør for Nordic Artists Management og Præsident for Malko konkurrencen (kronik i Berlingske)

[...] (det er) vigtigt at slå fast, at nedlæggelsen af UnderholdningsOrkestret ikke bare er en god løsning, men også en nødvendig løsning for at kunne bevare den danske kulturarv på højeste niveau i og uden for DRs rammer.

[...] når bare én musiker i orkestret prøver eller spiller koncert, så tæller arbejdstiden med hos resten af orkestret – selvom de faktisk ikke har været med til prøve eller spillet koncert. Man har (derfor) stort set haft en masse musikere, der har gået hjemme og lavet ingenting samtidig med, at de har modtaget en ganske stor hyre. Det skal her bemærkes, at dette også er tilfældet hos Radiosymfoniorkestret.

Et lille udpluk af reaktioner fra Facebook på Soelbergs kronik

Kirsten Nybye: Åhhh Jacob Soelberg Åhhhh - jeg er alvorligt bange for at dit indlæg vil blive læst som en jobansøgning til DR's bestyrelse og IKKE som et bidrag til fremme af dansk musikliv og kulturarv. Dit indlæg skader dine gamle kolleger og - din holdning er som det mindste naiv - i værste fald rystende uvidende.

Mette Illum Skjødt: Så usmageligt. Utroligt at han gør det.

Piet Castillo: Forklar mig lige Jacob hvordan man man kan frigøre økonomiske midler ved at afskaffe kollektive arbejdstidsregler? Musikerne får jo stadig deres løn. De kan måske pålægges anden tjeneste, men det vil jo medføre andre øgede produktionsomkostninger!

Nette Stormlund: En gang gedigent vrøvl fra ende til anden...Der er andre, som også har spekuleret i, at bare DRUO havde holdt sig til Lumbye og J. Strauss - så havde alt været godt. Det er helt i hegnet. DRUO har NETOP formået at følge med udviklingen. Løftet kvaliteten på orkesteret, samtidig med man fortsat har varetaget de populære koncerter.
Tiderne er hårde - så orkesteret har formået "både og" og ikke kun "enten eller".

Nina Fischer: Diskussionen om, hvad orkesteret har spillet eller burde have spillet er helt absurd. Det er jo ikke en autonom størrelse. DR har selv valgt, hvad der skulle på repertoiret og har selv valgt at nedlægge orkesteret, så måske det er på tide, at lægge den diskussion ned. Hvis man havde ønsket et andet repertoire, kunne man frit vælge det fra næste sæson.

Claus Efland: At en agent går ind og forsvarer(!) lukning af et orkester, er absurd. Selv i det tyske musikliv, hvor orkestrene også kæmper for at overleve, ville en lignende situation være utænkelig. Denne udmelding er intet mindre end en katastrofe for dansk musikliv.

Torben E. Lund: Jakob Soelberg har gurndlæggende ret. Problemet er bare, at dét, DR-ledelsen har valgt fra, er faktisk stilen, dvs. kulturarven - det er ikke musikerne. Det er rigtigt, at de samme musikere godt kan bevare kulturarven som personer ved at spille forskellig musik i forskellige orkestre/sammenhænge. Men det ønsker DR-ledelsen ikke. Man ønsker at udrydde kulturarven - hvis musikerne i DR-Symfoniorkestret evt. ville ændre deres opgaver i den modsatte retning og varetage f.eks. Lumbye m.m. (som var UO's oprindelige opgave) og dermed udfylde hullet efter Underholdningsorkestret, ville ledelsen også lukke SO.

Statens Kunstfonds Legatudvalg for Musik og Statens Kunstfonds Projektstøtteudvalg for Musik

Statens Kunstfonds musikudvalg beklager at samarbejde med DR UnderholdningsOrkestret falder til jorden
Huskomponistaftale støttet af Statens Kunstfond med Den Sorte Skole og DR's UnderholdningsOrkester bliver ikke til noget.
15. september 2014

Med lukningen af DR UnderholdningsOrkestret falder en flerårig huskomponistaftale med DJ-duoen Den Sorte Skole til jorden.
Samarbejdet mellem DR UnderholdningsOrkestret og Den Sorte Skole var etableret med støtte fra Statens Kunstfond i 2013 og indebærer flere ambitiøse events i de kommende år. Det er med stor beklagelse, at vi i de to musikudvalg under Statens Kunstfond nu må indse, at dette samarbejde formodentlig ikke kan gennemføres.

Udover at være et populært, folkeligt orkester har DR UnderholdningsOrkestret i de senere år markeret sig med en række nytænkende projekter og samarbejder; udover projektet med Den Sorte Skole også et samarbejde med orkestret Efterklang og for nyligt optræden på avantgardemusikfestivalen Klang i København med musik af to af vor tids mest spændende danske klassiske komponister.
I denne uge spiller orkestret i Oslo på Ultima festivalen, én af de toneangivende festivaler for moderne klassisk musik.
DR UnderholdningsOrkestret var ved at etablere sig som et stærkt aktiv for den nye danske musik indenfor den klassiske genre og i det kæmpestore, spændende grænseland, der åbner sig mellem de musikalske genrer.
I Statens Kunstfond nærer vi et stærkt håb om, at disse indsatser videreføres i Danmarks Radios arbejde med den levende musik.

Ole Hyltoft, Jyllandsposten 17/9

Hvor hører vi Hornemanns ”Aladdin-ouverture”? Denne Hornemann, som vi synger om, når vi halser rundt om juletræet til Fabers ”Sikken voldsom trængsel og alarm”: »Og hans værker spredes trindt omkring / takket være Hornemann og Bing.«
Hvor er J.P.E. Hartmann, der skrev musik til Bournonvilles elskede balletter?
Hvor er Lotte Heises oldefar, Peter Heise, med sin statelige middelalderopera ”Drot og Marsk”?
Eller Lange Müllers indsmigrende musik med og uden Holger Drachmanns litterære bistand? Melodier, der som ”Kornmodsglansen” tryller det danske landskab og dets væsen frem for vore øjne.

Henrik Marstal, Politiken 26/9

Med mindre Michael Christiansen er meget glemsom, har han forsøgt at manipulere med sandheden for at få offentligheden til at tro, at DR alene - og ikke i samråd med politikerne - afgør, hvilke kor og orkestre det skal drive for sine public service-midler.

Jakob Levinsen, Weekendavisen 12/9

Kommentar: Planen om at lukke DR Underholdningsorkestret er ikke blot bizar, men også uigennemtænkt. For uanset om den bliver gennemført, kan det meget vel allerede være DR selv som institution, der har lidt størst skade.

Af JAKOB LEVINSEN

I MORGEN lørdag kl. 19.30 spiller DR UnderholdningsOrkestret – sådan staves det officielt – sin første koncert siden den meget omtalte bekendtgørelse i mandags af, at DR’s ledelse med virkning fra nytår har besluttet at nedlægge det 75 år gamle orkester. Koncerten er den første af tre i efterårets løb med udgangspunkt i Golden Days-festivalen og dens 1914-tema, og har fået titlen ”Sigmund Freud – til fest i underbevidstheden”. Det skal nok blive muntert.
Måske kan morgendagens konferencier i Koncerthuset ligefrem give et par terapeutiske tips til de beklemte musikere. Det er nemlig skuespilleren Rasmus Botoft, der er bedst kendt som halvdelen af én af DR’s helt store succeshistorier i disse år, satireduoen ”Rytteriet”. Men faktisk er det ikke ret mange år siden, en daværende DR-chef forsøgte sig med at nedlægge netop den der satireafdeling, der da vist heller ikke så ud til at være særlig nødvendig i vore dage.

Det kan man så nu godt grine morbidt ad. Men ikke engang et sådant popsmart argument har DR’s ledelse dog rigtig kunnet få over sine læber i forbindelse med Underholdningsorkestret, og faktisk har fraværet af blot ansatser til en begrundelse for at vælge netop dette område af institutionen som det mest iøjnefaldende indslag i det fremlagte sparekatalog været forbløffende. Højst har DR’s topledelse mumlet underligt uartikuleret om at frigøre midler til streaming og events og andet kækt, som de midaldrende chefer vist gerne vil virke overbeviste om, at det der ungdom nu vil strømme til lige netop deres fornemme kanal for at opleve.
End ikke det mest nærliggende og forståelige argument, at to symfoniorkestre skulle være overdreven luksus i en kriseramt statsinstitution, blev bragt på tale. Eller jo, det er det bagefter blevet af Underholdningsorkestrets fortalere, som så omgående har problematiseret det. Der er heller ikke grund til andet.
For som det allerede er blevet sagt højlydt i adskillige forbindelser siden i mandags, er netop Underholdningsorkestret i disse år den største succeshistorie overhovedet blandt DR’s ensembler med hensyn til omstilling og udvikling. Af et halvbedaget salonorkester – for få årtier siden spillede det såmænd også til Melodi Grand Prix – er der siden midten af 1990erne blevet et forunderligt, tobenet væsen, der det ene øjeblik spiller og indspiller fabelagtig Mozart og Beethoven under den ungarske mesterdirigent Adam Fischer, det næste spiller musical og akkompagnerer popsangere. Under sin nye administrative chef Klaus Ib Jørgensen er det ydermere, som koncerten i morgen blot er ét eksempel på, begyndt at bevæge sig støt i retning af nutidig musik af adskillige slags og ikke mindst nye koncertformer.
DET STORE DR SymfoniOrkester – sådan staves også dét officielt – har selvfølgelig sine egne kvaliteter, men ingen af ovennævnte er for tiden iblandt dem. Mozart og Beethoven og andet for mindre besætninger spiller det stort set ikke længere og repertoiret er mere end nogen sinde solidt forankret i senromantik med stort udtræk, mens egentlig nytænkning ikke har præget orkestret nævneværdigt, siden dets mangeårige chef Per Erik Veng blev udrenset fra DR for knap syv år siden. Og selv om symfoniorkestret så sent som i forrige uge under nærmest nordkoreansk jubel fik præsenteret Metropolitanoperaens italienske dirigent Fabio Luisi som kommende chef, tiltræder han altså ikke officielt før i 2017.
Troværdige kunstneriske eller programmæssige argumenter for Underholdningsorkestrets tiltænkte skæbne er det således ikke til at få øje på. Nærmest endnu færre, end da den selv samme DR-ledelse for ganske nylig var stålsat overbevist om, at man da sagtens kunne styre at afholde Melodi Grand Prix på Refshaleøen, for det kunne man da. Men som en dreven analytiker, Københavns tidligere kulturborgmester Tom Ahlberg har været hurtig til at gøre opmærksom på, er forholdene i forbindelse med Underholdningsorkestret endda endnu mere spegede end som så.
For i og med, at orkestret optræder med navns nævnelse i public service-aftalen, kan DR slet ikke bare nedlægge det administrativt. Hertil kræves en overordnet politisk beslutning, som først kan tages i Folketinget senere på året. Det har givet anledning til en interessant konspirationsteori.
Nemlig, at der i virkeligheden er tale om det, amerikanerne kalder ”Washington Monument”-politik. Det vil sige et nedskæringsforslag så indlysende grotesk, at det hurtigt bliver taget af bordet igen, hvorpå man så skærer lidt mindre et helt andet sted, og alle mener at have vundet en delvis sejr. Tanken er forjættende og ligesom alle andre konspirationsteorier naturligvis også mere betryggende end mistanken om, at væsentlige ting bare sker som følge af kaos, inkompetence og uvidenhed.
Muligvis er den heller ikke helt forkert. I så fald er der bare tale om en plan og en provokation, der i sjælden grad synes at være løbet sine opfindere af hænde, DR’s garvede bestyrelsesformand Michael Christiansen inklusive. For én ting er, at modstanden mod orkesterlukningen på få dage har vist sig massiv ud over alle bredder – fra titusindvis af underskrifter på Facebook over skarpe protestskrivelser fra Adam Fischer selv, komponistforeninger og andet professionelt musikliv til højlydte mishagsytringer fra oppositionspolitikere. Søren Pind (V) har ligefrem på sin Berlingske-blog sammenlignet vore dages DR med ”Abernes Planet” (hvad der forhåbentlig ikke er nogen aber, der læser).
PÅ TIRSDAG ved 22-tiden sender DR K efter planen debatprogrammet Salon K, hvor jeg medvirker sammen med pianisten Katrine Gislinge og Copenhagen Phil/Sjællands Symfoniorkesters chef Uffe Savery. Det er optaget forrige mandag, og vi prøver både hver for sig og i munden på hinanden at dokumentere over for studieværten at nej, klassisk musik er ikke i nogen form for publikumskrise, i mange henseender dediceret tværtimod. Den kendsgerning ændrer planerne om at lukke Underholdningsorkestret, eller for den sags skyld tilsvarende offentlige orkesterlukninger i andre lande, intet ved.
Tværtimod er de seneste dages eventuelle fordomme om, at det da nok kun er finkulturelle hystader og andre bedsteborgere af den uhippe slags, der hepper på sådan et orkester, ved flere lejligheder allerede blevet pulveriseret på ny. Ikonet Bent Fabricius-Bjerre, der vel er det tætteste, musiklivet kommer afdøde Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller, har i høflige, men bestemte vendinger angrebet beslutningen i et åbent, personligt brev. Se og Hørs hjemmeside har ligeledes fundet det værdigt til en nyhedshistorie, at popsangeren Tim Christensen på Facebook udtrykker sin vrede i forbindelse med, at han selv til foråret skulle have optrådt sammen med orkestret.
DET SIDSTE er så også én af grundene til, at idéen om lukningsplanerne som en politisk provokation alligevel ikke er helt uproblematisk. For selv hvis orkestret skulle blive reddet lige om lidt (eller for den sags skyld allerede være blevet det her efter deadline), er skaden allerede sket. Alle planlagte koncerter efter 75-års jubilæet den 21. november – med Beethovens 9. symfoni, for at det ikke skal være løgn – er officielt aflyst, og dem kan man jo så ikke bare om et par måneder begynde forfra med at arrangere og hyre gæstemusikere og sælge billetter til.
Den virkelige skadevirkning ved forløbet rammer nemlig, og det uafhængigt af dets konkrete udfald, i sidste ende ikke musiklivet. Vist vil Underholdningsorkestret blive savnet af rigtig mange. Men symfonisk musik og anden langtidsholdbar kultur har trods alt overlevet det, der var meget værre, og skal nok findes i verden også længe efter at DR-byen atter er sunket i jordskælvsforkastningen ned gennem Amager Fælled.
Næh, den virkelige og højst ufrivillige provokation vil ligge i, hvis DR’s ufokuserede omgang med Underholdningsorkestret langt om længe vil kunne få også det klassiske musiklivs normalt så høflige og autoritetstro folk til at tænke ud over tunnelsynet. I dette tilfælde den – à propos Freud-koncerten i morgen – sejlivede vrangforestilling om, at såvel kulturarv som nyskabende kultur skulle være ensbetydende med en hensygnende statslig monolit, der trækker stadig mere på lerfødderne. Men nogle gange er et mediehus dog bare et mediehus, og det burde specielt i disse YouTube- og Spotify-tider efterhånden være ret indlysende, for ikke at tale om inspirerende.
SAMTIDIG ER det jo blevet langt lettere at samle ikke blot opbakning bag protester, men også økonomisk opbakning til kulturlivet uden for statsinstitutionerne. Hvad der i hvert fald ude i verden sådan set heller ikke er noget helt nyt: om små to måneder fejres 25-året for Berlinmurens fald, og efter kommunismens undergang skete der som noget af det første i russisk musikliv det, at en gruppe driftige folk i 1990 gik sammen om at finansiere landets første private symfoniorkester siden revolutionen i 1917. Det Russiske Nationalorkester, kom det ligefrem til at hedde, og det findes skam endnu.
Der er såmænd også et lille lokalt fortilfælde for tre år siden, hvor DR pludselig fandt på at nedlægge sit ellers meget værdsatte DR UngdomsEnsemblet, i daglig tale DRUEN. I stedet gik de berørte så bare i gang med at omorganisere sig og skaffe finansiering fra fonde, sponsorer og frie offentlige midler, og i dag lever det videre som Det danske Ungdomsensemble med forkortelsen DUEN. Det er der ret beset også lidt mere vingefang over.
Så er der ikke en håndfuld public service-bevidste mæcener eller kærlige fonde med samfundssind på linjen? Der er i hvert fald et frækt lille kammerorkester ude på Amager (foruden et stort, moderligt symfoniorkester, et par sprøde kor og et hårdtslående bigband), der i dén grad har fortjent at blive hjulpet fri af sin licensafhængighed. Og eksempelvis Saxo Sinfonietta vil da klinge mindst lige så naturligt som det fortænkte konceptnavn DR UnderholdningsOrkestret?

Bertel Krarup, Rektor; Det Kongelige Danske Musikkonservatorium (via Politiken.dk)

(DRUO) er en brobygger mellem genrerne, der gør, at alle kan spejle sig i det – publikum, lytterne og ikke mindst vores studerende. Vores studerende har slet ikke den snævre opfattelse af genrer, som ældre generationer har – om det er klassisk eller pop. Det eneste, de spørger om, er: Er vi fascinerede eller ej? Og det giver jeg i høj grad UnderholdningsOrkestret æren for.

Troels Ravn, kulturordfører; Socialdemokratiet

[...] jeg vil gerne bevare Underholdningsorkesteret - men jeg må respektere armslængdeprincippet og anerkende at afgørelsen ligger hos DR's ledelse. Andet vil være hykleri.

Peder Linneberg, musiker.

Kære kulturminister.
Bare fordi du ikke kan holde tonerne i hånden betyder det ikke at de ophører med at eksistere!
For hver dag der går forringes muligheden for at bevare DR UnderholdningsOrkestret uden skader.
DRUO har sin egen sjæl. Det er ikke rimeligt at gå ud fra at andre orkestre kan overtage DRUOs koncerter. Det store repertoire kræver 2 orkestre med hver sin profil.
Erkend dog at begrundelserne fra DRs ledelse ikke holder. Der er andre ting i spil som vi ikke må vide noget om. Lyt til det massive ønske fra danskerne og bevar DRUO. Lad ikke en håndfuld mere eller mindre tilfældige ledere i DR fjerne vores kulturarv.
DRs ensembler er vores musikkulturs nationalmuseum og samtidig værksteder for den kommende musikkunst. Som bekendt lever musik som kunstart, når den spilles. Til koncerten vel at mærke, det er ikke nok at stikke en plade.
DR er i sin helt egen kategori og kan ikke sammenlignes med noget andet i Danmark.
Det er ikke et kunstmuseum hvor man ikke må blande sig i udstillingerne. Det er ikke et bibliotek som selv skal bestemme bøgerne på hylderne.
Det er et helt særligt ansvar, som DR har, og det er absurd ikke at vedkende sig DRs helt særlige status i vores musikkultur. Det er ikke en hvilken som helst virksomhed, som kan bestemme sig for kun at lave vanillekranse og ikke længere makroner.
Politikerne sætter rammer, og deri kommer der indhold. Indholdet er for eksempel kunst og er op til kunstnerne, det vil politikerne ikke blande sig i.
Danmarks Radio i sig selv er ikke en ramme, men et slags konglomerat, en samling af mange rammer. Rammerne er de forskellige afdelinger hver især, også ensemblerne er hver for sig en ramme. DR kan ikke selv bestemme antallet af ensembler, politikerne har nemlig allerede bestemt, at de skal eksistere, og hvordan de skal se ud. Et af dem er Danmarks Radios UnderholdningsOrkester.
Hvis I politikere vil tale om at respektere armslængdeprincippet, vil det her sige, at I lader DRUO selv bestemme sit indhold. Armslængde handler om indholdet men ikke om eksistensen.
Hvis administratorer i DR fjerner et ensemble, brydes den aftale, som indgåes, når vi sætter vores kryds. Vi har stemt på jer, ikke generaldirektør Maria Rørbye Rønn eller hendes bestyrelse.
Marianne Jelved, du vedgår selv, at DR ikke kan nedlægge alle sine ensembler, kun nogle af dem. Men hvorfor kun et eller nogle, hvorfor lige dem og ikke de andre. Hvad er kriteriet? Tysk musik i DR SymfoniOrkestret, dansk musik i DR UnderholdningsOrkestret? Økonomi?!
Er der et kriterium eller er sandheden at man simpelthen er ligeglad?

Christian Nissen, tidl. Generaldirektør i DR (via Deadline på DR2)

På dette spørgsmål fra vært Niels Krause-Kjær:
"Må jeg spørge, har det på noget tidspunkt i din tid som Generaldirektør kløet lidt i fingrene for at lukke Underholdningsorkesteret? Var det noget i diskuterede?"

"Jamen altså, det kan jeg sige med stor sikkerhed...at det har været drøftet. Det har været inde i overvejelserne at lukke DRUO før jeg kom - altså i 80'erne - i begyndelsen af 90'erne, det blev noget vi overvejde min tid også, og det har også været overvejet inden for de sidste 10 år par gange, så det er ikke noget der pludselig kommer ned fra himlen som den store overraskelse..."

Christian Nissen (via Politiken.dk)

Orkestrene er jo egentlig noget, der ligger uden for en medievirksomheds opgave. Man kan sige, at filmstøtten er misbrug af licensmidler, og det samme kan man sige om orkestrene. Men hvis ikke DR gjorde det, skulle filmstøtten og orkestrene betales med skattemidler. Og herhjemme har vi jo stort set kun DR SymfoniOrkestret, der er et rigtigt symfoniorkester.
...
Orkestrene var nødvendige i begyndelsen, men efter at først pladerne og siden musikfilerne er kommet, kan man ikke sige, at det er noget, der er tæt knyttet til en medievirksomhed. Det er kulturpolitik.

Anders Laursen, formand; Dansk Musiker Forbund

Dette er udtryk for DRs prioriteringer af store spektakulære begivenheder i stedet for at tænke langsigtede kulturbærende foranstaltninger, der kan nå bredere ud til folket - som DR UnderholdningsOrkestret repræsenterer.

Claus Johansen, Musikjournalist

Med Adam i Paradis.

Tænk når den dag kommer, hvor en kompetent topledelse lukker et orkester, fordi det er for dårligt! Nu lukker man det med en økonomisk begrundelse, og det er jo noget, vi alle kan forstå. Penge tager vi nemlig alvorligt, især småpenge. Gennem 17 år oplevede jeg hvordan et ikke særligt godt orkester stilfærdigt, lod sig forføre og endte som et ensemble i verdensformat.

Lad andre skrive om triumfer på turneerne, om operaer og symfonier af Haydn og Mozart, der i hænderne på Adam pludselig holdt op med at være så røvkedelige, han gjorde dem til udsagn om glæde, kærlighed, vemod og trøst. Gennem 15 år fik jeg lov at præsentere hans koncerter med Underholdningsorkestret. Sammen stod han og jeg i halvmørket og ventede, "Er du nervøs?", spurgte han, "ikke når du dirigerer", sagde jeg. Hans svar var overraskende. og typisk: "Husk mig på, at jeg skal smile til hornene!" Hans temperament er gigantisk. men han smilede til alle, og viste os, hvad musik dybest set burde handle om. At vi netop nu hvor hele den klassiske musikverden har opdaget os, skal sige farvel til både ham og hans orkester, er ubærligt.

Fischer er internationalt berømmet, det skal nok gå. Musikerne er dygtige og intelligente, de klarer sig men publikum? Nu er der jo ingen til at blæse støvet væk. Der er mange gode dirigenter, men kun en som viste os hvor enkel vejen til glæden egentlig er. "Det er jo det, det hele handler om" siger han: ”Musik er som narkotika, bare billigere. Vi skal hjælpe folk med at finde deres følelser. Ad den vej kan de måske finde ud af, hvem de er.” - og nu må vi andre så selv begynde at tænke og lytte. For mig blir det sidste sted et økonomikontor.

Nikolaj Arcel, filminstruktør (via Facebook)

Har haft mange fantastiske stunder med Underholdningsorkesteret, ikke mindst under indspilningerne af filmmusikken til En Kongelig Affære. Gabriel Yared, vores Oscar vindende komponist fra Frankrig var dybt imponeret over dem, sagde det var et af de dygtigste orkestre han havde hørt - og vi taler om en mand der har indspillet filmmusik med de bedste orkestre i verden i 25 år. Skal vi virkelig sige farvel til den kæmpe kapacitet?

Benjamin Staern, komponist

Message from Benjamin Staern Composer regarding closure of DR Radiounderholdningsorkestret:

Dear friends and music lovers!
It is with dismay and great disappointment to hear such a drastic and short-sighted decision to lay down this orchestra that has for decades built and served audiences on radio and television. One can easily destroy an orchestra in 8 seconds, but it takes several decades again to rebuild it. I want the Danish Radio try to reconsider their decision not to chop down this ensemble. For recent years, they had released a very highly acclaimed recordings. for instance the complete Mozart symphonies with Adám Fischer, concerts and recordings with the rock group Efterklang that was also broadcasted on TV and released on DVD plus contemporary performances of utmost quality with highly esteemed composers from Denmark and abroad. There might be more that I haven't mentioned and would love to explore further.
An orchestra's aim nowadays is to bridge the classical music with other genres like rock, lighter repertoire, jazz, contemporary music and similar. Cultural life in Denmark will be poorer in an increasingly chilly climate in the cultural sector. Think again!
We have seen similar cases in the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, and also United States with ongoing lockouts and financial trouble. There are certainly planned cuts elsewhere that is yet undisclosed. For me it's a passion to write for orchestra, working with conductors such as spokesperson for the music and all your ideas from paper to real musicians on stage.
Closing this ensemble will put an end of an era for me working with talented musicians and for other composing colleagues from Denmark, Sweden and beyond.

I urge you this: try to find other ways to finance in the future, the government or by crowdfunding to provide funding on this delicate plant that is vanishing and fading away. I am ending this message with the words:

DR Radiounderholdningsorkestret or Danish Radio Chamber Orchestra MUST STAY!

Sincerly yours,
Benjamin Staern Composer.

Per Johansson, seniorkonsulent DAMUKO (Dansk Musikskole Konsulenttjeneste)

Lad os samle kræfterne om DRU

Politikerne har - forståeligt nok - besluttet, at DR skal spare pr. 1/1 2015. reaktionen fra DR's ledelse og bestyrelse er en DJØF automatreaktion - som er ens i alle offentlige institutioner. I deres hoveder hedder det: "skær der hvor det er politisk mest upopulært - så vil politikerne nok forbarme sig og reduceret vores besparelse - for de regner ikke med at politikerne kan holde til denne kulturbesparelse". Lad os i stedet spare på de højtlønnede men meget smalsporede djøffere i DR.

X-faktor er nu rykket ind DR’s ledelse og bestyrelse og resultatet er igen sørgeligt amatøragtigt i en organisation som ellers både aflønner og præsenterer sig som professionelle.

Lad os samle kræfterne om DRU. Jeg har de sidste dage set og hørt mange gode initiativer til forsvar for DRU. Det ligner noget, jeg har set før i musiklivet – ofte uden det ønskede resultat. Der må derfor nu oprettes en Task Force, som samler initiativer og kræfter til sikring af DRU samt oprettelse af en orkester/kor venneforening, som dækker alle de store DR ensembler. Jeg er sikker på at DR’s nuværende venneforening vil støtte dette forslag.

Vores forventninger til anvendelsen af licensmidlerne er mangfoldige, men at de primært bør udmøntes i kvalitetsudsendelser frem for administrative livremme og seler tror jeg der – udenfor DR - er enighed om.

Regnearksdrengene i DR tror at RUO kun er en udgift på et regneark – se det er virkelig en indskrænket tankegang.

Det kan se ud til at DR – som en af djøffernes højborge nu springer ud af skabet og offentligt bekender sig til det hellige almindelige exelark – men - hvor regnearket stopper – vil musikken stadig spille.

DR lefler i stadig stigende grad for laveste fællesnævner med reality-programmer, madprogrammer og vejrunderholdninger mfl. - hvor det ikke er muligt at kende forskel på DR og kommercielle kanaler. Dette gøres på trods af at det er almindelig kendt, at alle bør gøre det de er bedst til. Dette gælder også DR.

Det er derfor uklogt at slagte de aktiviteter, som gennem mange år har bevist deres værd og kvaliteter. Derved saver DR den gren over de selv sidder på. Det er meget beklageligt at DR’s bestyrelse og øverste ledelse ikke evner at perfektionere det som DR er god til og lade nye initiativer vokse sig stærke ud fra dette. Hermed mener jeg ikke, at alt skal bestå i al evighed, men at DR’s top må luge den dårlige kvalitet ud. Der er sikkert flere kommercielle kanaler, som med kyshånd vil modtage den ringe kvalitet.

Lad fornuften igen få plads på direktionsgangen – tak.

Kreeta-Julia Heikkilä, 2. Koncertmester DRUO (via Facebook)

THE BREAK-UP OF THE DANISH NATIONAL CHAMBER ORCHESTRA IS TELLING OF POLICY MAKERS' VALUES
The Danish Radio has handed in the notice for the Danish National Chamber Orchestra for the 1st of January 2015. The verdict to disband came out of the blue for the 75-year-old orchestra, who has been internationally known for their high level Mozart recordings directed by Adam Fisher and innovative and varied program. The orchestra performed music from a wide variety of genres, from baroque and modern to pop music.
Classical music often receives criticism for its high ticket prices, elitism, repetitious programs and marketing that fails to reach new, younger audiences. Ironically, classical music is even used to turn away youth at the doors of shopping centres. This, however is something that the orchestra in question (and many other symphony orchestras) cannot be identified with. I therefor think it is high time to start a discussion about general values in modern society.
In our culture entertainment, and therefore also popular music, is ever present on the TV, radio, internet and other media. Sexiness, superficiality, entertainment, idols, danceability are trends that cash in big time and move money and masses. This is directly linked to consumer culture where, unfortunately, simpleness and speed are ruling values.
I was honored to experience unforgettable moments, so in the highly produced Ledreborg and Juleshow pop concerts with a 10'000 strong audience, as performing Mozart's Symphonies in Vienna Konzerthaus. I understand the merits, purposes and values of different music genres, which is precisely why I am worried about the area of music which shows its value mainly intellectually. Culture and art are not appreciated for their intellectual or spiritual capital anymore, but only seen in terms of their financial value, which is why it they are so easily cut when the money runs out. If we can afford X-Factor and Popstars, we need to ask ourselves, why not classical music with what it has to offer?
If we expect classical music to entertain, we have missed the point. Arts' purpose in society is to pay homage to nature and to the prevailing state of being and its effects. Its purpose in society is to evoke feelings and thought. Music as art aids to clear our minds, handle different emotional states and most importantly helps us to become sensitive. It can often be near to impossible to express or describe complicated, intuitive feelings with words or lyrics which is why we use abstract music for this. Classical music specifically challenges its audience to become intellectually and spiritually sensitive. Listening to beautiful music is indeed a great place to start your mental, intellectual and spiritual development. The experience conveyed by the beauty does not just produce movement in sensitive feelings, but furthers exercise in spirituality.
Both Bach and Pythagoras saw, that music, in its highest form offers something supernatural to humans and that the goal of music is to attach the soul to its godly nature, not to entertainment. In the words of pianist Ralf Gothoni; “The magical connection to the miracle of being human is found through developing ones sensitivity”. The combinations of instruments, their frequencies and vibrations, changes in rhythm and the intricacy of harmonies help immensely with the development of ones sensitivity. After all, we are spiritual beings and classical music is one of the most powerful soul foods. The positive effects of classical music on the brain are well known, and have shown that music does not have to be directly understood to be able to be gained from. The most important thing is to welcome this intellectual challenge. I would like to argue that as classical music increases spiritual and intellectual wellbeing it benefits our happiness as well. Or like as Gustav Mahler, who wrote: ” It is a funny thing, but when I am making music, all the answers I seek for in life seem to be there, in the music.”
So I do wonder if one of our original sins, laziness, has caused intellect, challenge and self development to become the words that kill production and marketing of an entire music genre. What are the values that our politicians appreciate and how clever are their actions in the long run, however? If art institutions that further spiritual and intellectual development are driven down, leaders can only wonder at the rising cost of mental health care. If our society encourages the worship of critique-less, simple and ready-chewed culture, how can anything have an impact anymore?
Becoming cultured and educated facilitates knowledge, spiritual development and open-mindedness. The Danish National Chamber Orchestra has lead the way in this with its versatile and varied program policy and also achieved a broad, new group of patrons of classical music. I wish for the policy-makers to be cultured and educated enough to understand the value of intellectual development and to honor it in their decisions. By offering people numbing, media-sexy games we neither support intellectual development nor do we add to culture and education in society.
Kreeta-Julia Heikkilä
Violinist, 2nd Concertmaster DNCO

Ying-Hsueh Chen, percussionist & performing artist (via Facebook)

Their excuse for suddenly closing down Danish National Chamber Orchestra is the lack of money, but in reality it is because the lack of vision, culture, and passion. In short, they prioritize media bullshit which numb people collectively, than those fantastic concerts which make us sensible and intelligent human beings.

Jakob Brønnum, forfatter (via Facebook)

NEDLÆGGELSEN AF UNDERHOLDNINGSORKESTRET: DR BEGÅR HARAKIRI
September 12, 2014 at 11:10am
Når DR nedlægger Underholdningsorkestret, med den begrundelse, at folks behov har ændret sig og ændrer sig hurtigere, så man må frigøre midler til at kunne bevæge sig i de nye medier, tror DR, at man følger sin public service-forpligtelse.

Men man handler dybt umoralsk og medvirker til at public service forpligtelsen rimeligvis om nogle år vil blive indskrænket til ren nyhedsformidling i en enkelt radiokanal, fordi den er meningsløs.

Ved at jage efter et yngre, troløst publikum med en mere beredvillig brug af dette publikums hastigt skiftende oplevelsesformer, overlader DR public service forpligtelsen til markedskræfterne og de globale, ansigtsløse medieudbydere, der danner det underholdningssøgende unge publikums smag og præferencemønstre ved at skabe kortvarige modebølger, som man lokkes til at følge gennem velafprøvede reklameteknikker. Det er umoralsk og det samme som at fornægte at en formidler altid har et ansvar for det, der formidles. På den måde medvirker DR aktivt til at øge den menneskelige overfladiskhed i samfundet, hvor institutionens eksistensgrundlag er det modsatte. Det kan man undre sig over, at den strategiske ledelse ikke er dygtige nok til at have folk omkring sig, der kan fortælle dem, så de kan høre og forstå det. Det er endnu en årsag til, at institutionen rimeligvis vil få sin trods alt stadig delvis monopolagtige status yderligere indskrænket.

Radiounderholdningsorkestret er det eneste ensemble, der rent faktisk har arbejdet med at følge medievirkelighedens hastige forandring, samtidig med at det har bevaret kontakten til den menneskelige og derved moralske dannelsesdimension, som findes i den formidling, som kommer fra mennesker med et ansigt og ikke fra ansigtsløse medieudbydere. Forresten er kampen for at hamle op med dem, de ansigtsløse, tabt på forhånd. Den kræver helt andre ressourcer. Det kan man også undre sig over, at ledelsen ikke har ladet sig kundgøre om. DR kan kun overleve ved at være anderledes og bedre end de andre på en langsigtet måde, ikke på en flygtig måde. DR er ifærd med at begå selvmord.

John Kruse, Soloklarinettist; Det Kongelige Kapel (via Facebook)

Generaldirektøren for DR ,Maria Rørbye Rønn, udtalte i morges på P1: " jeg sad ved siden af en mand hvis barnebarn, Esmaralda, nærmest er født med en tablet i hånden ( her taler vi om en form for computer og ikke et meget tidligt pillemisbrug red. ) . Som syvårig kan Esmaralda allerede engelsk, hun indhenter al sin viden på nettet, fx på Youtube, så selvfølgelig skal DR være på internetplatformene!" udtalte altså generaldirektør Marie Rørbye Rønn. Jeg frygter at hvis Esmaralda en dag, måske i sine teenageår, ved et uheld kommer til at løfte sit hoved fra skærmen, ja så vil en hvidkitlet mand skyndsomst komme hende i møde og venligt men bestemt råde hende til straks at vende blikket mod skærmen igen, under henvisning til at man da forlængst har afskaffet alt af interesse ude i virkeligheden, herunder fx symfoniorkestre.
Jeg synes at det havde været fantastisk, hvis generaldirektøren havde slået fast at DR skal være den institution, som inspirerer det unge menneske til, en gang i mellem, at løsrive sig fra nettet og gå ud i virkeligheden og opleve levende musik blive spillet af rigtige mennesker. Det havde været en generaldirektør værdigt!

Peter Linneberg, Solokontrabassist; Sønderjyllands Symfoniorkester (via Facebook)

AALBORG: Det går ikke kun ud over musikglade københavnere, at DR nedlægger sit underholdningsorkester ved årsskiftet.
Således må Aalborg Kongres & Kultur Center i lighed med fire andre af provinsens musikhuse aflyse planlagte nytårskoncerter med DR Underholdningsorkestret og det engelske band The Bootleg Beatles.
- Overordnet synes jeg, det er en fejltagelse, ja nærmest en katastrofe, at DR nedlægger sit underholdningsorkester og dermed afskærer publikum fra den populære og brede del af repertoiret, siger direktør Ernst Trillingsgaard fra AKKC.
- Men jeg synes da også, at det er et slag i ansigtet over for koncerthusene i provinsen og vores publikum. For os er det en vigtig del af udbuddet af kulturoplevelser, at vi ind imellem kan præsentere de store orkestre og ensembler fra København. Vi kan sagtens leve med denne ene aflysning, men vi føler os faktisk lidt svigtet af DR, fortsætter Trillingsgaard.
- Men jeg synes da også, at det er et slag i ansigtet over for koncerthusene i provinsen og vores publikum. For os er det en vigtig del af udbuddet af kulturoplevelser, at vi ind imellem kan præsentere de store orkestre og ensembler fra København. Vi kan sagtens leve med denne ene aflysning, men vi føler os faktisk lidt svigtet af DR, fortsætter Trillingsgaard.
AKKC plejer at have fuldt hus til nytårskoncerterne.

Jesper Egelund, bassist, ensembleleder for Figura (via Facebook)

Der er noget forkælet, arrogant og gammeldags over DRs ledelses beslutning om at lukke RadioUnderholdningsOrkestret med et pennestrøg!
Forkælet fordi ledelsens lukning af kvalitativt indhold er den sikreste vej ned af bakke for enhver kultur institution, og mens sendefladen fortsat fyldes med mere ligegyldigt ugeblads materie der næppe kan kaldes kultur kan ledelsen med sin ikke helt uændret monopolistiske tænkning stadig læne sig tilbage i forvisningen om at de er en hæderkronet statsinstitution med alt hvad dette indebærer.
Og arrogant fordi, stå dog ved at det er en spareplan og ikke en musikplan - det er pinligt og smerter mig at se mine gode kollegaer udsat for den ydmygelse at blive lukket ned på mindre end 3 mdr. efter at have holdt fanen højt i 75 år!
Gammeldags fordi der ikke evnes at se ud over DR-institutionens træghed, en re-tænkning af DRUOs økonomiske model kunne vel være en vej frem - det blev gjort tidligere da man havde en krise i samme orkester.
Det ville klæde ledelsen hvis man kunne fremvise en tænkning der ikke minder om en vindmøllefabrik med svigtende omsætning! Måske er der bare for mange i ledelsen der er opvokset i DRs lukkede kredsløb!

Morten Zeuthen, Professor; Det Kongelige Danske Musikkonservatorium (via Facebook)

EFTER NYTÅR står 42 højt kvalificerede og dybt engagerede musikere på gaden. DR nedlægger DR Underholdningsorkestret.Det er første gang i danmarkshistorien at man regulært nedlægger et professionelt symfoniorkester. En uvurderlig platform for kunstnerisk skaben går nu tabt.At det netop går ud over radiounderholdningsorkestret er tankevækkende.DR Underholdningsorkestret er nok det - af alle fastansatte danske klassiske ensembler - som inden for de sidste 20 år har gennemgået den stejleste kvalitetsstigning.Med originale visioner og hårdt arbejde er her skabt et ensemble af international klasse.DR producerede selv for nylig tre helt vidunderlige dokumentarfilm om orkestret og dets chefdirigent, ' Adam Fischer og musikken: dirigenten, klangen og skæbnen'. Jeg opfordrer hermed DR til snarest at genudsende denne serie, som viser et enestående nytænkende, levende og ungt ensemble. I et forbilledligt og inspirerende samarbejde med deres chef. Her kan enhver se og begræde, hvad vi kommer til at savne.Ingen, som har hørt DR Underholdningsorkestret for nylig eller set de nævnte udsendelser, kan være i tvivl om, at ensemblet bringer publikum i kontakt med musikken som grundlæggende kunstart, en yngleplads for den ægte vare samt public service i sin reneste form.DR har været gennem flere sparerunder.At man denne gang vælger at sænke et af DR's flagskibe kan ses som et signal til politikerne. Men er dette det rigtige signal at sende? Hvor mange af de påkrævede 161 millioner sparer man reelt ved nedlæggelsen? Men - indrømmet - signalværdien er ikke til at tage fejl af.BESTYRELSESFORMAND Michael Christiansen vælger at lancere beslutningen som et fremskridt: »Med omlægningen vil DR's ensembler stå renere i deres pro-fil hver for sig og kan løfte deres nuværende profil yderligere (...). Vi ønsker at omlægge DR's levende musiktilbud, så befolkningen med DR's ensembler også i fremtiden har mulighed for at opleve levende musik af allerhøjeste kvalitet i og uden for DR's koncerthus«. DR's ledelse markedsfører lukningen som en omlægning og ikke en besparelse. Som et fremskridt og ikke en nedlæggelse.Hvorfor ikke bare vedgå, at DR nu har valgt at nedlægge et fremtidsorienteret klassisk ensemble. Som ét valg blandt mange muligheder i en kompliceret spareøvelse.Dette er et særdeles trist valg.

Bent Fabricious-Bjerre, komponist (via Facebook)

I ikke mindre end 55 år har DR UnderholdningsOrkestret været min faste partner med indspilning af filmmusik til henved 100 film og tv -serier. De har med entusiasme forstået at tilpasse sig den meget forskelligartede film musik jeg har skrevet fra den spæde begyndelse med Poeten og Lillemor over symfonisk musik til Peter von Scholten, pigtrådsmusik til Slå Først Frede, ragtime til Olsenbanden og musical musik til Forelsket i København, Hofskandalen, Matador etc.

Det virker som om man ikke har gennemtænkt konsekvenserne af den drastiske beslutning, og forhåbentlig vil man genoptage forhandlinger om en løsning på problemerne, så DR UnderholdningsOrkesteret fortsat kan fremstå som et orkester, der med lige stor indlevelse kan gå ind i alle musikkens hjørner. Det må ikke ende med et farvel til et mangeårigt samarbejde, som har betydet så meget for mine kolleger og min musik og formidlingen af den.Bevar DR Underholdningsorkesteret
Med kærlig hilsen til hele orkestret.Bent Fabricius-Bjerre

Peter Hanke, dirigent, associate fellow ved Oxford University, ekstern lektor ved KU og (via kulturledelse.dk)

Generaldirektør Maria Rørbye Rønn har pointeret, at der skal frigøres midler til udvikling, og DR har derfor sparet sig til en anselig økonomisk buffer – men er denne del af budgettet måske også sat af til politiske indrømmelser, som f.eks. at bevare orkestret helt eller delvist?
Argumentationen fra den nyligt tiltrådte kulturdirektør Tine Smedegaard Andersen er ligeså ubehjælpsom som pressemeddelelsernes vægt på, at DR vil styrke livemusikken ved at nedlægge et orkester, der nærmest er synonymt med liveoptræden. Og det ultrakorte opsigelsesvarsel må desuden medføre dyre aftrædelsesordninger til musikerne. Kan det være, at DRs ledelse venter på en politisk “nødvendighed” og ender med at trække i land, evt. sammen med en mindre merbevilling, så orkestret alligevel kan reddes?
DRs ledelse og bestyrelse er naturligvis helt klar over, at der går en kulturpolitisk proces i gang med kritiske spørgsmål til ministeren, markeringer i pressen og underskriftsindsamlinger. Bestyrelsens medlemmer og husets ledelse har tidligere vist stor flair for det taktiske politiske spil, men hvis denne manøvre er ment som en invitation til politisk dans, er der nu brudt nogle markante grænser for politisk gambling.

Anders Samuelsen, Formand; Liberal Alliance

Kerneydelserne taber til administration og ligegyldighed.
Historien om DRs besparelsesforslag om at lukke DR-underholdningsorkesteret er faktisk historien om velfærdssamfundet:
Man vælger - i et forsøg på at undgå at spare på administration, prestigeprojekter og overflødigt fedt - at skære/ forringe kerneydelserne.
I velfærdssamfundet betyder det at man fjerner køkkener fra plejehjemmene så de gamle ikke får frisklavet mad, forringer normeringer, lader syge sove på hospitalsgange - alt imens man bygger nye rådhuse med plads til en stadigt voksende administration.
I DR skærer man et af de områder hvor de faktisk leverer noget professionelt, unikt og noget ingen andre leverer: underholdningsorkesteret. Hvorfor? For at kunne frede administration, chefgange, overflødige ekstrakanaler og dække skandalehuller efter MGP.
Amatørismen og administration vinder over det det professionelle og kulturen.
Det er gennemskueligt, det er fattigt og det er en kulturel falliterklæring.
LA ønsker licensen afskaffet og erstattet af abonnementsordninger. Men så længe licensen stadig eksisterer må man kunne forvente at DR tager sig sammen og bruger pengene fornuftigt!

Mette Højbjerg, debatredaktør; Politiken 10/9

Når DR nu vælger at lukke det berømmede orkester, må det være ud fra en kalkuleret forestilling om, at politikerne fremover vil være bange for at spare på DR eller vil hoste op med en pose penge, der kan redde orkestret.
Eller også leger formanden med ilden i forhold til at påkalde den institution, han er sat til at skærme mod politikernes indblanding, fornyet og uhensigtsmæssig interesse fra de selv samme.

Casper Reiff, musiker & komponist (via Facebook)

Over 80 % af de danske kulturmidler til musik går til den klassiske musik. DR har netop besluttet at nedlægge det eneste orkester i Danmark som servicerer den rytmiske musik, Radioens Underholdnings Orkester. Det er udemokratisk i den forstand at skatteyderne betaler for 7 klassiske orkestre (de fleste uden at vide det). Oven i hatten er det licenspenge vi betaler til DR - penge, som nu i fremtiden udelukkende skal gå til klassisk og Jazz (DR Bigband). Denne beslutning bør føre til et øget politisk fokus på fordelingen af støtte til musikken i Danmark. Den rytmiske musik har været dominerende i over 60 år. Det er den, vi er vokset op med. Det er den folk "vil ha'" - men alligevel er fordelingen af de af vores skattekroner der går til musik massivt til fordel for den klassiske musik og det virker absolut urimeligt. Selvfølgelig skal den klassiske musik støttes. Selvfølgelig er der også store driftsomkostninger forbundet hermed. Men at have 7 klassiske orkestre og 0 som seriøst samarbejder med den rytmiske del af musikverdenen, er faktisk en skandale set med demokratiske øjne.

Julie Eskær, Koncertmester DRUO (via Facebook)

Jeg er chokeret og ødelagt. Det er en kold og kynisk beslutning at lukke DR Underholdnings Orkesteret ned med 3 måneders varsel! 3 måneders varsel!!!!!, ingen rysten på hånden. Det er som at smide en diamant ud. Vi har i de sidste mange år haft utroligt succes både med vores populær- koncerter og klassiske koncerter. Vi har det største publikum i Danmark, med størst variation. Vi har den ultimative bedste chefdirigent Adam Fisher. Vi har fået internationale priser for vores indspilninger af samtlige Mozart Symfonier. Det har taget 75 år at bygge orkesteret op, og tager 3 måneder at lukke alle de skønne musikoplevelser ned. Jeg græder mine tårer, men græder også for alt det publikum ville have oplevet i fremtiden og som nu ikke kommer til at opleves.

Jesper Grove Jørgensen, Formand; Dansk Kapelmesterforening (via Facebook)

"At DR har valgt at nedlægge Underholdningsorkestret er intet mindre end en katastrofe for den levende musik i Danmark. Underholdningsorkestret har gennem de senere år markeret sig som det mest innovative af vores orkestre når det gælder om at bygge bro mellem det klassiske koncertformat og populær- musikken. Det er lykkedes orkestret at imødekomme et ungt publikum og samtidig bevare det store brede publikum på forbilledlig vis. At orkestret derudover har formået at udvikle sig til et internationalt berømmet Mozart-orkester sammen med deres dirigent Adam Fischer er ikke mindre beundringsværdigt.
At DR vælger at nedlægge et så stort aktiv i det danske musikliv er ganske simpel uforståeligt, at tro at andre ensembler vil kunne overtage Underholdningsorkestrets nicheproduktioner forekommer naivt, nedlæggelsen vil uden tvivl efterlade et stort hul ikke bare i DR’s levende musikdækning men i hele det danske musikliv.
Dansk kapelmesterforening betragter dette som et attentat mod den levende musik til fordel for en ”omstilling til de nye medier” som DR udtrykker det.
Kære DR: der må findes talrige andre måder at finde besparelser på end at nedlægge et af Danmarks mest professionelle og nytænkende orkestre. Det må være en ”ommer”s

Om lukningen af DRUO

noreply@blogger.com (Jesper Nordin) — Wed, 10 Sep 2014 20:48:00 +0000

Dette er et forsøg på at samle alle udtalelser og relevante ressourcer der omhandler lukningen af DR Underholdningsorkesteret i én overskuelig ressource. Alle relevante links sendes til jn@jespernordin.dk eller via facebook, så skal jeg forsøge at få samlet det hele her.

Jeg vil ligeledes gerne samle udtalelser om sagen fra diverse musik og kultur-personer (fra Facebook og lignende) i én tekstfil, men det er rimeligt uoverskueligt. Send derfor gerne relevante udtalelser til mig på jn@jespernordin.dk, gerne med dato og andet relevant info.

kh Jesper Nordin

Online:

Underskriftsindsamling

Underskriftsindsamling (Engelsk version)

Facebook støttegruppe

Facebookgruppe der organiserer aktion d. 6 Oktober: "Bevar Live-musik - Bevar DRUO"

DRUO Facebook side

Dokumentation:

Mediepolitisk aftale for 2015-2018 (Kulturministeriet) (endelig)

Mediepolitisk aftale for 2015-2018 (Kulturministeriet) (udkast)

Hovedpunkterne for den mediepolitiske aftale 2015-2018 (via Altinget.dk)

DR's Public-Service kontrakt for 2013/14 (via Kulturministeriet.dk)

DR's Bestyrelse

DR's Direktion

Folketingets Kulturudvalg

Radio og Tv-nævnets udtalelse om DR's public service-redegørelse for 2013 (via Kulturstyrelsen)

Kulturminister Marianne Jelved besvarer spørgsmål fra MF Michael Aastrup Jensen (V) vedrørende DR og DRUO

Spørgsmål fra Lars Barfoed (Kulturordfører, Konservativt Folkeparti) til Kulturministeren

Fra Hyldestkoncerten i VEGA 26/10:

Youtube

Raske Penge om DRUO
Anisette om DRUO
En hilsen fra Tuva Semmingsen
Maria Carmen Koppel om DRUO
Søs Fenger om DRUO
Per Vers om DRUO
Hilsen fra musiker Michael Falch
Keld Heick om DRUO
Hilsen fra sanger Anne Dorte Michelsen
Hilsen fra musiker Poul Krebs
Hilsen fra musiker Jørgen Olsen
Hilsen fra sanger Cecile Nordby
Udtalelse fra Lars Petter Hagen (Kunstnerisk leder for Ultima festival)
Feriehilsen fra Rasmus Botoft
Hilsen fra sanger Andrea Pellegrini
Hilsen fra Birthe Kjær
Hilsen fra Steffen Brandt
Hilsen fra Bent Fabricius-Bjerre

Artikler

DR.dk

12/11

Næstformand: Vi må bevare DRUO

7/10

Jelved fik 40.000 underskrifter i en håndtaske

2/10

7 strygere fra DRUO får job i Symfoniorkestret

17/9

12/9

11/9

"Tidligere generaldirektør forstår lukningen af DRUO"

10/9

"Bestyrelsesformanden står fast: DRUO lukker"

9/9

8/9

Politiken

11/11

Politisk flertal vil redde DRUO

17/10

Orkesterlukning koster 55 millioner

10/10

Er orkesterlukning virkelig en god idé, DR? (af David Firman)

8/10

Wienerphilharmonikerne aktionerer for DR's lukkede orkester

2/10

26/9

DR's bestyrelsesformand har fået et hak i troværdigheden (af Henrik Marstal)

18/9

"DR's ledelse pakker orksterlukning ind i flommet tågesnak" (af Christian Kock)

15/9

12/9

Medieforsker: DR har ingen public-service begrundelse for at drive orkestre

11/9

"DR's topchefer har ikke orden i det store billede" (leder)

10/9

"DR saver sin egen gren over" (af Henrik Marstal)

9/9

8/9

Berlingske

16/10

8/10

Verdensorkestre bakker op om DRUO

7/10

DR har smidt en toptunet Audi lige på lossepladsen

23/9

DR's kunstige krise (af Milan Vitek)

20/9

"Var det et slag på tasken?" kommentar af Anders Samuelsen

17/9

"DR's særstatus" (af Per Stig Møller)

16/9

"En kulturel deroute" (af Rolf Bagger, forfatter)

14/9

13/9

"DR er på vej væk fra sin kernerolle" (Lisbeth Knudsen blog)

12/9

"De 5 landsdelorkestre håber på et samarbejde med DR"

11/9

"Borgerlige beskylder DR for taktik"

10/9

9/9

8/9

Jyllandsposten

12/11

Næstformand i DR: Vi må bevare DRUO

21/10

Musikskoleleder (Henrik Goldschmidt): Bevar dog det orkester!

1/10

27/9

DR's ensembler er vores musikkulturs nationalmuseum (af Peder Linneberg)

18/9

"Landsdelsorkestre taget som gidsler" (af Peder Linneberg)

17/9

13/9

DR's tonedøve Tablet-snak (af Christine Christiansen)

11/9

"Politikere kan redde DRUO"

10/9

9/9

8/9

BT

14/9

11/9

Kendte i vrede og sorg over lukket DRUO

Ekstrabladet

11/11

Politisk flertal vil redde DRUO

Kristeligt Dagblad

18/9

"DR er tåbelige, når de nedlægger DRUO" af Inger Allan

15/9

Hun kæmper for DRUO's overlevelse

13/9

10/9

"Er Danmark stadig et civiliseret land?"

8/9

"DR nedlægger sit underholdningsorkester"

TV2

6/10

200 Musikere samlet i DR-protest

Information

Ugeavisen.dk

10/9

"DR-orkester aflyser i Esbjerg"

Midtfyns Amtsavis

9/9

"Underholdningsmysteriet"

Århus Stiftstidende

12/11

DR i politisk strid om DRUO

11/11

Enhedslisten slår sig sammen med oppositionen: vil redde DRUO

3/10

Musikalske protester mod omstridt afgørelse

Amtsavisen

Enhedslisten slaar sig sammen med oppositionen: vil redde DRUO

Nordjyske

10/9

"Et slag i ansigtet"

Jyske Vestkysten

Enhedslisten slår sig sammen med oppositionen: vil redde DRUO

Musikeren.dk

Politisk flertal vil redde DRUO
"Danmark bliver fattigere hvis DRUO lukkes"
"Helt godnat at lukke DRUO"
"Det vælter ind med støtte"
Åbent brev fra Inger Allan
"Dansk Musikliv i chok over lukning"
"Et kæmpe tab"

Journalisten.dk

26/9

Drop licensen men bevar DRUO (af Emil Ellesøe Ditzel)

Søndagaften.dk

5/10

DR politik (om lukningen af DRUO)

Se og Hør

"Blodbad i DR"

Metro Express

"Mette har spillet i 33 år, nu lukker hendes orkester..."
"DR's orkesterlukning mødt af protester"

JcKlassisk (John Christiansens blog)

"Kvaliteten og Kulturen tabte"

Musikledelse.dk

Om DR og bestyrelsen (af Peter Hanke)
Kulturpolitiske ståsteder og gambling (af Peter Hanke)

Klassisk.org

Dirigenterne F.Luisi og A.Fischer: Bevar DRUO

Gaffa.dk

"Musikere og fans i kor: Bevar DRUO"

Kulturen på TV2 News

Demonstration: DR får massiv kritik

Enhedslisten.dk

Bevar DRUO (af Jørgen Arbo-Bærh)

Komponistforeningen.dk

"Der er et orkester" (af Bent Sørensen, Susi Hyldgaard og Niels Mosumgaard)

Danmarksbloggen.dk

"Mordet på en hel musikgenre"

Artisten.dk (Dansk Artist Forbund)

"Uforståelig lukning af unikt orkester"

Heltnormalt.dk (satire)

"Politikerne raser"

Dansk Musiker Forbund

"Dansk Musiker Forbund støtter RUO"

Stiften Blog

"Der er noget galt i DR"

Seismograf

"Når man nedlægger et symfoniorkester udfaser man samtidig kunstværker"(af Bent Sørensen)

Udland

Aftenposten.no

Politisk flertal vil redde dansk orkester
Bejublet orkester nedlagt mid i sæsonen

Der Standard

"Dänisches Rundfunkorchester wird nach 75 Jahre eingestellt"

Grammophone.co.uk

WQXR,com (New York Public Radio)

"Conductor in shock over plans to shutter danish orchestra"

Fredrik Osterlings blog

"Næste orkester!"

Norman Lebrect's blog, "Slipped Disc"

Francemusique.fr

Fabio Luisi et Adam Fischer...

Radio & TV

P1 "Ordet er dit" 9/9
Koncertmester Christine Enevold fortæller om hvordan orkesteret fik beskeden (DRP2/soundcloud)
DR Indefra
DR Mennesker og Medier
Cordua og Steno (radio 24/7)
Deadline 10/9 - Christian Nissen og Ole Hyltoft er gæster
Salon K: "Klassisk Musik; en truet dyreart?"

Andet

En afstemning på Kristeligt Dagblads hjemmeside gav følgende resultat: (671 stemmer)

76% for bevarelse
17% imod
7% ved ikke.

The Damocles Illusion?

noreply@blogger.com (Jesper Nordin) — Thu, 23 Jan 2014 16:11:00 +0000

I want to start this post by refreshing your memory of the story of Damocles.
Damocles was a servant of the great tyrant king Dionysius the 2nd. When Damocles stated that Dionysius must surely be truly blessed to be king and in possesion of great wealth and power, Dionysius offered to trade places with Damocles. Damocles accepted with great excitement.
Before Damocles was allowed to sit on the throne, Dionysius then had a great sword fitted to hang directly above it, suspended by only a single horse-hair. It didn't take long before Damocles started to fear the sword. Realising that there was more to being king than he had suspected, he soon begged to return to his old place as a servant.

Damocles' sword. Not pictured: Damocles' broom.

There are several interesting points to be made from this story.
Focusing on Damocles, we should infer that we are foolish if we think that it is easy to govern, or to hold any kind of position of power in general. What a "servant" might percieve differs from the complex reality; there are depths and considerations to any decision the King makes, and there is both a weight on the shoulders of the king because his actions have great consequences, and most importantly there is the constant threat of being "killed" i.e. replaced (as symbolised by the sword). Importantly, the string by which the sword hangs is brittle and can snap at any moment.

If we turn the focus on Dionysius, the story opens up in a different way, and the sword takes on a new meaning. The sword now serves to remind us of the responsability of anyone in a fortunate position to constantly give his absolute best. The sword is now not a threat, but rather a symbol of obligation and privilege.

Both aspects of Damocles' sword relate to our work.

About 12 years ago, I was in a bit of a Damoclesian state myself (Sorry, I couldn't resist the opportunity to invent a word). From my position in the orchestra, I observed the 'kings' (conductors, duh...try to keep up, dummy) and thought that I could do their job just as well or better with little effort, and that anyone in their position was extremely fortunate.


Iznogood says: "I want to be Calif in stead of the Calif!" Dear reader. If you don't know this comicbook antihero, do yourself a favor and grab one of the books and read it. It's brilliant fun!

After actively pursuing the 'throne', I realised that

Although I might be talented and generally considered a smart guy, the job is still about as difficult as anything you can imagine, and even if you spend days or months studying your score, there are so many things surrounding the business that are out of your control, that you often wonder why you don't just say "f*ck it" and look for something more rational to do with your time. Also, what I percieved to be strenghts in relation to the job I imagined, might in fact not be strengths in relation to the actual job, and therefore there is a good chance that the areas at which I excel actually propel me in a direction I do not wish to go. And what does it matter that I can conduct 7/8ths with one hand and 5/16ths with the other, if I can't communicate anything of artistic value? What if I'm good at one thing but suck at the other?
Being a professional conductor is not all rainbows and lollipops. It's grueling, gutwrenching, isolating work, accompagnied by a constant threat of failure and a constant evaluation of both your persona and your skills from *anyone* you encounter professionally. And when I say *anyone* I mean *everyone*. If you catch a lucky break, be prepared to enter a bloody battlefield and work like a maniac with a good chance of dissapearing into complete obscurity when your agent no longer sees you as a good investment, and another good chance of ending up a complete asshole. If you manage to get by without the glamour of the best orchestras and the international agency-controlled circuit, be prepared to do any kind of work without scrutiny, to betray your ideals and ignore the basic demands of the actual music to no end. "This very complicated 8 part chorus needs at least 10 hours rehearsal to even sound remotely decent? Fuck it, we'll do it in ½ an hour, who cares?" - "What are we playing this week? A Brahms symphony? Then, why do we even rehearse, we've done that som many times before!" - "The score asks for two harps? Fuck it, here's a keyboard, you figure it out!" - "The 2nd clarinet couldn't make it to the concert? Who cares, I'm sure his part is not that important anyway" etc. etc.

Carlos Kleiber - arguably the best conductor who ever lived.
Also...incredibly miserable and isolated. Go figure...

Later, it also struck me, that being 'king' is in reality not always synonymous with being in power, and that's where I felt the need to write some of this down. The 'throne' I longed for, was so different from the 'throne' I got, that the Sword of Damocles' became an illusion.
Let's not forget, that the Sword is something personal. It only presents a danger to you, if it threatens that which you desire, if it belongs to the realm of your desire so to speak.
You see, I have no desire to conduct, if conducting equates to fixing mistakes, sorting out practical issues ("Why is there no microphone? Yesterday you promised me a microphone"), dealing with absent musicians ("The concert master will be there for the concert, don't worry!"), instructing musicians on how to play something that they would have easily played with a minimum of preparation ("Maestro, I can't play this run in your tempo without practising. You must have the wrong tempo"), repeating the status quo, telling people to do their job, pretending to be an asshole when I'm really a mellow guy etc.
For me, there's is no value in any of that.
My only desire is to be a musician. It's really that simple.
But alas, I am not (yet) good enough at putting that in front of everything else, and I get so lost in the jungle of bullshit sometimes. (Bullshit in this context being anything that is detrimental to the needs of the actual score). That in effect makes me a worse conductor (maybe because I'm kind of a introvert guy when I solve problems, although I'm actually very good at it), lessening my chances at getting the good gigs etc. etc.
It's a downward spiral, and one that I tend to feel stuck in.

The good gigs are the gigs where you actually get to display your musicianship, your artistic core.
The orchestra is familiar with the music, they follow you and trust in you, they are prepared and so are you. There is tension, a sense of purpose, a desire to push your personal boundaries and brilliant pieces of music, set in their intended context and with the intended number of musicians. There is time to rehearse, there is a uniformity of physical circumstances, there is progress and there is promise. There was ample time to prepare, and you maybe even had a say in the program, or one was presented to you that was sympathetic to your style of interpretation or your artistic abilities.

95% of the time, this is not my reality...

So the throne that I ascend with the types of gigs I mostly do, has no suspended sword dangling over it, because I rarely have any actual power in the realm that my sword belongs to (music). I don't know if this makes any sense, but there it is.

This will bring me to the second aspect of the Sword.
I recently attended a concert with an orchestra in deep trouble. For several reasons they were completely unable to convince me that they deserved to be there, that they deserved to cash their paycheck every month. They were uninspired and unprepared. They didn't respond to an audience that genuinely loved them and even loudly displayed that affection, that I was angered and bewildered, frustrated and saddened by what should have been a fun evening.
To put it in context, there was no awareness of the sword, which - and this is where I shake my head - had only a few years earlier come painfully close to cutting off their lifesupport and eradicating the orchestra in one fell swoop.

This can mean a couple of things:

They are so confused by the circumstances, that they have become blind to the sword.
They do in fact not hold a position of any significant value
They are lazy and complacent.

I'm going to say mostly "1" with maybe a tiny bit of "3".
There is no doubt that they do hold a position of immense value. So what's the deal?
Why could this bunch of highly skilled and wonderful people not produce? Why had they apparently given up?
They are confused because of the programming and planning and characteristics of their work, as it has been gradually become completely transformed by extraneous circumstances. In case you are wondering, I'm referring to political agendas, the constant pampering to "a new audience", desperately trying anything to get attention etc. etc. - all the hoops we jump through in order to appear valuable to people who have never experienced us as such. I've been a part of that a hundred times over, but I'm really starting to fear that it is a huge mistake.
If you do something, not because you genuinely value it, but because you feel you should, you are being both dishonest and uninteresting. Not a good recipe for artistic expression.


"Hey, let's take this large group of people, who through years of training with painstaking diligence have becomes specialists in something extremely rare and complicated... and let's have them do something completely different!" Uhm...how about we don't do that?!

I think the musicians want to give their best, and they absolutely have the potential to do something wonderful, but their circumstances simply don't allow it. Instead of being kings in their own right - and aware of the sword - they are rather like jesters, trying to appease another 'king', and so they have no real power, no sword...and their existance is no long justified! That's the catch! If what you are producing isn't precious or precious to you, then it doesn't matter that you are in a position to potentially produce something precious. By not paying attention to, and producing with GREAT care, that which is precious to your art, why should you be allowed to continue?

WHAT IS IT YOU ARE SELLING ME?

By trying to be everything to everyone, you are becoming nothing to noone.

Give the orchestra musicians their Damocles' sword back.
Let them cultivate that which is truly precious.
Put them back on their proper throne and they will grow an awareness of the Sword, and then they will deliver better results and a more valuable artistic output. It's a positive spiral.

- Jesper

Just do-re-mi it

noreply@blogger.com (Jesper Nordin) — Mon, 12 Aug 2013 18:52:00 +0000

Much to my joy, I recently recovered an old harddisk with some forgotten pictures on it, including this one I took at a Vienna Phil. concert some years ago:

Editing and proofreading my new piece...

noreply@blogger.com (Jesper Nordin) — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 17:31:00 +0000

...for the St. Michel Strings (Finland). Should I add a bar?

Premiere is early april, and I'm conducting it myself.

New music for kids

noreply@blogger.com (Jesper Nordin) — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 13:51:00 +0000

Just a quick link to a video put together about a recent concert with the fabulous Athelas Ensemble I conducted with a bunch of contemporary pieces.
But this was not an ordinary new music concert, it was for kids and featured a wellknown danish childrens entertainer.

Poll #2

noreply@blogger.com (Jesper Nordin) — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 10:29:00 +0000

I put up a new poll, which you should find if you scroll a bit down to the bottom of the page.
(It appears that the poll doesn't work on some mobile devices. You can chose the "go to web version" option to help with that).

The poll is related to this article about which qualities make up a great conductor.
As with any survey; the more data I collect, the less variance there will be. So please clicke-ty-click with your vote, and ask your friends or colleagues to do the same.

~~I've shortened the list of choices, so if there's a specific quality not on the list that you would like to vote for, leave a message and I will add it to the poll.~~ Unfortunately I can't add choices to the list once someone has voted. So I can't add your suggestions, but will remember to include them in a future conclusion.

( P.S. The first poll I put up yielded some interesting results. )

Deserted Island Conductors, it's a wrap.

noreply@blogger.com (Jesper Nordin) — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 22:06:00 +0000

Just a quick wrap-up of a poll I put up on the website a long time ago. About 50 people voted, most of whom I assume are classical music professionals (or afficionados). The results are very clear, and just confirm what I already knew. Carlos Kleiber is the man.

Here's what I find disturbing: only one person voted for Karl Böhm. Has he dissaperead into obscurity at this point?
Another remarcable tendency is that two of the most expensive and high-earning conductors in the world (Dudamel and Gilbert) get only one vote each. Also, no one voted for Lorin Maazel who used to top that list. To go with that surprise, the supposedly busiest conductor in the world (Gergiev) also gets only 2 votes. What gives?

Other results that surprise me:
- Leopold Stokowski apparently still has a fan base, despite being possibly the most out-of-fashion of all these candidates.
- Levine beats both Karajan and Toscanini. Is this because I have a lot of american readers?
- Munch should be higher up. Just sayin'

I'd love to know who you think was unjustly omitted. Or, if you have suggestions for another poll.

The complete list:
Since everyone was free to choose several candidates, the percentages are not of the total number of votes, but rather a percentage how many people included that conductor on their list.

Kleiber, Carlos 23 (46%)
Bernstein, Leonard 16 (32%)
Furtwängler, Wilhelm 9 (18%)
Celibidache, Sergiu 8 (16%)
Levine, James 8 (16%)
Karajan, Herbert von 7 (14%)
Abbado, Claudio 6 (12%)
Toscanini, Arturo 6 (12%)
Stokowski, Leopold 6 (12%)
Muti, Riccardo 5 (10%)
Metha, Zubin 5 (10%)
Rattle, Simon 5 (10%)
Munch, Charles 4 (8%)
Thielemann, Christian 3 (6%)
Strauss, Richard 3 (6%)
Gergiev, Valery 2 (4%)
Dudamel, Gustavo 1 (2%)
Ozawa, Seiji 1 (2%)
Böhm, Karl 1 (2%)
Gilbert, Alan 1 (2%)
Maazel, Lorin 0 (0%)

other... (unspecified) 18 (36%)

A circling of 5th's - comparing Beethoven interpretations

noreply@blogger.com (Jesper Nordin) — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 15:08:00 +0000

This is not some silly attempt to locate the holy grail of Beethoven's 5th interpretations on youtube.
It was initially meant to be a comparison of beginnings of Beethoven 5th's, because it is a legendary challenge for any conductor to start this symphony, and a constant subject of masterclass anxiety and monday morning hardships in orchestras worldwide.
There's something about the nature of the music at that very spot that just makes is perpetually challenging and interesting. If you are interested in an illustration of that, just watch each clip until the orchestra have played 20-30 bars, then move on the next video. You should learn a lot from it.
Needless to say, these are all great professional orchestras, and unfortunately there are no videos available to illustrate the very first attempts at starting the symphony at the very first rehearsals of any of these constellations. That would have been marvellous for someone like me, and probably right boring to someone not interested in conducting technique.

Let's begin with this fascinating character:

Leonard Bernstein - Wiener Philharmoniker
Look closely at the two first films here, and you'll see how Bernstein - by some considered a spur-of-the-moment unpredictable dandy - knows exactly what he's doing. With a tiny flick of the wrist, he illustrateshis choice of tempo to the orchestra (although it's the smallest of signals, it is easily interpreted by musicians of this caliber) and then gets on the case with his usual expressive personality. He does the exact same thing with both orchestras, years apart.
I never feel like Bernstein is trying to prove something - unlike other colleagues in some of the following examples - but only that he's trying his best to experience the music. That is very sympathetic.

And here is Lenny again, this time with the Bayerische Rundfunk Orchester

And now for something completely different:

Nicolaus Harnoncourt - The Chamber Orchestra of Europe
The only quasi period-instrument recording on this list. The trumpets and timpani are not modern, and that makes a huge impact on the sound along with Harnoncourt's short phrasing style and tight, sharp attacks. It has it's flaws and imprecisions, and the emotional impact on my 'modern' heart is nothing like the Muti or Klemperers, but on the other hand, I'm never bored and I find this version to be a credible attempt at reproducing Beethoven's contemporary reality.

Paavo Järvi - Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie
Another fast interpretation, just to compare with Harnoncourt. This one is played on modern instruments. Järvi looks so businesslike in comparison to for example Bernstein. The delivery is cool and strong, and leaves little respite or room for alternative interpretation on the part of the players. Among the faster interpretations, I much prefer the Harnoncourt.
It's hard to put a finger on, but in Järvi's case, I feel robbed of a certain kind of acceptance of the human condition. Everything is there, but I'm just not sure why it's there.

Kurt Masur - New York Philharmonic
Masur's style of conducting always seemed more intuitive than technical to me. This interpretation is among the heaviest, and to my ears doesn't compare in pure orchestral quality to the Philadelphia/Muti constellation. I do like how Masur seems to breathe in the whole world before the very first note, and that first iteration of the famous three-note motif is very powerful, but then I immediately get dissapointed by the abruptness of the second fermata. Why so short!? Beethoven wrote two full bars with a fermata on the second bar - but apparently Masur was not a big fan of that fact.

Christian Thielemann - Wiener Philharmoniker
According to people who work closely with Thielemann, he can be a beast most cruel and inhuman. And yet, it is always in an never compromising search for musical truths. He's the current equivalent to the great german giants of yore (like Klemperer, Karajan, Böhm etc.), and having heard him several times in concert, my feeling is that of immense respect but not necessary of any kind of emotional consonance or sympathy.

Riccardo Muti - Philadelphia Orchestra

I do love this. The orchestra playing is so strong, and Muti is so balanced in all aspects of his physicality. I feel the interpretation is coherent and congruent, and always powerful. It's not forced down my throat, it's just there for me to admire. I have just one small problem; similar to Thielemann, Muti decides to interrupt the audience with a 'surprise beginning'. I think it's tacky and unnecessary, and in my mind is doesn't relate to the emotional content of the music.

!! Bonus link: Same conductor, different orchestra: Muti + La Scala Philharmonic

Louis Langrée - Detroit Symphony Orchestra

I have included this to illustrate how some conductors interpret Beethoven's use of fermatas in the beginning of the symphony as if it was only a form of shorthand notation of a simple four bar phrase. To that, the response must be; if Beethoven wanted the sounding result of his notation to be two simple four-bar phrases with upbeats, why didn't he write that? He was a composer in complete and utter control of his creations. Nothing in the notation is random, nothing is approximated. As if to prove my point; at the recapitulation '(at 4 minutes and 17 seconds in) Langrée betrays his own inital thought construct by adding time to the second fermata. Thank you Mr. Langrée, now it sounds the way Beethoven notated it!

Herbert von Karajan - Berliner Philharmoniker

This video is very characteristic of Karajan: Overproduced and artificial. The doubling of wind parts and lining players up with metal neck-braces to make the orchestra look like a military platoon are just some of his gimmicks. More than anyone, he understood the meaning of multimedia, long before the advent of the internet and home entertainment. By shaping, molding, manipulating the visual aspect of the performance, he was a deciding player in a development that steered classical music towards being a) a much more visual artform and b) a much more removed artform, where the importance of the live performance is greatly reduced. In some respects, this has caused us a great trouble.
With that all said, Karajan's mysterious appeal is undeniable, his skillset is insurmountable, and his hands just seem to force the sound to go deeper and deeper into the earth.

Otto Klemperer - New Philharmonia Orchestra

Klemperer is here at the end of his life and at the end of his health, and the tempo is excruciatingly slow.
But, at the same time, it is so undeniably tied to Klemperer's physicality, that it for me transcends my reservations about the interpretation, and becomes a fascinating study of conductor/orchestra interaction. You can almost smell the respect that the musicians grant this ageing giant.
With any other person conducting the symphony like that, there would be uproar and coffee stains all over the cantina tables from heated discussions in the lunch break, but here I suspect there would have been a quiet hush and a respectful willingness to go whereever the old man wanted to go.

The Dude (Gustavo Dudamel) - Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra
I'm not a big fan of Dudamel's style of conducting, but i feel obliged to include it. It seems so forced, which is probably why some audiences love him. He 'looks' so interesting, with his bobbing hair and spirited personally. And then, the amazing success story of his "Il Sistema" upbringing make him the biggest it's-not-about-the-music conductors of our time. If you listen and compare it to several of the interpretations above, it suddenly becomes bland, and then you find yourself staring at him, searching for something...honest. I can't explain it in any other way.

I've gathered all these videos, and many more Beethoven 5th's (some weird ones too) in this youtube playlist:

Beethoven 5th Symphony

A shocking idea?

noreply@blogger.com (Jesper Nordin) — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 10:52:00 +0000

Gauging Live Audience Interest

Here's an idea. If you intend to apply this idea to an actual event, please get in touch with me, as I'd love to be a part of it. There are so many interesting things that might happen in this context, and I would die to see it happen.

It's a standard saying in the classical music industry, that you can't measure emotions, but actually...you can.
Relatively simple devices can be applied to the human skin to measure conductance (a.k.a. galvanic skin response), which is a measurement of a persons arousal, excitement or tension.
The same technique is used in lie detectors (...and b.t.w. also in an bizarre instrument deviced by the founder of a certain international cult.)

Here's how to do it: Advertise for volunteers among your audience. Before the show starts, you hook them up to a device each. Then, connect the devices to a piece of software that translates and averages the measurements and then outpouts to gauge in form of a a large graphic display, similar to perhaps a gameshow scoreboard.
Alternatively, one could use a programmable lighting setup, in which the light gravitates from blue to orange as the tension rises. Or maybe, you could administer an mild electric shock to the conductor whenever the result fall below a certain threshold. (hehe)

"That! Using Ludwig van like that!
He did no harm to anyone. Beethoven just wrote music"

To be completely serious: with a live measurement and graphic display of the audience's realtime interest in what an orchestra is performing, the bar is immediately raised. Orchestra members and conductors cannot ignore the results (unless they are creationists and used to ignoring scientific facts), and we will be forced to deal the results, much in the same way that professional athletes have been dealing with scientific measurement for decades now.

I want so badly to try this. Even if I might be setting myself up for horrible failure ("Am I really that boring??"), I would most certainly learn something.
As a bonus, we will also learn a lot about the pieces we perform, and how the audience responds the a certain type of programming. It might be very different from what we expect.

It is imperative that as many listeners are hooked up as possible. There will be a natural variance, and to even out the variables, at least 10-20 subjects would be needed. At the moment, I have no realistic idea of what the costs are for this type of experiment, but I bet it's not cheap. Perhaps it would be suitable for a university program?

Any thoughts?

Pros: Percieved innovation beneficial in interaction with legislators and in attracting new audiences, increased performer awareness, focus on the 'payoff' aspect, measurability.

Cons: Performers' inherent fear of scientific measurement of music, dealing with possibly uncomfortable results, unfamiliar logistics, expenses.

Strange days - on perception and ambitions

noreply@blogger.com (Jesper Nordin) — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 02:22:00 +0000

I'm 37. I left my job as a professional orchestra musician some nine years ago. One of the main reasons for giving up a seemingly perfect job, was that I rarely felt I was spending 'artistic energy'. I wasn't 'spending my emotions' when performing. There was always too many seemingly irrelevant obstacles or circumstances, and all I ever wanted, was to be in that extreme and amazing state of performing in which you focus only on emotion, and not on technique, logistics or anything else.
I was certain that I would much sooner find this in conducting. How little did I know...

Now I occasionally get to conduct assignments in which I have great responsabilities; I'm at the front of big orchestras or expensive productions, conducting music of great beauty or length or complexity. It's amazing.
And yet, too often I'm struggling with that same feeling...

For the production I'm conducting at the moment, I can never really relax, and I can rarely focus on 'music'.
There are several reasons for this:

1) It's a strangely complicated score. Not that the musical elements of the score in themselves are extreme, but I'm constantly spending a large chunk of my total 'bandwidth' checking the ever-changing meters, coordinating repeated bars (of which there are many that have to be timed with action on stage) and giving cues to singers...
The way this specific composer writes, the traditional sense of periodicity is often blurred, so I can't always tell just by instinct where we are in a phrase or a succession of phrases. The structure is more repetitive, and relates to a Stravinskyan use of recurring and shifting cells and constructing tension by longterm juxtaposition of mutually syncopated elements. Coupled with drones and a harmonic treatment that favors repetition over development, and a rather symbolic use of barlines within which the traditional hierarchy of beats does not apply, performing it sometimes feels similar to reading sentences that have no punctuations. All of this is not necessarily bad or problematic, but it makes it harder to perform, simply because you think more than you play.
Spending bandwidth on 'logistic' elements is an absolutely normal and necessary part of conduting, but in the end, you really want to keep that amount of bandwidth as low as possible. This is what mastery is all about, this is what makes the 'maestro'.
As I keep repeating to singers and musicians: Ideally, I want to not have to give a single cue.
Ideally, I don't want to count, decipher, calculate or otherwise intellectualise anything during a performance.
I want to initiate tempo, pulsate, paint phrases and structures and guide the volumes of sound and emotion. In other words, make music.

This is an automated feeder. It is not a conductor, even if it does look a bit like Lorin Maazel.

2) [Hmmm....at the last minute before posting, I decided to delete this paragraph - for now. It quickly became very focused on a specific individual, and just a bit too personal, and I'm not sure that's in the interest of anyone at the moment.]

3) The printed material is a stupid catalogue of misprints and sloppiness. There are basically no dynamics in the score or parts, and there are a thousand mistakes as well as missing articulations, expressions and otherwise fundamental elements. I imagine not a single hour has been spent on proofreading or editing before we recieved the material.
Now, when you create an opera, there is a natural editing process going on during the rehearsals. You cut some text, some music, repeat some bars, change the turn of a phrase etc. This is done in a running exchange between director, conductor, composer and librettist. No opera has ever been created in which this didn't happen.
But, before we even get to that delightful process of trimming the fat, you have to assume that the composer and publisher sort out most mistakes before handing over their material. Especially in a time in music history, where rehearsal time is such a rare commodity.
I'm baffled and angry, having to spend precious hours of orchestra rehearsal time writing dynamics in the parts, or guessing whether the strings have to play pizzicato or arco. Is it my job to remove chords from an oboe part, or telling the clarinettist what to do when he's asked to play a note that is below the range of the instrument?
No. It is not. But I have to deal with it.

4) Unfortunately, the ensemble appears to have severe internal issues at the moment. I say this with some sadness, for it's a group that I have worked with a lot and that I have always enjoyed visiting. All the musicians are highly skillled players in their own right, but they now seem to have a ton of issues within the group that they for the moment are not able to sort out. Honestly, If this didn't affect their performance, it wouldn't bother me; I firmly believe that anyone is entitled to disagreement. But, when standard musical operations, such as playing a semi-complicated rhythm together, become impossible simply because of some ongoing animosity, it becomes my problem.
If you can't abandon your ego and mentally and emotionally 'reach out' to another musician, how can you even think to play in a chamber ensemble? If you can't talk to the person sitting next to you, how can you hope to solve the hundreds of mini-problems that arise during music making? You can't.
In my experience, what often happens in dysfunctional groups is this: many musical problems that players should solve themselves - or between themselves - they suddenly look to the conductor to solve, and thus we become tools in some mock-up psychology excersize of mediation and conflict resolution. Something for which I have neither the qualifications nor inclinations.
Dear musician, I am very sorry. I can't magically show you how to play a triplet together with your colleagues, if you are not willing to pay attention to what the other musicians are doing. It's just not possible.
Yes, by conducting in a certain way, I can enable the two of you to play together, or I can encourage a certain rhythmical flavor, but it all begins with you.
Yes, I will happily beat the drum all day so you can march in unison, but I will not lift your foot for you.
So, is it my job to solve a group's internal problem for them? No. It is not. But I have to deal with it.

In addition to all this, there are all the normal circumstances that might serve as a distraction: audience presence and reactions, performance excitement, random bloopers (that anyone can make of course), physical limitations, shortcomings in the music or text etc. etc.

My former teacher Giancarlo Andretta said this many times: "It is not our fault, but it becomes our problem" and yet again I can only agree with him: As a conductor, a large part of the job is simply dealing with other peoples mistakes (as if dealing with my own shortcomings wasn't enough to keep me busy!), and when those around us don't prepare with the same diligence as we do, or when they even expect us to do their work for them, it becomes a major issue.
All this might sound arrogant, but please don't misunderstand: It's not about me claiming to be infallible, for I am as much to blame as anyone else. Perhaps I need to force myself to shift my focus, to relinquish my control with some of those other annoying elements, and then let the chips fall where they may.
After all, you cannot say to have been courageous, if you've never been in any real danger.
ww
Also, it's not a lament of the fact that other people make mistakes, it's a lament of the fact that, for the moment, I am being percieved more as a problemsolver than as a musician. This is not the way I want it to be. This is not what I intended.

What I feel I'm struggling with, is very little bandwidth reserved for purely artistic - or expressive - energy.
I have already spent many years trying to learn how to conduct, and have calmly worked my way from assignment to assignment with the same constant goal. And yet all too often, I go home with a sinking feeling of having spent my energy on anything but that which it should be all about: emotions.

I haven't slept well in the last three weeks, and I have the weirdest dreams. Our performance last night was probably the first ever performance in my career as a professional musician, in which I felt completely numb and detached from my surroundings. It was a very unsettling feeling, and it worries me greatly. I don't ever want to experience that feeling again. Earlier in the day, I felt like I might have caught a bug, but mentally I felt worthless and hopeless, and I believe it was simply because external circumstances would not allow me to do that which I wanted the most: to make music.

Instead...for yet another evening, I was just a conductor.

- J

Ok this is a first for me:

noreply@blogger.com (Jesper Nordin) — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 14:47:00 +0000

The piece is called (.. .. ....) and is by danish composer Simon Løffler. I'm preparing it for a concert next week with the Athelas ensemble (www.athelas.dk).

I regularly see bars or sections repeated in new music, and Simon's pieces have a lot of these, but this one sets the record I think:

My career, an illustration.

noreply@blogger.com (Jesper Nordin) — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 17:54:00 +0000

As I attempt to join the international conductors' circuit...

Letters! with an update

noreply@blogger.com (Jesper Nordin) — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 13:57:00 +0000

UPDATE, October 2012. I have recieved two replies to my letters. One simply stated that "Maestro XXX is from next season not the Music Director of our house, so unfortunately we cannot help you with your request" (My request was a personal meeting or just an initial phone conversation with anyone on the music staff). The other reply was a surprisingly polite but efficient rejection of any kind of interest in my person.

I wrote this blogpost a couple of months ago, but for some reason forgot to publish it, so here it is:

Once in a while I try to send out letters and bulletins to orchestra managers, music directors etc. hoping that I might catch their attention and somehow open up new work possibilities. Usually I do this in conjunction with a recent sucessfull concert or performance. This time, it's more of a general stab at new markets.

I need the work - basically anything I can get - so this is not an excersize I treat lightly. But alas, the resulting feedback is more often than not completely absent. The last time I sent out this type of information to operahouses and orchestras all over Scandinavia, I recieved 2 replies to about 30 letters, and only 1 of those could be considered in any way positive, although I have not since heard from that person. And remember, I'm not a bumbling amateur conductor or a fresh conducting student, I am a professional with quite a lot of experience and achievements to my name already. Why would orchestra managers not benefit from hiring me? (...he said with 100% objectivity...)
I expect my letters or emails just end up in a giant pile of random that those managers have to deal with on a daily basis, but what else can I do? I can't very well show up at their office with a song-and-dance routine, and having had no luck so far in finding an agent that would represent me, I have to do this work myself.

Let me give an example of a bunch of letters I just sent out today.
With this bunch, I'm targeting some top executives in the business; intendants and music directors of *major* european houses. But I do it with some backup, having support from a internationally very well known and respected director that I have worked with on several occasions. He helped me with naming specific targets, and promised to speak positively on my behalf in conjunction with these letters.

This is simply to give you an idea of how I try to market myself, and I will update this blogpost as the replies come in, if any! (without of course naming anyone, that wouldn't be pretty...)

I've made a point of writing each letter individually, printing them on quality paper and mailing them (the oldfashioned way) in quality envelopes. Still, I have no way of knowing if they will even be opened, let alone read with any scrutiny.

With each letter, I have included a short quick-read resume and a business card.. I have not included any other information such as long pages of references or list of concerts. I don't think anyone reads it unless they are already interested in me, and if they wish to know more all that information is easily available on my website.

Is this all en excersize in futility? Time will tell.
Let me know if you think I'm doing this wrong by the way! I might benefit from it.

- Jesper

Duelling Conductors!!

noreply@blogger.com (Jesper Nordin) — Sun, 10 Jun 2012 09:46:00 +0000

This friday I was a guest on the danish "Radio Klassisk", a radiostation devoted to classical music. This particular station operates with a preselected playlist, rather than context-specific music, and was established in a partnership with the 5 regional symphony orchestras of Denmark.

The show I appeared on is hosted by Uffe Savery, who is the general manager of the Copenhagen Philharmonic Orchestra. Another host on Radio Klassisk is Kasper Holten, former artistic director of the Royal Danish Opera, now operadirector at Covent Garden.

Uffe's orchestra The Copenhagen Philharmonic, (or Cph:Phil as it is now branded) has made a splash recently with some wildly popular flashmob youtube videos, the first of which (Bolero in Copenhagen Central Station) I was lucky enough to conduct. That video has reached over 5 million views.

The second video (Grieg's 'morning mood' in the Metro) has spread even more quickly than the first and should soon overtake the first one in views.
Uffe is a 'classically' trained percussionist, and - by the way - is one half of the techno/dance group Safriduo, that has produced some major dancechart hits. This has given him some unique experiences and perspectives that he brings to his work with the orchestra. He is very keen on developing new concert formats and he mentioned an idea during our time on the air: How about having two conductors in one concert?

I think it's a great idea.

Each conductor conducts the same piece of music, but this is not a competition. Nobody gets voted home. The two conductors are professionals, skilled and respectful. The venue is a concerthall. The audience are there out of a genuine interest in music and musicmaking processes, not because they get to be on television with celebreties.

The immediate purpose of this excercise would be something along the lines of:

illustrating the role of the conductor. The idea originated in another show, where Uffe's guest was longing for clarification on the actual role of the conductor. To the layman, it's apparently still somewhat of a mystery what it is we do.
illustrating how the musical elements can vary with different interpretations, and thereby clarifying what those musical elements might be, to someone not necessarily in the know.

It is very likely you will see a manifestation of this concept very soon, and I'm already looking forward to it. In the meantime, I'm open for ideas as to the repetoire. The pieces should be anywhere between 7 and 15 minutes long.

A quick personal brainstorm gave me some suggestions:

Beethoven - Coriolan overture
Tchaikovsky - Capriccion Italien
Weber - Freischütz overture
Sibelius - Finlandia
Gade - Ossian overture
R.Strauss - Til Eulenspiegel
Gerschwin - An american in Paris
Liszt - Mazeppa or Les Preludes
Wagner - Flying Dutchman or other overture
Debussy - L'apres-midi d'un faune
J.Strauss - Fledermaus overture
Verdi - La Forza del Destino overture

..the list goes on and on...any thoughts?

- Jesper

New Music Director and new Artistic Director announced at the Royal Danish Opera.

noreply@blogger.com (Jesper Nordin) — Tue, 22 May 2012 08:44:00 +0000

Michael Boder. Photo by Alexander Vasiljev.

New Music Director is Michael Boder. He has conducted both of Alban Berg's two monumental masterpieces "Wozzeck" and "Lulu" in the house and very recently Strauss' "Die Frau Ohne Schatten", and commended a great deal of respect with his confident and naturally authoritative conducting.

New Artistic Director is Sven Müller, and he comes from within the house, having served as Assistant Artistic Director for several years.

Official announcement is here.

Here's the backstory:
The Royal Danish Opera has been in turmoil since the sudden departure of the former Artistic Director Keith Warner, who left after only 6 months of office, and the simultaneous farewell of the Music Director designate Jakub Hrusa.
The crisis of the Opera department of the Royal Danish Theatre can be linked to both severe problems in dealing with huge budget cuts and what appeared to be a very clear lack of communication and/or understanding between the General Manager of the Theatre - Erik Jakobsen - and Warner. In a thundering burning-all-your-bridges speech, Warner announced his resignation to a gathering of all the opera's employes and made public a large number of issues. His the speech was quickly leaked to the press.

The budget cuts have affected all three departments (Opera, Acting, Ballet) and led to other rather severe internal problems becoming a public matter, including the refueling of an ongoing conflict between several balletdancers and the Ballet's AD Nicolai Hübbe. The dancers protested during an international tour, handing out flyers at Paris' Palace Garnier proclaiming the death of the Ballet, and several were pushing for Hübbe's retirement, following allegations of cocaine abuse and tyrannical management.

The Chorus of the RDO has been reduced to a small size opera chorus (40 members), and the number of operaproductions to 8 (!) in the 12/13 season, with 5 of them being new productions. Several members of the soloist ensemble have simply left as a consequence of the managerial hubbub and there not being suitable parts for them to sing, most notably major names such as tenor Stig Andersen and bass Stephen Miling.

Following the 2005 inauguration of the new 400 mill. € operahouse 'Operaen', the opera invested heavily in the Copenhagen Ring, a complete production of Wagners 'Der Ring des Nibelungen' cycle, and created an awardwinning cycle, carried almost entirely by house singers, directed by then AD Kasper Holten and conducted by then MD Michael Schønwandt. The cycle was a major achievement for the house, and brought with it a massive influx of experience and expertise that can only come with undertaking such a huge project. Unfortunately, Holten decided to scrap the entire set, in an act of either budget savvy (big stagepieces are expensive to store) or incredible vanity. Nonetheless, in the years that followed, the in-house singers that grew immensely from that experience - such as Andersen and Milling and sopranoes Tina Kiberg, Irene Theorin and Susanne Resmark - have gone on to sing other huge parts in works such as Tannhäuser, Tristan and Isolde, Die Frau Ohne Schatten and Parsifal, but now there is simply no budget for the massive pieces they have earlier triumphed in, and most are likely to leave before long.

What about the orchestra? It has floundered without artistic leadership for years now and has still managed amazing performances, testifying to the ability and potential of the orchestra for world class playing. But, there are signs of potential troubles ahead, with several brilliant members of the orchestra seeking employment elsewhere, and those close to the orchestra might detect the signs of a detrimental kind of hyperdemocracy setting in, where leadership is wanting. As we all know, there is no democracy in art, but it is only natural that a group with no appointed leader will quickly develop internal management. The orchestra needs a music director, and a good one. Fast. Boder might be just what the doctor ordered.

The house has other issues, one major problem being a glaring tendency to let union regulations - rather than artistic needs - dictate proceedings. All regulations need a serious overhaul, but there are many who will defend their luxury conditions like vicious pitbulls.

All in all, there are plenty of challenges for a new boss to deal with, as well as an honest world class potential.

So, today the Royal Opera announced that the new Artistic Director has been found, and his name is Sven Müller. Müller has been 'Assistant Artistic Director' in the house since 2008. His 'danish' title was that of Ensemblechef, and he was initially hired in an attempt to further the development of the three ensembles in the house (singers/chorus/orchestra) and develop a musical vision, with Kasper Holten having his natural focus on directing, and Schønwandt having openly abandoned any managerial obligations to focus on simply conducting.

With Müller's insider knowledge of the house and somewhat dry, german approach, he might be expected to lead a relatively troublefree and smooth period, which is probably what a General Manager under heavy criticism wants, and also what the politicians have demanded ("stop making fools of yourselves, and start working on becoming a relevant cultural institution" was the message).
What it yet to be seen, is whether he has the support internally from hundreds of passionate artists who hunger for someone with a burning sword to lead the way artistically. How can he compete with the media savvy of Kasper Holten or the creative visions of Keith Warner? He wont. He will lead from a different perspective, but his job will under any circumstance not be an easy one.

- Jesper

Operaen, Copenhagen

A conductors guide to understanding your musicians.

noreply@blogger.com (Jesper Nordin) — Wed, 09 May 2012 19:14:00 +0000

Musicianish - Conductorish Parleur, 1st Edition

What they say	What they mean
"I can't see your beat in bar XX, could you give me a clear cue on the X-beat in that bar?" (habitually heard after the first or second read-through of a new piece)	"I didn't open my part before the rehearsal, and now 'm too busy looking in my music to have even a remote chance of observing what you are doing"
"I really liked that conductor"	"That conductor called the rehearsal early"
(Strings) "This is too fast"	"This is not in D major"
(Singer) "This is too fast"	"I did it slower with another conductor who said I was good"
(Brass) "This is too fast”	"I had a big lunch"
"I'd like to keep a flow in bar 41 and 42"	"I don't understand the rhythm in bar 41 and 42, so I'm gonna try and ignore it..."
"Yes, he's a major talent"	"I wish I had his agent"
"Next season looks a bit boring"	"There is a Bruckner symphony on next season"
(Concertmaster) "Are these your bowings?"	"Don't do your own bowings, son"
"Oh yeah, It's a great piece..." (at post-concert reception)	"I don't like your conducting, but I'm polite and not sure what else to say"
"No one can play this!"	"I haven't practised this!"
"This would be a great opportunity for you"	"This would be a great opportunity for me"
(Orchestra manager) "I'd love you to take part in our outreach programs. You are an inspiring person, and it's imperative that we attract a younger audience"	”Alright, we've rented this Teletubbies costume for you to conduct in..."

Of stars and staffs... #1

noreply@blogger.com (Jesper Nordin) — Wed, 09 May 2012 16:59:00 +0000

Lets face it; the classical music business is in dire straits. We are up shit creek without a paddle, and someone keeps stealing the noseplugs.
Taking a somewhat objective look at budgets for large orchestras or operahouses, one might get the feeling that there are a couple of major moneysinks in the business; star conductors and star soloists.
Even when grossly overestimating the importance of a really great conductor or a world class soloist, how long can managers with good conscience pump out 10-15% percent of an annual budget on a single event, as is sometimes the case when smaller orchestras or operahouses have 'exclusive visits' from world famous stars. Is it worth it? There is surely no defending someone getting paid 10, 20 or 50 times more than the standard fee?

In the mindset that perpetuates the pratice, the agents are the astronomers and the managers the astrologers.

The astronomers seek out the stars, name them and put them in their place on the firmament. They sit snugly behind desks, predicting the downfall of this and that star, and govern unscrupulously how these stars affect the lives of classical music listeners by telling the them so in colored pamphlets and media interviews.
When the astronomers have done their deed, the astrologers then try to interpret the deeper meaning behind it. They see the stars shining in the evening sky, follow their trajectories intensely, clutching at the hope that there is a certain mystical insight to be gained by simply associating oneself with these stars.
(The stars themselves, whether they be the flavor-of-the-month or the more longlived type, are only human, so they go where the money takes them. Who are they to tell their manager; "I want to cost less, my fee is unreasonably high"? Or am making frivolous assumptions here?)

The prevailing theory is, that some of the power - the mana - of the gueststar will rub off on the locals, leave a lasting imprint on hearts and minds and somehow magically enhance the capabilities of these 'lesser creatures', whereas the truth of the matter is, it rarely does. What makes someone better is pratice and patience, perseverance and pourage (I meant 'courage', but it had to fit with the other 'p' words...).
What a star-visit can do, on the other hand, is inspire. It can reinvigorate someone who might be stuck in a rut, and it can demonstrate how high standards can be set. And that is all fine and dandy, as long as there is also a culture of excellence present in the establishment, not just a culture of excellence-by-proxy.

So what's my point? My point is, that also in a time of crisis, managers need to maintain a balance between hyped cultism and healthy cultivation. The first is associated with the glamorous stars, the latter with 'boring' people of sustainable skill who are allowed to influence an orchestra or ensemble over a longer period of time. So, Mr. Manager, the next time you hire a chief conductor, forget what the agent says and listen with your own ears to whether or not the guy actually influences your ensemble in a positive way.

Lets stops pissing in our pants to keep ourselves warm. There is no quick-fix in music industry in crisis, there is only a growing responsability for not letting the collective craftsmanship dissapear. The audience finding your product boring? THEN STOP DUMBING IT DOWN!

I feel like I want to elaborate on this subject, so I'll nonchanantly refer to this post as #1 of 2, and lets see when I get around to it...if you get bored waiting...go practice your scales!

Når krybben er tom...

noreply@blogger.com (Jesper Nordin) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 10:30:00 +0000

Om musik og penge.

Sideløbende med debatten om det Kgl. Teaters forestående nedskæringer og fyringer, kæmpes der i øjeblikket en mindre skyttegravskrig mellem landets 'rytmiske' og 'klassiske' musikere. Foranlediget af kulturministerens egen kategoriske opdeling, råber musikere rundt omkring i landet nu op om, at deres 'genre' ikke bør fratages bevilgninger på bekostning af den anden.

Når krybben er tom bides hestene, og hvis landets nuværende 'kulturfar' selv puster til ilden, så skal der åbenbart ikke meget til før musiklivet står i flammer.

Problemet er bare, at det - mange års alt for praktisk og letsindig retorik til trods - er absurd at skelne mellem 'rytmisk' og 'klassisk' musik.

Musikgenrer er ikke isolerede øer, men konstant udviklende, kommunikerende, komplementerende og komplekse størrelser.

Den regnskabsmæssigt overskuelige opdeling i rytmisk/klassisk musik ignorerer alle musikhistoriske udviklinger, negerer selvstændig tankevirksomhed og forklejner stort set alle dominerende musikalske genier siden middelalderen; sammenstillingen af kontrasterende musikalske elementer er et smukt, fælles karaktertræk hos alle geniale komponister - fra Adés til Zappa, fra Mozart til Morrisey, fra Bach til Bacharach, fra Purcell til Parker

Der findes i min optik kun 'musik eller ikke-musik' (nogen vil nok bruge begreberne god/dårlig musik), og den opdeling finder sted inde i den enkelte person.

Det er en subjektiv skelnen, som man er berettiget til - og forpligtet til - at foretage.

Jo mere musik man hører, og jo mere forskelligartet musik man hører, jo mere raffineret og kompleks(!) bliver ens personlige skelnen, men fælles for alle diskussioner om musiksmag er, at man i sidste ende kun kan diskutere, om et specifikt stykke musik vækker følelser i én eller ej. Det er den helt vidunderligt simple konklusion på alle disse utroligt komplekse processer.

De fysiske vibrationer der frembringes af akustiske eller elektroniske instrumenter, kan skabe en form for metafysisk resonans hos tilhøreren, og deri opstår musikken.

Det metafysiske opstår, når vores hjerne - over tid - associerer mere eller mindre komplekse klange med mere eller mindre komplekse følelser. En effektiv kombinationen af disse associerende klange kendetegner en god komponist, og et godt stykke musik.

Det er ikke helt så langhåret som det lyder. Vi kender følelsen af at hårene rejser sig i nakken ved store musikalske øjeblikke, og det fænomen (som kaldes 'frisson') kan udløses af lyde der bevæger sig i samme toneleje som angstskrig.

I dette toneleje kulminerer de fleste dramatiske operaarier for eksempel. Forskere mener, at den instinktive angst, efterfulgt af erkendelsen af at vi alligevel ikke er i fare, kan udløse en stor 'musikalsk' oplevelse.

Måske er det ekkoet af mange angstskrig der lige nu resonerer i den danske musikverden, hvor man får et indtryk af, at alle er sig selv nærmest. Når signalet fra kulturministeriet er at vi skal slås om smulerne, så slås vi, og forsøger på livet løs at retfærdiggøre hvorfor den ene eller den anden slags musik fortjener mere støtte. Som regel den slags musik vi selv udøver, sjovt nok.

Men det må stoppe nu. Musik og musikere har kun gavn af én type konflikt, og den står mellem musikeren og hans 'stof'.Den kamp vi skal kæmpe, er med andre ord den kamp vi altid kæmper; med at få skabt de følelser i vores tilhørere som vi er så gode til.

Kulturministerens udtalelser har stor signalværdi, og derfor er det på tide han opfordrer til konsonans og ikke til dissonans. Det samme gælder for Alex Ahrendtsen fra DF, som i en artikel i Jyllandposten d. 3./1. gør alle musikere en bjørnetjeneste, ved yderligere at skabe splid gennem alt for sort/hvide opdelinger mellem 'rytmisk' og 'åndelig' musik, vås!, og iøvrigt også i sin iver får umynddiggjort de sidste godt hundrede års kompositionsmusik.

Uffe Elbæk må i gang med at snakker om kunst og ikke om kontanter, for ellers ender vi med at tro at de to ting er hinandens modsætninger, og det er ligeså absurd som at stille 'rytmisk' og 'klassisk' musik op imod hinanden.

Ligesåvel som det Kgl. Teaters medarbejdere i disse dage har brug for ,at deres chefer med deres lungers fulde kraft råber ud til omverdenen: ”I kan ikke undvære vores kunst”, således har det samlede danske musikliv brug for en kulturminister der ikke taler de økonomiske realiteter efter munden (vi ved altså godt at der er økonomisk krise, vi er jo ikke totalt idioter), men taler om musikkens indhold og styrke. Så kunne det være der var andre der også begyndte at tro på, at dét er det væsentlige.

-Jesper

København, 5. Januar 2011

Support for the Royal Theatre

noreply@blogger.com (Jesper Nordin) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 10:48:00 +0000

This post is simply to document the voices of support for the Royal Danish Theatre since massive budget cuts and layoffs were announced just before christmas.

If you would like to voice your support, anything is appreciated greatly! Please email me at jn@jespernordin.dk or leave a comment at the bottom of the page. Thank you :)

William Spaulding. 1. Chordirektor - Deutsche Oper Berlin

To the Ladies and Gentlemen of the Danish Government who favor drastic budget cuts for the Royal Danish Theatre at Copenhagen:

Culture is not optional; it is not a luxury. It is a necessity of life. Like our bodies, our minds and souls need nourishment.

Imagine the general effect on our health if all the salads, fruits, vegetables, whole grains and other healthful foods disappeared from the supermarkets. You'd be left with nothing but junk food. Want to raise your kids on that? Reduce that which is beneficial and wholesome, and there remains only that which is harmful.

It is the same with consumption on the spiritual and mental level: take away what is good, and you are left with what is bad. The great works of musical theater were created because there was a need for them. They survive today for the same reason.

Many argue that a lavishly funded opera house has no use. But what is use? Any ape can take a rock and crack open a nutshell to eat what's inside; that's useful. Any dog can bark to get his meal; fish have gills instead of lungs to survive under water; and the modern man turns on his computer to read the news or tell his friends what he's having for breakfast.

All of this is useful. But we must not confuse usefulness with meaning. Meaning and significance are what we are after in life. We need it. It is healthy. We thrive on it. Without it, we have only junk food.

An opera is not a fat lady screaming some wobbly gibberish that nobody understands. It is history, literature, visual art, acting, dance, theater, singing and instrumental artistry rolled into one. It teaches our young about good and bad. It grapples with questions of contemporary life.

Concerned about the economy? A singer in the opera chorus goes to your restaurants, brings her friends and relatives to leave money at your hotels, drives your cars, and buys your iPhones. She pays her rent reliably, providing you with steady income. Or she buys a house and pays interest to you for the next thirty years.

Her children are not criminals and drug addicts, but they buy your books and go to your movies. Brought up in a house full of culture, they might even become successful businessmen and politicians, like you.

Take my country, the US. Impressed with the level of public discourse in a modern American presidential election? Well, that’s what you get when you cut arts funding, entertain people with stupid TV, and classify ketchup as a vegetable in school lunches. In New York, Chicago, and San Fransisco, they have opera houses, and people were against the Iraq war.

I live in Berlin. Berlin, as you know, used to be not one city, but two. So when the Berlin Wall fell, there were two complete sets of cultural institutions. It was the operas, orchestras, theatres, picture-galleries, museums, and libraries of, say, Vienna and Brussels, all in the same place!

Some people said, "What a waste of money! We don't NEED so much culture!" And much damage was done. But in time, the business and political community came to realize that even from a purely practical standpoint, maintaining the cultural landscape made financial sense.

In Berlin, 57% of all culture is consumed by tourists! That's money for the airline companies, money for the taxi drivers. Money spent on buses and subways. Tourists are having a good time. People having a good time are in a good mood. They give the waiter a bigger tip; they get tired from sightseeing and ride two blocks to their hotel by taxi. And part of every single transaction ends up as tax revenue in your government treasury.

Look at the numbers of the opera choruses in other capitals: Barcelona 72, Berlin 84, Vienna 80, Milan 104. My chorus of the Deutsche Oper Berlin had 120 members in 1989.

I have conducted opera choruses in 7 different countries. Your opera chorus is one of the finest I have ever known. Do you really want to throw that away? Throwing it away is what you are doing when you cut an opera chorus to 40 members. The present level of 56 is too low for the work that I had the pleasure of performing at Det Kongelige Teater, Puccini’s Turandot. I have performed the same opera in Berlin, Barcelona, and Mannheim, each time with about 100 singers. Your chorus needs to be augmented, not diminished.

Cutting culture is tremendously destructive. What we need in life is not destruction, but creativity. And we need more of it, not less.

So let us not evaluate things solely on the basis of their usefulness. Let us keep meaning in our lives, and enhance it, and at the same time give people a reason to come to Copenhagen, and spend their money in your beautiful city.

Sincerely yours,

William Spaulding

People waiting in line to get in to our protest-concert this saturday. Hundreds came in vain.
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150487950075617

Erwin Schrott & Anna Netrebko

In this global difficult situation, hardship hits everyone. Some of us are more affected, other less, but we all have to face financial restrictions, as individuals and as nations. Cutting funds to culture, though, is not the best way to deal with the problem. Culture, including music, and, of course, opera, is one of the few things that keep a community together in hard times, it’s a way to remember one’s own roots and to hold on to hope for the future.
Opera isn’t just entertainment, opera is part of the European culture and we need to preserve it, passing it on to future generations. Copenhagen Opera have done their best so far to transmit to audiences their love for culture, for music, and have done so wonderfully. What we need to do, now, is to make sure they can continue doing so.
The financial situation is hard, but we need to stand together, close to the opera chorus. Eighteen people of the chorus, twenty technicians and twelve among the administrative staff have already lost their jobs and the opera will have to do without one title in its programme every year due to government cuts. A benefit concert, therefore, is not just to show our support to those people and their colleagues, but also to raise funds to try and save at least a few of those jobs.
This crisis wasn’t caused by us — artists, technicians, staff of opera houses are normal people just like people in the audience, just genuine and enthusiastic music lovers, and unfortunately also victims of the collapse of global markets. But, as John Donne wrote, «No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main»: we’re in this together, we will come out of this together, hopefully soon. But for the moment all we can do is stand together, helping each other, and work to try and improve things, one step after another, having culture as our only weapon and each other as our only allies.

Alexander Polyanitchko, Conductor - Mariinsky Theatre

It is extremely painful for me to discover that financial problems have led to the need for The Royal Danish Opera to make cuts in its artistic team. This is particularly painful, since I have on many occasions had the chance to work with the company at The Royal Danish Opera, and have always been extremely impressed by the professional skill of the singers, guest artists, chorus, orchestra musicians and stage director's team - I am proud of what we produced and the resulting performances of operas by Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev and Janacek.

It is highly regrettable that it is the artists who have to pay for someone else's mistakes. I have to ask whether it is the financial crisis that forces us to consider the need for cuts, or whether this comes from a political decision based on quite different things? I worry about that question as the former principal conductor of one of the oldest chamber orchestras in England, the Bournemouth Sinfonietta, which was disbanded in 1999 purely on political grounds.

It takes many years, an enormous expense and the effort of hundreds of people to gain a high reputation and create a team like the one at The Royal Danish Opera, but unfortunately it is too easy to destroy it. Please do not forget this and make every possible effort to save it.

Sincerely,

Alexander Polyanichko

Poul Ruders, Composer

The whole sorry mess can be boiled down to one thing: national pride – or more precise: lack of same. Sadly enough.
Sadly because it´s the same old story; in times of financial trouble, what´s first in the line of fire? The Arts. Again and again – it´s nothing new, because it´s so easy to say “…who needs it, when unemployment is rampant, hospitals suffer huge cut-backs, general well-fare is going down the tubes, etc.etc.”
Even more sadly, bearing in mind, that The Royal Danish Theatre - unique in its capacity of juggling under the same umbrella the four major performing Arts, opera, ballet, plays and symphony concerts - possesses such huge potential and talent for all and sundry to enjoy - and for the world to respect. Not only our world, but the world beyond our national boarders.
The Royal Theatre is so close to becoming a major player on the international stage. Our National Ballet has been world famous for decades, admired and talked about, the Opera is not far behind, with a world class ensemble of soloists , a superb orchestra and chorus in daring productions attracting visitors from far away and with ecstatic reviews in the international press.
THAT we can be proud of.
It´s so close. It´s all there, right under our noses, but now – apparently – it´s also close to being whittled down to “back-water” status.
And THAT we cannot be proud of.

Poul Ruders

Michael Boder, Dirigent und Director Musical del Gran Teatro del Liceu, Barcelona.

Die „Kongelige Danske Opera“ wurde in den letzten 10 Jahren, auch durch den wunderbaren Neubau, zum bedeutendsten Opernhaus Skandinaviens. Das künstlerische Niveau des Chores, des Orchesters und der Solisten hat sich in dieser Zeit enorm gesteigert und wird international bewundert. Dies wird durch die angekündigten Sparmaßnahmen massiv und nachhaltig gefährdet.

Ein Opernhaus dieser Bedeutung ist kein Industriebetrieb, der Dinge herstellt, die man mal braucht, mal nicht. Es ist ein Organismus aus hochqualifizierten Musikern, die uns Allen etwas sehr Bedeutendes erzählen : Die Geschichte unserer Kultur und Gesellschaft.
Einen solchen Organismus zu zerstören geht rasch, ihn aufzubauen dauert sehr lange.

Wenn eine Privatperson sparen muss, wird sie doch nicht als erstes ihre Bibliothek versetzen ! Genauso darf eine Gesellschaft nicht ihre Kultur opfern – es sei denn, man will auf die eigene Identität verzichten...... Und das wäre ein kaum wieder gut zu machender Schaden auf lange Sicht.

Sparen heißt doch : genauer und schlanker werden. Und nicht einfach den Baum absägen, auf dessen Ästen wir letztendlich alle sitzen.

Ich protestiere ausdrücklich gegen die Dezimierung des großartigen Opernchores.

Michael Boder

Graeme Jenkins, Conductor

Graeme Jenkins, Conductor

Any cuts in the Opera Chorus would be a disaster for a House of this standing. What is the point of having a great Opera House without Orchestra, Singers, Technical staff and a GREAT CHORUS.
You cannot do most of the major Italian repertoire without a standard chorus of 56.
Even in Traviata the mens chorus is divided into 4 parts.
Celebrate the two houses in Copenhagen, market them MORE and bring in the tourists (as they do in Vienna) and keep Opera IMPORTANT to the culture of this wonderful city.

Graeme Jenkins

Giancarlo Andretta, Principal Conductor at the Gothenburg Opera House & Chief Conductor of the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra

To whom it may concern,

Several years I have had the honour and the joy to collaborate with the Royal Opera House of Copenhagen. An Opera House of such the highest recognized international reputation cannot suffer that its incredible artistic profile, power and professionality gets diminished. I want with all my hearth and knowledge and experience to shout SAFE ALL THE ARTISTS OF YOUR WONDERFUL OPERA! Danemark has been for me Italian these years through an example for really a lot. A lot I have learned from You as artist and a lot as human been and more times I have shown You in Italy as an example to follow. Also Your attention to the true Culture and to the true Music can still remain to us European an example to follow.
To the member of the Royal Danish Opera House again I say from the hearth's depth thanks for so much You gave to us, thanks for so much you always gave to me.
We need all of You, the life needs all of You, the Culture and the Art needs all of You.

With respect. Sincerely Yours.
Giancarlo Andretta

Jeremy Bines, Chorus Master, Royal Danish Opera 2007-9.Chorus Master, Glyndebourne 2009-

(This pertains specifically to the chorus)

Dear Choristers of the Royal Danish Opera and other friends,

My heart has been bleeding since I heard the news of what they are planning to do to you, to the artistic life of Denmark, and to the world of opera. There's not much I can say that hasn't been articulated more neatly already, but the Royal Danish Opera simply won't survive without a full-time, full-sized chorus. By cutting the numbers of administrative jobs, and yes, reluctantly, production budgets, the company can soldier on; but getting rid of artists is suicide.

That is all.

Jeremy Bines

Michael Melbye, danish Stage Director and former opera singer.

(This pertains specifically to the chorus)

To whom it may, nay...must concern,

Dear Keith and the rest of the group of directors of The Royal Danish Theatre,

My connection with the Royal Theatre's Chorus span more than 40 years. And so I feel that I know this group extremely well ( albeit be it with their changing members over this vast period.)

As a 16 year old singing student, I got my first input from professional singers being employed as a dresser for this colourful group. The four years until I became a soloist with the company, I absorbed a huge amount of knowledge and experience observing and learning from these people during the many productions I followed them in.

As a soloist I have performed literally hundreds of evenings with them, and always enjoyed the collaboration. It is difficult to explain they way one feel as a soloist, standing in front of the wave of glorious sound coming from a well singing chorus. This spanned over 25 years and have always been a complete pleasure to experience. Here however the line should not be drawn.... as an international singer, I have performed with the choruses from a vast number of the most prestigious opera houses all over the globe, and I can say with the cleanest of consciences, that the Royal Opera Chorus has never seemed of lesser quality then any of these other great choruses. On the contrary In fact, I was always very proud to be part of the The Royal Danish Opera who could muster such eminent singers in this extremely important part of our business.

To underline this I would like also like to remark, that my collaboration with this marvellous group of individual artists was deepened infinitely when 17 years ago started to direct them in my many productions at The Royal Danish Opera. As a singer/musician based director who have worked with many choruses all over the world, this specific group never seized to amaze me. And this not only with their wonderful sound, but certainly also with their outstanding ability to perform and act. Their enthusiasm never fails, and contrary to most other choruses I have worked with, they beg to be individually directed, and throw themselves at the job with great concentration. And this far beyond a hundred times a year!!!!

On a technical note I would like to state that the cropping this extremely well "sung-in" chorus, and then supplement them "ad hoc" would be a huge crime. I know this is being done at different opera houses in order to cut expenses, but always with great artistic loss as a consequence. One should never underestimate the effect of years of working together in a group, listening to one another and fine-tuning the different groups of voices to establish the most balanced sound. The more experienced teaching the younger. And taking into account that The Royal Danish Opera's main asset is it's romantic repertoire, which now has been given a fantastic platform in the shape of our New Opera, the number of choristers should not be diminished but rather (as the politicians promised back when the "gift" was a reality) enlarged. This to be able to populate this much larger stage, and honour the demand of volume and brilliance without straining the voices to their physical limit. The plan of performing smaller opera productions like Mozart, Donizetti and so on, on the Old Stage, where one might contemplate a slightly reduced chorus, seems to be abandoned all together, and thus we are left with the larger stage that certainly does not lend itself to reduced choruses.

On a human note one should, and must also consider that the alternative possibilities of work within the field of music in this country is extremely limited, and thus the planned reduction of the Royal Opera's Chorus will result in many highly (and expensively) educated musicians to be lost to music world.

I therefore cannot stress enough the need to reconsider this step, which according to me, will inflict irreparable damage the The Royal Danish Opera, and in deed to Danish music life as a whole.

Most sincerely,
Mikael Melbye

"Slipped Disc" (Norman Lebrecht's blog) notice: http://www.artsjournal.com/slippeddisc/2011/12/just-in-disaster-looms-at-denmarks-national-opera-and-ballet.html

Henrik Thorngaard, Musikchef - Prinsens Musikkorps

Det er med stor beklagelse, jeg har erfaret, at Det Kongelige Teater skal reducere antallet af ansatte med 100 personer. Det er naturligvis katastrofalt for de mennesker, der nu kommer til at stå uden arbejde, men det er også katastrofalt for Det Kongelige Teater, der nu mister 100 dedikerede og velkvalificerede personer, som kommer til at mangle i de daglige produktioner.

Nedskæringerne kommer uden tvivl til at betyde et reduceret repertoire, og det er beklageligt. Det Kongelige Teater er et af fyrtårnene i det danske musik- og kulturliv, og Danmark bliver – på alle måder - fattigere, hvis vi ikke har råd til at formidle og præsentere musik og teater på højeste niveau.

Jeg vil derfor stærkt opfordre til, at det politiske Danmark – i samarbejde med ledelsen på Det Kongelige Teater – igen kigger på mulighederne for at bevare de 100 stillinger. Kunst og kultur koster penge, det ved alle, men det er også kunsten og kulturen, der, mere end noget andet, beriger os i vort menneskeliv. Den skal vi have råd til. Ellers bliver både Danmark – og menneskelivet – for fattigt!

Godt Nytår!

Tommi Hakala, Baritone - 2003 BBC Singer of the World, Cardiff

I'm shocked to read these news, which unfortunately are not surprising, but the amount and the size of the cuts is awful!!!

This is a short minded way of thinking, tearing down culture institutes, which have taken so much time, effort and good will to stand there, where it now is.

To bring the quality of making theatre; drama, ballet and opera to the people, and not only for those, who are able to pay the tickets themselves, but also for everyman and -woman, who are able to reach the unique atmosphere of live act of the greatest drama's, music and movement, the highest theatre masterpieces of our western culture...

And now the danish government wants to risk this, the existence of it, the theatre for everyone - but also the job, the work of many people, to throw certainly many of them to the line of the social offices, to the unemployment and to force some of them to move out of Denmark after the daily living and salary - this is a start of the endless cuts and who is coming next: hospitals, education, pensioners... And when comes the politicians with their salaries, officials of state with their secured and linked positions and power???

Sad, sad, sad - and this all will be also a soon-coming-situation in Finland, since the budget of the Finnish National Opera shall be recounted und cut in the year 2013, as far as I know.

And this all because of the egoistic, opportunistic, eager and selfish financial-power-politics of the E.U., Brussels, Strasbourg; and also the international "Wall-Street", long ago away of the original location, located away of the open critics and controls in the hidden meetings - who have let the unqualified states and economies to keep running, like no responsibilities, no needs of taking care of tomorrow, no ethics or moral - sad, sad, sad!!!

I haven't ever understand, how the big-business-makers and states, especially their so-good-leaders are let to walk away with their debts unpaid, without forced to face the facts, that their acts have created - and the same time an individual persons, like myself, are making the best of ours, working as much as our capacities are flexible, to get our families a possibility to have this wonderful life in the Europe, home, education, healthsystem, nations, culture - how come!?!

I do hope this spin, the depression and the decadence of our western existence, which is facing the sunset of it's own, is still to be stopped and the direction of our future meets the concrete and realistic and honest possibilities, stopping that "the only way to make success is to lie and steal"-mentality, and the way of act and react shall find the other possibilities and values until now.

Tommi, Helsinki

Alan Green, Zemlinsky/Green management:

To whom it may concern,

I have just been informed about the projected drastic cuts in the budget for the Royal Theatre. As an artists' manager who is privileged to work with many famous international opera singers,
I have worked with the Royal Opera in Copenhagen. The new theatre is one of the most beautiful in Europe. To think that the artistic quality of this great opera house should be compromised in such a way ,
is a terrible way to end 2011. I am not a Danish citizen, but art is international . Therefore let me add my voice here to those who will fight against these measures.

Sincerely yours,

Alan Green

Making fun of conductors #1

noreply@blogger.com (Jesper Nordin) — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 19:09:00 +0000

Since conducting is such an arcane business, with no one - including most conductors - really knowing what is going on, making fun of us is a popular sport. So I've decided that my first blogpost of 2012 shall be a variety show featuring various comedians making fun of the art of conducting.

Some guys are funnier than others, and I personally find these first two attemps at 'humor' slightly embarrasing, but since others will disagree, lets get things started with Rowan Atkinson and Weird Al Yankovic:

Displaying a more profound comic talent is the eternally brilliant Victor Borge here demonstrating firstly the importance of chosing the right baton:

...and secondly unveiling the mystery:

To end this first installlment of "Making fun of conductors", here's the very funny "HOW TO CONDUCT Lesson 1", poking fun of a specific breed of conductors; the aging, selfabsorbed charlatans that give masterclasses as if they were God's gift to music. If you've ever encountered someone like that, you're gonna enjoy "Lesson 1" a lot:

P.S. If you know of any videos that you think I should feature in the second installment, leave a comment
below.

Happy Newyear!

- Jesper

Tough times ahead

noreply@blogger.com (Jesper Nordin) — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 21:09:00 +0000

Sad news. The Royal Danish Theatre - which includes two of my employers; the Opera and the Ballet - is facing yet another substantial budget cut over the next 4 years. This time it's in the area of 100 million danish kroner (13,5 million € or 16,5 million $).
An already struggling Royal Theatre now has no other option but to start laying off people, and the word is that a 100 people will be thrown in the volcanoe, divided between 60 members of administration and 'technical staff', 35 'artists' and 5 in the management.
This is a devastating blow to the house, and quite possibly the comparatively biggest staff cut in the history of the house.

Exactly who gets the boot is left to negotiations, and some people in administration now face the tough task of choosing who must go. Rumor is that the Chorus will take a huge reduction from 56 to 40 members and that the opera will loose a pianist (going from 5 to 4) but that the Royal Orchestra (120+ members) will not be touched.
What will happen to the ballet and theatre department I do not know, but for the numbers to match, I could easily imagine the Ballet loosing 8-9 dancers and a pianist, and the acting department loosing 8-9 members as well.
The technical staff has been under increased pressure with reductions and budget cuts in the last couple of years, and having to trim down an additional 60 is almost impossible to imagine.

Obviously, a reduction of productions will follow.
The Opera will be left with 8-9 productions a year, making all local bloated talk in the last decade about the house having 'international class' and being 'comparable to major opera houses all over Europe' seem completely absurd. On a sidenote, I wonder how the Opera's two newly appointed bosses feel. Keith Warner just started his first season as Artistic Director and Jakub Hrusa was just appointed Chief Conductor. I wonder if they had any idea what awaited them when they signed their contracts??

There is a definite sense of panic in the house at the moment, and who can blame them? The ballet dancers have volunteered a paycut while the actors apparently have demanded that the management take a massive cut, but everything is up in the air until at least the 16th of january.

Ironcally, this whole ordeal might benefit those that make a living from temporary employment (like myself), but that offers no consolation. The house face possibly it's hardest staff cut ever, and is truly in disarray. The artistic level will invariably suffer, as will the work environment and the incentive to hang around.
It's already hard to attract the really top echelon of guest singers, conductors, directors, choreographers etc. to fringe cities like Copenhagen, and when they come they normally get paid insane mounts of money for fleeting visits. This practise will of course have to stop, and Copenhagen will slowly but surely return to being 100% 'provincial'. Having the likes of Domingo, Netrebko or Alagna visiting is surely a thing of the past?

If I try my hardest to find a positive angle in this misery, it is that some of the 'less gifted' members of staff might finally be weeded out. In the danish public sector, it's notoriously difficult to fire anyone with tenure, unless they show up drunk or punch their colleagues in the face, but now management can hesitate no longer

Despite all this, a happy New Year to all of you.

- Jesper

Maestro In Spe

Hvor er chefdirigenten? #2

Restraint & humility (a small youtube treasure hunt)

"I am glad that noone could destroy my soul"

"More and more I less believe in what a conductor can do"

"Big promise, but it didn't happen"

Smug Dude

Concert Format Ideas

Udtalelser vedrørende lukningen af DRUO

Maria Rørbye Rønn, Generaldirektør i DR (via bt.dk chat)

Tine Smedegaard Andersen, kulturdirektør; DR (via Politiken.dk)

Michael Christiansen, formand for DR's bestyrelse

Musikerne i DRSO (Danmarks Radios Symfoniorkester)

DR KoncertKoret

Musikerne i Det Kongelige Kapel

LandsdelsorkesterMusikernes Fællesråd

Forsvarets Musikkorps: Bevar DRUO

Musikerne i Berliner Philharmoniker

Medlemmer af Wiener Philharmonikerne

Musikerne i Oslo Filharmonien

Musikernes Fællesorganisasjon i Norge

Musikerne i Kringkastingsorkestret

Pia Kjærsgaard, MF/DF

Søren Bojer, Direktør; Den Obelske Familiefond (via Facebook)

Jacob Soelberg, direktør for Nordic Artists Management og Præsident for Malko konkurrencen (kronik i Berlingske)

Et lille udpluk af reaktioner fra Facebook på Soelbergs kronik

Statens Kunstfonds Legatudvalg for Musik og Statens Kunstfonds Projektstøtteudvalg for Musik

Ole Hyltoft, Jyllandsposten 17/9

Henrik Marstal, Politiken 26/9

Jakob Levinsen, Weekendavisen 12/9

Bertel Krarup, Rektor; Det Kongelige Danske Musikkonservatorium (via Politiken.dk)

Troels Ravn, kulturordfører; Socialdemokratiet

Peder Linneberg, musiker.

Christian Nissen, tidl. Generaldirektør i DR (via Deadline på DR2)

Christian Nissen (via Politiken.dk)

Anders Laursen, formand; Dansk Musiker Forbund

Claus Johansen, Musikjournalist

Nikolaj Arcel, filminstruktør (via Facebook)

Benjamin Staern, komponist

Per Johansson, seniorkonsulent DAMUKO (Dansk Musikskole Konsulenttjeneste)

Kreeta-Julia Heikkilä, 2. Koncertmester DRUO (via Facebook)

Ying-Hsueh Chen, percussionist & performing artist (via Facebook)

Jakob Brønnum, forfatter (via Facebook)

John Kruse, Soloklarinettist; Det Kongelige Kapel (via Facebook)

Peter Linneberg, Solokontrabassist; Sønderjyllands Symfoniorkester (via Facebook)

Jesper Egelund, bassist, ensembleleder for Figura (via Facebook)

Morten Zeuthen, Professor; Det Kongelige Danske Musikkonservatorium (via Facebook)

Bent Fabricious-Bjerre, komponist (via Facebook)

Peter Hanke, dirigent, associate fellow ved Oxford University, ekstern lektor ved KU og (via kulturledelse.dk)

Anders Samuelsen, Formand; Liberal Alliance

Mette Højbjerg, debatredaktør; Politiken 10/9

Casper Reiff, musiker & komponist (via Facebook)

Julie Eskær, Koncertmester DRUO (via Facebook)

Jesper Grove Jørgensen, Formand; Dansk Kapelmesterforening (via Facebook)

Om lukningen af DRUO

Online:

Facebookgruppe der organiserer aktion d. 6 Oktober: "Bevar Live-musik - Bevar DRUO"

Dokumentation:

DR's Public-Service kontrakt for 2013/14 (via Kulturministeriet.dk)

Radio og Tv-nævnets udtalelse om DR's public service-redegørelse for 2013 (via Kulturstyrelsen)

Fra Hyldestkoncerten i VEGA 26/10:

AOK.dk

VEGA

BT.dk

Musikere.dk

Youtube

Artikler

DR.dk

Politiken

Berlingske

Jyllandsposten

BT

Ekstrabladet

Kristeligt Dagblad

TV2

Information

Ugeavisen.dk