Vasily Petrenko: «We are surrounded by classical music» Kim Østenfor Spildrejorde Klikk her for norsk versjon Vasily Petrenko is now in his third season as chief conductor of the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra. The prolific conductor, who also serves as principal conductor of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, has over the last few years managed to make his own imprint on the Norwegian orchestra, both in connecting with the audience, but also within the ranks of the musicians. «For me, the major change is that we’ve become much more open. If the orchestra wants to express their emotions individually and as a group, they hesitate far less than it used to be. When I came – and I said this to the orchestra openly «I cant’t understand, do you enjoy it? Or are you only seriously trying to conquer all the notes?». I think the most important part is emotion, this is what we bring into the world. And it’s about music, any sort of music. If you listen to music you don’t think usually, how it’s built up and who plays what. Only professionals do that. To regular people, emotions are the most important thing and that is something I think we have now achieved. But this is not the only way Petrenko thinks the orchestra has changed since he took over the reins. «We do broader repertoire now, we some times do visuals along with the music, recently we even had a sand artist here. We are also expanding our program for the young. I think the whole organisation now realize that we are here for all the people here, not only the very selective audience, whom we of course are for and value a lot, but we are for everyone. Everyone can come and enjoy a concert!» An attractive group of potential concert goers for the orchestra is the large number of students in Oslo. Totalling in the tens of thousands, students make up a significant amount of the city’s population, yet still aren’t a very large part of the regular audience at classical concerts. I was curious if the emotional expressiveness Petrenko has brought out in the orchestra, in his mind also can make it easier for new audiences to connect with the music and the classical concert experience. «I hope so. One part of course is the music, another is coming to a concert along with an uptight and extremely conservative audience, who might look down on you for cheering too much. But I think here that’s not the case and I would of course invite every student to come.» Still for many people the idea of attending a classical concert seems daunting, many expressing that they know nothing about such music and seem to be under the impression that they need to be «in-the-know» to be able to enjoy a classical concert. «You don’t need to know anything beforehand», says Petrenko. «Many people think there are a lot of traditions that need to be adhered to in the audience, but there isn’t any. Except turning off your mobile phone, at least the sound.» Petrenko continued to explain how most of us really do know classical music even if we’re unaware of it. «Pick up your phone, and play any tune. Probably in 9 out of 10 melodies will have classical roots. So we do know classical music, we just don’t want to accept it, in many ways.» Foto: Mark McNulty/EMI Classics One thing is what happens when the audience is already in their seats. But in a city which has an astounding amount of cultural events to offer, one has to make a real effort to stand out in the crowd. Petrenko reveals that the orchestra is working hard with ideas that will cater to the diverse tastes of students and younger audiences to make going to a classical concert even more appealing. «We’re also thinking of how to make it even more accessible for the students. I have some ideas, for example related to how students can get hold of the prime seats for a discount, not only the seats somewhere in the back. Hopefully with offering that we can attract some new audience members. There will also be concerts of movie music with music of John Williams coming up. We’re doing various contemporary music concerts together with different musicians, rock bands some time, open air concerts, there are plenty of plans for things like this. I’m planning to do late night concerts for students and a younger audience. Maybe starting Friday night at 9 and perhaps even you can bring your drink into the hall? Again more of lounge type music rather than something very serious and you will be able to have a chat with the performers. That is an idea I’exploring and hope will be attractive and I would appreciate feedback on this.» It is quite clear that anyone interested in exploring the vast world of symphonic music has a lot to choose from in the time to come. From an audience perspective it is refreshing and exciting that there are so many ideas being worked on, each bringing something new to the table, clearly showing an intention of inviting new people to come and enjoy the immersive experience of watching over 100 elite musicians excel at their craft. At the same time, if you are a newcomer to classical music the task of finding a starting point can be a challenge. Petrenko here has some good advice to get you started. «Oh, there are so many places to start. You could probably start with something like The Nutcracker, various pieces by Strauss, but you could also go to things like The Beatles, who are considered classical now. Or you could go to the soundtrack of for instance Avatar, by James Horner who sadly died not long ago. I actually conducted the premiere of his double concerto for cello and violin. This is classical music from a present day composer. Same thing if you look at John Williams who is still alive, if you listen to the music from Jurassic Park for example, it’s properly written classical music. Left: John Williams (photo: JWFan.com)Right: James Horner (photo: Sylvia Wells) Next, you can also go to most of modern computer games. You can start off with old strategy games like Heroes and then to Civilization which as plenty of music! Fallout 4 has a lot of classical music, The Last of Us has a lot of good music and also The Witcher 3, to name a few. But you’re not in a concert hall listening to the pieces, because you are in action. We are surrounded by classical music, we just don’t realize it.» Petrenko recently extended his contract with the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra until 2020. We look forward to discovering what more he has in store for Norwegian audiences in the years to come. Next concert for the conductor with the Oslo Philharmonic comes this Thursday and Friday. A concert featuring among other things Shostakovich’ 5th symphony. A very fascinating piece both musically and historically. This is a perfect opportunity to get to know the orchestra and a highlight of 20th century music. Bring your friends and enjoy the show!
