Finnish orchestra conductor Susanna Malkki is used to being asked what it is like working in a male-dominated world.
“Maybe one day we will have reached a point where we won’t have to discuss the gender issue at all,” she said with a smile.
Only a few women have made it to top conducting positions in classical music, and Finland’s Malkki has joined the list: the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra has appointed her as its next chief conductor starting in 2016.
Photo: Reuters
照片:路透
She joins a small group of musicians that includes American Marin Alsop (1956-) at the helm of the Baltimore Symphony and Sao Paulo State Symphony Orchestra, and Australian Simone Young (1961-), director at the Hamburg State Opera and Philharmonic.
The 45-year-old Malkki has won praise around the globe. Her seven seasons as the music director of Ensemble Intercontemporain, a French group founded by Pierre Boulez (1925-), earned her a profile as a new music specialist.
Now she is set to take over the first professional symphony orchestra in the Nordic region, which between 1892 and 1923 premiered most symphonic works by Finnish composer Jean Sibelius (1865-1957), with the composer himself on the podium.
Watching Helsinki bathe in an autumn sun through the windows of its new Music Centre, Malkki, who still lives in Paris, said she was excited about the assignment.
“The appointment feels very special as I know so many of these musicians from the past. The biggest compliment a conductor can get from orchestra musicians is to hear that they want to work with you again,” she said over a cup of coffee.
Malkki looks forward to working with the orchestra on classical repertoire, but also aims to diversify.
“During my first season here, French music will be strongly in focus. There will be new and old, French, Italian and more. I like to bundle the present and the past in programs, I’m not fond of categorizing music too much. The Germanic tradition will come later.”
Malkki started as a cellist, rising to be principal cellist in the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra in Sweden.
But her passion for exploring orchestral scores prompted her to apply for a conducting class led by Jorma Panula (1930-) — the “maestro of maestros” who instructed a generation of well-known Finnish conductors including Osmo Vanska (1953-), Esa-Pekka Salonen (1958-), and Sakari Oramo (1965-).
“I was very aware that the tradition of the profession is extremely masculine. I knew that if I wanted to do this, I have to be particularly good at it,” Malkki said.
Malkki also holds the post of principal guest conductor of the Gulbenkian Orchestra in Portugal and she is a regular guest conductor at top European and North American concert halls. This season she will make her conducting debut with the Philadelphia and Cleveland orchestras, the New York Philharmonic and at the Hamburg State Opera as well as La Fenice in Venice.
Malkki is praised for her sharp, clear and demanding style of conducting. She says she tries to strike a balance between strong leadership and working cooperatively with musicians, and cites Jorma Panula’s advice: “Help, don’t disturb.”
(Reuters)
芬蘭指揮家蘇珊娜‧瑪姬已慣於被問及在男性主導的樂界工作有何感想。
她微笑著說:「或許有一天,我們將達到一個不再討論性別議題的境界。」
僅一些女性有此本事成功掙下頂尖古典樂團指揮職位,而芬蘭指揮家瑪姬就是其中一位:赫爾辛基愛樂已任命她自二0一六年起,接掌該樂團下任首席指揮。
她已加入領導主要樂團女性指揮的小眾精英,包括領導巴爾的摩交響樂團與聖保羅交響樂團的美國指揮家瑪琳‧艾索普(1956-)以及漢堡國家歌劇院和愛樂管弦樂團總監、澳洲指揮家西蒙娜‧楊(1961-)。
現年四十五歲的瑪姬得到許多國際讚譽。她在皮耶‧布列茲(1925-)創立的「世代之間樂集」擔任七個樂季音樂總監的表現,讓她被定位為一位擅長詮釋「新音樂」的專家。
如今,她已準備好要接掌北歐首支專業交響樂團,該樂團曾在一八九二年與一九二三年間,首演許多由芬蘭作曲家西恩‧西貝流士(1865-1957)親自指揮自己所創作的交響曲作品。
從新建的音樂中心窗戶望出,看著浸潤在秋天陽光的赫爾辛基,仍定居在巴黎的瑪姬說,她對新的任命感到興奮。
她喝著一杯咖啡表示:「這項任命非常特殊,因為我過去認識好多該樂團的團員。一位指揮所能得到的最大讚美,莫過於聽到樂團團員願意再度與你合作。」
瑪姬引頸期盼與該樂團合作,除了古典曲目外,她也著眼於多樣化的曲目選擇。
她說:「我在該樂團的首個樂季,將著重於法國音樂。曲目安排有新有舊、有法國音樂、義大利音樂,以及其他類型。我喜歡把現在與過去的音樂放在同場音樂會中。我並不喜好太過歸類音樂。而德國傳統將後續納入。」
瑪姬以大提琴家出身,並曾晉升擔任瑞典哥德堡交響樂團大提琴首席。
但本著對樂譜探究的熱情,促使她報名了由素有教父級指揮大師之稱的約馬‧帕努拉(1930-)所主持的指揮課程。帕努拉調教出許多新一輩芬蘭指揮名家,其中包括奧斯摩‧范斯卡(1953-)、艾薩—培卡‧沙羅年(1958-)與沙卡里‧歐拉莫(1965-)。
瑪姬說:「我清楚意識到這職業延續著極度男性為主的傳統。我知道若我想在這職場闖盪,我必須要在這領域上,有特別傑出的表現。」
瑪姬現為葡萄牙古本江管絃樂團首席客席指揮,而她也定期在歐洲與北美頂尖音樂廳以客席指揮身分演出。這個樂季,她將首度與費城交響樂團、克利夫蘭交響樂團與紐約愛樂合作,並也會在漢堡國家歌劇院與威尼斯鳳凰劇院登台。
瑪姬的指揮手法精準、乾淨俐落且嚴謹。她說,她試圖在強而有力的領導以及與團員齊心協力合作的關係之間,謀求一個平衡點。她並引用指揮教父帕努拉的忠告,「幫助,莫干擾」。
(路透/翻譯:林亞蒂)
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