Peter Neumann

Álvaro Teixeira: I heard him for the first time in Bach. I don't remember what. It was a CD from a German label. I was impressed.

Peter Neumann: Maybe the Passion According to Saint John...

AT: Exactly! I liked it very much indeed.

PN: Thank you. Thank you very much.

AT: I finally meet you here in Lisbon and yesterday I heard directed by you a wonderful, a brilliant, reading of Beethoven's oratorio and Mass in C. But... do you often do the classics like Beethoven?

PN: Beethoven not so much. I did the Missa Solemnis, the Mass in C and the cantata for the Emperor. I did a lot of Mozart. The integral of the masses for the emi.

AT: Do you prefer works with choir and singers?

PN: Yes, I have a choir, the Kölner Kammerchor, and I work a lot with them. I am usually busy with this kind of repertoire but I would like to do more symphonic works. I also did Beethoven's second symphony.

AT: And with this group with whom you played the mass and the oratorio? Do you often direct them?

PN: Collegium Cartusianum.

AT: Exactly. They're great!

PN: Yes, yes. Usually my concerts are done with them. They come together on these occasions.

AT: You never thought, for instance, of doing the integral of Beethoven's symphonies?

(laughs)

PN: Not yet, not yet... I haven't been asked for that yet.

AT: It's a pity because I thought your direction was brilliant. That fabulous group playing on the old instruments. Everything perfect. The tempos, the dynamics, the attacks... So I'm surprised they don't invite you to do an integral of Beethoven's symphonies.

PN: There are already many integrals of those symphonies.

AT: It would be another one of great level.

PN: Yes, if you ask me I can think about it.

AT: Do you give concerts mainly in Germany or all over the world?

PN: Yes, in Germany. Also in Foule Journée in France and in Italy we did many, many concerts. Now less. In Germany I did a lot of Haendel, a lot of oratorios. I like Haendel's oratorios very much.

AT: Me too. What are your projects for the near future?

PN: We will do Haendel's oratorio, Deborah, in November. We will do the Passion according to St John in St Peteresbourg and Moscow in ten days. Next year will be a bit quieter. I hope to do Haendel's Saul at the Festival of Music. Also in Nantes and Bilbao.

AT: I think you are not well enough known in the French market...

PN: We've had very good reviews in France for Haendel's oratorios...

AT: I can imagine...

PN: Especially in the "Réportoire". I would very much like to do Mozart's operas. That would please me very much.

AT: Nowadays there's a huge wave of groups that are dedicated to playing on period instruments, supposedly in the style of the period. Especially in Europe, in the US I don't know, but what do you think of this explosion of musicians seeking a supposed authenticity?

PN: I think it's a way of giving new life to music. I think it's very good. In the beginning it was more historicist but now there's the way of playing, the colourings, modern interpretations, of today.

AT: I know a lot of German orchestras that I heard here and in Germany, mostly conventional orchestras. But... all the ones I've heard are excellent. The best of the best!

(laughs)

AT: But it's true. I'm not even talking about the Berliner Philarmoniker... Two years ago I listened to the Berlin Symphony Orchestra that just went bankrupt. What do you have to say about this?

PN: It's certainly a shame but I think there's going to be a change in the construction and operation of orchestras. In thirty years, I don't know, there will be more formations like ours that get together for a concrete project but the musicians keep their activities in other orchestras, groups and in teaching. There will be fewer city orchestras paid for by city governments. There will be more "free market" orchestras made up of free-lancers.

AT: Ha!!! Your orchestra is private!

PN: It was formed for a project. The musicians play in other orchestras.

AT: You just told me that this orchestra you are conducting doesn't have a permanent job!

PN: No, it doesn't.

AT: Incredible!

PN: Yes, but we always try to call the same musicians for the different projects. As long as they are available.

AT: I'm amazed. They show an unusual cohesion as an ensemble...

PN: Yes, it's like this.

AT: This is a strange question but... do you listen to contemporary music? From the twentieth and twenty-first centuries?

PN: From the twentieth century I listened in Berlin and in Paris, I listened to a lot of works from the Vienna school. I also studied in Messiaen's class. For a month. And then with Maderna and Boulez. It was in 65/66. I played a lot of Messiaen on the organ too.

AT: What do you think about the European construction?

(laughs)

AT: At the cultural level, what do you expect?

PN: It's a too general question...

AT: At the level of exchanges. I hope you will come more often to Portugal, for example.

PN: Yes, that would be very good. But there are taxes that prevent us. They prevent us from going, for example, to Italy where you have to pay 30% tax. Much more than what we pay in Germany. And this prevents us from going.

AT: Maybe a federal Europe with uniform laws and taxes will solve this...

PN: Could be, could be...

AT: You're telling me that in Italy you pay 30% tax on the cachet they pay you and the musicians...

PN: Yes, this way we come out too expensive or we earn too little. Here and in Spain I don't know.

AT: Me neither. In general, what do you think about the musical actuality, not only at the level of ancient music but also at the level of the great romantic orchestras? Do you think that today there are even better formations than 20 years ago?

PN: Yes, I think that the technical level is really higher. But at the level of expressiveness I think that it has been lost. Sometimes it's just the technique. But also the recordings demand that the concerts are at the level of the recordings.

AT: Do you think I forgot any question? Do you want to say something that you think is important?

PN: I don't know...

(laughs)

AT: Did you enjoy being in this Festival?

PN: Very much. I liked it very much. We came here three times to Lisbon, four times to Nantes and three times to Bilbao and it is truly a great festival. I enjoyed it very much.

AT: And for me it was a great pleasure to have this little chat with you, who were the mai character in what were for me the best moments of this Festival. Thank you very much Peter Neumann.