Interview by Cécile Balavoine.
"Of course, I remember my first plane trip. It was 1952, I was nine years old and it was the first time I'd left Argentina. My parents and I were going to live in Israel. It took us 52 hours to get to Rome, with stopovers in Buenos AiresMontevideo, São Paulo, RioWe spent the summer months in Europe before settling in Israel. My parents knew I was different because of the gift they had discerned in me. So it wasn't classic Zionism, it was a human issue: they wanted me to be different. I can grow up in an environment where I am part of the majority.
It was in Salzburg, where we made our first European stop in July, that I started playing internationally, then in Vienna and Rome. But I was completely unaware of what was happening to me. That summer, I met the great pianist Edwin FischerThen I kept coming back to Mozart's hometown, for example in 1954, when I auditioned with Wilhelm Furtwängler, and in 1963, when I made my debut with theVienna Philharmonic Orchestra. It wasn't until the 1990s that I took part in the annual Salzburg Festival.
When I was fifteen, I started travelling on my own. So I learnt several languages as a teenager. Spanish was still the language spoken at home, but Hebrew was the language of the school. English was necessary. After that, I never formally learnt French, German or Italian. In fact, the musicians I worked with at theOrchestre de Paris and Milan's Scala in the past, and Staatskapelle Berlin now speak their language less well because of me (laughs)!
Yes, travelling has had an obvious impact on my life as a musician. I've made some decisive encounters, like that ofEdward Saïdthe great Palestinian-American intellectual, Professor at Columbia University. It was in a hotel lobby in London. He recognised me and came to see me. Of course, I knew his work too, but you rarely recognise the faces of intellectuals. We had a chat. He'd read my first book, My Life in Musicin which I spoke about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It was an instant, very intimate friendship, which lasted until his death in 2003 and which led me to create the West-Eastern Divanan orchestra of young Israelis, Palestinians, Syrians, Lebanese and Egyptians dedicated to promoting understanding between peoples through music.
Musicians are the only artists with a de facto understanding of other cultures
Moreover, I believe that Europe must find its strength and independence not just as a monetary and economic union, but as a cultural union, as Mitterrand and Kohl envisaged. A German understands a Frenchman better through Debussy, Cézanne or Baudelaire, and vice versa through Goethe, Beethoven or Dürer... Musicians are the only artists to have a de facto cultural union.an understanding of other cultures. There is no German musician who only plays Brahms or Wagner, no French musician who only plays Fauré or Rameau... they also play Stravinsky, Verdi, Sibelius... Musicians are automatically pan-European.
Having travelled a lot and being able to express myself in several languages has also helped me. to better understand music. For example, the sounds of the French language can be found in French music itself. Listen, if I say "sœur" in French or "Schwester" in German, you can hear that French is lighter, that the attack of the consonants in German is more pronounced. This translates into music in exactly the same way. Today, although orchestras have lost their sound identity somewhat as a result of globalisation, it's fair to say that they know how to speak. several languages without an accent. While it's easier for a German orchestra to play Brahms or Wagner, it can also play Italian or French music. With the Staatskapelle orchestra, I remember a first rehearsal of Three nights by Debussy. At the end, I told them that it was good, but that they had played it "in German". They had to learn to play it 'in French', by reworking the phrasing, the attacks...
Now that I've travelled the world in all directions, I'd like to travel less, even if it's difficult, because my work schedule is still as intense as ever. But my life is in Berlin, where I have my home, my wife, my two children and my two grandchildren, you know what I dream of? I dream that the airlines will lower their prices so much that I no longer need to go to the public. But that, conversely, it is the public that comes to me!
Key dates
1942
Born in Buenos Aires.
1954
First European tour, then move to Israel.
1975-1989
Musical Director of the Orchestre de Paris.
1991-2006
Music Director of the Chicago Orchestra.
1999
Creation of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra.
Since 1992
Music director of the Berlin Staatskapelle.
2005-2015
Principal conductor, then musical director of La Scala in Milan.
2007
Named "Messenger of Peace" by the United Nations.
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