>> Anne McLean: Good evening.
I'm Anne McLean from the
Library's Concert Office.
We are so excited tonight
to be welcoming back
to the Library an artist
who is admired worldwide
as an exceptional composer,
conductor and clarinetist.
Jorg Widmann, welcome.
[ Applause ]
You have tonight brought with
you such great partners --
The Irish Chamber Orchestra
with whom you have a
long relationship now,
and the excellent
soprano, Claron McFadden,
and a terrific program, your
own music with Mendelssohn,
Mozart and also a
bout to J.S. Bach.
So we're pleased to
be part of your tour.
It's a super fast one.
>> Jorg Widmann: That's right.
We started in Wheaton
near Chicago.
Last night we played in my
Carnegie Hall residency,
this season at Zankel Hall.
And we are so excited to
play our last concert now
for this tour.
Hopefully not last
ever [laughing].
Here and for me, I just told
you backstage, it really feels
like coming back home, coming
back to this wonderful,
wonderful hall and we look
forward very much to play this.
I also would agree,
really exciting and really
in many ways, unusual
program for you.
>> Anne McLean: Yeah, and
you know we were talking
about the Hall.
This is a string
orchestra program.
You've really worked with
them for several years
and recorded the
string repertoire
and this Hall was built
for string sounds.
So you're in for a
remarkable experience.
I wanted to ask you
how you hooked
up with the Irish
Chamber Orchestra,
how did you first meet them?
>> Jorg Widmann:
They invited to me
to play Mozart clarinet concerto
with them many years ago,
maybe ten, something like that.
And we fell in loved immediately
and one day they asked me
if I want to be their kind
of principle conductor,
artistic partner.
But at that time I hadn't even
conducted a lot, you know?
So it was exciting for me, and
to be honest I learned so much
from them on this journey, and
hopefully I could give back
to them a little bit of what,
and in each rehearsal, you know,
and it's mutual trust by now
and also the two last
concerts, so exciting.
It's the same program,
but every night different.
It will be different tonight
again because we love the risk.
>> Anne McLean: Yeah [laughter].
You know, this program
is so beautiful.
It has so many connections and
I want to just zip through them.
I know your time is
limited before you have
to warm up and so on.
But about programming in
general, you have a passion
for this and for connecting
the music of the past
with the great music of
today linking and connecting
and cross pollenating and so on.
And I wanted, I love
this comment that I read
that you said, "It
sharpens the ears
for the orchestra sound f
you hear a solo piece next
to an ensemble or next to piano
pieces, vocal music and others."
And so I know that texture
is very important for you
in relating one work to another.
If you want to talk a little bit
of how you conceive programs.
>> Jorg Widmann: Well, first
of all we are living today
and of course Mendelssohn
and Mozart lived
at a different time,
but I think there is
so many correspondences.
And I refer, as you will
hear clearly in my piece,
which you will hear
before the interval work
and Claron McFadden will
sing the soprano part,
that without the Mozart "Adagio
and Fugue," which you will hear
at the beginning
of the second half,
my piece would not be possible.
And that's the first thing.
I'm excited about programs
where I'm really convinced you
will listen to the modernity
and dissonances in the Mozart
piece in a different way
when you have heard my piece and
the other way around, of course,
and also to have little pieces
only for six people, a sextet.
My very early piece
I was I think 19,
180 beats per minute
it's called.
And they will play that second
piece in the second half.
Again, afterwards when you have
the full string body afterwards
you will listen to that one
in a different way again.
So that would be --
I mean philosophy would
be a too big word,
but I strongly believe
in these programs.
And it's exciting also
to have two soloists.
You know, this wonderful
singer, Claron McFadden,
and I play at the end of the
program, the orchestra version
of the Weber clarinet quintet,
which was very touching
for us to hear.
Last time I was here,
I heard this
that Weber did a two piano
version of this piece,
which is the manuscript is
at the Library of Congress
and that's incredibly touching
to play this piece tonight,
knowing that the manuscript
of this version is right here.
>> Anne McLean: You know,
I wanted to talk with you
about your interest in
Weber and your feeling
that he is still underserved,
perhaps is a way to talk
about it, but I also wanted to
ask you about you have commented
about the long programs
that Muller put together,
three hours sometimes, and how
such a diversity of variety
of offerings, musical
offerings within those,
do those influence
you in your thinking?
>> Jorg Widmann: So much.
I mean in the Muller time,
you know they would program
mainly music of their time.
We should not forget that there
would be a bit of symphony
in the program as one
of the pieces for sure,
but Muller would conduct one
of his own new pieces maybe
of a colleague like
Richard Strauss,
there would be a singer playing
with piano, a song cycle.
So at that time it
seemed to be, first of all
that one would believe
that you could do
that to your audiences
first of all.
So many times today I
feel from presenters,
sometimes they're scared.
"Oh our audience."
But what's an audience?
We are all individuals.
And I don't believe.
So it's like, in my own
composition if I would ask you,
"Do you like my bar number one?"
You know, and I would change it.
I think it would not be right
because I can only
do what I believe in
and somebody else might have the
completely different opinion.
So first of all the audiences
were there for three hours
and by the way, two nights
program is a challenging
and demanding program
for us, but for you too.
But I hope so exciting
that it pays off.
Anyway, you asked
me about Weber.
For me, he is one of the
most important composers.
I can really say that I really
think he is a neglected,
under rated composer.
Which piece do we know?
We know the Freischutz
that's played
in even the big American
opera houses.
But even Oberon or
Euryanthe, beautiful music.
It's not really played,
his piano music not
anymore on the programs.
But we should not forget
that composers like Debussy
and Stravinsky, two composers
who were not particularly fans
of German music,
let's put it that way,
no really both of them.
I mean Stravinsky
having a suggestion
for a [inaudible] how it
could be written better.
You know, and [inaudible] of
course who loved [inaudible]
when he was young and then
was very much opposed to him
as the Philosopher Nietzsche.
He was a Wagnerian until he
wrote these anti-Wagner text
at the end of his life.
But these two composers,
they praise Weber.
So there's a Stravinsky who
said, "Weber was the duke
of music," saying, praising his
Aristocracy and his nobleness.
And he once said, "Weber never
wrote the note too much."
And this you can only
say about Haydn, Mozart.
And I think also about Weber.
And [inaudible] said,
"We impressionists,
we think we have subtle
colors in our orchestration,
but Weber has shown us the
way a hundred years ago.
And another French Composer,
Hector Berlioz was a
contemporary of Weber,
wrote in his instrumentation
book recommending
to young composers how
to write for a bassoon,
for a horn, Weber, obo, Weber.
The clarinet chapter, after
some introductory lines,
starts with the words,
"Oh Weber!"
And he was praising the
Freischutz overture,
how he wrote for the clarinet.
And as a clarinetist, I
must say how he writes
in the Freischutz overture is
two low clarinets in thirds,
which makes you tremble
and shake in anger
and in fear, actually.
That's another moment
Berlioz mentions.
Sorry, even as a clarinetist,
I would not even invent
something avant-garde like that.
And there is a diminished
chord, clarinets very low,
celli play above it and then
there is a diminished chord.
And that's an effect,
I mean "effect" is maybe
not the right work,
but that's a new sound by Weber.
He has a Pizzicato in
all the double basses,
at the same time with a timpani.
And Berlioz writes, "If there
would be an ordinary A-major
chord and Pizzicato basses
and timpani would not be
even worth of mentioning it.
But, this chord with
these unusual registers,
this Pizzicato plus
timpani is the most unheard
of sound of that time."
So especially in the second
movement, the fantasia,
you will hear I mean would be --
sorry, for being a little bit
long but I really want to --
>> Anne McLean: No,
this is great.
>> Jorg Widmann: Give
a speech for Weber
because really he is not,
even amongst highly --
amongst colleagues,
musicians who I really love,
we have a disagreement
sometimes on Weber
because what would
be the cliche?
The cliche would be well, it
scales upside down and both ways
and our pitchy and
very virtuosic writing.
The one which Stravinsky
by the way liked,
Stravinsky wrote an homage piece
to Weber called "Capriccio,"
for piano and orchestra.
Fantastic piece.
Also not played too many times.
That would be the cliche.
And you will hear a
lot of virtuosity,
almost to the edge
of being playable.
I mean it's one of our Mount
Everest pieces in terms
of difficulty, digital finger
difficulty and for the breath.
But the center of the piece,
the core of the piece is
this fantasia and that's
so deep music and
heartfelt music.
So the cliche would be, well
it's a little bit superficial.
Even in the fast movements
he's never, ever superficial.
He's ironic in that the
tradition of Haydn and Mozart.
And we should not
forget the wife
of Mozart was Constanze Weber.
So she was a part of the --
>> Anne McLean: The family?
>> Jorg Widmann: Weber dynasty.
>> Anne McLean: Oh, I
didn't make that connection.
>> Jorg Widmann: And
Weber was so aware.
When he would write
for the clarinet,
that there are some
other not too bad pieces
by another master composer.
Anyway, so this chromatic
world is a modern world
and to me there are two
modern pieces tonight --
it's the Fantasia and the Weber
quintet and the Mozart Adagio
and Fugue, which
we will talk about.
My pieces are the contemporary
pieces from our time.
I would rather emphasize the
traditional aspects in my piece,
but the Mozart and the
Fantasia of the Weber,
these are the modern
pieces of tonight's program.
>> Anne McLean: You know, I'm
so excited that you talked
about this because I was
hoping you would specify some
of the things, because I've
read that you say the colors
and the tonalities and
ideas that Weber has,
or what sometimes even surpass
what you expect in early Wagner.
and I was thinking to
myself, "What are those?"
You've just said what
some of them are.
Now we know why Wagner was so
enthralled by hearing Weber.
You read about that.
He became passionate about this.
He was a young boy, like nine
or ten or something like that,
and he heard der Freischutz
and was just taken away.
It was an apotheosis,
if that's a word.
So he kept begginghis
sisters to play it again,
the score that they got.
And he learned, he
started taking piano
so he could play the score,
all those kinds of things.
>> Jorg Widmann: And when
Weber died in London,
and the dead body of London
would be taken to dressed in,
Wagner was organizing
the ceremonies,
the musical ceremonies
in honor of Weber,
and there was hardly
any colleague of Wagner
who would of done this far.
And there is a moment
shortly before the end
of the Weber quintet,
a scary moment
where the strings are
suddenly playing [inaudible],
and if you hear only that plays
separately it could be Wagner.
You know, there are
even to the extent --
I don't want to say
something against Wagner,
I have the greatest
admiration, but let's face it,
Weber was 20 years earlier and
he happily, I don't want to say,
"stole," but he happily
took the best things
of Weber for his own operas.
>> Anne McLean: So
regarding the --
oh I was going to say too
it's super, super operatic,
this music, and as a
clarinetist you'll hear,
also it's incredibly athletic.
And we could talk
about that at length.
And I want to get back to
the opera part, but in terms
of the playing and the
virtuosity you mentioned,
one of the thoughts that
we had to ask about was how
so many people conduct
and play, violinists
and pianists have been
doing this for centuries,
and other instrumentalists
occasionally too,
but I only know very
seldom clarinetists do this,
how do you manage -- what are
the challenges, let's put it
that way, of conducting
and playing?
>> Jorg Widmann: Well, for
tonight it's a big challenge
for me because there are
different muscles involved.
And for me it's -- I told the
orchestra today in the rehearsal
in last night's Carnegie
concert, in the Mozart,
the end I always freak out so
much and I forget that I have
to play Weber nine
minutes later than that,
and when I started
the Weber last night,
I was still kind
of out of breath.
So physically that's
the physical aspect
of tonight's program.
Of course it's challenging
but I like a challenge,
I like challenges like that.
It's risky to play after
conducting a whole evening
to play such a virtuosic
piece at the end,
but for the programming and
for your experience, hopefully,
it's worth it for the program.
I could not have
considered any other order.
You know a program is
like a human being,
or like a composition you
could say, it has to be right.
For me that feels right.
But this athletic aspect you
mentioned it's definitely
in there, but it has to sound
like Mozart, light
and effortless.
That's the difficult thing.
>> Anne McLean: Yeah, exactly.
And back to the program
aspect that you put together
such a beautiful program
that also connects the
individual composers
to each other and to the
final piece and so on,
back to the Mendelssohn,
so these symphonies you've all
ready recorded quite a few.
Have you recorded
the eighth yet?
>> Jorg Widmann: No.
Actually, we have recorded it.
It's not released yet.
We wanted to pair it with some,
but it never was
the perfect pairing.
It is there but still waiting
to be released one day.
>> Anne McLean: And
these I understand
that Mendelssohn had an
amazing laboratory experience
that his father was able to
engage professional musicians
for a tryout kind of orchestra
when they had house music
concerts at their family home.
And they were from the Berlin,
the main ensemble
there in Berlin.
Yeah, imagine having this.
He was 12, 13 and 14 when
he wrote these symphonies.
>> Jorg Widmann:
Can you imagine?
>> Anne McLean: Amazing.
>> Jorg Widmann: Twelve,
thirteen and fourteen.
And these sheer craftsmanship of
writing fugues and counterpoint.
You will hear in the last
movement does not stop.
You know, everybody else
would get out of breath or be
like happy when you could
write in a different way.
This is the most complex
thing you can imagine,
I mean counterpoint
in music in general.
And I would even go as
far as to say that Mozart,
the other famous child prodigy,
he did not have this
knowledge in counterpoint.
>> Anne McLean: That's one of
the things I wanted to ask you
to talk about because I
learned for the first time
that he learned about the
Bach fugues from van Swieten.
>> Jorg Widmann: Exactly.
And the piece you will hear
tonight, the Adagio and Fugue is
such an unusual piece and
it would not be possible
without Baron van Swieten, who
opened generously his library,
his famous library, where
the Handel and Bach scores.
So for Mozart this
was something new.
He, of course he knew some
selected individual, Bach,
Handel pieces, but there in
the library he was studying.
And it says, you know,
in the Biographies,
Baron van Swieten
had an orchestra.
But Mozart scholars now say it
was probably a string quartet
plus double bass.
But the Adagio and Fugue,
many scholars say
Mozart did not even think
about a public performance, it
was for this intellectual circle
of Baron van Swieten, and I have
the impression Mozart simply
wanted to prove that he
can write in this style to.
So the Fugue starts,
[imitates music].
What is it, basically?
It's Bach.
[imitates music].
Art of the Fugue,
music offering.
So that's what it basically is.
So if we would judge
a human being only
from the outward appearance,
which we should never do,
but if we would the
coat he wears,
or the wig he wears is baroque.
You would think when it
starts, oh it's a piece,
it's in French style,
a French overture style
by a baroque master.
The harmonies are so
harsh and the crematisism,
you know when one voice goes
this way there will be a clash
with the second voice.
The third voice will do
something completely different.
And the fourth plays the
inversion or the mirror
of the inversion
of the Fugue theme.
It's an incredible -- only
five minute long piece,
four or five minute long,
but the most condensed
and intense structure
you can imagine.
A really extraordinary piece.
But there are counterpoint
studies
by Mozart, like 7-bar sketches.
And he gives up most
of the time.
So it was not really
home territory for him.
That would be my theory.
Therefore, when Mozart writes
counterpoint like in these
in pieces, or in Jupiter
Symphony at the end,
it's so masterful and what he
says is even of a deeper --
even for Mozart standards,
you know,
even something deeper
he has to say there
because it's not easy for him.
We have the image of Mozart.
Well, God himself gave him
this and he just wrote it.
Well, it might be true
to a certain extent.
I'm not completely against
this rather romantic view.
There is something, I mean,
which cannot be explained
by only human standards in
Mozart, we all agree on that,
but here he had to simply
sit down and work hard.
Even in Mozart Clarinet
Concerto, which I love so much,
when there is counterpoint
its piece 622, Requiem,
his last piece, 626,
even there when --
[ Imitates Music ]
Over [imitates music], he seems
to be happy, this place is over.
So counterpoint Mendelssohn,
as 12-year-old he was
all ready a master.
>> Anne McLean: Yeah, really.
You know, this is a good segway
into your essay, or the "Attempt
at the Fugue," but before moving
on you mentioned
dissonance a moment ago,
and I know that that's the title
of your lectures at Carnegie,
so let's not forget that
he has two lectures coming
up on dissonance and beauty
is the main title of them,
and it would be sort of -- will
those go online, by the way?
Do you know?
>> Jorg Widmann: I'm not sure.
I did not see cameral.
But many times in
our lives there are.
>> Anne McLean: Well maybe, just
to encapsulate before talking
about the essay piece,
what gave you this title,
this particular title?
It's such a great
arresting title.
>> Jorg Widmann: Well for sure I
had the feeling of a shortcoming
in my own works, in my own
composing about counterpoint.
You know, all my teachers always
told me, [inaudible] when I came
to him, the first lesson
I will not forget he said,
with a very strict voice,
he said, "I look forward
that we can work together.
But you know the
pre-condition is
that you have study the
Fugues counterpoint."
And every teacher told me this.
So they offered it to be
like a beer turned sour.
Can you say that?
You know, and I never
accepted it.
And that was stupid of me.
I was young and stupid.
Only years later when I felt
myself a lack of something
in my music, actually it
was a lack of counterpoint.
But it's a privilege of
a young person I think.
You write it, you
know, and that's it.
But at a certain point
it's not enough anymore.
And then I decided, OK, I
have to write a whole series
of counterpoint pieces and this
is maybe the strictest piece
in terms of canons.
Actually, it's called, it
has "The Fugue" in the title.
It should be actually
to be precise,
"the Canon," the strictest form.
>> Anne McLean: So it's
only the one subject, right?
>> Jorg Widmann: Exactly.
And really, literally, you
know how do you say, repeating.
Repeating.
So other than in
other pieces of mine,
in this piece every note you
can explain mathematically,
so to speak.
You know, by inversion of the
theme or a mirror of the theme
or mirror of the
inversion of the theme.
That is one aspect.
The other aspect is I wrote
a sting quartet cycle.
Right now I am writing my
string quartet number seven
and struggling with it
happily, but struggling with it.
And string quartets number
six to, I don't know,
nine or ten one day, will be
called "Studies on Beethoven."
It will be a new cycle.
>> Anne McLean: Like the new one
you're doing at Carnegie now.
>> Jorg Widmann: Exactly.
Exactly. And my string
quartets number one
to five, they form one cycle.
And the piece that you will
hear tonight was originally
for string quartet and soprano
was the fifth string quartet
attempt of the Fugue.
And I made an instrumentation
for my orchestra,
for the Irish Chamber Orchestra,
we premiered this
version some years ago.
And I really, completely
rewrote the piece.
I have a kind of mirror,
or a kind of doppelganger
of the soprano, which
is the obo.
We have, this is ode to the fact
that we have a fantastic
obo player,
principle obo in our orchestra.
Dan Bates will play tonight.
But not only that, I
needed another voice
and double-bass Sometimes
I double the celli
with the double bass like
in traditional music,
but I added to pre-existing
counterpuntal structures
further counterpoints.
And that's something
painful as composer,
because when something is, if
you like it are not perfect
in itself, like a
counterpoint structure,
adding one more destroys
the whole thing.
So I had to reopen all the
structures again and so on.
So you will hear this
version of that piece tonight.
>> Anne McLean: And the
text, so I wanted to ask you,
they're from Ecclesiastes,
which versus, which phrases?
>> Jorg Widmann: Number
one and some others.
You will all know these famous,
"Vanitas Vanitatum
Omnia vanitas."
How is it --
>> Anne McLean: Vanity,
vanity, all is vanity.
>> Jorg Widmann: All is vanity.
>> Anne McLean: Had you worked
with her before,
with Claron before?
>> Jorg Widmann: Yes.
>> Anne McLean: She's
remarkable.
>> Jorg Widmann: Ah she is.
You will hear it.
I mean, she starts the piece
and I know each time it
will break my heart again
and it happens again.
I don't want to say too much
but it's her ability to sing
like an instrument and
to blend with the obo.
Last night in the concert,
there was one moment even
I could not tell anymore,
is she still singing or is
the obo all ready playing?
They were blending
so incredibly.
And -- sorry, I lost.
>> Anne McLean: This is
a good question for you
about how you use the
voice in this piece.
And last year you won,
or you received the
Robert Schumann Prize,
which is very prestigious
prize for poetry and music.
And it was interesting to me
because I hasn't associated
you with poetry so much.
And then of course I know, you
have written operas and so on,
and maybe you could tell us
about new projects in that way,
but they talk about this prize
for being for personalities
with an outstanding
lifetime achievement
in the field of poetry.
And the other folks
who have run this,
the other composers
were Pierre Boulez,
Wolfgang Rihm and
Aribert Reimann.
But what I was interested to
read about was they were saying
that even when you don't have --
this is from the jury comments
about Jorg's music, "Even
when it has used all forms
of vocalization, his
music is as eloquent
as any text-based work of art."
And it talks about "the deep
significance of vocal feeling
and an intense commitment
to a poetic gesture
with the line," and
things like this.
So I was wondering if you wanted
to talk a little about your work
in this regard with vocal music?
>> Jorg Widmann: I was
really very honored
to receive this prize because
next to Weber, Mendelssohn
and Mozart who I love, Schumann
would be maybe the composer I
identify most with in many ways.
And my students in Berlin
they were recently bringing
up the idea, we should
do an analysis
of the Dichterliebe
together, of Schumann.
And for one and a half hours we
actually analyzed song number
one and two only, because there
are so many textures and layers
and meanings, different
meanings,
codes and it's incredible.
So now I know what I
forgot before you asked me
about the text, this
Ecclesiastics text and I want
to mention one thing about
it, this is all is in vain,
in vanity, this whole text.
And there is another line in
this piece, one generation comes
and it leaves, the
next generation comes,
but the Earth will stay always.
And our time we don't
even know that for sure.
But, when you have
text like that --
or the other one I say it
in my not good English,
it's different, of course,
in the Bible translation,
but the sun goes up and
the sun goes down again,
but the Earth will
always remain.
So what are these texts?
I think they're amongst the most
skeptical of overt literature
and Schumann wrote
once in his Opus 102,
the first movement is
called "Vanitas Vanitatum"
and then what he writes for
the musicians is [inaudible]
with humor.
And then the piece goes --
[ Imitates Music ]
So what kind of humor is that?
So when Schuman writes
with humor
or with good humor sometimes,
then it gets really
scary with Schumann.
No, but I wrote a song cycle
for Christian Gerhaher,
it's a Schumann homage
called, how you say,
"The Fiery heart" would be
the literal translation.
So here the text was the reason
for the Fugue and
canon structures.
Because when you have certain,
you have to write circle canons,
this sun image for example.
And for me the voice becomes
more and more important.
I come from an instrument,
of course.
I mean I started playing the
clarinet at the age of seven.
But once you start writing for
the voice, oh you get addicted.
And of course in my Babylon
Opera it's three hours of choir
and 100 people choir and 20
singers, soloists singing.
I will continue for sure.
Right now, because you asked me,
there is not a precise project
for opera I'm working on yet,
but I feel it's about to --
>> Anne McLean: Germinate
or circulate.
>> Jorg Widmann: Absolutely I
can feel it will take only some
months until something.
>> Anne McLean: So these things
are just wonderful to talk
with about and so
many connections.
You are creating an ongoing with
your life, an ongoing homage
that is a dialogue and
constant conversation
with music of today.
And this is what you're
known for worldwide.
It's exciting to see
what's happening at Carnegie
and I wanted to say, to ask
you, what are the highlights
for you of the coming year?
He will be in residences
at the Richard
And Barbra Debs Chair
Composition at Carnegie,
which is a huge task in itself,
but also the Cleveland Orchestra
and the Munich Philharmonic, I
believe will play your music.
And so what for you, what are
you looking forward to this year
as a statement you can
make as a musician?
>> Jorg Widmann: You mentioned
all the Carnegie Hall really
exciting events there
I will conduct,
modern music ensemble and so on.
What is very touching for me,
I studied at Julliard
in 1994, '95.
And they asked me
to return to them
to conduct the Julliard
Orchestra,
the student orchestra.
And that's such an honor for me
because I remember how much
I learned in this orchestra.
There was a reading
of [inaudible]
of Stravinsky with
Pierre Boulez.
It was quite an arrogant
orchestra,
you know because in the back of
the second violin sits a winner
of [inaudible] and
Moscow and so on.
So they did not -- we, I should
say "we" did not always behave
so well, but when Boulez
came we were speechless
because he heard everything.
He said, you know there is
this famous bassoon solo
at the beginning, it's so
high to play for the bassoon,
everybody is nervous about it.
So Boulez came in cool as
always, as he was relaxed,
he said, "Good morning.
Good morning everybody.
Good morning mister
bassoon player.
Relax. We start with
the second part."
So psychologic master
of psychology.
So I was sitting next
to the Bassoon player
so he leaned back.
So the second part starts with
wind chords, [imitates music].
So we started with that.
He interrupted us after
the third chord and said,
"Third horn too sharp,
second clarinet too low."
He did it again and the
chord was just perfect.
This orchestra was you know,
he could have done
anything after that moment.
And normally, especially youth
orchestra, you know, you leave.
When the rehearsal is
over everybody wants
to have lunch or
fun or whatever.
We were all sitting there
for another ten minutes
because we still could not
believe what had happened.
And I have played in this
orchestra was my first solo
of Mendelssohn and I
programmed that piece.
And there was a competition
now amongst the violinists
at Julliard and a young woman
will play my incredibly complex
second violin concerto
in that program
and we will perform the
Jupiter symphony in the end.
So that's something I look
forward and I can't wait to work
with the young people
on that project.
At the same time as my
Carnegie Hall residence,
I am in residence
with the Palau,
the concert hall in Barcelona.
And at the Casa da
Musica in Porto.
So I will travel
a lot this year.
But, you know, if you ask
me about a kind of credo,
I would really say you said
it much more beautifully
than I could do it, what you
said about my programming.
I try really anywhere where
I am, I really try also
in my Carnegie Hall
lecture the other night,
I try to make it
possible to listen
to things in a different way.
How can a silence
sound differently?
And now I can't wait to show
our program together with you.
>> Anne McLean: This is perfect.
Thank you so much.
Do you want to take
a question or two?
>> Jorg Widmann: Absolutely.
>> Anne McLean: Just maybe a
couple questions before he has
to warm up.
>> Jorg Widmann: Since I
don't play the first piece.
Otherwise I would
have to warm up.
>> Anne McLean: Anybody
have a question?
>> Audience Member:
Thank you very much.
Hi, I wanted to ask whether or
not your fifth string quartet
and the Weber quintet
will be performed
in the original instrumentation
or have they been rescored
for the entire chamber
orchestra?
>> Jorg Widmann: That's
a very good question.
We did our own version of the
Weber quintet, because again,
so most of the things you can --
what was the first violin
is now sixth first violins.
But the double bass
part, for example,
that gives completely new
possibilities of Pizzicato.
You know, when the celli play
our chord at the same time
and there are some remarkable
moments, which you only here
in the Chamber Orchestra version
and there are major changes
in my string quartet.
There are many, many changes.
Some places are still
for string quartet.
Then there are places
one violin plays.
Always one line, by the way.
Then the second they join.
Third player, fourth player,
fifth, player, sixth player.
Same thing happens with this.
So you have the impression
something is far away
and it kind of comes
closer or the other way.
So in my piece there are
major changes considering
or comparing it with the
original string quartet version.
>> Audience Member:
Thank you very much.
>> Anne McLean: Any
other takers?
OK.
>> Audience Member:
Americans don't get a chance
to hear orchestras or ensembles
from Ireland that often,
is there a distinctive
sound coming
out of Dublin or wherever?
>> Jorg Widmann: It's
a wonderful question
and I always ask
myself these questions
about the famous poetry.
All these poets are from Dublin.
What is it?
I love the Irish,
the Irish culture,
the mentality of the orchestra.
But I would not dare to
put it in words what it is.
It's something very difficult.
It's like something to talk
about their German
orchestra sound.
Very difficult and even
difficult to verify it today.
So what I can talk
about is what I can talk
about is what we
have been working
on the last eight
years is really sound.
And these Mendelssohn strings
symphonies are the best thing
for the health of an orchestra
because you have to
polish everything.
Everything is heard.
If something is out of tune,
everything is being heard.
So the main aspect I would
mention is the sheer enthusiasm
of every player.
I love what they do.
I could talk about technical
aspects about sound, yes.
To me, the most important
thing, this enthusiasm.
And you know, once we
feel it in the night,
and maybe we play double tempo
from last night,
but we go for it.
That's maybe, that's
something Irish.
I don't know.
But with Irish Chamber Orchestra
fascinating I fall in love
with them every night.
>> Anne McLean: Wonderful.
Anybody else?
So maybe not.
Thank you so much.
>> Jorg Widmann: Thank you.
[ Applause ]