(Chief)Conductor

The Type of Conductor

Whoever follows Jiří Bělohlávek’s conducting career must be impressed by the constancy of his methodological approach. He did not change the approach to his profession since he was young, he only became deeper, more thorough, allowing him to achieve increasingly higher interpretation levels with the orchestras he conducted.

Already in a 1969 interview when asked about the foundations of his own professional method, he mentioned three basic principles: thorough study of the composition, accurate reading of the score and intensive and, if possible, long-term work with the orchestra.

His insistence on perfect preparation, however, did not mean a rigid standstill in acquired schemes and solutions practiced in one way to be played the same ever after. Quite the opposite. His engaged attitude to everything he was doing together with the multi-layered musical material was a constant source of new perspectives. So even when conducting compositions that he had performed tens or hundreds of times, he would always find new impulses and new ways to grasp the music.

Bělohlávek was an exacting conductor, demanding perfect preparation and paying attention to the slightest detail. At the same time, he was able to incorporate all individual parts into the complex of the work and create a compact and impressive whole. His great expertise and professionality, and the truth and intensity of his personal involvement in music were the qualities that made his conducting so convincing and engaging. His demands stayed the same over the years, but as he gathered experience, he learned in time to communicate his ideas the best and most appropriate way, he learned how to convince and inspire the orchestra, how to convey the expected sound quality, rhythm, play etc. both verbally and non-verbally … His verbal communication at rehearsals was interesting as he always tried to convey his requirements with the help of original metaphors and similes. So, the musicians could hear from him that they should play “in a blue way”, or “like a gurgling forest stream”, or to play with the feeling of “a hot bath” etc.

As far as Bělohlávek’s conducting technique was concerned, his physical expression was not based on bombastic expressive exclamation, but on service to music and the need for clarity and predictability.

An attentive colleague

During his career, Bělohlávek met many of the world’s leading instrumental and vocal soloists. Their reactions show Bělohlávek’s exceptional ability of creative collaboration and of considerate and sensitive approach he had to his artistic partners.

While paying attention to every detail, he was able to adapt to the soloist’s artistic intention. When there was a disagreement on interpretation, he was always trying to find an element, a direction, an interpretation that he and the soloist could share. And in the rare cases when it was not possible to come to an understanding, he supressed his own opinion and complied with the soloist’s version.

He always combined his great demands with great support. He represented a sought-after conductor type, especially for singers, as he knew all parts perfectly and was aware of the position and needs of vocalists in the composition’s whole. Thanks to the singing experience that he gained in the Prague Philharmonic Children’s Choir, he knew exactly when singers needed to breathe or how they could sustain a phrase. He led the vocalists and made the orchestra accompany them sensitively so that their voices were heard well and were not “drowned” in the sound coming from the pit.

A caring leader and his team

Jiří Bělohlávek was an artist who believed that the highest performance standards could only be achieved by working with an orchestra on a long-term basis. With a team whose each and every member will work hard for the common result. With an ensemble where everybody knows their position in the whole and where individual musicians perceive each other very well. This is how a creative atmosphere develops, both at rehearsals and concerts, enabling the artists to go beyond what is simply learned and opening the door to improvisation and musical “miracle”. He confessed repeatedly that his ideal of symphonic play is such as if it were a chamber ensemble with a large cast. 

Wherever he held the position of chief conductor and music director, he cared for the orchestra with extraordinary intensity and extensity. His care branched into all areas of the ensemble’s life: interpretation, rehearsals and concerts; musical technique such as caring for intonation, ensemble, tone quality and the richness of the orchestra’s expressive palette; matters concerning dramaturgy and stylistic direction of the ensemble; presentation and promotion of the ensemble, including recordings; building relationships with soloists and other conductors; caring for orchestra members and generational exchange; caring for good working conditions enabling focused work; choice of new musical instruments and other equipment necessary for high quality playing etc. It was not by chance that David Mareček kept returning in his interviews to the fact that Bělohlávek showed everyone at the Rudolfinum what it meant to build an orchestra.

Searching for the form: the power of sanctified interpretation

All this effort extending to many areas of the life of an orchestra came together in the actual artistic work whose climax always was the live performance of a work in front of the audience.

What precedes a concert is, however, a long process. The interpretative approach is formed in the weeks and months when the composition is studied.

In the centre of Bělohlávek’s efforts there was always the score. He was nevertheless also interested in the biographical, social, and cultural context of the origin of the composition, in the tradition of its interpretation, and everything that could help him penetrate to the composition’s core. His utmost attention to the notation made it possible to be loyal to the composer and at the same time come up with a vivid music that mirrored current interpretative potential (orchestra seating arrangement, modern instruments, acoustics of the hall) and respected a modern audience.

Following the stage of individual study, several rehearsals usually ensued, during which he tried to convince the musicians for his interpretation and to perform it this way. 

In Bělohlávek’s view, the main and final aim of a conductor’s work was the concert. He perceived recordings as a wonderful means conserving the achieved interpretative level and making the work accessible to large audiences, and as a great learning aid and a way to promote the orchestra and the composer. Nevertheless, he found the true essence of music in performing it live.

The momentary combination and interaction of the sound potential of a space, of the orchestra’s play and the mood of the audience create a unique atmosphere that cannot be preserved on any media. Only here and now can the people present witness a unique and unrepeatable artistic performance.

Such a moment is conditioned by the hard work that precedes it and by “getting the composition under one’s skin” so that the intended, rationally led effort and technical skill is complemented by an additional quality that is hard to describe.