The new musical director of the Quebec Symphony Orchestra is quietly settling into his post. He returns to the nation’s capital to lead the 1er November the Mass in C (Mass in C) by Mozart, while the repertoire of great sacred works has been largely abandoned by symphony orchestras in recent decades. We wanted to discuss with Clemens Schuldt his programming axes for his first season.
Certainly, thanks to La Chapelle de Québec, associated with the Violons du Roy, the baroque and classical sacred repertoire is not necessarily forgotten here, but pillars of symphonic programming from a few decades ago, such as the Missa solemnis of Beethoven or the Mass in C of Mozart, even his Requiemare no longer encountered in the programming of the OSM, OM or OSQ.
By approaching the Mass in C, unfinished mass by Mozart, for his third concert, was Clemens Schuldt aware of this fact? “I am becoming more and more interested in Quebec culture and I am only now noticing the turning point of the Quiet Revolution and the influence that the Church had before. Everywhere there are these names of saints and these churches. On the other hand, a society that has said, “We don’t want this clerical influence in our lives anymore.” I am perhaps speculating by saying that this is why sacred works have been erased from the symphonic seasons. In my life — I am Protestant — I have a very natural and positive relationship with religion, and I therefore have a very positive relationship with this repertoire which elevates and touches me. »
Refreshing soloists
Clemens Schuldt, who is impatient to program the German Requiem by Brahms, one of his favorite scores, finds it fascinating to see how Mozart brings together life and death, joy and pain. “Whether you are a believer or not, music touches you and ultimately, even if you are an atheist, you can approach composition as a reflection on life and death. Emotionally, everyone gets what they want from it. I am therefore delighted to lead this Mass in C, because even if it is only a fragment, it is of such incredible beauty that it must be played. »
In the announcement of the first season of the new head of the OSQ, we noticed a lot the concept of “Clemens Schuldt soloists”, so much so that we wonder how one-night visitors can be so important . “We have to create a mix between soloists known to the orchestra, like Stéphane Tétreault, who opened the season, and some of my favorite soloists that I know, musicians who like discovery. Those I invited are “refreshing”, whether in their personality or in their interpretations. »
Above all, they have a somewhat special quality: several of them are ready after a concert to improvise or do things that are out of the ordinary. Thus, after his inaugural concert, Clemens Schuldt invited the spectators who wished to stay in the hall of the Grand Théâtre where his soloist from the 1er Concertoby Tchaikovsky, the pianist Simon Trpčeski, himself on the violin and three musicians from the OSQ played Macedonian folklore for 250 to 300 people: “It gives pleasure, makes people happy and sends everyone home with a big smile on their lips showing them that we know how to do many things other than “serious classics”. »
Clemens Schuldt is already promising a klezmer evening after a program including a Hebrew-inspired score and is impatiently awaiting the arrival of violinist Augustin Hadelich. “He’s a long-time friend. We played violin duets at age twelve at summer music camps. It was important for me to have him during my first season in Quebec. »
In the eyes of the musical director, this exchange with the soloists after the concerts aims to show the public his “creative approach to the concept of concert, beyond the overture-concerto and symphony scheme”.
National exchanges
” Before the Mass in C of Mozart, I will create a dramaturgy, promises the conductor. In the first part, Ave Verum by Mozart, Sinfonia da Requiemby Britten and Pavane by Fauré (in the choral version) will be played without pause as a kind of emotional journey. The heavenly music ofAve Verum will be destroyed by the timpani of the Sinfonia, which will take us on the path to hell. Then, after a redemption, this sweet song of Fauré will emerge. I will play on such elements in the future to create surprise moments. »
Clemens Schuldt will also sometimes launch a concert on an intrada with wind instruments, or add an encore, like the prelude to 3e act of Lohengrin during the first concert.
That evening, he started it with Out of sight… by Keiko Devaux. “I would like to open my ears so that contemporary creation is considered as something accessible and enriching. I think the orchestra was more conservative or cautious before,” notes the conductor on the theme of current music. Clemens Schuldt’s goal is “not to scare”: “I would like people to say: ‘It was different; I discovered something.” It will be the same, soon, with Masquerade by Anna Clyne. »
How did he sort through the Canadian contemporary repertoire so quickly? “During the pandemic, I learned to research. For three months, I immersed myself in the compositions of the former East Germany. A section of music wanted to be in the Soviet political and aesthetic mold. But there were also anarchists, some characters that I wanted to rediscover. This resulted in a CD with my orchestra in Munich. As a result, I acquired a sort of discipline. I did some research here in Ottawa; consulted databases; listened to lots of recorded compilations; asked numerous editors about Canadian talent. » We also understand that he got some advice from Ana Sokolovic. “That’s how I came across Keiko Devaux, who impressed me with his sound universe. »
This season, the OSQ will reunite with the NAC Orchestra to tour the 5e Symphony by Jacques Hétu. “I could brag and say I had something to do with it, but it was set in motion before my appointment. What I can say is that Alexander Shelley and I have known each other for 20 years. I took over his student orchestra in Düsseldorf and, while I was studying violin, I even played under his direction. That his orchestra and mine are doing something together has immense symbolic force and shows in my eyes that the OSQ must be more present in the region and in the country. »
The conductor, who has just hired four musicians and will renew four or five key positions in the coming months, foresees a “renewal in dynamics and quality” and “a future where the orchestra will be sonically better”. If he considers that the OSQ is “an orchestra for the city, the people here and [qu’il] will open up even more to all segments of the population,” he thinks he should present himself in other Canadian cities. “I will commit tooth and nail to ensure that the project with Alexander Shelley does not have a future. We need to organize exchanges and we are at a good starting point. »
Clemens Schuldt is also considering the possibility of one day directing an opera in Quebec, which would broaden his range of activities with the orchestra. “It would serve the orchestra and I love opera. I met the artistic director of the Opéra de Québec, Jean-François Lapointe, and we have to have coffee together. Yes, on a political level, it would help both the Opera and the orchestra that I direct there. But I can’t say anything more at the moment. Let’s have a coffee first! »