The new hall in Prague will attract bosses from all over Europe, believes the Mareček Philharmonic
Mareček has been at the helm of the Czech Philharmonic since 2011. In an interview with Finmag, however, he mainly talks about the orchestra’s future. Among other things, about the new Philharmonic building. “In the Rudolfinum, the huge music does not stand out so much, on the contrary, the conductor has to dampen the orchestra so that the music fits into the hall. Prague really lacks a modern music hall,” he says.
In addition, he also deals with raising the salaries of the philharmonic players. “As a management, we already feel that the orchestra should be appreciated better, which is difficult to achieve at this time,” he admits.
People come to the concert, but they stick around for a while and spend some money. In Prague, such an increase in interest can be expected doubly.
Prague should have in ten years the new Philharmonic building. Does this fulfill your dream that an orchestra of the importance of the Czech Philharmonic should play in a new, modern hall?
That’s for sure. The orchestra recently returned from a tour of Europe, we played in the Paris Philharmonic and the Elbe Philharmonic in Hamburg, which are two of the most interesting halls today. We played Shostakovich’s 11th Symphony and Mahler’s Seventh, i.e. the great symphonic music that we also play at the Rudolfinum, and there the difference in the volume of the hall stands out terribly. In the Rudolfinum, the huge music does not stand out so much, on the contrary, the conductor has to dampen the orchestra so that the music fits into the hall.
Prague really lacks a modern music hall. In the end, it would not only be the fulfillment of my dream, but also the wish of chief conductor Semjon Byčkov, who supports the plan in every possible way. The orchestra would also get it elsewhere if it could regularly rehearse and play in the new hall.
Can we also speculate that fans from all over Europe would go to such a modern hall more than they do to the Rudolfinum today?
I think yes. I’m not necessarily saying that it’s better than the Rudolfinum, because it has the hallmark of the hall where Antonín Dvořák conducted the Philharmonic for the first time and where many legendary artists performed. But if we look at the example of Paris, Hamburg or Reykjavík, where there is the Harpa concert hall – a beautiful building that received the Mies van der Rohe award – all those cities have experienced a massive increase in cultural tourism, which is welcome. People come to the concert, but they stick around for a while and spend some money. Such interest can be expected twice more in Prague, as it is easily accessible and attractive in its own right.
You mentioned Mahler, he himself spoke of his music as a current that should break the walls of concert halls. Doesn’t the expanding cubature of the new spaces reduce this desired artistic tension?
I wouldn’t be afraid of that. A bigger hall means a bigger stage, where more musicians can fit, the music is more transparent in such a space. It’s better to hear. And it’s definitely not going to happen that she doesn’t break through walls like you talked about. Unfortunately, this happened to Mahler once in Prague.
I still remember the Eighth Symphony project at the O2 Arena in Prague Spring, conducted by Christoph Eschenbach, but the monumental dimension of Mahler’s music was completely lost in the arena. And it was a shame. This will not happen in a conventional larger hall. Music doesn’t run away. It was well heard in Paris and in Hamburg.
It’s like playing music on a better hi-fi set with better speakers. The music is perceptible on a larger scale, the pianos are excellent, the softer parts of the compositions are heard, but the orchestra can add to the power. The difference compared to a traditional hall is similar to when you hear a concert on the radio, which has its own capacity, and the sound engineers have to “cut” and mute the stronger passages, which you certainly know well from working on the radio. The new hall makes it possible to hear even the strongest dynamics, and at the same time hear it not as a scrum of notes, but as a clearly distinguishable structure. And even a layman feels this subconsciously.
After covid we have an over pressure of interest in tickets, we have higher numbers than before covid so hopefully it will last.
I saw a documentary about the creation of acoustics in the Elbe Philharmonic, where they first worked on a small model and then tuned the entire large hall. And so that every listener has the impression of intimate listening.
In my opinion, this is the magic of acoustics, it stands on the border between exact mathematics and art. Everything has to be precisely calculated and mathematically modeled, but then fine-tuning it to a model and in reality is a real art. One does not work without the other.
We will have to wait another ten years for the “fine-tuning” of the concert hall in Prague. Is it already being considered how it would work practically and economically? Part of the concerts would be in the Rudolfinum, part in the Vltava Philharmonic?
This is the model that is being worked on now. We are discussing this with Prague and the Ministry of Culture, and of course also with the Orchestra of the City of Prague FOK, which will have its headquarters in the new building, as it is now rented in the Municipal House. According to our team, it should work similar to the National Theatre, which has several buildings and divides the repertoire according to them. The Vltava Philharmonic would be for a large repertoire, the Rudolfinum for more intimate pieces.
So far, we have an excess of interest in tickets after covid, we have higher numbers than before covid, so let’s hope that this will last in the years to come. It would also be beneficial for the orchestra. For example, if we have a concert for 3,500 people, we play three times in Rudolfinum, twice in Vltava would be enough. That would leave one day for rehearsal, which is sometimes very useful: to have more time to rehearse and work on the piece.
What is the economic balance sheet? Will the state subsidy have to increase?
We are working on it. If the operation of the hall were entrusted to the philharmonic, as is usually the case in the world, we would have to expand it to include people who would take care of the new building. And that would bring a certain increase in costs. The economics of operating the building itself are still in the stars. The team around deputy Petr Hlaváček, who did the entire competition together with architect Martin Krupauer and did above-standard work in a European context, does have some models, but the entire operating system will still be subject to planning. Only in two or three years will it become clear whether the hall will pay for itself or whether it will need a subsidy.
Since the salary increase in 2012, incomes for the Philharmonic Orchestra have practically not grown.
You said you’re seeing more demand for tickets than before covid, but now the energy crisis has come, there will be an economic recession. How have energy prices affected you? Inflation is rising, musicians’ real wages are falling…
We will only see that when the crisis actually breaks out. All that is happening so far is that musicians are feeling the inflation and also the closing scissors of the pay gap of the past. Since the salary increase in 2012, when the Minister of Finance Miroslav Kalousek increased the salaries of the philharmonics by 60 percent, their incomes have practically not grown. While the other orchestras were slowly catching up to the level of the Czech Philharmonic, which was also somewhat the goal of the operation – the entire industry, so that musicians in top orchestras would be well paid.
What is not talked about at all is that the Czech Philharmonic plays by far the most. Salaries are divided per month into work performance (rehearsal, concert, say recording), these are separated by commas between musicians. And when the commas are counted and the monthly salary is divided by that, it is three thousand for other orchestras, two thousand for us for one comma. As a management, we already feel that the orchestra should be appreciated better, which is difficult to achieve at this time.
How about waiting for better times?
We recommend launching a campaign for private gifts, which has never been held in the Czech Republic before. We think that if we go with an outstretched hand to the founder, we must have in the other hand something that we have accomplished ourselves. Regarding energy: we have one building, so the price increase is not essential.
How do your colleagues deal with it abroad, where you returned from?
They mainly deal with the loss of listeners who go to concerts less. This is a worldwide problem. They didn’t come back after covid. For the most part, the number one in the state does not have a problem, for example, Carnegie Hall in New York is satisfied, but San Francisco or Los Angeles are already a third lower. Similarly, the Elbe Philharmonic in Germany, currently Germany’s most popular hall, is full; Of course, the Berlin Philharmonic is also sold out. But Cologne, Essen, and even Munich, the traditional city of classical music, are reporting a decline in interest.
Note: The author of the interview knows David Mareček well, that’s why they talk to each other.
The interview was published in the current edition of the printed Finmag. You can find the winter issue on the stands right now.