- Concert
2012-10-19 Update
Roland Altmann （Timpani）
―We are very honored to have you as a regular member of the Mito Chamber Orchestra (MCO). What was your first impression of the MCO?
It’s my first time to play in the orchestra whose members are mostly Japanese. At first, I have no idea about the situation. But it’s comfortable for me that so many people speak German perfectly and others speak English too. Now I know the reason. Many of them stay in Europe or America and come to Mito for the concert. They are musicians or teachers. Also, the Japanese colleagues who live in Japan also speak English a little bit. You have a very international feeling here. Each of us comes from various countries with their own tradition and we have to find the way to be together. But it’s not the problem. Music is international language!
―First of all, could you tell me why you chose the percussion when you were child?
Like every child, I learned the piano, the violin, and so on. My father played the oboe and my mother was a singer. She was the member of the chorus in the opera house. I started the percussion when I was 13 years old. I played two instruments then, the oboe and the percussion. But after four years, it was absolutely clear to me that it would be percussion and the timpani. I didn’t choose the oboe because I learned the French style and I wouldn’t like to change the Viennese style. And the timpani was much more important for me. I started studying in the conservatoire in Germany and then went to the Vienna Music Academy.
―Afterward, you became one of the most well-known players for modern music.
In 1959, I had my first engagement with the Niederösterreichischen Tonkünstlerorchester which is the third orchestra in Vienna. In the same year, I started to play in “Ensemble Die Reihe”. It’s one of the most important ensembles for the contemporary music, like the “Ensemble InterContemporain” founded by Pierre Boulez in Paris in 1976. I was the member for 25 years. Thus, I played not only in the symphony orchestra as a timpani player but also in the modern music ensemble as a percussion player.
―It’s interesting to know that you had the passion for the wide range of repertoire.
Yes. When I played the modern music, I did more percussion such as the vibraphone, the xylophone, and the marimba. We did many new pieces and that made a big scandal in Vienna. When we did some pieces of John Cage, the audience said like “what a noise!” and so on. The newspapers said “they are fool!” It was fantastic experience! In those days, the Viennese public was very conservative. Now, it’s absolutely changed and you can hear the fantastic modern music in Vienna. It’s no problem for the Vienna Philharmonic too. In summer 2012, we had the great production in Salzburg, “Die Soldaten” composed by Bernd Alois Zimmermann. It was absolutely great success. Very hard, very loud, but it was fantastic.
―Could you tell me more what you did in the field of modern music?
In 1969 and 1970, I had the chance to do three percussion concerts with the orchestra in Musikverein Wien. Nobody did it in Austria at that time. I did the percussion concertos by Mihaud, Jolivet, and the timpani concerto by a German composer. And I also played Bartok’s sonata for two piano and percussion. I think it was the first time in Vienna to play it. And I was a friend of the Austrian composers, Friedrich Cerha, Heinz Karl Gruber, and Otto Zykan. They were young like me at that time! Now they are very important figures. The whole world knows their name! It’s wonderful to grow up together with the people like them.
In addition, I also joined the small group called “MOB art & tone ART Ensemble”. Its members were Otto Zykan, Heinz Karl Gruber, Kurt Schwertsik, my brother, and the member from the Vienna Philharmonic who was the percussionist, and me. And Ernst Kovacic (Vn) and Heinrich Schiff (Cello) are two important guests. They are very good soloists! It was a small group and we did very ridiculous things, the public was laughing but they liked it! Of course, we played their works. We did the wonderful trio for the piano, the violoncello, and the vibraphone composed by Zykan.
―On the other hand, you had been the member of the Vienna Phiharmonic Orchestra for 36 years, one of the most-greatest orchestra in the world.
Yes. After working in the Niederösterreichischen Tonkünstlerorchester and the Radio Symphony Orchestra in Vienna (ORF Symphony Orchestra), I went to the Vienna State Opera Orchestra. It is run by the government. And the Vienna Philharmonic is the private orchestra. It’s the same orchestra, but the government gives us the chance to make money for sure. You have the rehearsal in the Vienna State Opera in the morning, the rehearsal of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in the afternoon, and you are sitting in the Opera to play La Bohème, Wagner and so on in the evening!
In addition, I was the Vice President of the Vienna Philharmonic for 12 years. We did all by ourselves, selling the tickets to our colleagues, making the music in the archive, discussing the next project and the tour with the conductors. We organize it by ourselves.
―When you became its member, how did you feel about it?
Of course I was happy to be its timpani player. At the beginning, it was hard, but then it was fantastic! I think it needs four or five years until you feel sure and confident about how you play. What I love the most is that the orchestra plays not only the symphony but also the opera. There is a lot of fantastic music in the opera. If you don’t play it, it’s like a musician who never plays the chamber music. It’s absolutely important. That’s why Seiji Ozawa’s idea to do both in his academy is great! The students can learn new things if they play only in the symphony orchestra. You have to listen to the singers to be together and learn to be much more flexible. There are so many fantastic pieces: all the Mozart operas, the Ring by Wagner, the great Verdi, Richard Strauss!
―The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra has played with many wonderful conductors in the world. Who was the most impressive one for you?
I would say Leonard Bernstein and Carlos Kleiber. Of course Karajan too. They are really fantastic. If I choose one conductor, the most impressive one for me was Carlos Kleiber. I did New Year’s concert with him two times. I never forget it. We also did the tour to play Der Rosenkavalier in Tokyo as the Vienna State Opera. You will never forget it if you were there. It was just great.
―Could you explain more about the musical experience with Maestro Kleiber?
It’s so difficult to tell about it. Whenever you see his hands, you can imagine how the music should be played. In the next moment, it sounds just like what you just see with his hands. When he spoke to the musicians about his own ideas, he used only a few words to let us know what he wanted. He never said like “play piano, or quick”. He had the clear vision in his head and you can understand what he means with his expression with hands and the thoughtful words. It makes you have clear idea how it will sound in the next moment. Now I have the similar feeling with Maestro Christian Thielemann. When he conducts Parsifal or Tristan und Isolde, his expression with the hands are wonderful.
―How about the experience with Maestro Bernstein and Karajan?
I never forget when Bernstein came to Vienna for the first time in 1966 and play Verdi’s Falstaff. I have never never never heard this Opera like the performance with him. It was fantastic! We also did all Mahler symphonies, all Beethoven’s symphonies, all Brahms, and then we started Sibelius and Shostakovich. But we couldn’t finish it because he died in 1990. It was fantastic experience. For me, he was the conductor who spent the longest time together, for almost 20 years. In the first symphony of Mahler, I did the percussion. And in the Beethoven’s symphony, I started to play timpani. Karajan came later. He conducted in the opera house in Vienna maybe in 1964, and after that, he hasn’t come to Vienna for about 20 years. He came only to Salzburg and came back to Vienna in 1980s. My time with Karajan was only in the 80s. I’ll never forget those three. And of course, Maris Jansons, Claudio Abbado, Riccardo Muti are also fantastic… we have played with all of them.
It is wonderful because we are private orchestra and we have no chief conductors. Sometimes there is the musical director in the Vienna State Opera, but there is no chief conductor in the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. Therefore, we have ten concerts in the season, and that means we have ten conductors in one year. And we also have two or three special concerts, so we have about thirteen conductors in the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. It means, we have all the important conductors every year! Of course, it is not easy to find one of them for our tour because the most conductors are fixed with their own orchestra.
―Maestro Seiji Ozawa was the musical director of the Vienna State Opera from 2002 to 2010.
Yes, I like to play with Seiji Ozawa. He was the musical director of the Vienna State Opera for a long time. The greatest surprise for me was his very good New Year’s Concert! At first I’m not sure if it’s OK with him, but it was wonderful! I like him and I hope he likes me too! When he comes to Vienna and sees me, his first question is “how’s your family, wife and children?” and so on. When he came to Vienna, he always came to eat together. He always told us his own family.
―What is the impressive point of Maestro Ozawa?
First of all, he’s wonderfully clear in conducting. He understands what he wants. He’s very precise at the rehearsal to find out the way. I like to play the 20th century music with him such as Stravinsky, Messian, Prokofiev etc. He has a very good sense.
―Next, I would like to ask you about the role of timpani in the orchestra.
Of course, it’s the base instrument, although it’s not like the double bass. It’s very important to find a good way to play with double bass. The timpani is a rhythm instrument but not so much as a percussion. It’s between the rhythm instrument and the base instrument. I often think that the timpani player is like a second conductor. The real conductor is in front of the orchestra and the timpani player is in the back of the orchestra. The orchestra has to follow them with their eyes and their ears!
Let me talk about the Viennese timpani. When you talk about the Viennese sound, people always talk about the strings, the oboe, and the French horn. People don’t know about the timpani. The Viennese timpani is absolutely our unique instrument and no orchestra has it. There was a very important timpani player in time of Mahler, called Hans Schnellar. He made the original timpani. It’s different from the international one. Normally, you fix the kettle and change the head(skin). As for the Vienna one, the head(skin) is fixed and the kettle is changed. Second, we use the goatskin. Internationally, the cow skin or plastic one is used. And we play with special sticks which are made of the flannel. You can make it smaller or larger to change the quality. It’s interesting to know that these traditions came from Germany at first, but they lost it! About 100 years ago, there was a very famous timpani player in Dresden. He also made very good school for the student. He created the tradition in Germany, and then they changed it, but the Viennese hold that tradition. They make better stick with felt, and we make the better stick with flannel.
―Could you explain more how unique is the Viennese timpani sound?
The mixture of the goat skin, the special sticks, and the form of timpani gives the special sound. For example, we can play with much harder stick on the goat skin. We can play louder but it’s not like “schoot”, but “pan”! It really has a rich sound, even when we play in fortississimo. The goat skin has much richer overtones. The unique sound color goes well with other instruments, especially with the oboe. It’s absolutely different from the cow skin and the plastic. The tone is darker, not so hard, it’s more integrated in the orchestra. Our ideal is to be mixed well in the orchestra sound. The snare drum is also different. Some snare drums sound like “ZZZZZZZZZ” and the other one is “zzzzzz”. We need the latter one which is not making the noise. You can say the same thing in the tambourine. Most of the tambourines nowadays are made in the U.S. When you hear the pianississimo in the moment, it tends to sound like “pic, pic, pic”. Our tambourine sounds like “chon, chon, chon”. It’s much more integrated in the orchestra. That’s our idea for the percussion. Our goal about percussion is like this. But of course you have to change the instrument when you play the different kind of music.
―What kind of timpani are you using in Mito?
In Mito, I play the small timpani made of the cow skin. And it’s wonderful, very clear. I use very hard sticks. The sound is perfect because we have only 36 persons and have a smaller hall. It is mixed well. The large timpani sound like “bourn, bourn, bourn”, but we need the sound like “tan, tin, tin takatakka”. The typical Viennese timpani is not really the best choice for the chamber orchestra like here. I do the same in Vienna. If you play in the smaller orchestra and the smaller hall, we choose the smaller timpani if possible.
A bigger orchestra with 70 to 100 members has to have other kind of sound. In Musikverein, I often choose the great timpani. But when I play Haydn or Mozart, I prefer smaller instrument. When we play Bach, I choose really small one. I have always tried to select the best instrument.
―By the way, you seem to have interest in Japanese culture very much.
Yes, absolutely. My first time in Japan was in 1977 with Maestro Karl Böhm. It was only two years since I became the timpani player of the Vienna Philharmonic, which means, it was the time to learn and to feel sure in the orchestra. But it worked well. We played Beethoven’s 5th symphony. At that time, I have visited so many things, Nikkou, Nara, Horyu-ji temple, Kanazawa. Every time I visit other countries, mostly Japan, it is very interesting to see new things to understand the culture, architecture, landscape, people, and food. I love Japanese food! I have seen fantastic things in Kamakura too! As for Mito, I have no idea about this city at first. But I found that there is a beautiful lake and the wonderful birds! I walk every day around the lake if the weather is fine.
―You have been active in the world of classical music for a long time. What do you think is the key?
There are so many! You must have talent, good teacher, and always have great ears to understand what the other members do. It’s also important to go to good concerts. You have to be open-minded and keep learning throughout your whole life. Now I’m seventy-one years old and I play here. It’s a new experience. I always have the interest like I played in Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. It’s wonderful that I can still work. I learn new things in every concert: the new instruments, new skin, new sticks… it always surprises me. You always have to be precise on what you are doing. You cannot be sitting back and lying. When you are here, you must be open and look for what you can do.
―Could you give some message to the audience of Mito?
First of all, I’m happy to be in this hall and this wonderful building created by an important Japanese architect, Arata Isozaki. The tower is really a symbol of Mito! I hope all the best for this orchestra. Especially I hope that Seiji Ozawa will come very often as long as possible. As for me, I would like to do the timpani concerto some day. But it’s not a regular repertoire here… I also enjoy working with the elementary school children in the seminar. We did the master class with using snare drum and timpani. After that, the brass band was coming and I had to conduct them! It was new experience for me and it was a wonderful time. I enjoy making music with them and saying jokes together! Thus, it’s important to be open to the new experience!
October 2012
Interviewer: Maki Takasu
