April 2008

Clemens Hellsberg

Sunday, April 06, 2008

Clemens Hellsberg is President of one of the most unique musical institutions in the world, the Vienna Philharmonic. Its members are actually employees of the Austrian government working in the orchestra of the State Opera, but moonlight as a self-governing symphonic orchestra (Hellsberg plays in violin section), playing ten subscription concerts each year for which one has to wait ten years to become a subscriber. They have no music director; there are no union rules. And witnessing their unique string sound and their unbridled intensity is a palpable experience.

In this wide-ranging interview with host Gilbert Kaplan, Hellsberg comments on the acoustics of Carnegie Hall versus Vienna’s acclaimed Musikverein, the surprising influence the audience has on the outcome of a performance; why Carlos Kleiber and Herbert von Karajan were the conductors from whom he learned the most; why eleven years after the orchestra’s pledge for equality for women only two have become members; how he discovered Elvis Presley; his fantasy to have been an opera singer; and the music he wants played at his funeral. His music selections on the show include works by Mozart, Lanner, Schubert, Bach, and Strauss.