April 2009

Ioan Holender

Sunday, April 05, 2009

If Hollywood was looking to cast the perfect opera house director, Ioan Holender, Director of the Vienna State Opera, would be ideal. He looks the part with his shock of white hair, his steely eyes, his military bearing still at age 74, his tough minded management and the sheer power he exerts over the institution. And he brings a certain flair as well.

He once arrived at the tradition-bound Vienna Opera Ball in period costume, driving a horse-drawn antique carriage right onto the stage of the house as he transported star soprano Anna Netrebko. Not bad for someone who started out in his native Romania studying engineering of steam equipment, then jumping to become a tennis coach, onto studying opera singing in Vienna followed by a short career doing that, and then becoming one of the most powerful agents representing a whose who of performers in the opera world. No one would ever accuse him of winning a popularity contest but he has managed to hold his coveted government appointed position for 18 years - the longest run ever in Vienna – a city known for its intrigues at the opera house.

In this wide-ranging interview with host Gilbert Kaplan, Holender discusses:
- Why the Vienna State Opera, which performs almost 60 different operas each season, rarely rehearses
- Why he thinks opera houses spend too much money
- Why in his next life he would like to run Carnegie Hall
- The curious relationship between the Vienna State Opera Orchestra and the Vienna Philharmonic (the players are the same in both)
- The last opera to contain a true melody

His music selections include Wagner, Verdi, Mahler, Enescu and Korngold.