Interview with chief conductor Ondrej Lenárd

Mr. Lenárd, you’re closing your first season with the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra (PRSO). You’ve prepared five of its 15 season-ticket holder concerts. Could I ask you for a brief assessment of that period?

You’ve taken me aback a bit – one just doesn’t want to believe it’s gone so fast! It really saddens me, because one stage, one year, is coming to a close. In any case, I have to confirm what I said when I first joined: I’m happy that the members of the orchestra come to rehearsals prepared, thanks to which we can immediately get down to the actual work, especially developing expression. I find the musicians’ willingness, respect and effort hugely agreeable. Last but not least I value their deep commitment. I experience genuinely wonderful moments with them. I have two seasons ahead of me and I believe that they’ll be similarly wonderful. At the same time, I pray to God that the studio on Vinohradská resumes operation as soon as possible, because studio work is the alpha and omega for the PRSO. We’ve prepared a few interesting projects, so I hope we can start recording them as soon as possible.

What kind of repertoire agrees with the PRSO in your view, and what kind would help it in terms of further development?

The slogan “from Bach to Vlach” is fitting and apposite here. For instance, in March we recorded the very demanding Ostrčil Sinfonietta and the orchestra played it beautifully. It performs Mahler, César Franck and Respighi just as precisely. Simply put, if you give the PRSO room and let it create freely, express its feelings, it can play anything.

Why have you decided to close this season with Tchaikovsky’s 6th Symphony in H Minor?

That piece has followed me all my life and I have huge affection for it. The final part is so overwhelming, but at the same it delivers such a kind of vital catharsis that it perfectly captures the poles between which we have to pass. To me it’s a man’s impassioned confession, and I’m very glad to return to it.

Allow me a small detour into the world of opera, because you’re also known as an excellent opera director. In that area, what for you has been the highlight of the season just ending?

I’m mainly involved with three opera houses: the National Theatre in Bratislava, and the National Theatre and State Opera in Prague. And I can tell you – not in a perfunctory way but with deep sincerity – that every performance is an occasion for me. I always imagine that as long as there’s a “mere” 10 or 15 interested listeners in the audience then we can’t give them something half-baked. The diversity of the expressive palette is something else I enjoy in opera performances. In Bratislava we’ve just done Othello twice with the well-known José Cura. Naturally, the audience were looking forward to him enthusiastically and that meant we had to adapt to his approach, to respect his style and portrayal of the role, which was magnetic in terms of the acting – and we had keep up on the music side. But I’ll come back to what I started with: every performance for me is an occasion, and I bathe in such beauty like a duckling in water. I think giving listeners the best is our mission.

…and you also maintain that credo when it comes to performing concerts. What do you and the PRSO plan for next season?

I will gladly “reveal” some titles that we’ll perform for season-ticket holders and which are extremely close to my heart. They include Richard Strauss’s Alpine Symphony, which, by coincidence the PRSO will first perform at the Bratislava Music Festival. It’ll be a big day for me too, because it’ll take place on a round birthday for me. Later in Prague we’ll play Mendelssohn’s Third, “Scottish” Symphony. Then I have a beautiful project on the theme of love and death, which will feature Wagner’s overture to the opera Tristan and Isolde, Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet, Fauré’s Pelleas et Melisanda suite, and in conclusion the adagio from Gustav Mahler’s 10th Symphony. Liszt’s Faust Symphony awaits us in January and the cherry on the cake will be Verdi’s famous Requiem, which I love a lot, in May!

Finally, I’d like to go back briefly to the concert in Bratislava you mentioned, which will really be exceptional – you and a Czech orchestra in the land of your birth. What do you expect there?

You may be surprised, but it will be a great satisfaction to me, because since 2001, since I left the Slovak Philharmonic, I essentially don’t perform in Slovakia. (Operas are another matter). I would therefore like to perform a concert for my supporters, who’ve always wished me the best, with an orchestra that I love and, nota bene, with such an amazing piece as the Alpine Symphony. I’m looking forward to it enormously and I hope that we have a wonderful evening – both us on stage and the audience who have supported me all my life.

Thank you for the interview, Mr. Lenárd, and on behalf of all your supporters, Czech and Slovak, I wish you all the best for your birthday in September, above all health of course, as well as enjoyable artistic experiences, tranquillity in your personal life and also, if I may, a nice crop from your much loved garden.