Franz Welser-Möst: I was brutalised by violin teacher
OrchestrasIn an informal chat with schoolchildren at the Salzkammergut Festival Week, the Cleveland Orchestra music director spared no blushes in describing how music was taught in that region when he was a kid.
He remembers being hit with a ruler by a devoutly religious violin teacher at the Linz Gymnasium, and of vomiting into his violin out of terror of this teacher.
His violin playing was ended by a car smash=up when he was 18.
More here.
“Welser-Möst agrees with Herbert von Karajan, who allowed everyone so much freedom “so that they can do what I want.” Genius.
Now I feel terrible for having spoken badly of him (or rather his conducting) in the past. Poor child/man. Wish him nothing but the best.
“So then, Kinder, venn I play zee CIS note instead of the DIS note, Sister Gundula took a bamboo and hammered it into my fingernagel… ” Must have been a very inspiring chat for the little ones!
He’s written a book about it, so that’s not really revelatory news, it it?
One of my drum teachers was a yeller. One day I said to him, “Dick, I’m not going to learn it any faster with you yelling at me.” He was shocked and replied, “Was I yelling? I’m sorry.” He never yelled again. Sometimes people are not aware of their actions and need to told about their effect.
„geistliche Geigenlehrerin“ doesn’t translate as „devoutly religious violin teacher“ but as violin teaching nun.
Hitting students with a ruler was unfortunately common practice, and members of religious orders were not known to be very merciful (this is if course a generalization).
Geistliche is not a nun, or religious sister! It literally means a spiritual person. A nun is eine Nonne, or eine Odensschwester, or just simply eine Schwester.
Same with me; I got the sideways smack with the ruler. But then I grew up and no longer saw myself as a victim.
Herbert von Karajan’s conducting, while undeniably expressive, often veered towards theatrical excess, potentially obscuring the musical structure beneath his sweeping gestures. Franz Welser-Möst, in his quest for distinctiveness, sometimes risks a clinical detachment, where precision may come at the expense of emotional depth. Both conductors, despite their mastery, grapple with the delicate balance between personal expression and fidelity to the score, each occasionally faltering in their pursuit of interpretative perfection. Karajan’s penchant for grandiosity and Welser-Möst’s austerity highlight the inherent challenges in achieving a harmonious blend of technique and passion in the art of conducting.
Is this satire? Comparing FWM to Karajan in the same paragraph?
Did FWM not marry his nanny?