{"id":103175,"date":"2024-04-10T11:12:39","date_gmt":"2024-04-10T15:12:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=103175"},"modified":"2024-04-10T14:00:02","modified_gmt":"2024-04-10T18:00:02","slug":"interview-baritone-matthias-goerne-talks-tour-evgeny-kissin-coming-toronto-april-21","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2024\/04\/10\/interview-baritone-matthias-goerne-talks-tour-evgeny-kissin-coming-toronto-april-21\/","title":{"rendered":"INTERVIEW | Baritone Matthias Goerne Talks About His Tour With Evgeny Kissin \u2014 Coming To Toronto April 21"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_103177\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-103177\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-103177\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/04\/Copy-of-INTERVIEW-8.jpg\" alt=\"Baritone Matthias Goerne (Photo: Caroline de Bon)\" width=\"1200\" height=\"628\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/04\/Copy-of-INTERVIEW-8.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/04\/Copy-of-INTERVIEW-8-300x157.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/04\/Copy-of-INTERVIEW-8-1024x536.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/04\/Copy-of-INTERVIEW-8-768x402.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-103177\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Baritone Matthias Goerne (Photo: Caroline de Bon)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>German baritone Matthias Goerne has achieved an enviable and busy career that sees him collaborating with the world\u2019s most prominent orchestras, concert halls, and festivals. The list of artists he\u2019s worked with is a who\u2019s who of contemporary classical superstardom, including Claudio Abbado, Christoph von Dohn\u00e1nyi, Gustavo Dudamel, Valery Gergiev, Bernard Haitink, Mariss Jansons, Paavo J\u00e4rvi, Yannick N\u00e9zet-S\u00e9guin, Seiji Ozawa, Kirill Petrenko, Simon Rattle, Esa-Pekka Salonen, and many others.<\/p>\n<p>As an opera singer, one of the keys to his present success has been his ability to choose repertoire judiciously, including the title roles in Be\u0301la Barto\u0301k\u2019s Duke Bluebeard\u2019s Castle and Alban Berg\u2019s Wozzeck, among others.<\/p>\n<p>His discography on Deutsche Grammophon and Naxos, (with the latter, most recently as Wotan in the Ring Cycle with the Hong Kong Philharmonic and Jaap van Zweden), has garnered several international awards, and five Grammy nominations.<\/p>\n<p>A brief taste of the current tour, from a video promoting the European leg of the tour:<\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/1xiPe5vQ12Q?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<h2>Matthias Goerne: The Interview<\/h2>\n<p>Matthias is currently on tour with virtuoso pianist Evgeny Kissin, including a stop at Toronto\u2019s Roy Thomson Hall on April 21.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s been Goerne\u2019s practice to program recital tours with a pianist who\u2019s known as a concert performer, rather than the usual choice of a pianist specializing in accompaniment. According to Matthias, working with someone who usually performs as a soloist adds a different dynamic to the performance.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMost solo pianists are playing this kind of repertoire where there is no text,\u201d he explains. That means, the pianist has to create their own sense of drama out of the music, and that emphasis on interpretation creates the perfect foil for the German Lieder he has made a focal point of his career. He also points out that a solo performer is accustomed to being in front of a larger audience.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen he is at the same time a great artist [&#8230;] reading between the lines,\u201d he explains, \u201cmy first option is always a solo pianist. He is doing the piano part the way he wants \u2014 you&#8217;re never scratching on the technical side.\u201d It\u2019s an approach that has clearly worked with both audiences and critics.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m doing this now over 30 years,\u201d he notes.<\/p>\n<h3>Classical Music into the Future<\/h3>\n<p>North Americans classical music lovers often envy Europeans when it comes to the level of recognition the genre receives at all levels, but it\u2019s not all good news.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am always worried a little bit about how it will go on in the future,\u201d Matthias says.<\/p>\n<p>A love of Western classical music and renewed interest by younger listeners doesn\u2019t guarantee the survival of any particular pieces, as he points out. It\u2019s part of the kind of sea change the music industry itself is undergoing at the moment, where younger listeners discover the music through playlists, without the context of music education. \u201cThere is a normal transition,\u201d he notes. \u201cYou can be educated without knowing this 19th century literature. You can be quite intelligent without knowing Beethoven,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt the same time you have so many young singers and young pianists too who are interested in this kind of repertoire.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He sympathizes with younger artists who have to worry about filling seats in concert halls. How is it possible to appeal to both established and new listeners? It\u2019s a question new generations have to grapple with.<\/p>\n<p>Part of the problem, as he sees it, is the decline of media coverage when it comes to the arts in general, and classical music in particular. Without the discussion, there is no community of music lovers based on knowledge. It\u2019s pure fandom, largely based on social media, and it makes it even more difficult to put those audience members into their seats.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI find it disturbing,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_103178\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-103178\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-103178\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/04\/MAtthias-Goerne-and-Evgeny-Kissin.jpg\" alt=\"L-R: Pianist Evgeny Kissin; baritone Matthias Goerne (Photo courtesy of the artists)\" width=\"1200\" height=\"1230\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/04\/MAtthias-Goerne-and-Evgeny-Kissin.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/04\/MAtthias-Goerne-and-Evgeny-Kissin-293x300.jpg 293w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/04\/MAtthias-Goerne-and-Evgeny-Kissin-999x1024.jpg 999w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/04\/MAtthias-Goerne-and-Evgeny-Kissin-768x787.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-103178\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">L-R: Pianist Evgeny Kissin; baritone Matthias Goerne (Photo courtesy of the artists)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3>Evgeny Kissin<\/h3>\n<p>Matthias says the idea of a concert tour with Evgeny Kissin was first floated a few years ago. Kissin was in Milan when Goerne was performing at La Scala. The two met, and began to make plans.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAfter all things that I have done, it&#8217;s one of the most important collaborations that I have done.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The two artists began with a five concert series in Europe that\u2019s been well received.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt&#8217;s going beyond what I could imagine,\u201d he says. Evgeny adds an intense dedication and focus on perfection. \u201cHe&#8217;s too serious in everything.\u201d Matthias says he was impressed, even shocked at how much the pianist loved the repertoire.<\/p>\n<p>He calls their collaboration \u201ca sort of fusion without listening too much to each other.\u201d It\u2019s been a rewarding experience. \u201cThis is so magical. It&#8217;s like surfing on the same kind of wave,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI adore this kind of atmosphere.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The repertoire is appropriately substantial. The program includes Schumann and Brahms;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Schumann: Dichterliebe, Op 48<\/li>\n<li>Brahms: Four Ballades, Op. 10 (solo piano)<\/li>\n<li>Brahms: Songs after poems by Heinrich Heine op. 1, 2, 4, Op 71 \u2013 1, Op 96 \u2013 3 &amp; 1<\/li>\n<li>Brahms: Lieder und Ges\u00e4nge, Op 32<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u201cThere are few pieces or more important than Schumann&#8217;s Dichterliebe,\u201d Matthias says. He points out the drama of the piece, a psychological story. \u201cIt&#8217;s a kind of retrospective on something that happpened a long time ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a piece he\u2019s performed before, but as a younger singer, it took him a long time to find a way to convince himself of the authenticity of his performance.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt becomes easier and easier because of life experience,\u201d he notes.<\/p>\n<p>When it comes to the Brahms pieces in the program, he points out that, while the composer wrote many songs, all of them beautiful, most don\u2019t achieve the kind of depth and drama to the text that come in the Heine pieces, or Op. 32.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think it&#8217;s a very exciting kind of program.\u201d<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Find more information about the concert in Toronto on April 21, and tickets, [<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/roythomsonhall.mhrth.com\/tickets\/evgeny-kissin-and-matthias-goerne\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">HERE<\/a><\/strong>].<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><em>Are you looking to promote an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/advertising\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a\"><u>event<\/u><\/span><\/a>? 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