30 GRAMOPHONE SEPTEMBER 2019 gramophone.co.uk
KIRILL PETRENKO
Bornin1972,Petrenkostudiedinitiallyasapianistinhisnative
RussiaandthenmovedtoAustriawithhisviolinistfatherand
musicologistmotherwhenhewas18.Inretrospect,hisrisetothe
topseemstohavebeenbothmeteoricandquietlyinevitable,each
stepupbuiltonwhatfeelslikeanuncannyabilitytowinover
anorchestraquickly:therewereonlyacoupleofengagements
withtheBavarianStateOperabeforehewasofferedthejob,
andonlythreeconcertswiththeBerlinPhilharmonicbefore
hiselectionthere.He’sclearlyskilledatmakingagoodfirst
impression,asFinley,whofirstworkedwithhimasfarbackas
2003 foraDonGiovanniattheParisOpera,recalls:‘Theone
thingthatwasveryclearfromthebeginningwashismeticulous
attention,firstofalltothedetailofthescore.Inhismindhe
hadalreadyformulatedanideaofthesoundthathewanted,
andtheParisorchestra–notnecessarilyoneforadaptingto
whateverinstructionsaconductormightoffer–lovedit:the
senseofdiscipline,thesenseofgettingintoasoundworld,
deepandrhythmic,thatplayedtotheirstrengths.’
ShirleyApthorp,Berlin-basedcriticoftheFinancialTimes,
remembersbeingsimilarlyimpressedbyPetrenko’sMozart
attheKomischeOper:‘Irememberbeingverysmittenbyit–
bytheclarityofthoughtandthesenseofexcitement.Hewas
someoneeveryonewaswatchingwithinterest.You’dseehis
nameandyou’dwanttoheartheperformance!’OlafManinger,
aprincipalcellistintheBerlinPhilharmonic,describeshis
own‘spectacularlyspecial’firstimpressionandremembers
beingbowledoverbyPetrenko’s‘seriousness,hisamazing
emotionalism,mixedwithcontrolandperfectionism,the
workethicandthelettinggointhemomentoftheconcert’.
Maningergoesontodescribetheprocessoftheconductor’s
electiontotheBerlinPhilharmonicpost,whichwasfinalised
afewmonthsafteralongfirstvotingsessionhadledtono
clearchoice.‘Itwassurprisingforthewholeworld,andforthe
orchestraitselfitwasaboldstepthatwedidn’tgoforoneof
theolderestablishedmaestros.Wewentforatotallynewand
excitingadventureinstead.’Apthorpagrees:‘Hewasanabsolute
outsiderfortheposition,andIthinkthatwashissavinggrace,
becausealloftheothercandidateswereproblematicintheir
ownway.Intheendwe’llneverreallyknowwhathappened
behindthosecloseddoors,butwedoknowthatitwas
extraordinarilycloseandaveryhard-foughtbattle.AndIfeel
thattheymadethebetterchoice.’Theorchestraisclearly
excited,too,fouryearsaftertheannouncementwasmade,
finallytobeginworkinginearnestwiththeirnewman.
‘Theatmosphereisdifferentwithhim,’anothercellisttellsme.
‘Youcanhearapindropinrehearsals,witheveryonealways
impatienttohearwhathehastosay–andhehasalottosay.’
ButwhatcanBerlin–andthemusicalworldmorebroadly–
expectfromthePetrenkoera?In 2010 aGermannewspaper
dubbedthis‘WunderausSibirien’a‘masterofthemainstream’,
andformanyitwillbearelieftohave,inPetrenko,aconductor
whocanturninthrilling,revelatoryperformancesofthecore
Germanrepertoirethathispredecessorhasnotalwaysbeen
abletotackleconvincingly–histrackrecordinMozart,
Beethoven,WagnerandStraussisimpressive,andFranziska
vonBrückevenmentionsanexemplaryLehárDasLanddes
LächelnsattheKomischeOper.ButPetrenko’sownrepertoire
choicescanbefarfromconventional:anearlyconcertwithhis
neworchestrafeaturedStravinsky,Scriabinandarareviolin
concertobyRudiStephan;oneoflastyear’stourprogrammes
placedFranzSchmidtandDukaswithProkofiev.Suk,aPetrenko
favourite,featuresonaprogrammeforthiscomingseason.
Onealsohastowonderhowtherelationshipbetween
orchestraandconductorwilldeveloponcethehoneymoon
periodisover.‘Itwillbecomemoreintimate,’saysManinger.
‘We’llgettoknowhimbetter,andwe’llmaybegetabitmore
irritatedbypartsofoneanother,butthat’snotnecessarily
abadthing.’Apthorpsoundsafurthernoteofcaution
regardingthisfamouslystrong-willedorchestra.‘Withthe
BerlinPhilthere’salwaystheperilousquestion:howlong
willittakethemtounsheathetheirclaws?I’mquitesureitwon’t
beeasyforhimalltheway,butlet’shopethatthefrictionresults
inevenmoreinterestingmusic-making.’It’sahopesharedby
Berlin,Germanyandthewholeofthemusicalworld.‘Skilled at making a good irst impression’: Kirill Petrenko as Chief Conductor-designate of the Berlin Philharmonic at last season’s opening concert in August 2018
PHOTOGRAPHY:WILFRIED HÖSL