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People Quality Management
The Sound of Success
Quality Management People
contact 2.12
Two violins softly sing a cheerful melody. The double bass sends smooth, dark tones into the room. The harpsichord tinkles playfully through the score. Mezzo-forte, fortissimo or piano, each instrument as it wishes. Then silence. The individual parts of the ensemble merge together, becoming a single body of sound that awakens to melodious life at an invisible signal. Precise, spirited and virtuosic: Handel’s Concerto Grosso Op.6 No.1 in G Major, entirely without frills or unnecessary embellishments. That’s typical of Concerto Köln, an orchestra renowned for its musical grace, freshness and esprit. Soon after its formation in 1985, the ensemble had already firmly established itself among the top orchestras specializing in historically informed performance. That involves playing instruments from the periods when the works were composed, enabling the musicians to reproduce the original tonal qualities and give the pieces an authentic character. “What makes us unique is our vitality, our enjoyment of conflict and our readiness to argue about many different things,” explains Artistic Director Martin Sandhoff, adding: “They can include music, the way we interact with each other or how we structure our work. Ours is a high-pressure environment. It’s what keeps us on our toes.” This
The ensemble: a perfect interplay of creativity, quality and passion.
fiery enthusiasm is precisely what listeners and critics love being infected with. Yes, the heat is often on at Concerto Köln. Sometimes there’s harmony, at other times dissonance. “Even our rehearsals mainly consist of criticism,” admits Stephan Sänger, Managing Partner and violinist. “Everyone can express an opinion – and they generally do.” Concerto Köln is structured as a civil law association with 17 permanent members. No conductor sets the tone. Instead, everybody takes responsibility and has a say in matters. However, when the stage curtain goes up at the latest, all the ensemble members speak a common language. And it is understood all over the world. Be it in North America, South America, Southeast Asia, Japan, Israel or Europe, the orchestra earns thunderous applause wherever it goes. “We want to touch our audience. That’s the most important thing,” explains Sänger. “Ideally, listeners should leave the concert feel-
ALWAYS IN SEARCH OF PREVIOUSLY UNDISCOVERED MUSICAL TREASURES
ing different to when they came in.” That can go both ways, as Concerto Köln experienced in Brazil. Martin Sandhoff remembers: “In Rio de Janeiro, the audience was extremely loud, laughing, hooting and cheering us on as if we were at a pop concert.” The musicians have seldom left the stage as elated as they did on those evenings. Moments like those are what drive the ensemble to reach new heights. “You have to keep enjoying new discoveries,” says Sandhoff. And Concerto Köln is certainly doing that with its penchant for unearthing almost forgotten works spanning from the early Baroque era to the early Romantic period and presenting them with its own special verve. For that reason, the orchestra is often compared respectfully with a truffle pig that keeps digging up the finest musical delicacies and transforming the unheard-of into something well worth hearing. The concept has been well received. It isn’t for nothing that Concerto Köln has already won numerous international honors – including a Grammy Award and several ECHO Klassik prizes –, boasts a discography of more than 50 CDs and acts as an official cultural ambassador to the European
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People Quality Management
kontakt 2.12 contact
t n o c The final rehearsal before a concert at the Kölner Philharmonie.
Information Jochen Schäfsmeier jochen.schaefsmeier@ concerto-koeln.de +49 221 310608 - 12 www.concerto-koeln.de
Union. But curiosity alone doesn’t bring success: “As a free ensemble, we can only survive by offering a high level of quality,” explains Sandhoff. To do that, you need clear structures and strict operating procedures, which is why Concerto Köln has become the first orchestra in the world to develop and implement a qual-
TESTED QUALITY MANAGEMENT MEETS CREATIVE GROUP DYNAMICS
ity management system certified by TÜV Rheinland. Over nearly two years, the early music ensemble documented all the operational sequences that took place behind the scenes, analyzed the results and looked for potential areas of improvement. “We can now make our processes much more efficient. The responsibilities surrounding our human and financial resources are also more clearly defined,” says Sänger, describing the improvements to the organizational structure. Other driving forces prevail at an artistic level, as Sandhoff explains: “You are most likely to be successful if you can convince your colleagues to commit to a shared vision. If you fight for something with all your strength, sweat, tears and patience, then you achieve a quality that is audible.” And what comes next is bound to be wild applause – on the 2012 fall tour through South America, the USA and many concert halls in Europe.
Editorial Information Publisher: TÜV Rheinland AG, Communication, Am Grauen Stein, D-51105 Cologne Phone: +49 221 806-4314 Fax: +49 221 806-1760 Internet: www.tuv.com Editor: Aud Feller Text: S+L Partners GmbH, Cologne Printing: Druckhaus Ley + Wiegandt, Wuppertal Photos: electriceye/Fotolia, Getty Images (Title); Christoph Papsch (pp.45); TÜV Rheinland Group (pp.6, 7, 10, 11, 13, 15); malerapaso/Istockphoto (p.7); RWE (p.8); Sinopix/Laif (p.9); Ogando/Laif (p.11); Christian Hager/ Picture Alliance (p.14); Christian Richters (S.22); Audi (pp.24-27); René Baron (pp.25; 27); Contrac GmbH (pp.28-29); Florian Profitlich (pp.30-32)
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