Ten years ago, Martin Rummel, worldwide renowned cellist, founded the paladino music label. Since then, this musical boutique has grown to “paladino media”, comprising four labels and a publishing house. In the anniversary year, its mastermind has released his 50th album as a cellist. We wanted to know how all that works, and met with the musician, who is also Head of School at the University of Auckland’s School of Music until February 2020. paladino media celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, and KAIROS its 20th. Could you explain how these two are connected, and what lead to their foundations? At first glance, there is no real connection. However, I do believe that the reasons that led to the foundation of paladino in 2009 were similar to those that made Peter Oswald initiate KAIROS in 1999. In both cases, it was about a curated platform as a vehicle for artists who we value. That our own aesthetics became formative elements is a side effect. I believe that this matching vision might be the reason why Peter Oswald offered me KAIROS for sale. Which criteria do you apply to select “your” artists and projects? We are in the lucky position that many ideas are brought to us. Some are quite far advanced or even finished projects, some others are quite vague and need to be developed together with the artist. Within the company, KAIROS has somewhat of a special status, because we have a responsibility, which I became only aware of within the first few months after I bought the label. We try to portray the most eminent composers, now nearly the third generation since the foundation of the label, in reference recordings. Very often those composers are the ones that educated the next generation: Brian Ferneyhough, Chaya Czernowin, Aaron Cassidy, to name only three. My personal taste does not matter in that case. For paladino music, that is slightly different, as I can at least try to prevent a pianist from recording Liszt (laughs). Where do you see the challenge for contemporary music? Actually, I do not see much of a difference between contemporary music and that of forgotten composers from past centuries. Nowadays, it is similarly difficult to get an audience – be it live or for recordings – for Ferdinand Ries and a not so famous contemporary composer. Why do people rush to a concert of Philip Glass’s music, but not when Olga Neuwirth is on the programme? A lot of it has to do with PR, and not with the actual content. Contemporary music, admittedly, sometimes is difficult to digest, and not for irrigation on the surface. Maybe we should also question current concert formats, where a contemporary string quartet is sandwiched between a Beethoven and a Brahms, without explanation or interaction with the audience. I have repeatedly witnessed situations where contemporary music does work, but that requires some effort from musicians, promoters or composers to pick up their audiences, and not only the desire to protect the golden image. What are the plans for the anniversary year? “Backstage” we have taken measurements to – hopefully – make paladino futureproof for at least the next ten years: We are in the process of reorganizing our logistics, have a considerable number of new international distributors commencing work for us, and we have moved to a new office. Publicly visible are a large number of fabulous new recordings, e.g. the Zykan Cello Concertos with Heinrich Schiff, ParZeFool by Bernhard Lang, portrait CDs of Franck Bedrossian, Vinko Globokar and Tristan Murail, a new CD of orchestral works by Olga Neuwirth and a Schubert recording of Stefan Stroissnig. Finally, our sheet music edition of Goosens’ orchestration of Handel’s Messiah is finished and will be recorded by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and we have signed composer Julia Purgina to the publishing division. In October, there will be a label fest in Vienna. What does streaming mean for contemporary music? Are CDs in this field still a “protected workshop”? How much I would love to just say yes to the second question (laughs). Seriously, I have to say that we are another exception with KAIROS in this respect. We still try to make exceptionally beautiful haptic products, with large format booklets, reproduction of score pages, well-edited texts from musicologists. Of course, that attracts collectors, which is part of the human DNA. Naturally, we do not sell the same number of CDs as ten years ago, but I hope that we have gone
through the bottom of the valley, and also learnt from the situation as far as financial calculations go. One also has to say that composers by-and-large are a loyal group, and quite supportive of each other, e.g. on social media, which a label like KAIROS indirectly benefits from. Nevertheless, the situation is like in other fields of music: CDs can be sold where the music is performed. Streaming revenue is unfortunately nearly negligible, and I see mainly two reasons for that. First, because composers have not understood that a recording only generates revenue if it has many tracks. A twenty-minute piece is only one stream for which you get the xth of a cent. The Welltempered Clavier has 48 tracks per volume, which means 48 times the revenue. Second, there are far less playlists for contemporary music than for other classical music. “Best of New Complexity” is simply not as attractive as “Baroque for Bathing” or “Heavy Metal for Ironing” (laughs). How do you view the situation for contemporary music creators in Austria: Are there enough performance opportunities, interested audiences, support? There is definitely interest, particularly from audiences. I also think that, globally speaking, there is enough public support, even if I think that the funding mechanisms and distribution should be subject to discussion. Few receive much, and many receive little to nothing – I am not sure if that is so great in the long term. Combined with the fact that there is no real quality control, e.g. through critical journalism, and no incentive for private philanthropy, e.g. through tax benefits, it does mean that it is tough for those who want to move something. What would have to happen so that contemporary music gets more recognition in the general cultural life? Everything that happens in a silo is in danger to become a niche, which applies to Early Music equally as to New Music, or women’s art or whatever else. I believe that a little more courage from performers and multiplicators, such as promoters or radio journalists, would make a difference, such as regularly presenting contemporary art amongst everything else and not in dedicated slots. Generally, I think that we underestimate audiences, which gives me hope. Unfortunately, this very quickly leads to the education of musicians, which mostly seems to end with 1970. I still see exam programmes, where Shostakovich seriously counts as “contemporary music”. How does this look internationally? The U.S. seem to be much further. I believe that mainly the privatisation of the art scene has contributed to that; the orchestra and ensemble scene prides itself commissioning new music, and the important new music ensembles have significant private sponsorship. Education reflects that: The European gap between performers and composers is much less apparent. In Asia, I was astonished to notice that the so-called “traditional” instruments, e.g. Erhu or Pipa, are mainly taught through contemporary art music, while “Western” music is taught by a generation of teachers who studied in Europe between 1960 and 1990. You go figure what they teach (laughs). Generally, I think that we will see major changes in concert formats in the next ten years; I do not think that we will keep recycling the complete Beethoven symphonies again and again. Without a link to the contemporary, that becomes increasingly meaningless. What do you wish for paladino media in particular, and for contemporary music in general? First and foremost, an ongoing stream of fascinating artists who want to work with us. I feel incredibly privileged. Second, a large number of curious audiences, who are not only open to our projects, but want to explore the unknown.