gespriich ►
Der lnhalt bestimmt die Form Die ersten Platten waren Klassik?
Ja, ,,Wir bauen eine Stadt" von Paul Hindemith oder ,,Peter und der Wolf" von Prokofjew, dann folgten Mozart- und Beethoven Symphonien. In der Volksschu le gab es eine Singschule. Das Schulwesen war damals noch sehr auf Musik ausgerichtet und das Musikschulwesen hervorra gend. Begonnen habe ich mit Klavier beziehungsweise Cem balo. Der Zufall fuhrte mich zur Mutter des Cellisten Heinrich Schiff, die in Linz an der Mu sikschule unterrichtet hat und einen Platz frei hatte. Dann wur de das Cello spruchreif. Absolu tes Gehor, aber Heuschnupfen, somit kein Blasinstrument. FLir Klavier war ich mit funf Jahren schon zu spat dran.
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Martin Rummel: ,.lch glaube, dass ein Gro8teil der Musik ausbildung in Mittel europa derzeit vollig irrelevant isl."
Als Cellist sind Sie sehr rasch erfolg reich geworden.
Martin Rummel, Grunder und CEO der paladino media gmbh, fiihlt sich privilegiert und ist gliicklich, all das tun zu diir fen, was er tut. Eine Haltung, die dem Musiker in seinem vielfaltigen Schaffen, von dem er im Gesprach mit Sylvia Berg mayer erzahlt, immer wieder Mut zu Neuem einfli:H3t.
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egrundet 2009, als die Branche schon erste Krisen vermel dete, feiert paladino music, der Ursprung und eines von vier Labels der paladino media gmbh, sein zehnjahriges Bestehen. Doppelt so lange gibt es das mit zahlreichen internati onalen Preisen ausgezeichnete Label fur zeitgenossische Musik KAIROS, das 2015 von paladino gekauft wurde. Der Grunder und CEO von paladino, Martin Rum mel, der als Cellist international gefragt ist, hat im April dieses Doppel-Jubilaumsjahres sein 50. Album beim Label Naxos herausgebracht. Zudem fungiert Rummel immer wieder als Inten dant unterschiedlicher Musikfe stivals, hat bis 2014 rund 65 Sen dungen auf Radio Stephansdom moderiert, halt Meisterklassen ab und wirkt seit fast vier Jah ren als Head of the School of Music an der University of Auck land, wo er den Lehrplan den Bedurfnissen der Studierenden entsprechend neu gestaltet hat. Er selbst betrachtet sich als Mu siker: ,,Das Cellospielen ist nur
ein Teil. lnhaltliche Zusammen hange herstellen in der Musik ist etwas, was mich fasziniert und sich in verschiedenen Formen auf3ert, sei es die Kuratierung meines Unternehmens oder eines Lehrplans im Rahmen mei ner Hochschularbeit." Europa hinke, so Martin Rummel, rund 30 Jahre hinterher: ,,Musikaus bildung ist derzeit wie Fastfood. Wenn ich in Madrid, Wien, Berlin oder in Tokyo die Lehrplane an sehe, es wird uberall das Gleiche unterrichtet. Das wollen auch die Studierenden nicht mehr." Musik gehiirt in lhrer Familie ganz selbstverstandlich dazu?
Meine Eltern sind mit Musik aufgewachsen, mein Vater mit einem breiteren Spektrum, auch mit Schlager und Pop, meine Mutter war eher auf das klas sische Genre fixiert. Sobald ich halbwegs stillsitzen konnte, wur de ich mitgenommen, im Alter von vier oder funf Jahren. An einige Konzerte kann ich mich heute noch bildlich erinnern. lch habe auch fruh einen Platten spieler bekommen.
lch hatte einfach Gluck. 1989 habe ich rneinen ersten Musik preis gewonnen und von diesem Zeitpunkt an Chancen bekorn men, vor Publikurn zu spielen. Naturlich erst viel Kleinkrarn, aber optimal, um Routine zu bekornmen. Wieder durch Zufall hat es mich nach London zu William Pleeth verschlagen. Mit 20 habe ich meine erste CD auf genornmen und dann eine Auf nahrne-Karriere gemacht, die so heute nicht rnehr moglich ware. Das versuche ich auch der jun geren Generation zu vermitteln. Die Griindung von paladino war aber kein Zufall?
Nein (lacht). Meine erste Auf nahrne war bei Musicaphon, ein kleines, feines deutsches Ni schen-Label, das Rainer Kahleyss aufgebaut hat und das mit dem Klassik Center Kassel verbunden ist. Wir haben 2001 mit unserer Zusarnmenarbeit begonnen, mit unserem gemeinsam entwi ckelten Etuden-Projekt. lch hab' mich dann um eine Mischung aus gangigem Repertoire wie Beethoven-Sonaten und aus gefalleneren Sachen bemuht, wie den Reger-Sonaten, die Dallapiccola-Version der VivaldiMEDIA BIZ
Content Defines Form Martin Rummel, founder and CEO of paladino media, feels to be privileged, and is happy to be allowed and able to do everything he does. In this conversation with Sylvia Bergmayer, the allround musician reveals how this makes him embrace change and gives him courage for new endeavours. Founded in 2009, when the recording industry already reported first signs of a crisis, paladino music, which is the origin of paladino media (now comprising four labels and a publishing house), celebrates its 10th anniversary. KAIROS, a label for contemporary music that has been awarded numerous international awards, has been existing exactly twice as long and was integrated into paladino media in 2015. Internationally in demand as a cellist, the founder and CEO of paladino, Martin Rummel, published his 50th album in April of this double-anniversary year – on the Naxos label. Additionally, he has been artistic director of various festivals, and, until 2014, he presented ca. 65 programmes on Radio Stephansdom. He regularly teaches masterclasses around the world, and has been Head of School at the School of Music at the University of Auckland, where, he has led a process of curriculum change towards the needs of students. However, he views himself as a musician: “Playing the cello is only a part of it. Connections within musical contexts are what fascinates me, and this can result in many different activities, be it curating my labels or designing a curriculum for a music university.” According to Rummel, Europe is at least 30 years behind: “Currently, music education is like fast food. If I look at curricula in Madrid, Vienna, Berlin or Tokyo, they are nearly identical. Even the students do not want that anymore.” Music was a part of everyday life in your family? My parents grew up with music; my father with a broad spectrum including jazz and pop, while my mother was more focused on the classical genre. As soon as I was able to sit still, I was taken to concerts; probably at the age of four or five. I still have visual memories of some of those. And I had a record player at a quite young age. The first records were classical music? Yes. “Wir bauen eine Stadt” by Hindemith and “Peter and the wolf” by Prokofiev, then came Mozart and Beethoven Symphonies. My primary school also had a “Singschule” (singing school), which shows the important role that music played in schools at the time. The Upper Austrian music school system was excellent, and I started early with harpsichord lessons, coincidentally with the mother of cellist Heinrich Schiff, who had a space in her class at the Musikschule in Linz. Later, the cello came into the picture. Perfect pitch, but hay fever – wind and brass instruments were out. For a pianist, it would already have been too late at that point. You became successful as a cellist quite quickly. I was lucky. In 1989, I won first prize in the Austrian Young Musicians’ Competition, and from then on, I was given opportunities to perform. Naturally, many small concerts at the time, but that was fabulous for getting used to it. Another coincidence brought me to William Pleeth in London. When I was 20, I recorded my first CD, which led to a recording career that would not be possible nowadays. I tell that the young generation of today. The foundation of paladino surely was no coincidence? No (laughs). My first recording was for Musicaphon, a small German boutique label, curated by Rainer Kahleyss, who also owns Klassik Center Kassel. We started our regular collaboration in 2001, with the etude project that we developed together. I then aimed for a mixture of standard repertoire like the Beethoven Cello Works and lesser-known works, such as the Reger Sonatas or the Dallapiccola version of the Vivaldi Sonatas, but also the Franck Sonata. When digital distribution started, there was a sense of an “everything is dead now” panic. At that time, I was the artistic director of various festivals and played with many colleagues who had plans to record certain repertoire but were unsettled by the state of affairs. I hate moaning, which is why decided to start my own venture. Together with Wolfgang Lamprecht, we looked at various models and developed a holistic concept that gives artists a home for more than the product. We have a publishing house and the knowhow to consult around marketing and PR. In 2011, I bought Wolfgang’s shares in the company.
Shortly after, in 2011 and 2013, you founded two other labels, and in 2015, you bought KAIROS. Why four labels? Our broad range now allows for every product being placed in the right context. Content defines form – this is the principle that I have followed in the last ten years, and I think it is important for making music too. Recently, I read a very intelligent article in the Neue Zürcher Zeitung: “music for the eyes”. That is very common at the moment. Close-ups where you see musicians pull faces or throw their bows or other nonsense. Once you close your eyes, there is astonishingly little music left. Is that how they try to popularize classical music? That might be part of it. In principle, I support the idea of bringing down barriers. I cannot understand why orchestras still have to perform in tailcoats. When I go to summer festivals in the countryside and sit with the audience over a glass of wine after the concert, I tell them of concerts e.g. in Musikverein, and often the answer is: “I have never been there … I wouldn’t know what to wear.” I think it is a problem that audiences are not picked up where they actually are, but I also think that in many cases it is the managers’ fault. Very often those are people who have no real knowledge about music, let alone musicians, and therefore have to define their and their institution’s point of difference through other means. Luckily, there is a beginning trend to change that. Unfortunately, most magazines and newspapers have cut costs by eliminating real music journalism. I would say that 80% of all reviews have nothing to do with what happens on stage, but are part of the PR machinery. To a certain degree, everyone makes use of that, and I do not even exclude myself from that. It is just sad that there is no alternative anymore, at least in Europe. The New York Times still has Zachary Woolfe and his team, which is why certain artists do not perform in New York, just because they know that the PR machine does not work there. While there are universities that educate music journalists, there is no critical discourse anymore? Yes, but I reckon that in five or six years, there will be a strong blogger scene. It is increasingly frustrating not only for musicians, but for the whole industry, that something that is obvious crap is being sold in large golden letters as the best thing since sliced bread. And, vice versa, something that is truly outstanding, does not get the attention it deserves. The question “what is a recognized source?” will be important, that is clear. In the contemporary music space, this corrective is already appearing. With KAIROS, we see a highly active and functional blog scene, with high-quality blogs in Poland, Spain or in South America. The Contemporary Music scene seems much more a community. Yes, because composers are much more loyal to each other. You only have to look at Olga Neuwirth’s Facebook page, where she talks enthusiastically about other composers’ music. Classical violinists only talk about themselves. However, I must pay tribute to the late Heinrich Schiff: When I released my Bach Suites recording, one of the first paladino recordings, he wrote me a congratulation email out of the blue, even if we had not heard from each other for a couple of years. I then decided to keep that spirit up, to send unsolicited congratulations to colleagues when I hear something that impresses me. The classical music industry has somehow lost that – everybody just bitches about everything (laughs). The classical CD sales have been stable in the last years? That varies between the different markets. In Germany, the physical market share is still over 70% and therefore the biggest internationally, but that is a decline from previous years. The drop has happened, but – touch wood – it seems to be at a somewhat stable level now. With paladino, we even noticed an increase in physical sales, maybe also because we are still a rather young company establishing itself in some of the international markets. I also think that we have reached the low and that the physical product will never die completely. Humans are collectors. Labels producing beautiful haptic products have better survival chances than those who only look at cost efficiency. With KAIROS, we have a huge advantage here, as we have always produced great products, with large format booklets, matt varnish, great artwork on the covers, high-quality liner
notes from musicologists, well edited, and with reproduction of score excerpts. A KAIROS CD is still more than its Spotify version. With KAIROS, we have a special responsibility, as we document a whole generation of new music. I was not fully aware of this responsibility when I bought it, but that came quickly within the first few months. And everything has to sound good. I think that the most important thing is that it sounds as natural as possible, not artificially enhanced. I am not bothered by breathing or a crack noise, that is part of what happens. The music has to be reproduced properly, which needs the right partners, and particularly an engineer who you can trust. In Vienna, we are very lucky to have a number of fantastic people, even if it is rare to find somebody who is equally skilled from the musical and the technical perspectives. An engineer who can hear every, and I mean every, wrong note and also produces a great sound is still rare. As a cellist, I record nearly everything at the studio in Weinberg. Erich Pintar has recorded me since I was ten years old. After 35 years of collaboration, we now know exactly how we work, even if it took a long time to reach that level of quality. In Vienna, we work with different studios, depending on the project. Christoph Amann does a lot for KAIROS, and some beautiful paladino projects came from Franz Masser or Martin Klebahn. Georg Burdicek was responsible for a few very important productions, including Christopher Hinterhuber’s Soler recording and the Debussy Preludes with Vladimir Ashkenazy. Pianists like working with him at the Tonzauber Studio, as this is his specialty, and the room is perfect for piano recordings. Precisely in this anniversary year, your own 50th recording appeared. Coincidence? Yes. What I did influence though was the fact that the 50th recording is the Popper Concertos. Meanwhile, my 53rd album has already been released (laughs). David Popper has been close to your heart for a long time. Yes. I recorded his etudes 15 years ago, which started my interest in the man. He just grew on me. He must have been a very witty person, and for sure he was world class at everything he did. First, he played in the Löwenberg Orchestra, which had the reputation to be the best of its kind in the German empire. Then he became principal cellist of the Vienna Philharmonic and launched into a unique international career as a soloist. When he was appointed as a professor at Liszt’s new academy, he became one of the most sought-after teachers, and finally he was the cellist of the Hubay-Popper Quartet, which performed with musicians like Brahms himself. And yet his life has never been subject to proper research. I am still chasing lost works of his, and had to search for his death certificate to be able to pin down his birthday to be 18 June 1843 amongst three dates that had been circulating. I still hope to find a PhD student to write about Popper. Do you currently teach in Europe? Currently, I am still Head of School in Auckland – a great adventure, as I was hired for a change management. What was the objective? And what is the difference between Auckland and educational institutions in our hemisphere? With everything I do, I aim for relevance. Relevance is a leitmotif in my life. I think that large parts of current music education, particularly in middle Europe, is completely irrelevant. Naturally, this view is not always liked, such as recently seen in a discussion with a group of colleagues from Berlin, who enthusiastically talked about how fabulously they prepare their students for auditions. Don’t get me wrong, I do not doubt that. But then I asked them how many oboe students they had, and they said a number near 20, and how many vacancies in Germany each year: four. Extrapolate all oboe students in Germany against that, and you probably get to approximately 200. Then I asked them how they prepare their students to not win the audition and did not get an answer. By and large, students do not get enough chamber music or contemporary music experience, no or not enough historical performance knowledge, let alone curation or business skills. And they are not taught how to teach. This is exactly how it was in Auckland: the typical
conservatory model. However, all students who now come to us, have to answer questions like: “Who are you?”, “why are you here?” and “what do you want from us?”. I am pleased to see that they do know that they are not the next Lang Lang, and how competitive the market is. Most of them have ideas, and they do not want to play concertos in the Golden Hall of Musikverein. If a trombone player wants to play in a concert band, the symphony orchestra and a jazz ensemble, I want to see the European curriculum that allows them to do that for credit. Well, ours does now. In the U.S., there are now many institutions that have composers’ orchestras. Every composition student has to play an instrument, no matter how good or bad. They have to experience music making and have to write for each other, so that they see how it is to be at the receiving end. In Auckland, it was obviously recognized that curricula have to be overhauled. And in Europe? I think that someone turned off the “change” switch, approximately in 1950. University education is still ten semesters, and even if there is new music composed as we speak, every student still has to play the Beethoven sonatas and the Brahms concerto. Why does every cello student, even if they do not want to go into a career as an orchestra musician, still have to play the Haydn concerto? In the U.S., there is a lot of conversation about that, from places that emphasize orchestral training in cooperation with a symphony orchestra, such as Cleveland or Philadelphia, to programmes such as at the University of Southern California (USC), where string instrument students learn how to play in a film music orchestra or as a back orchestra for a pop artist. Music is being treated as fast food, i.e. has to taste the same everywhere. That also explains why student mobility is so low. Why should I go to Munich or London, if I am being taught exactly the same in Vienna, and also have masterclasses from all over the world available on YouTube? I would love to see this conversation start. I think it is a pity how many chances are lost here. Every place has something that another place does not have. In Helsinki, they have solved that beautifully: Kaarlo Hilden, the Dean of Sibelius Academy, integrated the Finnish folk music tradition into the regular curriculum, and now he has international students coming out of his ears. For the rest of the year, what anniversary releases are in the pipeline? On KAIROS, we just released Bernhard Lang’s ParZeFool. The next thing will be a CD of orchestral works by Olga Neuwirth, and – to my particular delight – the Zykan Cello Concertos with Heinrich Schiff, the Vienna Philharmonic and Zubin Mehta. Then a portrait of Tristan Murail, who has influenced a whole generation of composers. We are now starting to feature the next generation of influential teachers, such as Aaron Cassidy or Liza Lim. I find that incredibly fascinating, also the personal contact with those people. Sometimes I look at the senders’ list in my email inbox and think: “Geesh, you are a lucky guy!” Have you ever had the wish to be in a different profession? Yes, that happens once a week (laughs). Music seems to be the only profession where success is measured by fame. That is how people put pressure on themselves and others. Once you liberate yourself from that nonsense, you turn into a much happier person. Whenever I now go on stage, all that matters if I play well or not, and I am not interested in the rest. I feel incredibly privileged. In the last two weeks, I played twice in Erl, twice with standing ovations. Thank you for this interview.