Fabian Müller

The Bonn-based pianist and conductor is now continuing his Beethoven cycle for the fourth year running – together with his hand-picked chamber orchestra, The Trinity Sinfonia. Here, he talks about his very personal connection to his compatriot Ludwig van Beethoven.

When asked to name a musical symbol of home, the Bonn-based gangster rapper Xatar replied: Beethoven’s Ninth. Could that also be your musical symbol of home?

No, interestingly enough, it would definitely not be Beethoven’s Ninth. Because for me, there’s no other piece of music in the world that works on such a boundless scale. It speaks to every single person. But I’d wholeheartedly agree that Beethoven’s music is, fundamentally, home. Although he was determined to leave Bonn and move to Vienna, he remained exactly what, for me, defines his and my home region: namely, that sort of person. Beethoven is an extremely Rhineland-style composer, and I think you can really feel that.

What defines the Rhineland spirit for you?

What I love so much about the Rhineland – and what I miss when it isn’t conveyed elsewhere – is this feeling that people in the Rhineland don’t try to put on a front. There’s no pretence. Everything is very authentic, very honest, very direct and very warm-hearted. That’s what I associate with home. And I simply find that reflected in so many of Beethoven’s works. Take his Seventh Symphony, for example: it contains a kind of exuberance that’s very typical of the region.

Do you also hear something so typically Viennese in the Fifth Symphony and the Third Piano Concerto, both of which you’ve included in this year’s programme?

In the Fifth, it’s the unbridled rage at the beginning and the sheer euphoria at the end. It’s not a celebration, not a festival, but a frenzy. I find that incredibly un-Viennese. The Third Piano Concerto has a certain kind of humour. Here it’s not a frenzy, but more a grotesque cheerfulness. A bit like the Rhineland saying: »The situation is hopeless, but not serious.« That’s absolutely ›Beethoven‹. That would never be possible with Bach, Chopin or Tchaikovsky.

Nikolaus Harnoncourt once said that failure is built into Beethoven’s music …

Not just failure, but the struggle too. Beethoven takes an enormous toll on stage. When I’ve played Beethoven, it’s as if I’ve been wrestling. I do get a lot in return, but afterwards I always need ten hours’ sleep first. Beethoven simply had this ability to make musical material function just like life itself. It isn’t always beautiful or pleasant. Something gets in the way, bites, scratches. It’s incredible what powerful emotions this can trigger. This music is always without pretence, without artifice. Perhaps it’s the opposite of politics. Yet people always say that Beethoven was a political figure, which I also believe. But he was political in the way politics should be: incredibly honest.

This year, for the first time in your Beethovenfest cycle, you’re including an overture by Louise Farrenc. Why did you choose this piece in particular?

I simply think it’s a brilliant piece. It has so many qualities, and much of Beethoven’s spirit of freedom shines through in it. The fact that it was composed by a woman is, however, irrelevant to me. Yes, it’s a shame that we play so many male composers and so few female ones. Nevertheless, I think calls for gender-balanced programming are nonsense. I have no desire to play a work by a female composer simply to express a social stance. I think there are other ways to address that. We’ve included it in the programme simply because it’s very good music.