»Listening to Beethoven’s music was an extreme experience.«

Electrifying and full of energy, yet without the loud roar. Maxim Emelyanychev shows us how it’s done. He will be making his debut at Beethovenfest Bonn with two concerts.

He takes the distance from the stage door to the conductor’s podium in quick strides, barely allowing himself a few seconds to compose himself before letting the orchestra storm straight into the heated opening of Beethoven’s Fifth. His tempos are fresh and unleashed – some would even call them radical. Ultra? A term you won’t hear Maxim Emelyanychev use himself. In conversation, he comes across as gentle and thoughtful, yet he still sets a fast pace with his words and thoughts, as well as with his energetic interpretations.

Emelyanychev will be in Bonn twice in September. This will be his debut at Beethovenfest, which he is looking forward to. »It will certainly be very interesting, especially with such great orchestras like Scottish Chamber and Mahler Chamber. I’m sure we’ll create very actual art.« The conductor has no doubt that Ludwig van Beethoven challenged his contemporaries. »Some composers remained true to their time. Not so Beethoven. He changed a lot. I think you can hear the Sturm und Drang era particularly clearly in his music.« Does Emelyanychev see Beethoven as ›ultra‹? »Definitely«, he replies. »We need to show to our audience how extreme it was to hear his music in his time. It doesn’t mean we need to play faster and louder, but somehow we need to make his art very actual for our listeners. And I find we can do this with our interpretation, by using some period instruments, and of course by conveying the message in his music. So yes, for me, everything in his music is very actual for the art we do today.«

He will be conducting the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra at Beethovenfest. The programme includes Tchaikovsky’s and Beethoven’s Fifth symphonies, as well as Shostakovich’s First Cello Concerto. These are compositions that, unlike in Bonn, are usually performed by large orchestras. However, Emelyanychev likes to swim against the tide here, too: »I’m always happy to go very deep into the details. And I find it very special to perform big symphony repertoire with chamber orchestras.« He also notes that all of these works were originally performed by much smaller ensembles.

Maxim Emelyanychev has a long-standing collaboration with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. He has been its chief conductor since 2019. He made his debut with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra just over a year and a half ago. »Every orchestra is different«, he admits. But this makes no difference to his work. »Each time there are new musicians, we play differing programmes each time coming out of our plane. And of course the audiences are never the same either. Even if I know a piece of music very well, I try to see it from a new point of view. I always prefer to use a new score, even if I have conducted it before. And I ask the orchestras to use new material so we can start from the beginning.«

Maxim Emelyanychev is not one for grand gestures. He has no interest in provocation. However, he is curious about how the unfamiliar can be explored. »That’s what I feel privileged about as a musician: We play concerts and create something together, right now and right here.«