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 "Maybe one day we will have reached a point where we won't
have to discuss the gender issue at all," she said with a smile.
Only a few women have made it to top conducting positions in
classical music, and Finland's Malkki has joined the list: the
Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra has appointed her as its next
chief conductor starting in 2016.
She joins a small group of musicians that includes American
Marin Alsop at the helm of the Baltimore Symphony and São Paulo
State Symphony Orchestra, and Australian Simone Young, director
at the Hamburg State Opera and Philharmonic.
The 45-year-old Malkki has won praise around the globe. Her
seven seasons as the music director of Ensemble
Intercontemporain, a French group founded by Pierre Boulez,
earned her a profile as a new music specialist.
Now she is set to take over the first professional symphony
orchestra in the Nordic region, which between 1892 and 1923
premiered most symphonic works by Jean Sibelius, with the
composer himself on the podium.
Watching Helsinki bathe in an autumn sun through the windows of
its new Music Centre, Malkki, who still lives in Paris, said she
was excited about the assignment.
"The appointment feels very special as I know so many of these
musicians from the past. The biggest compliment a conductor can
get from orchestra musicians is to hear that they want to work
with you again," she said over a cup of coffee.
Malkki looks forward to working with the orchestra on classical
repertoire, but also aims to diversify.
"During my first season here, French music will be strongly in
focus. There will be new and old, French, Italian and more. I
like to bundle the present and the past in programs, I'm not
fond of categorizing music too much. The Germanic tradition will
come later."
Malkki started as a cellist, rising to be principal cellist in
the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra.
But her passion for exploring orchestral scores prompted her to
apply for a conducting class led by Jorma Panula - the 'maestro
of maestros' who instructed a generation of well known Finnish
conductors including Esa-Pekka Salonen, Sakari Oramo and Osmo
Vanska.
EXPECTATIONS
"I was very aware that the tradition of the profession is
extremely masculine. I knew that if I wanted to do this, I have
to be particularly good at it," Malkki said.
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After three years, she decided to leave the cello, and by the time
she finished Panula's class, job offers were arriving. The ultimate
breakthrough was in 1999 as she conducted Thomas Ades's opera
"Powder Her Face", to rave reviews.
Malkki also holds the post of principal guest conductor of the
Gulbenkian Orchestra in Portugal and she is a regular guest
conductor at top European and North American concert halls. This
season she will make her conducting debut with the Philadelphia and
Cleveland orchestras, the New York Philharmonic and at the Hamburg
State Opera as well as La Fenice in Venice.
With all that happening for her, it might seem the glass ceiling is
well and truly smashed, but Malkki said there was still some
distance to go before women are treated as equals.
"The expectations are different ... they can be higher, they can be
lower. Of course, neither is good," she said. "But all communication
is two-way, and this question is not just about one's skills or
vision but also about how others perceive it."
"Then again, 20 years ago when I started conductor studies, I think
no one could have imagined this appointment would happen this year,"
she added.
Malkki is praised for her sharp, clear and demanding style of
conducting. She says she tries to strike a balance between strong
leadership and working cooperatively with musicians, and cites Jorma
Panula's advice: 'help, don't disturb'.
"We all are doing this for the music, and the conductor can at best
be a kind of element in the orchestra that makes everything easy.
The primary job is to do justice to the music. I seek to infect my
enthusiasm for the music to others."
And how, in her view, did the small Nordic country of Finland become
such a source of world-class conductors?
"High morale for work, pragmatism, and deep love in the music."
(Edited by Michael Roddy and Robin Pomeroy)
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