Questioning the conductors: Jun Markl

 Update : I am not entirely sure what happened with the video for two minutes in the middle. I apologize and will upload a mirror copy tonight.

I had a chance to sit down with Jun (pronounced June) Markl earlier this week. Markl, no stranger to the Seattle Symphony, is guest conducting a program of German music that covers Schumann, Beethoven, and Wagner. Though his program is uber-traditional, Markl takes a relativist view of Beethoven and the masterpieces of the classical music repertory. Markl doesn’t embrace just one view of how Beethoven should sound. As he says in our interview, Beethoven played in France can sound different from Beethoven played in the United States. Differences resulting from geography should be embraced for what they bring to the music.

Markl’s embracing attitude is important for someone in his position. His own family bridges two cultures (his mother is Japanese and his father is German). He also currently leads two orchestras: one in Lyon, France and the other in Leipzig, Germany and is a regular guest conductor in the United States too. Because of his firm command of the Franco-German repertory, I assume some have placed high high on their list of conductors they would like to see replace Gerard Schwarz after next season.  His previous visits to Seattle have given audiences shapely,poised interpretations of mostly familiar repertory.

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These interviews often take on a life of their own when the camera is turned off. This time was no different.  When the camera was shut off I had a spirited conversation about the economic differences between American and European orchestras with Alex Prior. Prior, who is assistant to this season’s guest conductors, sat in on the interview. Afterward, I asked him what he thought about Markl’s response to my questions on the subject (which you can watch) and his own thoughts. Prior approached the subject with the free market enthusiasm of someone just beginning to get a handle on American consumerist culture and with the experience of seeing European orchestras hew to the political whims of appropriators.

Our exchange came in the context of contemporary music. In Europe it isn’t uncommon, as Markl explains, for orchestras to offer contemporary music festivals even when they know ticket sales will flatten or dip. In the United States, prolonged encounters with the music of today is a recipe for orchestra fiscal ruin. European orchestras have the luxury of being able to program difficult pieces because of the state subsidies they receive. By contrast American orchestras depend on a steady flow of private subsidies. Prior’s argument is that the American system of orchestra funding is better, because it is market oriented, which allows the audience to have more of a say. I cautioned that if orchestras are purely market oriented there is a risk that new music would be squeezed out by a parade of Beethoven, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, and Mozart.

I hope to be able to speak with Prior for more than a few moments here and there. In the meantime, take a moment to watch what Markl had to say about orchestra economics, the German tradition, and contemporary music.

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