Hengelbrock to bring Mahler's 'Hamburg' Symphony to Seoul

Thomas Hengelbrock, German violinist and North German Radio Symphony Orchestra’s principal conductor, will perform at Seoul Arts Center on May 26-27. / Courtesy of Vincero

By Kwon Ji-youn

To Thomas Hengelbrock, Korea is a “great country” for classical music.

“So many Korean music students study in Germany, and I have taught a few of them,” the German violinist and North German Radio Symphony Orchestra (NDR Symphony) principal conductor said in a recent interview. “And there are a number of Korean singers at our opera house.”

Hengelbrock and the NDR Symphony have put together a matchless program for their concerts at the Seoul Arts Center on May 26 and 27, in the hope of enthralling their Korean “musical companions.”

“I’m very excited that our first performance in Korea will feature the Hamburg 1893 version of Gustav Mahler’s First Symphony,” said Hengelbrock. “The Hamburg version will boast a completely new interpretation, cut in on a series of detailed amendments. It may even provide a bit of a shock.”

Mahler is known to have worked extra hard on his first symphony, which was premiered in 1889 at the Vigado Concert Hall in Budapest. At the time, it was divided into two parts and comprised of five movements.

“Four years later, Mahler staged a revised symphonic poem version of the First Symphony as conductor of the Hamburg State Opera,” Hengelbrock said. “This version had undergone several changes, was very programmatic and was filled with poetic expressions and descriptions.”

Hengelbrock and the NDR Symphony’s recording of the First Symphony’s Hamburg 1893 version is the world’s first.

The NDR Symphony’s first performance in Korea was called off when the Asian financial crisis hit Korea in 1997. But this may have been for the best, as Hengelbrock and the German orchestra together have been pulling off both early baroque and contemporary repertoires, and are now at the height of classical recognition.

Experts say Hengelbrock, who is a known baroque specialist, has been experimenting, welding baroque with contemporary music, the familiar with forgotten masterpieces. Under Hengelbrock’s baton, the NDR Symphony is evaluated as being in its prime.

“When I first took the helm of the NDR Symphony, I had a detailed idea of what I wanted to get done during my time here,” he said. “I wanted, from beginning to end, to expand its repertoire spectrum and program variety. I also wanted the members to keep trying new techniques.”

He said the orchestra’s objective is to study all music, from the 17th through 20th centuries, and leaving this up to the members has provided him with inspiration and energy. Both the NDR Symphony and Hengelbrock are known to breathe new life into lesser-known masterpieces.

“We’re not afraid to try new things, to escape from traditions and conventions,” he said.

Hengelbrock’s conducting philosophy entails wondering about the questions the composer would have asked himself while working on the score.

“I want to remain open-minded and curious about the composer’s intentions,” he said. “I also try not to be authoritative when working with the orchestra members. I think of each concert as a journey, and the orchestra members are accompanying me on this journey. From my experience, this kind of thinking results in great performances.”

He described the NDR Symphony as an orchestra that produces a particularly deeper German sound in the woodwinds. Included in the program is Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto.

“The Violin Concerto is a piece I have loved since I was a child,” he said. “I listened to it so often that I was able to play it on the violin before referring to the score.”

The NDR Symphony Orchestra was founded by British occupation authorities shortly after World War II. Its early musicians came from the ranks of the government-controlled Grosses Rundfunkorchester des Reichssenders Hamburg (which roughly translates, Large Radio Orchestra of Reichssenders Hamburg). The orchestra gave its first concert in November 1945, helmed at the time by Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt.