Culture in Poznań

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Capture every audience member

Agnieszka Duczmal, conductor, founder of the Amadeus Chamber Orchestra of the Polish Radio, winner of the prestigious Diamond Baton award, in an interview with Paweł Binek

Black and white photo of Agnieszka Duczmal with a baton in her hand. - grafika artykułu
Agnieszka Duczmal, photograph: Jacek Mójta

Late last year, you received the prestigious Diamond Baton, the Polish Radio Award for outstanding achievements in the field of conducting. What emotions did that distinction evoke in you?

The Diamond Baton laureates before me have all been remarkable conductors. I am truly honoured to join their company. I am the thirteenth person and the first woman to receive this award. The conferral was a very special moment indeed. The gala itself was modest but very elegant. The stands filled with musicians and people who cared for and greatly appreciated myself and my orchestra. The concert that proceeded the Baton conferral was a unique experience for us all. Although we are no longer on Polish Radio's payroll, we receive its financial support as a cultural institution. Our relationship goes back to 1 October 1977.

This event crowns your relationship with Polish Radio. Before it was established, the orchestra had already existed for 11 years. What was it like at the start?

As the orchestra was founded during my studies, it was naturally comprised of my university mates from different classes. Once we graduated and our lives went on and diverged, we took up jobs and ended up scattered across Poland. In the early years, the orchestra saw much turnover among its musicians. It only began to crystallize after Polish Radio offered full-time positions to its artists. Over the years that followed, we arrived at the orchestra's current make-up.

In one of your interviews, you said you chose to become a conductor after listening to Richard Strauss' Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks. While Strauss made his tone poem for a large orchestra, you chose to devote yourself to the chamber kind. Why was that?

I have never fully severed my ties with large orchestras as I worked in a philharmonic and opera, and would occasionally conduct big orchestras. I selected to focus on chamber work for a number of reasons. Firstly, I got to create this orchestra myself and choose the path it would follow. I had the freedom to design the team as I saw fit. A chamber orchestra allows you to examine and interpret scores much more closely and prepare accordingly. On the contrary, you only see a symphony orchestra for a few days during which you need to go over the entire concert programme. In a chamber orchestra, we are permanently on the same creative path. I know the artists thoroughly and know what I can expect of them. This allows me to work on music for this orchestra and with its musicians with a good idea of ​​its sound already in my head.

To return to your cooperation with Polish Radio, which bore fruit in the form of thousands of minutes of recordings and more: how did this collaboration influence the Amadeus Orchestra? How come you became so involved in recording music?

All radio orchestras are created to record music whether for archives and current airings. This is their primary purpose. Working with a microphone provides musicians with a fantastic learning experience. The microphone is a demanding instrument that teaches you discipline. In addition, our orchestra works in a specific setting. We don't have a studio in which to test ideas and make our recordings and instead have to rent one. Therefore our regular studio is Adam Mickiewicz University Auditorium. Before we record, we need to prepare the music one hundred percent, so that once we arrive in a studio, we record the piece in one go. We cannot afford sitting at a microphone, rehearsing, and recording our music bit by bit, as is the practice for many other orchestras. We prepare the track completely in rehearsal and record it efficiently. Sound directors call us the fastest-recording orchestra!

In addition to its recording work, Amadeus is known for its many international tours. How do the artists benefit from the travels? What are your fondest memories from your journeys?

With so many memories to choose from, it is actually hard to pick the most interesting. On concert tours, we get to meet audiences of various nationalities that vary in the way they perceive and respond to our music. We have found that any audience can be inspired to cheer and give standing ovations. We have seen that in Japan, the UK and Germany. In other words, this goes even for the countries whose audiences are stereotyped as having a stiff upper lip and being reluctant to display their emotions with enthusiasm. As it turns out, by performing music to the highest standard with the right kinds of emotions, we are able to captivate any listener.

Speaking of foreign concerts, you were the first woman conductor in the Milan La Scala opera house. Once highly male dominated, the profession of a conductor is now being joined by a growing number of successful women. Do you think you may have helped make this happen?

I believe I have. Many conductors from various countries thank me for my contribution. In a way, I paved the way for younger women who set their sights on joining what everyone once saw as a man's profession. Life goes on and many professions are seeing more women today asserting themselves and filling positions that, up until recently, have been exclusively male. I think the suffragettes led the effort by blazing the trail for women helping them move beyond being confined to the life of a housewife. Women are in no way inferior to men: we are smart, have great imagination and a lot to contribute. I would go as far as to claim that for many of us, our circumstances in life are more enriching than those of men, who are deprived of certain experiences.

You have mentioned younger conductors. In fact, Amadeus also supports composers and instrumentalists at the outset of their artistic careers. How important in the orchestra's work is it to support young artists? What can they contribute to Amadeus?

Every young person who is starting out professionally runs into closed doors which they don't know how to open for a chance to show their capacities. Without our help and our doors staying permanently wide open, many talents would be lost forever. Our key mission is to support young people. For many years, I have been inviting young musicians to take part in our concerts and recordings. We make it a point to regularly record not only older Polish composers. Time will show which of them can overcome all odds and offer true artistic value.

At the Diamond Baton gala, you played Mozart's Divertimento in F major, Tchaikovsky's Serenade for Strings and Kilar's Orawa. What drove you to choose such a repertoire?

The idea was conceived jointly by ​​the Director of Polish Radio's Channel Two, the concert's organiser Małgorzata Małaszko and myself. We wanted to present the cornerstones of our repertoire, which received the best reviews and was interpreted in ways rarely seen in other orchestras. German critics saw our rendition of Mozart as exemplary, which in fact led us to adopt the name Amadeus. Our interpretation of Tchaikovsky's Serenade was also unique. In this piece, we tell various stories and do it differently from other orchestras. Finally, on hearing our take on Orawa, its composer Wojciech Kilar said he does not want it interpreted in any other way. I think everyone was happy with this choice.

The Amadeus Orchestra has been around for over five decades now. How can such a small group of people keep their freshness, be willing to work together and be happy to collaborate for so many years?

People come and go quite regularly, because time goes on and the generational exchange is only natural. For us, this happens seamlessly. Any new arrival has to adapt in an instant. Music should not only be employment for us but also become enjoyment for audiences. To bring joy to others, you need to enjoy yourself first. Our rule is that no concerts are more or less important than others. Wherever we perform, be it a small town or a grand concert hall, we play for the people who have come to listen to us - the audience always comes first.

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Agnieszka Duczmal

Conductor, founder, and director of the Amadeus Chamber Orchestra of the Polish Radio. Winner of national and international conducting competitions, holder of the "La donna del mondo" title awarded under the patronage of UNESCO and the Golden Fryderyk award for lifetime artistic achievement. Agnieszka Duczmal was the first woman to conduct La Scala in Milan. She has made numerous radio, TV and CD recordings and many artistic journeys with the Amadeus orchestra. She has also collaborated with other orchestras at home and abroad. In 2021, she was honoured with the prestigious Polish Radio award of the Diamond Baton.

translation: Krzysztof Kotkowski

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