Sir Mark Elder

Scofield: Mark, I think one of the reasons that I admire you so much, and many others of your audience also think highly of you for this, is your tireless desire to make the music meaningful, make it relevant, and bring it to the audience with maximum impact. Whether it’s in English, or in Italian, or in other language, no matter how you do it, that’s always got to be priority number one, doesn’t it?

Elder: Yes, I think you’re actually right about that, to make sure that these pieces live again for each audience that hears them. I always have the feeling, Laurence, that one should never forget that in every performance, there are a number of people who are hearing the piece for the first time, and you want them to take away a real excitement enjoying the music.

Scofield: Verdi is certainly very thrilling, and it continues to excite, challenge, nourish, and satisfy the countless millions to this day. But one thing I wanted to ask you about, is I do think the tastes in music are changing now, and younger musicians and performers do have a different view about some of these old standbys, like Verdi.

For example, we had one of your colleagues Nicky Spence on the program recently. Nicky is quite a brilliant young tenor, up and coming very fast, having a good early start to his career. But he told us Verdi doesn’t really satisfy him, and in fact, possibly finds it a bit silly. Whereas he loves 20th century composers, who have got a little bit more of an edgier style, a lot more chromaticism, a lot more diminished chords, you know the music as well as anybody. Do you also sense that tastes for this younger generation now are changing and are moving on?

Elder: No, I don’t think I do! I must talk to Nicky about that, I’m not happy about that at all! You’re a very, very dear friend of mine! I knew what he’s referring to, of course. He’s thinking about Janáček, one of the greatest composers who’ve ever lived. I adore and admire him without reservation, and I think he’s a very, very important composer for the future of music, and I want more and more people to understand his music, and enjoy it. Nicky, of course, has just the right sort of vocal quality to do Janáček brilliantly.

No, I don’t think that is silly. We may not perform him well enough, he’s difficult to perform, but I don’t sense it in other musicians. I think that Verdi is still the composer who has more operas in front of the public than any other. He still rules the roost, and of course, as the years go by it’s hard to find the best way to put on his operas. But they’re still worth putting on.

Scofield: No doubt, he remains one of the, if not the all-time favorite with the audience. There is no question about that. But you know something interesting? I think if you talk to some of the composers, or some of the highly musical people around nowadays, you do get different views on this. And we were quite fascinated by that. A Recent survey in the BBC Music Magazine, which surveyed 170 living composers, and asked them who they thought were the greatest composers of all time, and it was quite astounding to see composers like Ligeti and Lutosławski, and others who are very contemporary, very much on the avant-garde edge, edging out some of the old stalwarts in their composer’s opinion, compared to Schumann, and even Verdi.

Elder: I can absolutely understand that. Lutosławski and Ligeti are both giants of the 20th century in their different ways, left us with a legacy of pieces that are very rich and will go on being understood and enjoyed, and they will become more central to the repertoire, I’m sure of that, and I admire them both myself. Maybe that as times move on, 19th century music will take less of a fun place, but I’m sure that one of the most important composers for me, as I’ve said, is Janáček, but also Berlioz. I think he’s an incredibly original voice, and he remains original as the years go by. He was such a revolutionary, experimental, daring voice, stretching the orchestra into places that nobody dreamed it would be possible to go. He was a great inspirer, he was a great role model, wonderful a one-off man. I love his music, still now.