Interview: Conducting ST. MATTHEW PASSION's Only One of James Conlon's Many Current Commitments

LA Opera's next production St. Matthew Passion will open March 12, 2022, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. LA Opera's music director James Conlon conducts with choreographer John Neumeier staging Johann Sebastian Bach's scared masterpiece with members of the Hamburg Ballet.

The always busy Maestro found some time to answer a few of my orchestral queries.

Thank you for taking the time for this interview, Maestro Conlon!

As Los Angeles Opera's music director since 2006, do you have a say in which productions are chosen for each season?

In full cooperation with Christopher Koelsch, we choose the operas for every season. It is an arduous process, designed to give our public the most interesting program possible balancing known and unknown works, new and old, German, Italian and English repertory. It is also a process of elimination as we start each year with a long wish list, and then pair it down to what is possible.

Do you have first choice in which productions you conduct, like St. Matthew Passion?

In essence yes. A sort of unwritten right of first refusal.

How many rehearsals do you normally schedule for one of your productions?

A rehearsal period can be anywhere from three to four weeks. In my case, I have musical rehearsals with the singers at the piano, and separately with the chorus. I rehearse staging with the piano in a rehearsal space, then the orchestra alone finally bringing cast, chorus and orchestra together. Then the rehearsals on stage, first with piano, then orchestra leading up to the dress rehearsal.

Since your production also features the Hamburg Ballet, are there more rehearsals scheduled for St. Matthew Passion?

There are not more rehearsals but a different process. The excitement of working with one of the world's great choreographers, John Neumeier, and the Hamburg Ballet consists of a very delicate collaboration to serve two masters: the exigences of the dance and Bach.

How was your experience conducting the streaming west coast premiere of The Anonymous Lover during the lockdown? Miss the live audience response?

We conductors have become quite used to streaming without the public during COVID. It is very much like recording. You know that you are reaching people even when you can't see them.

It was a special moment to be able to bring a neglected opera of an extraordinary Black composer born in Guadaloupe before the French revolution: Joseph Bologne Chevalier de St. Georges.

Has most of the Los Angeles Opera musicians returned since the quarantine?

Virtually all members of the LA Opera orchestra and chorus have returned to work.

Would you describe your feelings conducting the company premiere of Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex for a LIVE audience in June 2021, the first major American opera company to perform live since the lockdown?

It was a very exciting occasion and gave us all a boost in morale. Now, some nine months later, we have faced and are answering the challenges to offer our performances to the public in a completely normal manner.

After conducting over 50 operas just at Los Angeles Opera alone, what elements of an opera entices you to conduct it?

When I close the season with Aida, it will mark the 65th opera I have conducted at LA Opera. I have lived my entire life with classical music and opera in particular. I love the entirety of the art form and still experience the passionate attachment to it I first felt as a child

Do you have a pre-show ritual that you religiously do?

After a half century of maintaining an international career, I know how to prepare and pace myself. I do not have a set ritual.

In Los Angeles of course, it has been my practice to give a pre-performance talk. We have had to put them on hold during COVID, but I make a video now which goes up online and is shown before the performance. Of course, I'm looking forward to returning to the live version as soon as we can.

What type of music do you relax to?

I live, eat and drink classical music... Even to relax. It is a spiritual force, and I cannot live without it.

Is there a musical instrument you play to unwind?

I trained as a pianist when I was studying music. To unwind, I love movies and reading, spending time with my family and my friends.

Not only are you the musical director of Los Angeles Opera, you have been holding similar positions at a number of orchestras. Is juggling all your duties second nature to you now?

I have been a music director of at least one (sometimes as many as three) orchestra or opera company in addition to conducting guest appearances all around the U.S. and Europe for the last forty years. You could say it is second nature.

You've been honored with a long list of musical and humanitarian awards throughout your career. Is there a particular one that stands out amongst the rest?

I am grateful for any expression of appreciation that I receive, whether from a member of our public, a co-worker, or the president of France or Italy.

You speak frequently at universities, museums and other cultural institutions. Do you find similar goals in your speaking/teaching as your conducting?

I enjoy teaching and have a special feeling about sharing my passion and knowledge of classical music with the public. We, artists, are also tasked with maintaining the presence of classical in our society.

What score do you never get tired of conducting?

There are at least two hundred scores of which I could never tire. There is so much Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Wagner, Mahler, Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky, Shostakovich and Britten, to mention only a few... How could one get tired of any of that?

Is there a piece that you've never conducted that you would love to tackle?

Yes. Les Troyens of Hector Berlioz.

What's next in the near future for Maestro Conlon, besides conducting St. Matthew Passion in Rome in April?

I return to my old "home" at the Paris National Opera for a gala with Renée Fleming and Robert Carsen, two world premieres: Carla Lucero's opera The Three Women of Jerusalem, which we present as part of the annual tradition in the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, a work by Matteo D'Amico based on texts by Pier Paolo Pasolini at the Teator Comunale in Bologna.

Thank you again, Maestro! I look forward to experiencing your St. Matthew Passion.

For tickets to the live performances of St. Matthew Passion through March 27, 2022; log onto LAOpera.org/Passion