Who or what inspired you to take up conducting and pursue a career in music?
I don’t come from a musical family, but my father, a Latin and Greek teacher, has always been a great opera lover. Opera recordings were always in the background in my family home, and after listening to Aida, when I was five, I decided that I wanted to be a conductor. For my sixth birthday I asked a ticket to go and see Don Giovanni at the Teatro Regio in Turin (my hometown). I guess there was no coming back after that…!
Who or what are the most significant influences on your musical life?
There are so many and from quite a mixed bunch… Among conductors: Bernstein, Sinopoli, Muti, Levine, Leinsdorf and among composers Verdi, Britten, Mascagni and Strauss. In the very first years of the professions I learned a lot from assisting John Mauceri, Asher Fisch and John Eliot Gardiner. Among my composition teachers I am very grateful to Gilberto Bosco, Alexander Goehr, Silvina Milstein and George Benjamin.
What, for you, is the most challenging part of being a conductor? And the most fulfilling?
I think the most challenging part of being a conductor, particularly in Opera, is to keep in mind the big picture at all times, throughout the whole rehearsal process, and to manage to create a balanced environment of respect, efficiency and inspiration, despite the most challenging situations that may occur.
The most fulfilling part of being a conductor is experiencing the feeling, during a performance, when the hundreds of people creating the show and the thousands of people enjoying it as public, are all breathing in “unison” with you. It may not always happen, but, when it does, it connects you to that mystic, “otherworldly” place that Carlo Maria Giulini used to mention often in his late interviews.
As a conductor, how do you communicate your ideas about a work to the orchestra?
Most of my work is done through word-less communication via my baton and body language, but words in rehearsals are sometimes important too; they often help in understanding what is not written on the score but might be nonetheless important to know, in order to deliver a certain piece. Sometimes even a short anecdote or story concerning the creation or the performance history of a score can connect players immediately with the kind of sound that is needed. Culture is no less important that technical efficiency, I don’t see the two as mutually exclusive.
How exactly do you see your role? Inspiring the players/singers? Conveying the vision of the composer?
I think three pillars of the profession are: leadership, inspiration and empathy. These three steps require deep knowledge of the score, being very clear with my technique, and the ability to put all musicians in the position of being able to give their very best. Sometimes we also have to be like therapist in understanding the dynamics of teamwork in the theatre and the pressure that performing puts on a lot of fellow human beings. Being a caring listener is essential in Music, and, I dare say, in life in general!
Is there one work which you would love to conduct?
Actually dozens… I would love to say at least four… Puccini’s Turandot, Strauss’ Rosenkavalier, Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex and Zandonai’s Francesca da Rimini.
Do you have a favourite concert venue to perform in?
I can’t really single out just one… but the National Opera House in Wexford, where I am Principal Conductor, is as close to an ideal venue as you can get.
What do you do off stage that provides inspiration on stage?
Conducting is a quite a lonely job, so books are of course great companionship in the endless travelling. Luckily, I am a voracious reader: my average is fifty books a year, mostly fiction and biographies. Since I am fluent in four languages, I like to read in the original language most books, as each writer has his own sound world. Other areas of inspiration are: visiting museums (I am obsessed with Pre-Raphaelites painters), watching TV series on Netflix, going to the gym, walking miles and miles, eating Indian and Thai food, drinking great quantities of coffee… it’s all part of who I am when I step on the podium.
What do you feel needs to be done to grow classical music audiences?
I think the most useful thing to do is advertising the actual “product” rather than try to trick people in thinking that classical music is something different than what it is. I see a lot of PR that focus on everything but the music itself when sending a publicity message, trying to sell opera like if it were a Netflix series, a sport event or a real-time TV segment. If we don’t believe that our art form has a unique and special appeal itself, how can we sell it to others? You may think that advertising a belcanto opera as if it were a Netflix series could lure a few more people to see a show, but if it does (and it’s a big “if”) these people will hardly come back once they realize that opera is a very different medium from what they were sold.
Social media and TV are such powerful tools, but they require to be handled by professional who have knowledge about our world, while often this key areas are given (especially in older opera houses) to improvised people on the job. To put it in a nutshell, tell me why Traviata should speak to me today, tell me how it will make me feel while listening to it; don’t think that a photo shoot of the leading soprano cooking pasta and shopping at the Mall will make me feel closer to that world or willing to know more about the opera. We live in a world where kids are perfectly capable of following hours of medieval sagas and fantasy movie like Lord of the Rings, surely the attention span to see Turandot, Traviata or even Walküre is still there somewhere… and let’s stop the perception that going to the opera is necessarily expensive, as a football team subscription, most dining out options, travels and entertainment are actually more expensive than a lower price ticket at the Opera House.
As a musician, what is your definition of success?
I would go philosophical and say, success lies in reaching a point at least half way between your real-life starting point (normally set by family connections, wealth and access to resources) and your wildest dream. It’s about being able to appreciate where you are, and still having a healthy, non-destructive ambition to achieve much more.
What advice would you give to young or aspiring conductors/musicians?
I always say to my assistants: be the most prepared person in the room, and have a clear, readable conducting technique. It’s an ethical duty, I believe, as a leader and a conductor.
We lead dozens of high skilled individuals who have the right to know where we are and where are we going to, together.
Fashions, repertoire, careers, politics are subjected to shift like the winds, but nobody can take away from you your preparation and the kind of respect and reputation one earns with hard work and efficiency.
What’s the one thing we’re not talking about in the music industry which you feel we should be?
Merit.
It is so hard, because there is this idea that music, opposite to science, is all subjective and relative, but there are technical and practical issues that are quite objective and should be central to conducting or singing.
If you take any recent headline dealing with a classical music event, try to see how often the conversation is about the actual musical performance of a piece and how often is about external, non-music related factors. Every time a conductor, a director, a singer or an instrumentalist is hired or praised following any criteria other than merit, we all, as artists, are poorer for that.
Where would you like to be in 10 years’ time?
I would like to be Music Director in an Opera House in which I could make an artistic impact with my vision. I strongly believe in the pedagogic and ethical role of a theatre as part of the community and I would love to feel that I can make a difference in the development of the cultural life of a city, inside and outside the actual building.
Francesco Cilluffo is Principal Guest Conductor for Wexford Festival Opera. He will conduct La Ciociara at the festival this autumn, running from 24th October to 5th November
Image credit: © RibaltaLuce Studio
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