2024-04-05 18:39:00
Bolzano. Another farewell to the Haydn Foundation. This time he is leaving at the end of his mandate Matthias Losek, artistic curator and head of the opera season of the Haydn Foundation since 2015/16. Austrian, born in St. Pölten in 1969, from a young age he dedicated himself to both classical and contemporary musical theatre, dealing with direction and production on the independent scene of Vienna, Salzburg and Lower Austria. From 2000 to 2007 he was the artistic director of the contemporary section of the Bregenzer Festspiele and oversaw the programming of the concert and theater sections. He later became involved in cultural policy, advising the culture department of the city of Vienna. From 2010 to 2015 he took over the artistic direction of the contemporary music festival Wien Modern. We interviewed him.
A summary of your experience as artistic director of contemporary opera for the Haydn Foundation?
In recent years we have done fantastic work, truly unique. We created a physical and mental space where people could get a feel for what opera is like today. For me, every good work, when it is capable of telling something about us, is contemporary. If we don’t believe this statement, we don’t believe in art, we only experience it in a weakened way, as a form of entertainment. Seeing, understanding: for me the work is this. Opera can really be a fun way of understanding the world: it can be the place to put on a new dress, but also an old pair of jeans.
What are you most proud of?
Certainly the entire Opera Euregio project, but also the Fringe musical theater competition because through these formulas we have managed to commission new works by enhancing the skills of the territory. At the beginning we asked ourselves: why here in South Tyrol? Because we? After the pandemic, the general tendency was to think that the public needed to get closer to the theatre, to art in a simple way: I don’t think it’s the right path. Sometimes it seems to me that in our society everything should be easy. Instead, it is up to us to ask ourselves: why are we here? What are we doing? Who we are? Art answers these questions. Important reflections have landed in Bolzano: some works have addressed the female universe. Let’s think of Peter Pan – the real title must have been Wendy – of the opera La Wally, or of Cavalleria rusticana, of La traviata, of La bohème.
What was the biggest challenge?
It was complex to explain this perspective of mine to people. I think there are a lot of things wrong with our business. And we have to change them. We must not “museumize” the work, always tell the same stories. That’s why I said to myself: stop before you become an old white man in power.
Was it difficult to bring contemporary opera to Bolzano?
Some things started right in small towns like this. So I don’t see the difference between Bolzano and London or New York. Instead, it’s about bringing a vision…and visions have nothing to do with geography. Without a vision, in my opinion, there is no work in the work. Or, the alternative is to think as if we were in a supermarket, offering something pre-packaged. It’s no longer easy to work in a big city. And this is not yet the most difficult challenge.
Is there a common thread in the projects you brought to Bolzano?
Sure. We said to ourselves: if we want to give titles for the different programs, let’s use some phrases that capture the public’s imagination. We started with “The irony of life”, which opened a door for us. Then there were other titles and suggestions: “Love and other cruelties”. What is the work about? Of love, death, cruelty. We then had “Angel or Demon”, and then “Once upon a time”, which carried within itself the idea that the telling of a story is a kind of ritual that allows to experiment beyond time and space. With the title of the last programme, “Nothing is written”, I tried to explain that each work is the beginning of something new that is continuously repeated.
Which projects did you like the most?
I loved “La Wally” a lot, a great production, but also a very difficult work for personal reasons. I’m a big fan of gothic novels and Edgar Allan Poe, so I relate to “The Raven.” But also “Falcone, the suspended time of flight”.
Best wishes to the Foundation team?
First of all health. And then to cultivate a vision. What life would it be without? It is a unique value: believing in something that at first sight does not seem possible.
2024-04-05 18:39:00