The Gustav Mahler international seminar, which took place at the CPC from May 8 to 18 with the participation of the OSER and the direction of its artistic conductor, Luis Gorelik, gave Paraná the opportunity to host a unique experience in Latin America .
Carlos Marin
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The holding, for the first time in Argentina and Latin America, of a seminar focused directly on the music of the German composer Gustav Mahler placed the province in a place of international reference.
The meeting, which took place in Paraná, had the participation of young directors from nine countries and was updated a few days ago with the presentation of an audiovisual production that constitutes a record of what happened in ten days of intense work that provided participants the opportunity to be part of a significant instance in their training.
At the beginning of May, the Provincial Convention Center (CPC) hosted this high-level academic and cultural event that, in the midst of daily dynamics, turned Paraná into a point of international convergence.
The Seminar dedicated to Mahler took place from May 8 to 18, with the participation of the Entre Ríos Symphony Orchestra and the conduct of its artistic director, Luis Gorelik.
The activity also included two concerts dedicated to performing works by the European composer. The first of them took place on Saturday, May 11 at the Provincial Convention Center (CPC), from 8:30 p.m. The second, with which the seminar concluded, took place on Saturday, May 18.
In these presentations, the OSER performed Symphony No. 4 (3rd and 4th movements), and No. 1. The lyrical symphony The Song of the Earth, based on texts by Li Tai Po, was also included. The initiative, which had teacher Gorelik as its determined promoter, had the support and organization of the Secretary of Culture of the Province and the sponsorship of the Entre Ríos Independent Insurance Institute (Iapser).
The nine directors from different countries in America and Europe were Nicolás Ralli Barreiro (Spain), Lorena Escolar (Spain), Andre Bachur (Brazil), Camilo Rojas (Colombia), María Bazou (Greece), Trajan Muryn (Poland), Ezequiel Fautario (Argentina), Olga Polowczyk (Poland), and Pedro Baeza (Chile). The participants, selected after an international call, attended theoretical classes taught by the artistic director of the provincial Symphony, and had the exceptional opportunity to carry out internships with the orchestral organization. The culmination of his participation was the opportunity to conduct the orchestra in concerts.
The group of young directors and directing students agreed to highlight the hierarchy of the event and expressed unanimous praise for the organization while expressing their satisfaction with the reception received and for the city.
The positive balance of this experience encourages the expectation that it can be repeated and the provincial capital can become, with successive editions, the venue for a top-level international event.
When referring to the seminar, Gorelik highlighted the importance of the event by taking the works of Gustav Mahler as an object of study and experimentation. On the other hand, he expressly recognized the important role of the members of the OSER in being able to achieve this. A special mention goes to the Entre Ríos public, whom he thanked for accompanying each performance. The conductor of the orchestra also highlighted a statement made by Maher himself before his death, in that he expressed that “a symphony must be like the world. It must contain everything.”
EXCELLENCE TRAINING
When welcoming the participants on behalf of the Orchestra, the Ministry of Culture and the provincial government, Gorelik indicated that “the choice of Gustav Mahler’s works as an object of study and experimentation responds, first of all, to the will of hold a seminar whose content fills an important vacancy in the field of orchestral programming and is directly focused on the needs of young conductors from different countries, with the aim of promoting their professional insertion, as well as the public that will enjoy the concerts end of this seminar.”
For the artistic director of the OSER “Gustav Mahler’s symphonies have become a coveted trophy for any orchestra and conductor in search of growth and legitimation. This is, perhaps, because both for the public and for the conductors themselves who study his performance, Mahler’s works continue to represent a strange corpus within the traditional symphonic repertoire. It is not a case of simple snobbery, which could be satisfied by programming other works from different periods, but the root of this fascination lies in the very nature of Mahlerian work and in the difficulty of framing its analysis and understanding within the accepted criteria. ”.
Gorelik also expressed his gratitude to the members of the OSER, “without whose enthusiasm and dedication, this activity would be impossible to carry out,” as well as “to the Entre Ríos public, who honors us with their support and affection through seventy-five years of life of our orchestra.”
COVED TROPHY
In an interview with EL DIARIO, the artistic director of the OSER highlighted the positive balance of the seminar – which already had similar antecedents – and provided details of this initiative.
“This seminar began to take shape more than a year ago. I have had the opportunity to teach as a guest professor at different universities in Poland, Spain and Brazil and there I was able to choose who I thought were the most outstanding students, and interest them in traveling to Paraná, which fortunately has been able to happen,” he told THE NEWSPAPER.
Regarding the motivation to work on the work of the German composer, the conductor of the Symphony explains that “Gustav Mahler’s symphonies have become a coveted trophy for any orchestra and conductor in search of growth and legitimation. This is, perhaps, because both for the public and for the conductors themselves who study his performance, Mahler’s works continue to represent a strange corpus within the traditional symphonic repertoire. It is not a case of simple snobbery, which could be satisfied by programming other works from different periods, but the root of this fascination lies in the very nature of Mahlerian work and in the difficulty of framing its analysis and understanding within accepted criteria. ”
MULTIPLE LEARNINGS
When drawing up a balance of the learning that, as a teacher, the seminar has left him, Gorelik’s response comes without hesitation: “Many. It is the first time in Argentina and Latin America that a seminar focused directly on the music of Gustav Mahler has been held, and in addition, it had an excellent response from the audience that packed the room. Sharing experiences and knowledge with new generations is a passion that must be transmitted with the same dedication, love and professionalism as the work on stage.
In that same sense, when providing EL DIARIO with an evaluation of his experience, Gorelik considers that “an international seminar of these characteristics, in which young conductors from nine countries participate, generates, among other things, international projection for our orchestra.”
And he adds: “I believe that to the extent that this seminar can be repeated, Paraná could consolidate itself as a nerve center of orchestral pedagogy. Fortunately, the collaboration, dedication and professionalism of the members of the Symphony has been very high, since without that component, this would not have been possible.”
In his analysis, he also highlighted that “each participant was responsible for his travel expenses from his country of origin, and his stay expenses in the city of Paraná. The theoretical classes were taught free of charge, and the practical classes were part of the OSER’s schedule of regular activities.”
INTERNATIONAL HIERARCHY
Ezequiel Fautario was one of the participants in the seminar. Graduated in orchestral conducting at the National University of the Arts, he initially trained with Mario Benzecry and then with Luis Gorelik. “I think that for all of us who have participated it was in some way the possibility of re-editing our student profile but with a larger repertoire, particularly in my case at least leaving the comfort zone of everything that one has already built and having to put it back together based on the objectives that had been set with this repertoire, with this approach that was worked on in the seminar,” he told EL DIARIO.
In relation to the relevant learning, he highlighted “the approach or approach that we did with the teacher Gorelik, but for example, from the perspective of the texts of the German philosopher Theodor Adorno, that is, an analysis from the harmonious, structural, link with the text, stylistic sources and so on that runs through all of Mahler’s work, particularly his symphonies and the lyrical symphony that is the Song of the Earth (Das Lied von der Erde).”
Fautario also highlights “the enormous pleasure of working with an orchestra like the one in Entre Ríos, very sensitive to the conductor’s gesture, which facilitated and at the same time highlighted the virtues and defects that each of the participants could have when it came to performing.” interpret these works.”
When reflecting on the contributions of his participation, the Buenos Aires director highlighted “the great value of these training spaces. We generally come with the conception that everything good, what is going to make us grow, what will propel us in our careers, is found in the Northern Hemisphere. However, here we have a case where from or together with an orchestra from a province of our country we had the luxury of working at a very high level and under the instruction of a great teacher that we have the privilege of having in Argentina. And thus address a repertoire of this magnitude, also being able to work with top singers such as Alejandra Malvino, Silvina Petrina and Enrique Folger, who are regular performers in our environment. Which leads us to gain experience in this repertoire with the best resources we can count on and that clearly requires us when it comes to training and has raised the bar for us.”
UNFORGETTABLE OPPORTUNITY
For Nicolás Ravelli Barreiro, another of the participants, the seminar was “wonderful.” Argentine orchestra director based in Spain, he is chief conductor of the Lugo Youth Orchestra, and also director of the Vila de Sedeira music band.
“We have done very deep work,” he said. “The truth is that for still young conductors, as is the case for all of us who participate here, it is a wonderful opportunity to be able to have an orchestra of this category and with such intense and profound artistic work on this repertoire, which is not usual to have. the possibility of finding an opportunity to direct it.” In that aspect, he highlighted the many and many learnings achieved with “super intensive work: theoretical classes and then practical classes with the orchestra every day, and that of course results in a job where we can extract a lot to take back to our own lives.” usual task in management.”
