The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra’s new Dutch music director Jaap van Zweden is looking to take the ensemble global, writes Mark Tjhung

So, the new music director designate of the Hong Kong Philharmonic is Jaap van Zweden. Hardly a surprise announcement, you might be thinking, given the murmurings around classical music circles for months now. But, nevertheless, the formal announcement of his appointment in mid-January remains something of a coup for the HKPO. The Dutchman – formerly a violin prodigy, then the youngest ever concertmaster of the one of the world’s most renowned orchestras and now one of the globe’s most sought-after and exciting maestros – has enjoyed a stellar rise in the world of conducting over the past five years, hailed for his guest conducting stints with some of America’s most revered orchestras as well as transforming the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Over the phone from Amsterdam, Van Zweden gave us a little lesson in Dutch name pronunciation (‘it’s Yaap fun Zvaydn… I understand that I have a difficult name,’ he laughs) before sharing his vision for Hong Kong’s premier classical music ensemble.

Firstly, congratulations on your appointment. So, what drew you to this role with the HKPO?
The music director is always a role for responsibilities. It’s a so-called father but also someone who is inspiring for the musicians to play better and better. It’s a combined role but the responsibility for the quality of the orchestra is one of the most important.

What are you most looking forward to?
I’m looking forward to every part of it. It is important to have a very good connection with the city and also you have a good click with the people who are supporting the orchestra as well. So I would like to establish that relationship and to do whatever I can do to commit. The cultural plans Hong Kong has are extremely big and I cannot wait to play a role in that development.

You’ve been here a number of times. What are your impressions?
Not a number of times. I came two times. It’s not so much. So, you cannot ask me a lot of things about Hong Kong yet. If we are a few years later, then it’s more easy for me to give an update of my experience.

Okay, but from your appearances here, I think we’ve got an impression of you as a very lively conductor. Is that an accurate reflection of you as a person?
The word energetic is a good word. Also, I am a fanatic in many ways but extremely fanatical concerning my details for music making. I’m a big believer in the details.

We’re in a transition period between yourself and Maestro de Waart. Is this a difficult period?
No, I don’t think it’s difficult! First of all, I know Maestro de Waart very well. I know his work, we are good friends, and so I continue with work which has been started many years ago with him. Although we are completely different persons and we are different in working, we do respect each other tremendously. I don’t think it’s a difficult transition. I think it’s maybe just a little bit different energy. I’m trying to add some things and I don’t want to break down things, because everything he did was a huge step forward. So I don’t want to say that I’m going to go in a completely different direction. Of course, it will be different but I would say that the floor plan of the building is made of the best concrete in the world.

What’s your vision for the orchestra?
One of the most important things for the orchestra is… if you want to have an international sound, an international stature, you’ve got to go international. You have to understand that our main concerts and our main audience is in Hong Kong, but Hong Kong audiences want to be proud of the orchestra to have an international recognition and we should give them that. We shouldn’t think in cities, we should think more global. If you go to any airport in the world and you buy a bag, you will see New York, London, Paris and Hong Kong on that bag. Internationally, Hong Kong counts tremendously. Now, if an orchestra respects itself and respects the city, and the city respects the orchestra, then the Hong Kong Philharmonic has to be a world-class internationally-recognised orchestra.

Apart from touring, how is that done?
It’s a combination of things. First of all, it is stretching our quality, week after week. You cannot sell something that is not good, so it is very important that what you want to sell is first class. Not playing once in a while fantastically, but playing every week fantastically. Then the next step is to go international, making records and working with first class guest conductors and first class soloists. All of these ingredients are very important.

What do you think the main assets of the orchestra are?
I think, first of all, the technical ability of the orchestra is a huge platform, to realise the highest standards. I think that the soul of the orchestra is a young soul – it’s not an orchestra of 100 years old – so there is still a road to walk. But sometimes the road to heaven is more beautiful than heaven itself. The orchestra is also willing to recognise some weak spots and they are also willing to work very hard to improve that. The attitude and the work spirit are extremely high and, for that reason, I see incredible chances for us to go like a rocket.

You’re staying with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra until 2016 as well. How do you find the balance between all of your appointments?
The balance is something that you have to divide. Not only that, but I am also with Chicago Symphony for four to five weeks, a few weeks in Europe, and then I do about 10 weeks with other major orchestras in the US, like Boston, Cleveland, New York Phil, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Washington. But I gave up an orchestra in Belgium and an orchestra in the Netherlands. But ‘balance’ is the keyword for a lot of things in our lives, and this balance needs to have just the experience on how to do it.

With all of your appointments across the world, do you have to adapt to the local audiences?
Well, we have an international language, and the music is the language, which we speak. We are speaking a language of emotions, love, everything that in life is so important. Never underestimate any public, not in America, not in China, not in Europe. And also, don’t underestimate children – we should never make mistakes like that. Whatever we are playing, we should take seriously, and then the audience will recognise that.

You’ve previously mentioned wanting to do more Chinese music with the HKPO. How familiar are you with Chinese music at the moment?
It’s going to be an experience for me, which is a little bit new. But I have done quite a bit of Chinese composers and played Chinese composer works, and I really liked it. I think that is an area where we can help each other. There are, in my opinion, wonderful new composers from China and they have to be played. We respect them so we want to play them – and that is actually how things should work.

I understand Leonard Bernstein gave you your start in conducting.
It was very interesting. He was conducting the Concertgebouw orchestra and I was leading it, and he said he wanted to listen and he asked me to conduct. I said ‘well, I cannot do that, because I’ve never done that’. And he said ‘well, anyway. Do it. I want you to
do that’. And to say no to him, you did not do that. So I finally did it and it was pretty bad. But he said ‘I heard something there. Take it seriously. And continue to do that’. So, at one point, I just dropped the violin and started to take it seriously, and that was it.

You’ve also mentioned expanding the orchestra into more educative programmes. What would you like to do with that?
The future of our audience and classical music is in the hands of the youth. And if we don’t recognise that and give them a platform to be a real member of the music family of Hong Kong, then we will miss a lot of things. I think it is extremely important that we inspire the young ones to come to us and have them with us for many years.

So, any hints on what you will be conducting on your debut?
We still don’t know yet! But there will be a Chinese piece, for sure. And there will be a big piece, of course, a major piece. It will be a surprise! And, up until now, it’s still a surprise from myself. [Laughs] 

Jaap van Zweden debuts with the HKPO on September 28.