Christoph von Dohnányi made his first appearance with the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich in 1976 and his last at the Tonhalle Maag in 2019: the German conductor was a very welcome guest in Zurich for 43 years. He remarkably often combined classics with newer works: Bruckner with Schönberg, Beethoven with Birtwistle, Mozart with Schnittke.
This mixture was typical of him, as Ilona Schmiel, Director of the Tonhalle-Gesellschaft Zürich, emphasises: "I only got to know Christoph von Dohnányi personally in the 2000s, and I was fascinated by his exploration of repertoire from the last centuries in a constant and natural balance with contemporary works. He was also always interested in the entire classical repertoire. He fought continuously and passionately for 'more culture' and never shied away from political debate in this context."
There were particularly fierce debates in Hamburg, where Christoph von Dohnányi was General Music Director of the State Opera from 1977 to 1984. He brought in young directors from the theatre such as Achim Freyer, Luc Bondy and Jürgen Flimm, which led to constant disputes with the works council and ultimately to his resignation. He later continued to pursue his artistic convictions as the longstanding chief conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra and as a sought-after guest conductor at numerous renowned opera houses and concert halls.
He always saw himself as a partner to the orchestra: "For me, there is no better moment than when musicians offer me something and a mutual relationship develops," he said in an interview with the Tages-Anzeiger newspaper in 1996. "Maybe it wasn't what I had in mind - but suddenly something comes along that I like. Believe me: there's nothing better for a conductor than to take his hands off the orchestra and let it play! You have to train an orchestra so well that the musicians become independent."
Impressed by the Tonhalle Maag
The extent to which he was not only interested in the orchestras, but also in their environment, was also demonstrated at his last Zurich appearance at the Tonhalle Maag in November 2019. In Schubert's Symphony No. 8, Ilona Schmiel recalls, "he showed his great ability to work intensively with our orchestra and at the same time to engage with its history and culture of interpretation. His question after the first rehearsal was: 'What will happen to this interim venue afterwards? You have to keep it, because it's perfect for contemporary works and for new formats with easy access for everyone! He was right. Unfortunately, the pandemic came and a lot of things changed afterwards."
Christoph von Dohnányi was not an eccentric interpreter, not someone who would have brushed the works against the grain; "excessive expressionism" was alien to him, according to the obituary in the NZZ. He was interested in a harmonious balance, in an unpretentious but deeply felt approach to a tonal language. It was precisely this approach that made him a voice that will be missed - both as a conductor and as a culturally and politically engaged dialogue partner.
