Young, enthusiastic and amongst the most talented of his generation, Alain Altinoglu is equally at home with the French or Italian repertoire as with contemporary music. This is his first time conducting La Monnaie Symphony Orchestra, a perfect opportunity for us to discover the talent of a conductor much sought after in the biggest opera houses on both sides of the Atlantic. Between appearances at the Paris Opera and the Met he will be in Brussels to conduct a work by Massenet which is very much to his taste, as he confides in this interview, whilst underlining its essential strengths: melody, harmony and orchestration.

What part does opera play in your work? And where would you place the French repertoire?
Opera is at the centre of my career as a musician and orchestral conductor: I started work a a voice coach in opera and that led to me becoming an orchestral conductor. I also taught at the Paris conservatory where I specialised in operatic vocal ensembles. The genre is very important to me, even if I divide my time between symphony concerts and the lyric repertoire. In the early days of my career I was often asked to do work from the French repertoire given that it is my culture… For the moment my work is fairly evenly distributed between the French, German and Italian repertoire. It is true that I see it as something of a pedagogical mission to work with non-French speaking ensembles and singers on the French repertoire. I think it is important to pass on the tradition of the French repertoire, particularly that of the 19th century.

Have you already worked with Laurent Pelly in the past?
No, not so far, although our paths have crossed several times. Two years ago I conducted Erwartung and, as the Capitole theatre was closed, Laurent Pelly welcomed us into his theatre – the national theatre of Toulouse. I am delighted to be able to work with him now as I have been aware of his work for a long time.

Although this production of Cendrillon is new to La Monnaie it is in fact a revised version of a production that already exists. Does that make a difference to you?
To tell the truth, I prefer to conduct a new production from scratch because that allows for more interplay between the conductor and the director! For a conductor it is more interesting to be able to build the production with the director, to be involved in the creative process and to take part in an exchange of ideas. It has already happened, fortunately not often, that I have had to conduct a rerun which is diametrically opposed to my vision of the work. Here this will not be the case, and I have heard many good things about this production. I am therefore thrilled to take it on in Brussels.

How do you explain Massenet’s success as a composer of operas?
There are several reasons for it. Firstly musical reasons: the melodies that Massenet composed, the situations he depicts – everybody remembers them. There are not many composers who manage to take the spectator by the hand as he does! Certain of his operas, and I am thinking particularly of Werther, Manon, Cendrillon and Don Quichotte, work at every level: the action, the melodies, the harmonies, the orchestration. Massenet was a smart man: when he prepared the scores for the vocal parts with piano accompaniment he made the piano part easy to play, this way he reckoned his operas would become better known in the well-to-do families where the young girls played the piano. It was a very efficient way to rapidly familiarise people with his operas. As well, it should not be forgotten that Massenet was a very good teacher who trained a whole generation of composers. His style of writing had the gift to make the text more accessible. And finally Massenet had a nose for a good libretto: with Werther he immersed himself in the work of Goethe, with Don Quichotte that of Cervantes and with Cendrillon he took a timeless story. The stories he chose are all strong stories.

From a point of view of style, where would you place Cendrillon in the works of Massenet?
Massenet wrote very different operas. Some tend towards the comic, others are in no way comic, like Werther, but even this work contains some lighter passages with, for example, the character of Schmitt. Apart from Manon, which is pure tragedy, both tragedy and comedy are intermingled in his operas. Cendrillon is obviously on the light side and yet reading between the lines there is a balance between the comic and the romantic amongst other things… With Massenet, as with all the great composers, and I am thinking notably of Verdi in his last opera, they can be read on two levels. We are not just dealing with an opera bouffe… And that is what makes these operas so interesting. I think that Werther is probably his most accomplished opera but I would put Cendrillon up there with the best. This work also represents a challenge to the conductor who must keep a balance between comedy and romance, humour and drama. He has to find the main thread in the diversity that characterises Massenet’s operas, particularly Cendrillon.

Since you are talking about challenges: in this production you will be working with two casts…
Yes, that will in effect create an additional challenge! For me, in opera, a conductor is there to guide, help and accompany the singers, to create homogeneity. What’s good is that we will have two distinct sets of singers: obviously they will not be mixed up as the roles of Cinderella and the Prince will be given to different ranges of voice. At least we won’t have a different set every evening as can happen in repertory theatres in Vienna or New York. I like to be able to construct a specific approach for each singer. The orchestra therefore has to modulate its colours, its way of playing and adapt to the changing character of the same role. It’s up to directors and conductors to find that which is best in every singer.

You are used to working with singers and you regularly accompany your wife on the piano…
She will in fact be in the production! Generally speaking, working with artists you know well allows you to progress more rapidly and to go further…

What are your projects for this season after Cendrillon at the Monnaie?
I am going to conduct Faust at the Met in New York and then in Vienna. After that I will conduct the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for the first time. I am also going to do L’Amour des trois oranges in Paris…

That’s a very mixed programme…
Yes, I try to tackle all the different styles, at any rate from Mozart to our time. I do think it’s important to champion today’s composers…

Interview by Marie Mergeay