What might the fictional “Deutschland Band” sound like if ever it performed? Would it play Bach, Beethoven, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Wagner? Or Hindemith, Stockhausen, Henze or Rihm? Would we hear the perfect intonation of star violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter – or of her young competitors on the violin, the serious Julia Fischer or the cool David Garrett? Perhaps the warm bass-baritone voice of Thomas Quasthoff would assert itself, or the clear tenor of Jonas Kaufmann, or perhaps the radiant soprano of Annette Dasch, all of whom are quite at home on the world’s concert stages. And who would beat time? Old Master Kurt Masur, honorary conductor of the Gewandhaus Orchestra in Leipzig could take on the job with a certain justification. Equally Sir Simon Rattle, at the rostrum of surely the most famous German orchestra, the Berlin Philharmonic. But it could also happen that Bill Kaulitz of Tokio Hotel just might not wait his turn and his voice would be immediately blotted out by a hysterical scream from the girlie fan block. Or else Campino of Tote Hosen might steal the show with a wild leap onto the stage, that is, before Herbert Grönemeyer shouted Bochum and Nena and Lena sang 99 Luftballons or Satellite.
During an imaginary performance by this “Deutschland Band” there would surely be very little room on stage, after all, in scarcely any other country is the music landscape as varied and rich as in Germany, whose musicians have made and indeed are still making a decisive contribution to music history. Germany has outstanding music academies where young virtuosi from all over the world study. It also has one of the most varied jazz scenes, with big festivals organized all across the Republic, plus a ramified techno, house and rap scene. And then there are all the new hits in German by Silbermond, Wir sind Helden und Peter Fox, who in 2009 released the most successful album in Germany, ahead of Michael Jackson und Lady Gaga, if you don’t mind.
When Germany is mentioned as a land of music, many people initially think of classical music. Which is not unusual. The country has 133 symphony orchestras, among them such outstanding ones as the Munich Philharmonic, the Staatskapelle Berlin, the Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig, the Bamberger Symphoniker, and the Berlin Philharmonic. All of these are conduced by top international artists. The twelve radio orchestras and radio symphony orchestras are also important, even if their names sound somewhat less glamorous. The symphony orchestra of Hessischer Rundfunk, the public broadcaster in the state of Hesse, is referred to abroad as the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra. Its conductor is the famous Estonian Paavo Järvi, who was nominated 2010 Conductor of the Year.
One reason for this diversity, and also for Germany’s attractiveness for international music stars, is the federal structure of the Republic, which has not just one cultural centre, but many different centres located throughout the 16 Länder. The fact that they are largely funded by the federation, the states and municipalities also plays a role. Germany’s opera programme is presented by 84 publicly-funded opera houses. How big this number is becomes clear when you realize that there are only 560 permanent and professional opera houses worldwide, which means a seventh of the world’s opera houses are located in Germany. About 8% of the population are potential opera-goers, more than in any other country.
Nevertheless, concerns are growing about the number of opera- and concert-goers in the future, given that concert halls are mainly populated by the best-agers. However, in 2009 the number of people below the age of 30 among buyers of classical music swiftly increased by 74% (albeit to only 4.7% overall). This may have something to do with the success of “pop-violist” David Garrett, who was born in Aachen, but perhaps also with the fact that almost every opera house and every orchestra compiles a programme specially for young listeners: Hamburg opted for Orchestra Karaoke, Dortmund offers a “pop subscription” for its Konzerthaus and Frankfurt am Main brings classical music and stars from rap and hip hop together in its Music Discovery Project. Even in Bayreuth, on Richard Wagner’s myth-laden Green Hill, there has been a children’s opera and open-air broadcasts from the Holy of Holies since the composer’s great-granddaughters took over. For 2011 Katharina Wagner is considering club events with Wagner music. Profanity or timely seduction? Let us cite Richard Wagner himself: “Children, do something new! New, and again new! If you stick to what is old, the devil of unproductiveness will catch you and you will be the saddest of artists.“.////
