Cultural guest Tarmo Peltokoski has had a flying start to his career as a conductor. Even though the journey is just beginning, he already clearly knows the goal.
There is a scent of hope in the crisp autumn air. Peltokoski’s career is just beginning, but the way to the top may be opening.
– I’m ready, but I have to get used to the new lifestyle, travel and hotels. The fact that you have to think about when to wash your clothes.
Peltokoski was Putin’s trusted conductor
The conductor started working with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra almost 35 years ago, in 1988, when the Soviet Union was still standing. As chief conductor, he worked in Rotterdam from 1995 to 2008, and after that he regularly returned to lead his credit orchestra.
There was enough work for the Russian as his career progressed in different parts of the world: in London, New York – as well as in Turku and Mikkeli, whose music festivals were Gergiev’s summer hangouts.
Last spring, Western partners began to cut ties with this supporter and friend of Putin, who has not publicly condemned Russia’s attack. So did the Rotterdam Philharmonic, which was Gergiev’s first exposure to European concert halls.
For the symphony orchestra, surprise cancellations mean frantic calendar rotation and busy booking of replacement artists for already arranged concerts. In Rotterdam, one of the concert weeks freed up by Gergiev’s legacy was in May.
A young, up-and-coming conductor name from Finland who had already gained a foothold in Europe was found instead: Tarmo Peltokoski.
An offer you couldn’t refuse
For Peltokoski, everything has happened startlingly fast, in a couple of years, practically during the corona pandemic. In Rotterdam, the pace only accelerated. Peltoskoski was supposed to lead a total of four concerts at the beginning of May.
During the interval of the second concert, the orchestra’s director surprised Peltokoski by asking him to be the orchestra’s main guest. The young Finn took a professional approach to the offer – or at least he didn’t accept it at all.
– It was something that had to be discussed with the Manager. I couldn’t say anything right away. It also occurred to me that what have I done to deserve this, says Peltokoski, sitting at the table in the Musiikkitalo cafe.
The position of principal guest in a symphony orchestra means for the conductor regular work in front of the orchestra. It binds both parties to cooperation and opens up possibilities for the realization of musical visions. Peltokoski told the manager that he would return to the matter, but the back of his head was pounding.
– to quote the movie, it was an offer you couldn’t refuse.
\”Wrong friends and wrong opinions\”
In mid-September, Peltokoski returned to front the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, and at the same time, information was announced about the Finn’s chief guest performance starting in 2023.
He is therefore involved in building, shaping and developing the orchestra’s musical identity. Peltokoski is more than ten years younger than Gergiev at the beginning of his season at the turn of the 1990s. The shared history of the Dutch orchestra and the Russian conductor will influence and be felt in different ways for a long time to come, Peltokoski estimates.
It’s enough to talk about Gergiev during the breaks, but the stage has already moved to a new era.
– When we make music, we make music.
Peltokoski emphasizes that the orchestra has understood that the cooperation with Gergiev had to be given up, but it has not been easy.
– It is not a question of whether the orchestra’s decision was correct. Gergiev may be a great musician, but he has the wrong friends and the wrong opinions. It is tragic, says Peltokoski.
Peltokoski was able to learn from a master pedagogue at the age of 14
Panula, who has trained many generations of conductors in Finland and around the world, held a master class and was convinced of the potential of Peltokoski, who participated in the course.
– He said that there is a course in Kuopio in August. Come there. Then it’s Turku’s turn. Come there. This is how Panula works.
Peltokoski did the work as ordered, i.e. toured Finland with Panula’s courses. He is one of the youngest students of Panula who ended up in a career.
Without Panula, there would be nothing, Peltokoski has said, referring to the success of Finnish conductors in the world.
The conductor is always under evaluation
Symphony orchestras are rebuilding their rigid image by offering significant conductorships to younger and younger people. Therefore, responsibility and power accrues to relatively inexperienced conductors. This creates pressure, and the situation is not made easier by the special nature of the work: the conductor is always evaluated by the orchestra musicians while working.
– If you start thinking about it, it starts to bother you too much. My task is only to lead the musicians to the best possible result in the concert. A big part of getting people to play well has to do with making them feel good.
The musicians have more or less say in whether the conductor is called back in front of the orchestra. Peltokoski has had difficult work weeks at times, but the overriding feeling is satisfaction.
– My experiences are almost exclusively good. You can probably say that the better the orchestra, the better I’ve been treated.
At least at the moment, Peltokoski’s calendar is full of work. The interview was conducted in the third week of September, Peltokoski’s last free week this year.
– I’m still in the early stages, but if you do the job well enough, you don’t have to think about re-invitations.
Peltoskoski’s musical home is in Germany
In addition to the title of chief guest in Rotterdam, Peltokoski was appointed chief conductor of the Latvian National Orchestra and chief guest of the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen earlier this year.
He calls the latter his musical home. According to Peltokoski, the collaboration that started in the summer of 2021 has led to a special situation: he has become friends with the entire chamber ensemble. The teamwork of the conductor and the musicians is at its best when the chemistry works.
– I hope you can feel it in the music we make, that we are so close. This situation does not occur with other orchestras.
The concept of the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen is exceptional in the world of orchestras. Its members are freelancers, meaning they do not receive a monthly salary. Instead, all 40 musicians are co-owners of the company.
Aim Wagner
Peltokoski is a brave idealist.
– I play and sing Wagner every day, I read literature, what has been written about him and his music. I’m trying to find out everything that is relevant, Peltokoski stated in an interview with Yle a year ago.
Peltokoski was startled when he got a huge thick score in front of him. He resorted to his own instrument, the piano.
– How on earth do you teach such a monster? I got the piano score, which is even a little thinner than the orchestral score. Then I just played and sang the piece without hesitation.
Now, that piece of operatic literature is Peltokoski’s repertoire. There is still a long way to the top, but the route is beginning to be outlined on the map. Peltokoski already made detailed plans while studying in the conducting class of the Sibelius Academy, which was left unfinished due to job offers. Before that, he had left high school.
In the case of Peltokoski, they are the stages that can be handed over on a larger road. It has always been clear to him what to do with life.
Music.
– But I still don’t know when I will wash the laundry.