Get to know the passionate French conductor Michael Cousteau who has performed a number of times with the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra.
Around this time last year, I interviewed Michael Cousteau for my radio program in 98.7 DZFE-FM, before his concert in the country. Here are his thoughts.
Culture Carousel: What was it like growing up in the Cousteau household?
Michael: Ever since I was 6 years old, I wanted to be a pilot and a conductor.
My mother was a pianist; my sister plays flute and piano. We would play as a trio. My father was not a musician, he was a painter.
Every time we played music, my father would stay in the farthest part of the house so he doesn’t hear us shouting, discussing while playing music.
During summer we rented a big house in the south of France. My mother rented a piano which was more expensive than the rent of the house. Again, we would stay and play music in one big room while my father stayed in another big room to paint and paint in a hippie way. People would drop by and we would have parties and lots of music.
What goals did you set for yourself?
I have accomplished a lot of my goals. I conduct all over the world. I collaborate with great artists, choreographers and soloists. I began to understand and make contact with musicians. Time does not exist in a concert. It’s only music that exists.
Working with the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra makes me feel at home, because I have worked with them in the past.
But I have an experience with an orchestra in another country, but I will not mention the name. While we were rehearsing, all of a sudden, they stopped and began to shout at each other, since I do not speak the language, I could not understand what was going on. After 20 minutes, the solo violinist approached me and apologized. He said the orchestra members were on strike against the music director because he always gives them so much work. So, when they saw the music scores I handed out and they saw that the piece was hard, that’s when they stopped and did not want to work. So, since I could not do anything for that day, I just went back to the hotel.
The next day, I told the members of the orchestra that we would do only sectionals, only half of the orchestra would work. I did a very technical rehearsal and I smiled a lot. I wanted to make them feel that I understand that they are tired and that I will do my best not to waste their time, because I know they wanted to go home and rest. It turned out alright.
Before the main concert, we had another concert for the youth. So, I tried to speak to the young audience even if there was a language barrier, and the audience said that the orchestra was very good and the solo violinist who spoke to me about the strike also heard the comments of the youth and my reaching out to the audience, so he informed the other members of the orchestra. And when the main concert started, the musicians played well and the concert was a success.
So, I tried to avoid what would have been a disaster. In fact, the management of that orchestra invited me to conduct them the next year. This encounter I will remember all my life.
It’s a very tricky job. I am alone far from home and family. I am in front of 80 musicians who judge me. It’s not a paradise world.
We are human beings who get tired; who have social problems and it will affect their work. So, the magic of the music and the power of the conductor to make people who they are and what they are is important.
In front of Wagner, I am nothing, but I try to make music as beautiful as I can. I try to imagine what the composers want and share it with the musicians. I have my own interpretation; the composer has his own interpretation and the musicians have their own interpretation as well. But it’s the collaboration of the three that makes beautiful music. It’s like playing with my mother and sister but with less shouting with 79 musicians.
Conducting is like a love story. Sometimes it doesn’t happen, sometimes it’s a risk. But I accomplished a lot of different love stories with a lot of orchestras.
You said in an interview in Jakarta that a conductor is bridging different worlds. Could you expound on this thought?
Tchaikovsky comes from a world of music. Mozart is also from another world of music and other composers as well. It’s their style. The emotions are not the same. Why today, we still play Figaro and Don Giovanni from Mozart, which was written in 1784. But it doesn’t matter because music talks about love, hate, betrayal and hope and it is totally universal, totally.
The way to express it is different as a conductor, as a professional artist. I need to know about the style, because one can make mistakes. I need to know the technical aspect of the music. That is what I mean about bridging the different worlds.
It’s like the different French compositions in 1894, the same year that Dvorak came up with his new works. Tchaikovsky wrote Pathétique Symphony and the Crème de la Crème of Debussy.
It’s like the sun and the moon; it’s hard to believe that all these happened during the same time. That is bringing different worlds together.
How do you plan for a concert?
One of my duties as a conductor is to bring unknown French composers and mix with well-known composers and present their music to the audience.
When I plan a program for a concert, I want to show the audience that in the history of the arts, genius would not be recognized unless there is another unknown composer sharing the stage with him. Mozart would not be Mozart without the likes of Haydn by his side. He was very close to Haydn and offered and dedicated his last score to Haydn. I am very moved by this.
When Mozart died, Haydn said that he will never be able to achieve what Mozart had achieved with his opera music. Before Mozart passed, Haydn invented the first modern quartet, and Mozart dedicated his quartet music to Haydn. The interrelationship between music geniuses, composers was truly amazing.
Can you share some advice to future young composers?
First learn one musical instrument so you know the slavery of a musician.
Second, form a small orchestra among your friends and study the theories of conducting. If at an early age you can experiment with a small group and sooner or later find out for yourself if conducting is really for you. It’s like studying to be a doctor. Train in small clinics and find out if you can cope with the pressure, who knows you might not like to see blood, so at least you will know in advance before you study 10 years of medicine. Conducting is also a ten-year course.
The third is go to live concerts. It is totally different being there in the music hall and experiencing the music. Just like the music of Romeo and Juliet, when Berlioz composed the music, just imagine that you are in the garden during the balcony scene and when the music begins you can actually smell the roses in the garden and capture the passion of love of Romeo and Juliet. This is what the musicians and the conductor present to the audience.
Music is in the eyes of the composer.
During the interview Michael cried while describing his love and passion for music.
And I was mesmerized at how a conductor can bring me, as the audience to the wonderful world of music.
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