Michael Cousteau, one of France's most talented young conductors, has a clear idea of what his art is really about.
"A conductor is actually bridging different worlds," he said while in Jakarta last month. Those worlds are "the world of the players and the score when it was written and the audience today."
Michael Cousteau was guest conductor for the Nusantara Symphony Orchestra concert in Jakarta on June 16th, in a performance featuring works from Gossec, Camille Saint-Sa*ns, Mozart and Haydn. He was invited to perform in Indonesia thanks to a program by Culturesfrance and CCF (French Cultural Center) called "Un Chef, Un Orchestre" (One Conductor, One Orchestra), which aims to give young French conductors opportunities to work abroad.
Although "young", Cousteau already has an impressive resume. He began playing both piano and cello as a young child. Despite studying history and philosophy, he decided to devote himself to conducting.
He studied in France and in Austria with Jean-Sebastian Bureau, Julius Kalmar and Karl Osterreicher, and took part in numerous master classes.
Cousteau's most notable achievements include leading Italy's Philharmonia di Roma, Hungary's Savarian State Orchestra and the Philharmonic Orchestra of Luxembourg. In France, he has regularly conducted Lyon's National Orchestra, the National Orchestra of Montpellier-Languedoc Roussillon and the Nancy Symphonic and Lyric Orchestra, as well as accompanying great French soloists such as Nicholas Angelich, Suzanne Ramon, and Cedric Tiberghien.
And now he can add the Nusantara Symphony Orchestra to his list.
In person, Michael Cousteau has little of the domineering maestro about him. He is more like a teacher - teaching being, indeed, one of his passions. His passion for teaching was evident during the master classes he gave in Jakarta, organized by the Nusantara Symphony Orchestra. Despite his impressive international experience, he patiently guided a student practicing conducting a Mozart composition.
If you think conducting is easy, think again. The conductor has to be a step ahead of the whole orchestra, seeing the whole composition in his head. But Cousteau has his ways to make conducting look easy, with things to remember before starting.
"You need to ask what does this music mean to you," he said. "Then ask yourself, Where am I needed? In which part does the orchestra need help?"
Therein, he said, lies the job of the conductor, to "translate the music for the audience" and "help the orchestra bring it to perfection."
The first step in conducting, he said, is to deal with the technical issues. "This is the most important thing - and here the orchestra can really see your competence."
But when talking about conducting, Cousteau tends to come back to interpretation, as the mark of a good conductor, which requires an understanding of music and culture.
"Music is highly influenced by the people. Especially language," he said. He gave the example of a staccato in Mozart - German-speaking - and a staccato in Rossini - Italian-speaking. Although both have a fast tempo, "The Italian language is spoken faster than German, so there is a different *color' in *the two*.
"I once had a very interesting experience, when a famous Italian conductor managed to make a Mozart sounds like a Verdi," he recalled. "But in the end, the audience liked it because it was something new for them."
And it is this interpretation that is key to the conductor's role as "cultural bridge", bringing the worlds of Mozart, Haydn and Debussy to audiences in Munich, Shanghai and Jakarta.
Cousteau is adamant that a conductor, as a professional must "perform equally well for all kinds of music", and claims that he himself has no favorite music - indeed, whatever he is working on at the time is the music he loves most at that time. Although some music has a special place.
"There is the music that you are familiar with - it's just like a shirt. You have old shirts that are very comfortable because you are used to them."
Cousteau's exploration of music and conducting has led him to many places around the Middle East and Asia, including Oman, Bangkok and Jakarta, thanks to the "Un Chef, Un Orchestre" program and the CCF.
And Asia has impressed him, even though in countries such as Indonesia "classical music is not yet so developed". "The orchestras *in Asia* have very high respect for the conductor. I like this attitude very much," he said.
"They are quiet and listen carefully to the conductor. Most of them are also very enthusiastic about the music, which is different in Europe, because they have been playing the same score hundreds of times before."
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