Conductor Klaus Mäkelä Doesn't Want to Be the Focus of Your Attention
Few faces in classical music are more recognizable right now than that of Finnish conductor Klaus Mäkelä — not because of his sculptural good looks and piercing blue eyes, but because he's quickly become one of today's most popular conductors.
At just 28 years old, Mäkelä has already racked up an impressive résumé, including his current roles as music director of the Orchestre de Paris, chief conductor of the Oslo Philharmonic, and chief-conductor designate of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. But despite his face adorning posters plastered on concert hall facades across Europe, Mäkelä doesn't want to be the center of attention. When he's on the podium, he'd much rather you focus on the composers whose works he brings to life.
"A conductor at their best is someone who serves the music," Mäkelä says on the latest episode of the Classical Post podcast. "I wish that when people hear a piece in a concert, they think of the composer as the substance, rather than myself. Music should breathe — it should speak, it should shout, and everything. I hope I can be remembered as someone who made the music flow effortlessly."
Music lovers in North America will have several opportunities to hear Mäkelä's expert ability to make music flow effortlessly this month, when he and the Orchestre de Paris embark on a tour of Montreal, Boston, Ann Arbor, and New York, where the young conductor will make his highly anticipated Carnegie Hall debut conducting Stravinsky's Firebird ballet and the volcanic Rite of Spring — two works Mäkelä and the orchestra recorded and released to critical acclaim on Decca Classics in 2023.
In this episode, Mäkelä and I talk more about the upcoming tour and what he's most looking forward to when he steps onto the stage of Carnegie Hall. Plus, he shares how the visual arts inspire his artistry, the 18th-century composer he'd love to play chamber music with, and the importance of Emerson, Lake, and Palmer's music during his childhood.
Listen to Klaus Mäkelä: Stravinsky on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, or wherever you stream or download music.
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