MUSIC AWARD OF THE CITY OF DUISBURG 2023

AWARD CEREMONY

Greeting by MAYOR SÖREN LINK

Interview with PROF. DR. ALFRED WENDEL AND
PROF. DR. HOLGER NOLTZE

MEMBERS AND GUESTS OF THE DUISBURG PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

Alfred Wendel was artistic director of the Duisburg Philharmonic Orchestra for an incredible 15 years. Looking back, he describes this time as "great fortune," during which he steered the orchestra's fortunes as music manager and sustainably strengthened Duisburg as a music location. His tenure included musical highlights such as the Duisburg Philharmonic's tour of China, which included stops in Wuhan, Beijing, Shanghai and Hangzhou, during which the orchestra acted as Duisburg's ambassador abroad.

But also the performance of the opera "The CIVIL warS" by Philip Glass, one of the most famous representatives of minimal music, in the powerhouse of the Landschaftspark Duisburg-Nord is part of it. Just like performances at other unusual venues, such as the serenade concert on the regatta course, and his tireless efforts to open up the orchestra to broad audiences. His commitment to the opera marriage of the two locations of the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Duisburg and Düsseldorf, has also set a course.

With all this and his all-embracing passion for music, Alfred Wendel has decisively shaped the musical life of the city of Duisburg - and continues to do so with his commitment to the Duisburg Philharmonic Foundation, even as a retiree. For this, the "music manager with heart and soul" is being honored with the City of Duisburg 2023 Music Award. A huge surprise for himself: "I couldn't believe that I was to receive this prestigious prize, which honors such outstanding artists as Pina Bausch and Frank Peter Zimmermann," he says modestly, and immediately emphasizes that this prize also includes the entire team of the Duisburg Philharmonic, the theater and the opera, "without which nothing would have worked at all. The colleagues were always there with great commitment, no matter how crazy an idea or how elaborate a project was."

The love of music runs through Alfred Wendel's entire life, even though he initially trained as a machinist. His first attempts at the piano were inconsequential, but with the trumpet, the course was then set in the direction of music - initially in the Werl fire department band. The change to the trombone choir brought a decisive boost. "That's when I really caught fire, because I had an excellent teacher who introduced me to sacred music - from Heinrich Schütz and Johann Sebastian Bach, who remains my greatest musical love to this day." This was followed by studies in musicology in Göttingen, which he completed with a doctorate on Renaissance music. This period included seven formative years at the Göttingen Handel Festival under the aegis of legendary early music conductor John Eliot Gardiner. There he discovered his passion for music management. After holding positions at the Rheingau Music Festival and the Ruhr Piano Festival, he finally became artistic director of the Duisburg Philharmonic in 2006.

It is difficult for him to name highlights of his long directorship, there were so many special concerts. The performance of Mahler's "Symphony of a Thousand" under Lorin Maazel with well over 1,000 participants in the Capital of Culture year RUHR.2010 is certainly one of them, as is a chamber concert in which a magic occurred that captivated the entire audience: Carolin Widmann, Alexander Lonquich and the Auryn Quartet performed Ernest Chausson's Concerto for Piano, Violin and String Quartet. In addition, 2019 the concert "Ring des Nibelungen", which unfolded an incomparable intensity and sonic splendor under the direction of Axel Kober in the Philharmonie Mercatorhalle.

Despite retirement, "the love for music and also for the Philharmoniker is of course unbroken." In concert, Alfred Wendel now enjoys being able to listen more attentively and with greater concentration, "because I am rested! In the past, I often rushed from the office straight to the concert." And now he finally has time for the garden, too: "Seeing how nature is developing and everything is harmoniously greening and blooming makes me very happy, that's what I've always wanted."

Photo Prof. Dr. Alfred Wendel: Andreas Köhring