He calls them his two families: the Oslo Philharmonic and the Orchestre de Paris. Klaus Mäkelä, once described by the Hamburger Abendblatt as a »It-maestro of the international conducting scene« has been head of the top Norwegian orchestra since 2020, and recently took up the position in Paris as well. Mäkelä was born into a musical family: his grandfather played the violin and viola, his father is a cellist, his mother a pianist and his sister dances in the Finnish National Ballet. He began to study the cello, but soon found himself concentrating on conducting. This talented young conductor is not only appearing at the Elbphilharmonie with his superb Sibelius cycle: in March 2023 he will be back with the Orchestre de Paris.
»As a conductor you never stop learning: music is always a dialogue and always in motion.«
Klaus Mäkelä
In his Elbphilharmonie Talk he talks about his two orchestras in Paris and Oslo and about how Sibelius's music has influenced him. He also explains why a conductor's job is so communicative, but still sometimes lonely – and what constitutes a good conductor in his opinion. And he chats about why he would describe himself as a hotel person – for example, he sees the Ritz in Paris as his spiritual home. »I was going to look for an apartment, but leaving the hotel would have felt as if I was breaking with my own family!«
