The principal conductor of the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg is the
Dutch-born Hubert Soudant, who led the Nouvel Orchestre Philharmonique de
France in Paris from 1981 to 1983 and the Utrecht Symphony Orchestra from
1983 to 1986. In addition to his activities in Salzburg, Soudant is also
the principal conductor of the Orchestra and Opéra des Pays de Loire in
Nantes and Angers, France.
In this interview conducted by Horant H. Hohlfeld, Hubert Soudant speaks
about the orchestral work "An die Königin der Nacht" by Alexander
Mullenbach, the world premiere of which he subsequently conducted. "An die
Königin der Nacht" was commissioned by the International Mozarteum
Foundation and written in 1997. It was given its world premiere on
23 January 1998 at the opening concert of the 1998 Salzburg "Mozartwoche"
by the Mozarteum Orchestra of Salzburg under Hubert Soudant. Alexander
Mullenbach was born in Luxembourg in 1949. As with so many composers of
today, the composer's work catalogue mirrors a strong interest in the music
of earlier eras. The relationship to the past is clearly evoked in the
titles of pieces such as the violin works "Für Orlando di Lasso" (1993) and
"Capriccio per Niccolò Paganini" (1994), for example. In other pieces, one
notices a strong affinity to Johann Sebastian Bach, Romantic music and the
French impressionists.
