Maestro calls for UAE philharmonic

Fortunately, Reverse Ahlan Syndrome is a still a rare mutation of the common ”Dubai microcelebrititis“. Yet German pianist and conductor Philipp Maier presents a classic case: overseas he is a celebrity, but here he is virtually unknown.Which, given the scale of his musical ambitions here, is clearly exasperating. ”The biggest problem is that nobody knows me and it’s obviously a bit difficult for me. In South Africa everybody has heard of me. Here I have to start afresh,“ he says.

This Friday the campaign to get Dubai to sit up and take notice continues with the second ”City Serenade“ at the Fairmont Hotel. A group of 20 players he has assembled will perform Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Grieg and Schubert before backing him as he brings the evening to a ”rousing climax“ with a piano rendition of David Foster’s Winter Games.

But such events are merely a prelude to further his real goal in coming to Dubai in October - establishing the UAE’s first philharmonic orchestra. ”It’s really time for an orchestra to be resident in the UAE. I think with the Opera House and Culture Village, Dubai needs one - not a stuck-up, stiff orchestra smelling of mothballs but one that involves local elements,“ he says.

In qualifying for this mission, he can present a surprisingly varied international career. In his native Germany he somehow combined the roles of airline pilot, concert pianist, conductor and rockstar. Then he moved to South Africa, where he wrote musicals and ran Durban Philharmonic Orchestra.
All the same, starting afresh in a new country with the aim of creating an orchestra could sound a bit mad. Indeed, he nods at this suggestion. ”I probably am a bit,“ he admits. ”But I have started in worse circumstances. I was the most politically incorrect person to run an orchestra in South Africa. I got absolutely no funding because I was the wrong skin colour,“ he says.

At 43, Philipp Maier maintains an air of youthful intensity enhanced by blond highlights, soulful blue eyes and cheekbones you could slice wurstel on. He says he does a lot of sport but also maintains his slender figure by smoking a pack of cigarettes a day.

Entirely in tune with this trendy look is his resolutely populist concept of music. ”I am very much a rock’n’roller as well as a classical pianist. There is really only good and bad music,“ he says. He began his career by performing a Liszt concerto with the orchestra conducted by his father. Then, from the mid eighties, enjoyed moderate Germany stardom with AOR rockers Airborne.

”We weren’t, like, huge. It was a good effort I would say,“ he says. Then he set up his own recording studio and added further complication to his classical-rock multitasking by training as a pilot. From 1992 until a few months ago he combined his music with flying long-haul for Lufthansa and Emirates.
In 1999 the unstoppable musical blitzkrieg shifted to South Africa. ”In three or four months I took the Durban City Orchestra from ten people to a full philharmonic,“ he says.

In the meantime, he ran his own recording studio and arranged hit shows. ”I’ve had a bit of history with Queen. Mercury Rising about Queen was the most successful musical show in South African history. Then I did a symphonic rock spectacular called Open Your Eyes, which was a huge success,“ he says.

He also developed a culturally-inclusive approach that he believes can be easily translated to Dubai. ”There are big parallels between South Africa and Dubai, which is even more multicultural. In Durban we started to combine elements through the orchestra. For instance, we had a Diwali concert with Bollywood tunes,“ he says.

But not all Dubai’s cultural life escapes blunt Teutonic censure. ”My God! Stop complaining about the traffic! Why constantly nag about something you can’t change!“ he says. Nor is our musical taste fully up to the mark yet. ”I think that because there is still not much happening, people are sometimes satisfied too quickly. Of course, it’s great to have Robbie Williams out here. But the concert wasn’t that really good - and the band was untight,“ he says.

On the other hand, he is convinced the UAE is ready for his ambitious plans - and is well able to afford them. ”My budget to run an orchestra is dhs10 million a year. In the bigger scheme of things, it’s nothing,“ he says.
 
City Serenade 2 Gulf Auditorium, 33rd Floor, Fairmont Dubai on Friday June 16.

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