Written by: Branimir Pofuk
…
Julian Rachlin is one of today’s greatest and most sought-after virtuosos on both the violin and viola. Besides being an exceptional soloist and chamber musician, over the last two decades, he has also established himself on the global stage as a highly competent conductor, while also dedicating some of his time to pedagogy.
Croatian audiences became especially familiar with and fond of him over the twelve years he led the Rachlin & Friends festival in Dubrovnik, where he brought together the world’s musical elite. In September this year, the fourth edition of the Herbstgold festival took place in Eisenstadt, Austria, under his artistic direction.
Due to his ongoing strong connection with Croatia, he was pleased to agree to an exclusive interview with Symbol. We only needed to find that rare free hour in his packed, years-in-advance schedule. That time was finally found on October 21, during the maestro’s journey from Tel Aviv—where he had performed the previous day—to Jerusalem, where another conducting engagement with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra awaited him that evening.
Tonight you’ll be conducting Tchaikovsky’s magnificent Fifth Symphony. I see you’re expanding your conducting repertoire intensively…
Yes, Brahms’ Fourth Symphony, Shostakovich’s Fifth, Mozart’s Requiem, Mahler’s First, and soon the Fifth… there’s a lot going on at a furious pace. Since last year, I’ve been the music director of the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra and the chief conductor of the Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra in Norway, where my three-year contract has already been extended for another six years, a wonderful gesture of trust.
You’ll be the first to report that in the 2025/26 season, I’ll also become the principal guest conductor of one of Germany’s top orchestras, the Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz in Ludwigshafen. This orchestra played a significant role in the early careers of great conductors such as Christian Thielemann and Mariss Jansons.
And how is your relationship with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra developing?
As you know, the situation in Israel is very complex and difficult, and I have great respect for the way people live here under these circumstances. To my great surprise, all concerts are completely sold out, even when the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra perform at the same time each day.
In September, with the Jerusalem Orchestra, I closed the Herbstgold festival, and from Eisenstadt, we went to Aix-en-Provence to open the new season there. A very significant and important event was our performance in Berlin at the Great Synagogue, where we played to commemorate the victims on the first anniversary of the October 7 terrorist attack in Israel. The entire German government was in attendance, along with the mayor of Jerusalem, who came specifically for the occasion.
We also held another important concert in Sankt Ottilien near Munich, a place of deep symbolism, as a hospital was established in the monastery there after World War II for Holocaust survivors, who also founded an orchestra and held a Liberation Concert there in the fall of 1945. This started a tradition initiated by Leonard Bernstein, which has been carried on by great musicians and orchestras worldwide.
This was the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra’s first international outing under my leadership, and our first full nine-concert tour is ahead of us in March 2025. We will perform in several major European and German concert halls, including the Vienna Konzerthaus, Berlin Philharmonie, and Philharmonies in Munich, Cologne, Essen… In most concerts, I will also perform as a soloist, and I’m especially looking forward to performing with Ivo Pogorelić as our soloist in Berlin and Munich.
So, on the one hand, the situation in Israel is catastrophic due to the war, but on the other, we’re experiencing an excellent artistic period where the orchestra is advancing, growing, and finding its place among the world’s leading ensembles. We received incredible reviews in “Süddeutsche Zeitung” and “Berliner Tagesspiegel”, and word is spreading quickly that Israel, in addition to the Israel Philharmonic, now has another top orchestra touring internationally.
I imagine this means no one complains there anymore that you’re too demanding or strict as an artistic director?
Haha, first of all, don’t believe everything you read on sites like Slipped Disc. Naturally, making changes is never easy, and in such situations, a music director must also make some tough decisions. But everything has been done within the bounds of the law and statutes and with the utmost respect for the musicians. Since my father has spent his whole life playing in orchestras, I have the deepest respect for orchestral musicians, as that’s how I was raised. But if you want to lead, you must also be firm; otherwise, there is no progress.
I came with the goal of elevating the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra to the highest world quality, and that’s precisely what’s happening, though it’s a major and demanding task.
What is it like to engage in music in a country at war?
The need for music among people, their gratitude for being able to listen to it, and the emotions it evokes in wartime cannot be compared to anything else. Actually, you in Croatia understand this very well, having experienced war and knowing what culture and art mean in such times. Music doesn’t, unfortunately, save lives, but its importance and power as an ambassador of hope and peace, especially during war, should never be underestimated. Every war, from a humanitarian perspective, is a great tragedy.
Since you mentioned your father, we’ve gotten to know your parents, Michael and Sophie Rachlin, well during your time in Dubrovnik, where they both performed. How are they today?
Thank you for asking; they’re doing very well. My father is about to turn 80, and my mother 75. Besides being a pianist, she is also a highly successful and sought-after professor of conducting, from whose Viennese class many young, highly talented, and promising conductors emerge.
When I began conducting, there were many questions and curiosity about my mentors and teachers, and my greatest mentor and teacher is my mother. Mariss Jansons is “to blame” for it all, as he insisted I take conducting lessons with my mother. She initially resisted, as she’d already taught me most other things in life, from being a polite child to how to hold a fork and knife, how to dress, and much more.
Today, after nearly two decades of conducting, I can say the results of that work are manifesting in a rather dramatic way. I’m grateful to my mother for giving me the tools, the conducting technique…
And my father still plays the cello, and together with my mother, they’ll be performing at a grand gala concert in Jerusalem on my 50th birthday, December 8. Many other wonderful musicians will be there, and my birthday gift to myself will be performing Mahler’s First Symphony with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra. It’s a long-held dream, and the Israeli audience is simply crazy about that piece.
You mentioned something that surprised me as I was preparing for this interview: Our beloved “little” Julian, whom we met and grew fond of long ago in Dubrovnik, is turning fifty!
Yes, can you imagine? It’s incredible how time flies.
And how do you feel on the brink of this milestone, looking back on half a century of life and forward to what lies ahead?
Wonderful! I still feel very young and fresh at heart and in my work. I’ve always been curious, constantly seeking ways to rediscover myself in different roles as a musician and festival artistic director. This is no longer Dubrovnik but the Esterházy Palace near Eisenstadt in Austria. I enjoy running festivals and inviting my favourite friends and musicians. I’m still overjoyed that Martha Argerich joined us this year at Herbstgold. Bryn Terfel gave an incredible recital, and Yefim Bronfman and so many other brilliant musicians played.
But I still equally enjoy playing the violin and viola, although now eighty percent of my time on stage is dedicated to conducting. And yet, there’s nothing more beautiful than going on tour as a soloist with an orchestra like the Concertgebouw. I feel like an actor jumping from role to role: two weeks conducting, then two weeks organizing a festival, then back to being a violinist… all this keeps me fresh, as do my family and friends, and especially my wife, who gives me so much love and inspiration.
We’re all inevitably getting older, but I actually look forward to the coming years and associate only positive things with them. Yes, I’m no longer “little” Julian, and that’s a good thing!
Your wife Sarah McElravy will surely also be at the musical birthday celebration in Jerusalem, right?
Of course, what kind of celebration would it be without her?
Her solo career is also on the rise. How much time do you manage to spend together, making music and traveling?
Sarah is from Canada, and at the very beginning of our relationship, I helped introduce her to Europe, where she wasn’t yet known. But her career is now developing splendidly on its own. She has her own exciting projects. She’s preparing two wonderful concerts at the Opera in Hanover, where she’ll play music from the 20th and 21st centuries. She’ll be the second in the world to perform a very appealing and exciting Viola Concerto by the fascinating young composer Marko Nikodijević.
We’ve found a wonderful balance in our joint performances, which I love. We’ve already played many pieces together, especially viola concertos like Walton’s, which Sarah plays beautifully. Recently, the brilliant composer Benjamin Yusupov wrote a new Viola Concerto especially for her, and the world premiere will be in June next year in Jerusalem with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra under my direction. I’m very much looking forward to it.
Sarah also frequently performs with other orchestras and conductors, but we always try and succeed in finding time to be together. For example, when Sarah performs in Hanover, I’ll fly in for a day from the U.S. to be at her concert, traveling straight from a concert I have in Phoenix, Arizona. Then we’ll travel together to Toronto, where I’ll play Shostakovich’s First Violin Concerto with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra…
As you can see, sometimes our schedule is truly crazy, but it’s very important to us to support each other and spend every free moment together.
Did you manage to take time off in Croatia last summer?
Of course, three weeks! We rented a catamaran and sailed all around. Our favourite spots are the islands of Šćedro, Lastovo, and Korčula. We love Korčula and spent ten days there in a villa, and we rented a small car to explore the whole island. Thanks to my friend Pero Lozica, who invited us to Korčula, we also met and got to know Novak Đoković there this summer.
Did you play tennis with him?
No, but he played Sarah’s viola. We intentionally gave him the viola instead of the violin. But he showed talent, managing to produce a tone on the viola after only a few brief instructions I gave him. So, besides speaking seven or eight languages fluently, Djokovic now also plays the viola (laughs). We had a great time.
How do you see the classical music business today, amidst these turbulent times? Do you notice any changes?
The pandemic years were very difficult, and none of us knew for sure what the future held. Right after COVID, concert halls were still half-empty for some time, and we were all quite frightened and concerned, wondering where our audience had gone. But the audience came back.
Of course, I can only speak from my personal experience, but I also have a pretty good overview of the big picture as I travel around the world for three hundred days a year. I can’t say that everything has fully returned to normal, as a major crisis still lingers. But people need music, they want it and seek it.
However, no one takes anything for granted anymore. That’s perhaps the biggest difference compared to ten or fifteen years ago. Back then, it was considered normal and typical for concert halls to be full, especially when famous soloists and great orchestras performed. Audiences are returning, but attendance isn’t yet at its previous level. Today, we are much more aware that nothing can be taken for granted, that there’s been a generational shift, and that everything is more expensive than before.
So, we’re extremely grateful to everyone who comes to concerts, and we work actively to attract and nurture a new audience. For example, in Kristiansand, where I first performed in 2016, we have a 250-seat hall, and all concerts are sold out, but we never took this for granted, putting a lot of effort into connecting with the audience. This means a lot of public outreach, many interviews, visiting schools, inviting schools to concerts, and explaining music to young people. In America, every orchestra has many programs for young people, children, and different generations.
So, the music business is very much alive again, but we’ve all learned that resting on past achievements is no longer an option, and a famous name doesn’t guarantee that audiences will automatically fill concert halls.
I believe that organizations that don’t adopt this approach will face significant challenges in attracting audiences to concert halls.
How much do you have to handle the business side of the artistically rich and luxurious Herbstgold festival in Eisenstadt? I assume you don’t have to worry about finances as much as you did in Dubrovnik?
It’s a completely different situation and structure. The Esterházy family, one of the most important and influential dynasties in Central Europe during the Habsburg monarchy, has very wisely navigated the transition to modern times. They still have large estates and a lot of real estate and own practically 85 percent of Burgenland. Their activities are carried out through four major foundations. One is dedicated solely to viticulture and winemaking, another to forestry, the third to food production, and the fourth to culture and the arts.
It’s a large and very well-managed organization. The festival has a permanent team of fifteen people who work on it year-round, and we don’t have financial problems, but that certainly doesn’t mean that money flows endlessly. On the contrary, we have a very strict budget that we absolutely must adhere to, and we have sponsors and are constantly looking for new ones.
The Esterházy family deeply cares about the audience, and that’s my job. My main role is to create programs, but also much more, to create an atmosphere that will be a strong enough reason for people from Vienna—who have everything they want every evening—to get in their cars and come to Eisenstadt. Such a goal usually takes several years to achieve, for people to recognize a place and its offerings as a destination they want to be part of.
In Eisenstadt, that happened just this September, the fourth year since I took over Herbstgold. Something just clicked, and nearly all concerts were sold out. We have an international audience from all over, who now know that in two weeks, they can hear and see major world orchestras, various ensembles, and soloists.
We have a wonderful hall in Esterházy Palace, where Joseph Haydn spent most of his life. Opposite is a large luxury hotel, but we also have many smaller, more affordable accommodations for a wider range of people, and the charming town of Eisenstadt is here as well.
More and more people are coming and staying for several days. I also hope for a growing number of visitors from Croatia…
