Conductor Clerici Photo: Glenn Hunt
Umberto Clerici has been a full-time musician all his working life.
But in an RNZ Concert interview ahead of his latest concert with the Dunedin Symphony Orchestra he's at pains to praise the amateur performers in the group.
Like all but a very few musical institutions in Aotearoa, the DSO is a mix of students, professional and semi-professional performers. Talented musicians who make most of their living some other way, but who still find time and energy to play music to a high level.
"The root of the word 'amateur' comes from the Latin 'amātor' which means 'to love'," Clerici tells Concert host Bryan Crump.
And Clerici loves the passion the part timers bring to the music. He sometimes wishes there was a little more of that passion in a fully professional group.
There'll certainly be plenty of room for passion when the Italian conductor takes the DSO through one of the most emotional works in the repertoire, Tchaikovsky's Pathetique Symphony.
The Italian conductor started his professional life as a cellist before branching out into conducting while living and working in Sydney, Australia.
Life before he took up the baton. Photo: Laura Stanca
Now he's the music director of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra.
Perhaps it would never have happened if he'd stayed in Europe. Clerici tells Crump he moved to Australia because he felt he could enjoy more artistic freedom away from the traditional home of classical music.
Following his date with the DSO, Clerici moves on to the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra where he'll join the brilliant pianist Daniil Trifonov in a concert of Berlioz, Respighi and Rachmaninov.
In between, he'll be checking in on his colleagues at the Queensland Symphony Orchestra in Brisbane, as the Australian city braces for the arrival of tropical Cyclone Alfred.
Unfortunately, the orchestra's home is by the banks of the Brisbane River. Clerici is hoping the forecast rainfall doesn't lead to flooding.
Meanwhile, back in Dunedin, the weather couldn't be better.
Usually, Clerici comes south in the middle of winter, but this time he's hoping to get a chance to experience some of Dunedin's outdoor attractions before making music this weekend.
