Interview with Vinay Parameswaran (’13) Conductor of "The Cunning Little Vixen"

Internationally recognized for his energetic presence, imaginative programming, and compelling musicianship, Vinay Parameswaran (’13) is one of the most exciting and versatile young conductors on the podium today. Last seen by Philadelphia audiences conducting Curtis Opera Theatre’s 2013 production of Gaetano Donizetti’s bel canto comedy, The Elixir of Love (L’elisir d’amore), Mr. Parameswaran returns to the podium and his alma mater this spring to conduct Leoš Janáček’s 20th-century operatic masterpiece, The Cunning Little Vixen.

What do you believe are the most striking aspects of Janáček’s score, and are there any particular moments throughout that really resonate with you?
I’ve had kind of a long incubation period with this piece for over ten years now. I was a conducting student in 2011, just trying to survive and make sure I didn’t mess up. I think this was the big task for me at the time, and I knew I loved it back then. I felt so lucky that my first project when I joined the Cleveland Orchestra was Janáček’s Vixen. They had done it there a few years prior, and they brought the production back and took it on tour to Europe. Miloš [Repický] was part of that project. It was great to reconnect with him as well. Franz Welser-Möst in Cleveland loves Janáček and is really close to the Czech repertoire. So, watching him shape the piece was a great learning experience for me. I feel very blessed that I could [conduct] it twice this spring. I mean, who gets to do that?

For Janáček, I think it’s very personal. He was 70 when he wrote it. He had a love interest who was much younger than him, and it was not reciprocated. There are elements of his life that come through in this particular opera—the way that the gamekeeper talks about the vixen like a jilted lover; it’s like he’s in love with her. There’s one character, the schoolmaster, who has a big aria in act two, and he’s addressing a woman we never see in the opera named Terynka, but I feel like Janáček is that schoolmaster.

I remember when I listened to this for the first time in 2010 and 2011; I don’t think I knew any other Janáček pieces. I don’t know if I had heard his Sinfonietta or Glagolitic Mass back then, like I know them now. I was really taken by how different it was from anything else I’d listened to. Janáček’s score has an incredibly unique language for the orchestra in terms of Czech composers, and what I love about Czech music is that there’s always this kind of underlying sadness or melancholy. Even when music is “happy,” there’s something underneath that’s pulling at your heart, and you certainly get that in his unique language in this piece. It was really my first foray into this composer’s world, and what a great introduction to his music. It is one of the masterpieces of the early 20th century.

For someone who hasn’t seen this opera before, what do you hope they will glean from the experience?
Vixen often gets misconstrued as only being about animals in the forest. It’s about humanity. It’s how we interact with each other and with nature. What I love about the way John [Matsumoto Giampietro] is approaching it is this whole idea of return and remembering, a beautiful circle of life, and how nature recreates itself every year. For all the human characters, it’s how they reflect on things in the past and how that shapes them.

It’s a piece that has so many relatable aspects to our lives because it’s about our relationship with nature and our relationship with other people in this world. Every year, especially where I live in Wisconsin now, we really get the four seasons, and every spring, there’s kind of this rebirth of the world, and the opera’s about that whole cycle and how nature returns. That’s what makes it such a relatable piece—the way [Janáček] does it through the point of view of these animals, but also these humans, who are very miserable. Towards the end of act three, the gamekeeper shows some empathy and care for his drinking buddy. That’s a poignant moment in the score through this whole journey as they get older and remember when they were young.

Half of act one is just the orchestra alone. There’s very little singing, but it’s some of the most beautiful music that Janáček wrote, and I think his score is very accessible. He really saves some of the best parts for when the orchestra’s playing by itself, but I think that each of the characters is so unique, so special. This piece comes from essentially a comic strip. There are moments of real comedy in this piece, and it’s juxtaposed with the most heartbreaking story at the same time.

What excites you most about returning to your alma mater to conduct?

This is the place where I discovered [The Cunning Little Vixen]. We had our sing-through yesterday, and I told them it was II-J in this very room, where I got to experience it for the first time. We haven’t started the orchestra rehearsals yet, but I can’t wait to get working with them. Three of my students that I had when I was directing the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra are now here at Curtis, and I’ll get to see them again soon. I like how much the cast is embracing this piece, and you can tell how much their love of it is growing day by day. I think it’s going to be the same for the orchestra.

Curtis is such a special place and community. I was in awe of the people I went to school with. I just couldn’t believe that I went to school with people like Ben Beilman (Violin ’12) and the Dover Quartet. I was in the last [Otto-Werner] Mueller studio. Just to be a part of that history. There are lessons I remember from him every day in my career. I’m still in touch with all my dear friends from my time as classmates, and I see them professionally all the time. Having been back for a few days and working with the singers, I realize that it’s not just the talent but also the spirit and the excitement to dive back in. All those things make it such a fulfilling musical process and journey for me.

Watch Maestro Parameswaran conduct the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra in a performance of Benjamin Britten’s Four Sea Interludes and Passacaglia.

Can you share any fond memories of your studies here at Curtis?
I didn’t go to music school for my undergrad. I went to Brown and it was definitely a culture shock coming here from a liberal arts university to a tiny school with 160 students. To be honest, I thought I wasn’t going to fit in and make friends because it was so different, but I made some of my best friends in the world here. And obviously, working with Mueller. I really miss him. He was such an incredible teacher. What I’ve always appreciated the most about him was his humility in terms of respect for the composer. I thought his approach was just very human. I always respected that.

Some of my favorite moments were getting together with friends when we had a free hour and reading sonatas or reading lieder for fun because we loved the music. I also met my wife, Sara Huebner (Trumpet ’13), who’s now a veterinarian, at Curtis. I never thought I would marry someone I studied with. It was a really special four years, and when I left Curtis, I got my first job. So, I’m grateful for the experiences and great training in terms of podium time. I felt like what I learned here really served me well in my first ten years out of the profession.

Recently, when I was at CCM [conducting The Cunning Little Vixen], Ayane Kozasa (Viola ’12, String Quartet ’16), who’s one of my best friends and was my classmate, she’s now at CCM [Ms. Kozasa was appointed to the CCM faculty in 2022] and joined Kronos [Quartet]. I just saw her in San Francisco. Every time I see folks at an orchestra somewhere or we’re just passing through a city doing our different things, it’s so special to reconnect with them. All of these people are doing amazing things in the field.

Visit Vinay Parameswaran’s official website and read his full biography HERE.

Interview with Mr. Parameswaran by Ryan Scott Lathan.

CURTIS OPERA THEATRE: THE CUNNING LITTLE VIXEN

May 2, 2024 | Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
May 3, 2024 | Friday at 7:30 p.m.
May 4, 2024 | Saturday at 3:00 p.m.
May 5, 2024 | Sunday at 3:00 p.m.

Perelman Theater at the Kimmel Center, Broad and Spruce Streets, Philadelphia

Click HERE for more information.

Photo Credits: 1, 2, 5.) Photos of Vinay Parameswaran; Roger Mastroianni. 3.) Gerhard Flekatsch. 4.) Gus Chan. 6.) The 2013 class photo; Mr. Parameswaran is in the first row on the far left. Image courtesy of the Curtis Archives.