Daniel Harding rehearses at Musikverein music hall in Vienna in May 2021. Photograph: Joe Klamar/AFP/Getty Images
Sitting in a smart hotel foyer a stone’s throw from Berlin’s Philharmonie concert hall, there’s little indication of the dramatic week Daniel Harding has had. He is in town conducting the Berlin Philharmonic in a programme of Vaughan Williams, Strauss and Unsuk Chin’s intensely complex 2008 work Rocaná. He seems relaxed and casual in a hooded tracksuit top and jeans, and as we settle down to chat, I mention how much I enjoyed the concert – and how much he seemed to, as well.
“I’m glad that was the impression,” he says with a laugh, and tells me of the dramas behind the scenes: a whole day of precious rehearsal lost to food poisoning made the first concert – and especially the Chin piece – somewhat nerve-racking. “The piece is very gripping but it’s very difficult,” he says. “There is something about seeing everyone on stage buckling in, and when you’re feeling underprepared – but you’ve got that level of orchestra – there is a different energy.”
