Berlin Phil Principal Horn Stefan Dohr • Living the Classical Life Ep. 102

"I definitely don't overthink things--I'm a horn player." -Stefan Dohr
Stefan Dohr reflects on his stellar career and its challenges -- the audition process for the Berlin Philharmonic at 19 and his first season as principal horn sight-reading 25 operas. The "king of his instrument" (NY Chronicle) reminisces about Claudio Abbado and explains why he decided to use the pandemic hiatus for taking conducting classes with Paavo Järvi.
0:00 Intro and performance of Messiaen "Interstellar Call"
1:59 Intro to Pärnu Estonia
3:19 Start of Conversation: Luck with Auditions
7:03 Finding the Zone, Nerves
14:11 Impostor Syndrome
18:05 What a Musical Life Looks Like, Training
22:08 Balancing Daily Life and Work
26:38 Working with Paavo Järvi
27:56 Claudio Abbado
32:23 End credits
Visit our NEW website at www.classical-life.com for more. We thank you for watching, and for your support--your donations fund our show!
Episode 102 • Running time: 33 minutes • Filmed in Pärnu Estonia July 2022
Video: www.katalog-film.de

[@MahlerHolic1860]

I met Stefan and had a selfie with him before the Berliners played Mahler 7 at the Proms. I asked him "Maestro Dohr, may I have a selfie with you?". He replied "Of course but I am not a maestro. I am Stefan".

[@Living-the-Classical-Life]

I love this story--thanks for sharing it! He's totally down to earth. -zsolt

[@MahlerHolic1860]

@@Living-the-Classical-Life I've been fortunate to meet a few of the Berliner Philharmoniker members and they have all been unfailingly kind and happy to chat. Apart from Stefan, I met Raphael Haeger and Jonathan Kelly. Thank you Zsolt.

[@chrisdwyer1930]

One of the greatest horn players of all time. A great gift to peak into his life. Thank you.

[@Living-the-Classical-Life]

And we thank you for watching! So glad you liked it

[@AbKoster]

Very interesting interview. Stefan Dohr plays so many years as solo horn with the Berlin Philharmonic which is probably the most famous orchestra in the world. Always playing on the highest level. He also plays a lot as a soloist. This combination doing both, playing as a soloist and being first horn of such a great orchestra for so many years is very exceptional for a horn player. We hope to hear still a lot from him in future.

[@Living-the-Classical-Life]

Super grateful for your support and for watching--so happy to hear from you and that you liked the conversation! -zsolt

[@speculativeear]

You didn't wait for episode 103!?!

[@Living-the-Classical-Life]

Haha, good point!

[@esbenstigrasmussen12]

Genius

[@packer812]

He seems like such a nice person and he speaks very good English. Thanks for sharing this conversation!

[@Living-the-Classical-Life]

You're welcome--thank you so much for watching, and I'm so happy to hear from you! -zsolt

[@ROBINdulce]

En marzo del 2020 me suscribí a la plataforma digital de la Filarmónica de Berlín. A fuerza de frecuentar el canal, los espectadores nos vamos fijando en los individuos que integran la orquesta. El largo y angustiante período de confinamiento en que estuvieron transmitiendo conciertos sin público y en formato de música de cámara, será memorable por sus efectos curativos entre los ciber-nautas. Stefan Dohr es un rostro familiar y, aunque sea de manera virtual, quiero agradecerle a él y a todos sus colegas, el resultado de su duro trabajo para darnos motivaciones poderosas para seguir adelante. Esta conversación nos revela el lado humano de cada individuo que se ha dedicado a la música. ¡Muchas gracias!

[@Living-the-Classical-Life]

And we thank you so much! We are grateful that you liked it.

[@juliusz1486]

What a great interview! Class act from both sides

[@Living-the-Classical-Life]

This means so much to us on so many levels-thank you so much! -zsolt

[@ignazzzzzio]

amazing that you interviewed a horn player and what a horn player!

[@Living-the-Classical-Life]

Thanks so much! Yes, we're trying to expand our archive of different instruments and personalities! More to come soon--thanks much! -zsolt

[@banana_GGG]

Thanks for always interviewing so many great musicians!

[@Living-the-Classical-Life]

Thank you so much for your support! -zsolt

[@adesiana2]

Another great conversation. Thank you very much.

[@richterkleiber]

Thanks so much for watching and letting us know that you enjoyed it!

[@clarkmatthews5989]

Superb interview! Stefan is a true ambassador for the art form.

[@Living-the-Classical-Life]

So happy that you enjoyed this--I'm very grateful to hear from you! He's a great guy and we loved how honest and real he was in his remarks--zsolt

[@welintomgabriel5546]

My inspiration!!

[@nakdag1617]

Perfect questions for Stefan. Great work on this. A huge help to hear!

[@Living-the-Classical-Life]

Thanks so much--I'm really glad you liked this--Stefan and his wonderful openness made my role quite a bit easier than usual! -zsolt

[@frandrepol7204]

Very interesting insights, wonderful interview about the life of a musician

[@Living-the-Classical-Life]

So glad you enjoyed it-thanks so much for watching!

[@mhenrikse]

This is a really great interview series. Thank you!

[@Living-the-Classical-Life]

We are so grateful that you like it--thank you so much for watching and for being in touch!

[@AlexanderKienle]

Thank you for this lovely interview!

[@Living-the-Classical-Life]

Thanks so much! Glad you liked it--more to come every Friday!

[@lawyh1506]

I just discovered this channel but am totally engrossed! Thank you so much for making these videos! They are particularly insightful for a music lover like me who always wondered what would have happened if I had decided to take the plunge and study music at university...

[@Living-the-Classical-Life]

Amazing words you share-thank you so much-you are exactly the type of viewer we hope to reach! We’re really grateful for your support- zsolt

[@CorneliaAB]

Yes very interesting ! Thank you !

[@Living-the-Classical-Life]

So glad you enjoyed it!

[@LaLa-rp5ls]

he is a great musician as i already know i envy his english skill as well in this interview

[@Living-the-Classical-Life]

We were impressed as well-thank you for watching!

[@alexisrangel4513]

Bravo.!! 📯❤️

[@Living-the-Classical-Life]

Thanks for watching! I didn't even realize there is a horn emoji 🙂 -zsolt

[@ThomasBisard]

1st fav hornist? Dennis Brain. All-time fav has to be Stefan! Yeah, I'm a horn fanboy.

[@Living-the-Classical-Life]

Thank you so much for watching! We will try to feature more horn! ✨🙏

[@user-pp4ky9xd4w]

日本語字幕はないですか？😭

[@Living-the-Classical-Life]

We are working to add--but we would need help with this! None of our team speaks Japanese unfortunately!

[@juliancardenas4474]

Please! Invite Bastian Schäfer!!!!

[@avisnocturna8942]

That would be great.

[@Living-the-Classical-Life]

Great suggestion--we will keep this in mind! We are generally filming mostly in Europe now--since I'm based in the US this is sometimes complicated, but we will hope to plan ahead! Thanks so much--zsolt

[@juliancardenas4474]

@@Living-the-Classical-Life Bastian is an institution in the 1st violin section of the Berlin Phi, and he is also very classy 😄I met him about 7 years ago in Prague after plating Beethoven 9th. It would be very nice to have him on your show.