“Every tour is also a team-building exercise”
A conversation with Nilokaus Römisch, cellist and tour manager

A concert tour by the Berliner Philharmoniker is both an exciting artistic project and a first-class logistical challenge. How do you make sure the musicians arrive well-rested? And how do you prevent cabin fever? We spoke about it with Nikolaus Römisch, cellist and the orchestra's tour manager.

Mr. Römisch, when the Berliner Philharmoniker tours, there’s an in-house organisation team, an external travel agency – and there’s you. Why is it important that a member of the orchestra is involved in the planning?

The position of a tour manager from among the musicians has existed for a very long time. I act as the link between the orchestra and the travel agency, because we musicians best understand what kinds of strain we need to avoid in order to perform at our best in the evening.

What kinds of decisions do you make? Is it about getting from A to B quickly without stressing the players?

That’s the main focus. Ideally, we’d never have a concert on a travel day. But unfortunately that’s rarely feasible, not least for financial reasons. When we travel to Salzburg during the festival season with 140 people, the cost of accommodation is considerable – so it’s usually more economical to travel on the day of the concert.

The perils of cabin pressure

How do you plan the schedule for such a day?

It’s a bit like squaring the circle. When we fly to Salzburg, for example, we’d prefer to depart as late as possible, since the day includes travel, a rehearsal, and a concert until around 10 p.m. – so it’s very long. Hotel rooms are usually not available before 3 p.m., but we also have to respect the mandatory five-hour rest period between arrival and the start of the concert. Some of the wind players also prefer a longer break between flight and concert because the reduced cabin pressure can affect the way their lips function.

What else needs to be considered?

You have to think about things like food availability. In Mediterranean countries, shops and restaurants are often closed in the early afternoon, so it’s better to arrive earlier – though that increases the risk that the hotel rooms aren’t ready yet.

Do you sometimes have to reconcile different needs among the musicians?

That happens. I remember in 2018 we had three concerts in Taiwan – the first and third in Taipei, the second in Kaohsiung in the south. The trip from Taipei takes about three hours, so we decided to stay in one hotel and do the travel, rehearsal, concert, and return all in one day. That meant leaving around 1 p.m. and getting back close to midnight. In that case, a few players with particularly demanding solo parts were able to use day rooms at the concert venue to rest beforehand.

The perfect arrival time

What’s the ideal arrival time at the concert hall?

Most wind players like to arrive about an hour before rehearsals or concerts because they need more time to warm up than the string players, who prefer to come a bit later. In a perfect setup, the concert hall is within walking distance of the hotel, so that everyone can decide individually when to head over.

How stressful is touring in general?

Even when you spend “only” six or seven hours on a train or bus, you’re surprisingly exhausted in the evening. You’re processing lots of impressions, you’re sitting still, the food isn’t great. Some people get travel-sick, sometimes there’s traffic, and you worry about being late – it all adds up.

Travel also has an environmental component. How do you handle that?

We’re very aware of that. We avoid flying whenever possible. In the past, when we travelled from Salzburg to Lucerne, we would fly via Zurich. Now we take the train – though that adds about two and a half hours to the journey. Unfortunately, given our tight schedule, such solutions aren’t always feasible.

When the orchestra travels, many valuable instruments are also transported. What does it mean when a violin or cello is exposed to changes in temperature and humidity?

Temperature isn’t such a big issue, but humidity definitely is. When string instruments are loaded onto a plane and exposed to dry cabin air for hours, the wood “works” – that’s challenging. To counteract that, we use devices called Dampits – foam-filled tubes that are moistened and placed inside the instrument. They help a bit.

As a musician, is it difficult to hand over your instrument to the orchestra’s transport crew?

In the past 25 years, I haven’t seen anything go wrong. Personally, I find it a relief not to have to carry a cello along with my suitcase and hand luggage – as we do when the 12 Cellists of the Berliner Philharmoniker tour. After two weeks of that, you’re grateful for the transport cases! It’s different for the violinists: some prefer to keep their instrument with them so they can play right after arriving at the hotel. It’s very individual.

Forbidden bows

Historical string bows often contain materials that are now banned for import and export, such as ivory. How do you handle that?

We have to document very carefully which instruments we’re travelling with, since certain materials may not cross borders. That’s absolutely right for conservation reasons. Besides ivory, it also applies to tortoiseshell or lizard skin, which are no longer used in modern instrument making. I’ve had those parts replaced in my own bow. If a bow with such materials is found by customs, you’re in trouble – it might even be confiscated and destroyed. That could mean a loss of tens of thousands of euros.

That sounds dramatic. What else can go wrong on tour?

Sometimes a musician might fall ill – maybe even someone in a key position. But within Europe, we can reach almost any major city from Berlin at short notice. On intercontinental tours, our line-up is so large that we can usually find a substitute within the orchestra itself.

Given all these challenges – why does the orchestra travel at all? Why are these tours so important?

The Berliner Philharmoniker have always been an international orchestra. We are committed to presenting our artistry worldwide and to setting interpretive standards. And audiences around the globe are eager for these live experiences. Of course, the Digital Concert Hall brings our performances to every corner of the world, but only in person can you truly feel the orchestra’s energy.

Apart from communication and outreach, is there also an artistic benefit?

In Berlin, we usually play each programme three times – that allows us to experiment and refine things. But when you perform a work five or six more times on tour, you reach a different level. In May, we played Mahler’s Ninth Symphony under Kirill Petrenko, which was already wonderful. But when we took it on tour in September, it sounded even more assured and organic.

The human factor

What’s the atmosphere like among the musicians while on tour?

Every tour is also a team-building exercise – especially when we’re on the road for three weeks. There are lots of conversations, not just about music. On a free day, you might go jogging around the Imperial Palace in Tokyo or visit a museum with colleagues you rarely talk to otherwise. Those softer aspects are incredibly important for the social fabric of the orchestra.

Do you ever experience cabin fever?

We try to avoid that by never touring for more than three weeks. After that, everyone’s energy starts to dip. It also helps if a tour follows a kind of dramaturgy. When we travel to Asia, for instance, we try to end in Tokyo with the final concert in Suntory Hall. That gives a special lift. The other halls in Asia are wonderful too, but Suntory Hall feels like a second home – we’ve been performing there since 1986.

Being away from family must be difficult as well.

Yes, that’s definitely a strain, though it used to be much tougher. Twenty years ago, you couldn’t just call home or make a video call. When I went on my first Asia tour in 1998, we were really cut off from the world for three weeks.

How do you feel about the forthcoming Asia tour in your role as tour manager?

As I said, managing stress levels is a major concern. That’s why we’re very relieved that on this tour we’ll stay in just five hotels over three weeks. That means fewer transfers, less packing, fewer check-ins and check-outs. In 2020, we had a tour with five concerts in five cities in five days – Hamburg, Hanover, Cologne, Frankfurt, Dresden. That was exhausting.

Is there anything in particular you’re looking forward to on this tour?

It so happens that the Concertgebouw Orchestra will be performing in Seoul and Tokyo at the same time. I’m really looking forward to meeting our colleagues there. But of course, the concerts themselves are what matter most to me. On tour, you can focus on music in a completely different way – you’re freed from everyday obligations like shopping or laundry. It’s really all about the music.