“I’m still completely immersed in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly. Even us cellists are occasionally allowed to luxuriate in these beautiful melodies,” enthuses Dietmar Schwalke. The opera performances at this year's Baden-Baden Easter Festival were among his final performances before retiring after 31 years with the Berliner Philharmoniker. In fact, it the Berliner Philharmoniker inspired him to become a cellist in the first place. As a teenager – he had only just started learning the instrument – his father took him to a concert by the orchestra in Hamburg, conducted by Herbert von Karajan. “He conducted an overwhelming performance of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony! It left a deep impression on me, and I knew then and there what I wanted to do with my life.”
As a student, Schwalke absorbed the orchestra’s distinctive sound through two of his teachers, both of whom had been principal cellists with the Philharmoniker: Arthur Troester, who had played under Furtwängler, and Wolfgang Boettcher, who held the same position under Karajan. But it would be some time before Schwalke himself joined the ranks of the Philharmoniker. He first played with the Kreuzberger Streichquartett Berlin and the Radio Symphony Orchestra in Stuttgart, before becoming a member of the Berliner Philharmoniker in 1994. What has he valued most about working with the orchestra? “It’s a melting pot of outstanding musicians, all of whom are passionate chamber players. I gained immensely from that – musically and personally.”
Dietmar Schwalke was not only a member of the 12 Cellists of the Berliner Philharmoniker, but also spent nine years with the Philharmonia Quartet, with whom he explored most of Beethoven’s string quartets. Among the personal highlights of his long career are Mahler’s Second Symphony under Sir Georg Solti and Strauss’s Alpine Symphony under Herbert von Karajan, both of which he experienced as a guest performer with the orchestra. Later, as a full member of the orchestra, further highlights included Brahms’s Fourth Symphony with Carlos Kleiber, Berg’s Wozzeck under Claudio Abbado, the Ring cycle in Aix-en-Provence with Sir Simon Rattle, and Mendelssohn’s Elijah with Kirill Petrenko. There is only one thing he feels he missed: “I would have liked to play more symphonies by Haydn and Mozart.” For his retirement, Dietmar Schwalke already has many plans: to devote more time to baroque music, refresh his piano playing, spend time with his five grandchildren, and become more involved in church life.