Artistic Profile
The musical activities of Jany Renz could be suitably described as follows: conductor, pianist, Lied accompanist, lecturer in Master Classes and director of an international academy for Lied song.
Born in Basle (Switzerland), studied piano under the Bartók scholar Ivan Engel (Budapest and Basle), organ under Adolf Schlegel, flute and ancient music with Hans-Martin Linde (Schola Cantorum Basiliensis), medicine and the history of art (University of Basle).
Through his love for Lied and lyrics, for the small form, Jany Renz turns above all to Lied accompaniment and chamber music, and becomes a sought-after partner for leading singers and chamber musicians, while, as a lecturer, he teaches singing and Lied accompaniment in master courses within the framework of many international music festivals (Savonlinna in Finland, Schwetzingen in Germany). On the occasion of a song recital at the Schwetzinger Festival, Edwin Kuntz wrote the following in the “Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung”: “Not since Raucheisen have I experienced a Lied accompanist like this. Not only was the structure of the Lied caught in the most convincing manner, every note was perfect without crowding out the singer in the slightest way. Dedication to his responsibility, to art.” Dedication to art, this remains the first, and the central element in the artistic oeuvre of Jany Renz, and becomes the real mission.
At the celebrations for the reopening of the renovated Semperoper in Dresden (Germany) he delights the public and the Press as the accompanist in a Lied recital. The “Sächsische Tagblatt” reports: “Without question a great Lied recital, not the least due to the ever intriguing presentation of the piano part, in which Jany Renz achieved an ideal balance between discreet accompaniment and differentiated artistic accentuation.” And: “Jany Renz shows himself to be the perfect piano accompanist.” The “Sächsische Zeitung”: “The pianist Jany Renz, well-known as an accompanist of leading singers, adapted himself excellently to her (Ortrun Wenkel), created a delicate veil of sound against which she could nestle, leading her surely through heights and depths, and giving her marvellously floating voice space and foundation. An extraordinary evening”.
He founds his international academy for Lied in Iseo (Switzerland), whose master concerts (with Jany Renz always on the piano) help to shape the musical scene in Southern Switzerland for a decade. This is also the place to come to grips with the theoretical questions of the Lied, such as the impact of a tone language on the melodic design of a song; the study of Vietnamese language leads Jany Renz to interesting questions on the example of a North Vietnamese lullaby. The unknown should also be made known here, such as the wonderful poems of Berta Huber and their congenial composition by Yrjö Kilpinen (“Lieder about a small town”)
The “Schubertianum”, an academy for masterclasses near Basle (Dornach, Switzerland), develops from this institute in 2010, now expanded to include conductors and pianists.
His experience as a chamber musician and soloist is complemented by his skills as a conductor directing from the piano. And, with it, his passion for the large form, for symphony and opera.
Carl Schuricht sets him on the path to becoming a conductor; studies under Wilfried Boettcher (Basle Conservatorium); Assistant to Peter Maag (Teatro Regio Torino, Italy and Stadttheater Bern, Switzerland); international conducting, GMD at the Stadttheater Freiberg (Germany), and guest conductor of leading orchestras and opera houses.
His curiosity about and interest in Finish art, language, literature, Kalevala and Kanteletar, for music ranging from Lied to opera and symphonic works causes the cosmopolitan Jany Renz to return repeatedly to Finland, where he also comes into contact with the contemporary music scene. Works by Rautavaara, Sallinen, Hauta-Aho, Merikanto, to mention just a few, become an integral part of his repertoire.
His work with the Budapest Philharmonic leads to a highly regarded recording of Bruckner’s Ninth Symphony (Ondine, ODE 764-2), which was the best-selling version of this work in the USA in August 1991: “Speaking of controversial readings, my own personal favourite this month is the incredible Bruckner Ninth from Ondine. Conductor Jany Renz interprets the symphony as an angry reaction by Bruckner to the neglect of his work during his lifetime. Broadly spacious tempos in the outer two movements underline a sense of sadness, disillusionment and, ultimately, quiet resignation. The Scherzo is taken at a blistering pace and seems like the ferocious outcry of a wounded man.” (Raymond J. Osnato, Koch International Notes, The New York Times, USA). Helsingin Sanomat (Finland) writes: “This splendid performance of Bruckner’s 9th Symphony cannot fail to resound to the fame and honour of Jany Renz and the Budapest Philharmonic. In producing this glorious orchestral sound, with its richly contrasting expressiveness, Renz seems to have solved all the problems presented by this hour-long work of divine music.”
Some thoughts of Jany Renz, from an essay on Bruckner’s Ninth:
Bruckner’s music, this cathedral-like “divine music”, is an integral part of my repertoire. As in a novel by Dostoevsky, to whom “nothing human is alien” (R. Steiner), this dimension is extended even further by Bruckner through the divine, which, after a life for God, should also not be alien to him. Bruckner knows about the relationship between the micro- and the macro-cosmos; he also knows about the conditions before the very beginning, before the primordial night itself, when the Word, the Sound, first rang out in praise of the Creation that did not yet exist, the very first sacrificial sound (Shatapatha Brâmana VIII, 4, 3, 2). This is the shapeless nothing (M. Schneider), the tremolo in the basses at the very beginning, developing (in contrast to the clear triplets in Beethoven's Ninth, which start later, with the primordial night) from the absolutely unconditional, which is still unstructured, into the start of the song of praise and the force emanating from it, from which everything arises, joy, water, earth and fire (Rigveda). Only through the introduction of the wind instruments does the rhythm come into play, as the shapelessness, the almost soundless nothing, is led into a form, and the Creation can begin. This cosmogony of Bruckner ends in the radiant, redeeming E-flat major (3rd movement), in bright daylight, in praise of Him to whom this symphony is dedicated. The kaleidoscope that opens between the extremes – a shapeless nothing before the primordial night up to the light of day - guides us through all human depths and divine heights – there are probably no divine depths in Bruckner’s own vision, but these certainly exist in his music. The final chord sounds again, and again through the eons, the eternity, never wanting to end, returning to the formless, the silent void. But the praise of God has taken place!
(The “thoughts” will be continued in no particular order).
