Interview: Raffaello Morales, Fidelio Orchestra Cafe
Fidelio Orchestra Cafe have just announced their 2021 season, and are gearing up to reopen their unique venue once lockdown two lifts.
We sat down with founder & artistic director, Raffaello Morales, to chat about finding new ways to communicate, issues of accessibility, and the importance of classical music.
Fidelio Orchestra Cafe’s Art is Fundamental mission outlines its commitments to make music accessible to everyone, and further the creative power of music.
‘What we mean when we talk about accessibility is to find new ways of communication that can be embraced by as many people as possible.’
‘The new under 30s tickets are an encouragement - people are interested in dedicating time and effort into classical music, and our mission is to find ways of communication which are enticing to these people.’
‘It’s not an elitist product, it’s something everybody should be able to get involved with and understand.’
‘Music here at Fidelio Orchestra Cafe is part of a broader experience, which encompasses various aspects of the good life.’
‘There’s attention to food, attention to drinks, attention to the way people spend time together – with music being the central component of it all.’
‘It’s not a new way of communication actually, it’s a very old way of communication. We’re just not used to it this way - music over the last, perhaps, 50 years has become segregated.’
‘Fidelio Orchestra Cafe is not a sacred temple or a members club, it is a public venue. It’s a place where normal people go out and experience normal life – but those aspects of normal life which are worth highlighting.’
When it comes to the importance of live music, Morales acknowledges it’s going to get philosophical.
‘The live music experience is a great way of connecting the individual and the universal – somehow, we are all taking part in a phenomenon which has been initiated by an individual [the musician] with a vision to share it universally.’
‘The enticement of live music, to those who perhaps aren’t used to it, is of going beyond themselves.’
‘But the way the music industry has interpreted and developed this [on the whole] is by creating very specific venues for this to happen’ - referring to a performer on a stage facing an audience watching on.
‘From a communication point of view, this risks coming across as patronising – come here to expect the greatness of whoever, for example.’
‘The approach of Fidelio Orchestra Cafe is to come from the comfort-zone of the people – that of spending time together, have rewarding experiences, and grow intellectually (but not be weighted down with too complex material).’
‘Experiencing music like this is not only truthful to the music and its values - composers such as Schubert, Brahms, Schumann, Liszt experienced music in this way most of the time – but is also forward-looking as it takes into account what people want, rather than what we want them to want as musicians.’
Fidelio Orchestra Cafe was one of the first live music venues in London to re-open after lockdown number one.
‘The pandemic has wrecked the music industry. But at the same time it has given people the opportunity to show that things can work, and that they can work very well as long as we are imaginative, able to adapt, and willing to take risks.’
‘It’s perhaps time to stop this negative narrative of complaining that music is underfunded and underconsidered, and it’s time to roll up our sleeves and face the real problems that the music industry has – a lack of demand.’
‘Music has no easy path ahead, but it has to be done with positive-thinking. At the end of the day the goal is to make as many people as possible interested in what we [musicians] are doing.’
‘Once we can achieve that popular support [in classical music] and show governments that there are so many people who care and consider music fundamental to their lives, the state support will follow.’
‘So our approach back in June, when we decided to reopen, was that we somehow just had to make it happen, whatever it took.’
‘Between July and 4 November, when our last concert was before the second lockdown, we had over 60 concerts. All of which were incredibly well attended, which testifies that we just need to find ways to make people feel really special.’
When it comes to programming music at Fidelio Orchestra Cafe, Morales approaches artists in as informal a style as the venue he runs – on a friends-by-friends basis.
‘It’s a collaborative process. We’ve got things planned until June [2021], and it’s a good mixture of classics and more adventurous music.’
‘In the new year we have a considerable amount of artists coming from abroad, too, and we’re also trying to establish a good mixture of emerging artists and more established ones.’
‘Fidelio Orchestra Cafe will also become a platform for emerging musicians to establish a reputation, alongside bigger names. For example, in January we have five weeks of concerts by Royal Academy of Music students – opening with the Hill Quartet on 9 January.’
Fidelio Orchestra Cafe restarts events on 4 December. Find out what’s on this month here. The 2021 season can be found here.
