Listen to your teacher...

....and your conductor as well.

http://www.throwcase.com/2014/10/27/student-has-amazing-breakthrough-by-doing-what-teacher-says/

Dana Fonteneau on Criticism (of self and others...)

My daily reading took me to the blog "The Whole Hearted Musician," by Dana Fonteneau.  I think I'll be spending more time there.  The most recent post was particularly prescient:

http://wholeheartedmusician.com/2015/04/22/is-criticism-killing-our-profession/

Among other things, there is a wonderful quote from Janos Starker:

"What is the role of music in society?… Music is one of the essentials in human existence, almost identical with eating, sleeping, making love, the basic functions that keep a human being alive. Music simply, is one of the blessings and joys of civilized human existence.”

News in the Conducting World and some predictions

As expected, the pending marriage of Simon Rattle and the London Symphony has been announced.  Will a new concert hall be included in the dowry?

Sir Simon's "old band," the Berlin Philharmonic will vote on a successor May 11.  It appears to be a horserace, but among the contenders are Christian Thielemann,

formerly leader of the Munich Philharmonic, he conducts the Staatskapelle Dresden through 2019.  The Telegraph calls him "Germany's most sought-after conductor." John Allison goes on to write, "Whichever way you look at the situation, Thielemann is an obvious and leading contender for the Berlin Philharmonic, best placed to restore its Teutonic credentials, if that is what the orchestra wants. Whether Thielemann wants it is still far from clear, though it is hard to imagine him resisting the lure of Karajan’s old orchestra."

And then there's Riccardo Chailly, although he becomes Music Director at La Scala in 2017.  While a great choice, it's probably far-fetched.

Alan Gilbert is leaving the New York Philharmonic just as that orchestra is forced into a two year hiatus from Lincoln Center.  It will take a charismatic leader to retain the old audience (and work toward grabbing the attention of a new one).  In my mind there is one (easy choice):  David Robertson.

After the long and mostly joy-less tenure of Christoph Eschenbach, the National Symphony of Washington, DC is looking for a new leader.  Given the locale as well as the "gravity" of the ensemble's name, one would think that the NSO would be a plum job.  It's not, due in no small part to a rudderless parent (the Kennedy Center) that fails to seek out a conductor to actually lead what should be our National orchestra.  I'm hoping that an American is hired, but really have no predictions.  If Michael Tillson Thomas were a decade younger (he's now 70), I wouldn't hesitate.  Then again, the man has it made in San Francisco--an orchestra and a concert-going public that feasts on new music.

How long will Jimmy last?

In a recent review of the Met Orchestra Chamber Ensemble concert, David Allen noted that conductor James Levine was not onstage for the performance of Charles Wuorinen's "sitcom cantata," It Happens Like This.  The work was written for the conductor in 2011 but he's never taken the time to learn it.  One can only wonder how many years Levine, 71, has left in him.  One would hope that he leaves the podium in full possession of his "chops," rather than hanging on to the stage for dear life, like Placido Domingo.

Boulez

Pierre Boulez, a giant in the music field for (literally) as long as I can remember, celebrates his 90th birthday on March 26.  Although he has been in absentia during the last year, I hope that it is a happy day for him.  Although he wrote some of the most difficult music known to man or beast, I'll never forget his later career as a conductor, which I was able to experience more than once in Chicago's Orchestra Hall.

We're going to build a new hall....Transformative or Excessive?

It's happened.  Sir Simon Rattle is coming home.  Conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic since 2002, he had announced his retirement from that vaunted ensemble over two years ago, effective at the close of the 2018 season.  (The orchestra members, responsible for most artistic and administrative matters, vote on a successor May 11.)  Then he will assume Music Directorship of the London Symphony Orchestra.

The announcement has been met with general euphoria across Great Britain, and it appears that the feeling is mutual.  UK composer Thomas Ades states that Rattle "is as brilliant and devoted an interpreter as any composer could wish to find."  The Guardian quoted the conductor, "It feels like a homecoming."  Tweeting via the LSO, Rattle also stated, "I can't imagine a more inspiring way to spend my next years, and feel immensely fortunate to have the LSO as my musical family." 

The news has been met with acclaim across the globe.  Michael Cooper wrote in the New York Times, "Their long flirtation is over, and now they are engaged."

There is--and has been since discussions began--a sticking point.  Rattle has called the LSO's home, The Barbican Centre, "serviceable" and is lobbying for a concert hall worthy of both the orchestra and its city.  (See my assessment of London's venues here.)  Rattle went on to add in a BBC interview, “The music lovers of London and the country deserve to have something where orchestras can flourish. You have no idea how wonderful an orchestra like the London Symphony Orchestra can sound in a great concert hall.”  A number of political and arts figures are leaping onto the bandwagon.  Chancellor George Osborne has announced "a feasibility study to progress plans to give London a world-class concert hall comparable to those present in other major cities across the world.”


Given the economic climate across Europe, is this a wise move at this time?  Are there more pressing needs across the city and the country?  That remains to be answered in the UK.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Over the past few decades, several orchestras in this country have moved into new concert spaces.  Sometimes such _____ are necessitated due to seating capacities (too large or too small), aging facilities, or--primarily--inadequate acoustics.  Well-known are the various attempts to shore up those problems at Lincoln Center ("the hall formerly known as Avery Fisher").  Most ensembles choose to simply build anew.  But have these decisions been transformations for the home orchestras or (I would argue in the case of NY) excessive wastes of money?  Oftentimes it is obvious from the start and other times the reality needs a few years to sink in.

Here are some recent examples:

Philadelphia - Paying the landlord

Of the original Big Five* of the orchestral world, Philly is the most recent to seek out a new home.  Ensconced in the historic 1856 Academy of Music from 1900-2001, the orchestra rose to a level of fame nearly unequaled in much of its storied history.  Many insisted that the Academy's acoustics were grossly inadequate, particularly for orchestral performance.

Academy of Music, Philadelphia.  Interior.

Thus, after many years of discussion (dating back as far as 1908!) a new concert hall arose in the Kimmel Center and the orchestra first performed at Verizon Hall on December 16, 2001.

Verizon Hall at the Kimmel Center.
The organ is by the Dobson Company of IOWA!

While hailed as a vast improvement over the Academy, Verizon has not been without its naysayers and it (like the former Avery Fisher) has required millions of dollars in "retuning."  Peter Dobrin of the Philadelphia Inquirer wrote here in the fateful year of 2011 (when the orchestra became the largest arts organization in the country to undergo Chapter 11 reorganization).  More about the hall's improvements are found on its own website here.

One could argue that a great orchestra will sound great wherever they play.  Philly rose to prominence due to two conductors of unmatched longevity:  Leopold Stokowski and Eugene Ormandy.  Both performed in the Academy, which, it must be noted, the orchestra actually still owns!  At the Kimmel Center, the orchestra is a tenant, probably the most lucrative form of income for the hall's owners.  Could this be some of the reason for the orchestra's bankruptcy?  I suppose that's left up to the accountants.

*In addition to the NY Phil, the other orchestras of the "Big Five" are:

• Boston Symphony in Boston Symphony Hall since 1900.
• Cleveland Orchestra in Severance Hall since 1931.
• Chicago Symphony in Orchestra Hall since 1904.

Many might argue that the LA Philharmonic makes this list a Big Six.

Kansas City - transformative

A move from the staid Lyric Theater to the new Kaufmann Center has been a watershed moment for the arts across the country.  As municipalities are increasingly asked for funds to build arenas for sports combat, very few would ever put up the funds for an arts complex.  

K.C.'s Lyric--originally a Masonic Hall

One has to note that the entire cost of the multi venue Kaufmann Center (somewhere in the $400 million ballpark) was privately raised.  I could easily argue the aesthetics of the project, seen below,

Kaufmann-two dead snails?

the interior of the concert hall has been a boon for the orchestra and community.  As Rodgers and Hammerstein so aptly wrote, "Everything's Up to Date in Kansas City."

Kaufmann interior

Nashville - a hall that looks as one should

This is the Kenneth Schermerhorn Center, home of the Nashville Symphony and named for the orchestra's long-time conductor and music director.  From the outside, the edifice is impressive in its classical style.

Now this looks like a concert hall

On the inside, one might swear we've been transported abroad.  Does this not remind one of the Musikverein?

...and this?  Got to be European.  Nope, it's Nashville.

As many have long argued, it's hard to improve on the shoebox....

The Domino Effect

During the past few years we have experienced a distressing domino effect among arts organizations across this country (and its not just limited to the U.S.)  First, members of the Detroit Symphony went on a six-month strike beginning October 4, 2010.  Then, the Philadelphia Orchestra became the first major ensemble to declare Chapter 11 reorganization (April 16, 2011).  Two major orchestras: Minnesota (2012-2014) and Atlanta sent their musicians packing in protracted lock outs.  The venerable Metropolitan Opera narrowly avoided a strike and suspension of their season this past autumn.  Other, smaller ensembles are in jeopardy or have simply closed shop.  Case in point: the Green Bay (WI) Symphony is currently presenting its 100th (and last) season of concerts.

A different kind of domino effect is taking place in the conducting world as three very important posts will be up for grabs in 2017-18.

Chief among these is music directorship of the Berlin Philharmonic, a post held by Sir Simon Rattle since 2002.  His departure was well-documented and announced in January 2013.  While many names are being bandied about, a successor has not been named.  One thing is certain:  it will not be an American.  Here is a list of the principal conductors of the BPO:

• Ludwig von Brenner (1882–1887)
• Hans von Bülow (1887–1892)
• Arthur Nikisch (1895–1922)
• Wilhelm Furtwängler (1922–1945)
• Leo Borchard (May – August 1945)
• Sergiu Celibidache (1945–1952)
• Wilhelm Furtwängler (1952–1954)
• Herbert von Karajan (1954–1989)
• Claudio Abbado (1989–2002)
• Sir Simon Rattle (2002–2018)

Munich's atrocious Gasteig

I predict a German--just a hunch.  That said, Mariss Jansons, is very unhappy in Munich as the government has reneged on its promise of a new concert hall, opting instead to renovate the atrocious Gasteig.  While Valery Gergiev is conductor of Munich's "other" orchestra, he's not headed to Berlin. It can probably be safely said that Berlin will not go the way of the "youth movement."

On top of all this, rumors have been circulated that Sir Simon is being courted for a return to his native Britain to lead the London Symphony.  The conductor has, thus far, not indicated that he has any interest especially due to the fact that London possesses no concert hall of international stature (see S & P, 1/22/15).  However, suddenly support for a new London hall seems to be gaining traction.  Who knows what will happen?

* * * * * * * * * *

On this side of the pond, announcements of conductor departures have been swift:

• Earlier this month, Alan Gilbert of the NY Phil, announced his resignation effective 2017.  This could not come at a worse time as the orchestra will be homeless starting in 2019 to accommodate yet another renovation of the hall formerly known as Avery Fisher.  The orchestra has little time to name a successor and recent searches haven't always gone as planned.  In 2000, the rumor mill was rife with news that Riccardo Muti was the top choice but he (apparently repeatedly) turned them down, making Gilbert--at best--a second choice.  Muti, of course, went to Chicago.  However things turn out this time, whomever is selected will still live in the shadow of Leonard Bernstein.  Although he has been gone almost 25 years, Bernstein remains, for many, the face and voice of the Philharmonic and much of America's music, for that matter.

• Even more recently (this past week) the National Symphony in Washington, D.C. announced the departure of Christoph Eschenbach.  It seems as though the NSO has always been deemed a second-tier ensemble and Eschenbach hasn't really helped things.  His programs are sometimes fine and sometimes horrible, as evidenced by a disastrous 2013 Cosi fan Tutte in Salzburg.  And despite his track record, he was among the highest paid music directors in the world.  What will become of this post?   Contemporary criticism has it that the orchestra has been largely rudderless since the tenure of Antal Dorati, who left in 1977.  That said, Kennedy Center has a new boss in former Chicago CEO Deborah Rutter.  If anyone can get the job done in a short time, she can. 

Any way they stack up, I'm available!

Poland's Concert Hall Building Boom

Like much of Germany, Poland was decimated during World War 2.  Caught between the Nazi forces (set out to wipe the state from the map) and--eventually, following Hitler's ill-fated attempt to overcome the Russian winter, the Soviets--the country suffered nearly intended fate of the German Socialists.  The initial attack began on September 1, 1939.  Both the UK and France would declare war on Germany, but no one came to Poland's aid and its own army surrendered in October.

First, the Nazis established the Jewish Ghetto and then began shipping the inhabitants to Auschwitz.  The ghetto was eventually destroyed along with most of the capital, Warsaw.  The entire country lay in ruin.

85% of Warsaw was in ruins following the war.

Following the war, the country was given over to the Soviets as one of its satellites behind the Iron Curtain.  Any investment at all was made in restoring the country's basic infrastructure, 80% of which was destroyed nationwide.  Up until recently, very little was put forth into cultural amenities of the nation of Chopin.

But since the fall of communism, a movement which began in Gdansk (the city formerly known as Danzig, which has an interesting history of its own), we have seen what the New York Times calls Poland's Concert Hall Revival.  Among some of the more significant developments include

• Warsaw:  Among the first buildings to be bombed, the Warsaw Philharmonic Hall was not reconstructed until the mid-1950s.  It's rendering was a pastiche between its former grandeur and Soviet realism.

Current Philharmonic Hall

A design contest was held to build a replacement.  Combining both the shoebox (for acoustics) and arena (for sight lines) styles, Austrian architect Thomas Pucher has proposed an exciting 1,800 seat venue, looking something like this:

Sinfonia Warsovia Concert Hall

• Krakow:  Among Europe's newest concert venues is the city's Congress Hall, resplendent with a 2,100 seat concert space (that's large for Europe).  

Other new sites in smaller Polish cities include:

Polish National Radio Symphony Hall, Katowice

Philharmonic Hall, Szczecin
This really doesn't work for me...

interior

National Forum of Music, Wroclaw

National Forum of Music, interior

Lest one believe that everything is new, efforts were completed in 1965 to restore and actually enlarge the magnificent Grand Theater of Warsaw, home to the Polish National Opera.

Grand National Theater, Warsaw (1,841 seats)

the stunning interior

One has to believe that, if such building can take place in once-war-torn Poland, it should be able to happen anywhere.  Of course, there needs to be a commitment to a country's culture.

The many homes of the Detroit Symphony...

Beginning its life in 1887, the DSO is the fourth oldest orchestra in America.  Concerts were held from that time until spring 1919 (with a hiatus from 1910 to 1914) at the old Detroit Opera House.

Old Detroit Opera House, 1906

The summer of 1919 was spent in a whirlwind of construction.  Russian pianist and conductor Ossip Gabrilowitsch had accepted a contract extension under the condition that a new concert hall be built worthy of the increasingly-renowned ensemble.  It took less than five months to build Orchestra Hall and the inaugural concert was held October 23, 1919.  One of the printed programs from the previous season summed up the orchestra's sentiments, “The new hall not only fills a demand, but marks a new era in the annals of musical history in Detroit. It will be the center of Detroit’s musical life.”

Orchestra Hall, 1924

1970, long after the move. Decaying grandeur.

Despite a beautiful (and acoustically sound) concert hall, the orchestra could not overcome the financial difficulties cause by the Great Depression, and left their own home for greater security offered by Detroit's Masonic Auditorium--the largest such facility in the world.

Aerial view of the Masonic campus

Detroit Masonic Auditorium interior

Although blessed with a very large and attractive facility, there were obvious drawbacks to performing at the Masonic facility.  With 4,404 seats, it was virtually impossible for the orchestra to "sell out" its concerts.  Thus, in a move similar to the Chicago Symphony (which had been holding its concerts in the 3,900 seat Auditorium Theater), the orchestra sought out another "new dig."  In 1946, the DSO moved into the renamed Music Hall.

Music Hall:  not really an external beauty

I once saw a movie (Greatest Story Ever Told?) from the balcony

Yet another move took place with the construction of Ford Auditorium on the riverfront in 1956.  Located near Cobo Arena (former home of the Detroit Pistons) and later, Joe Lewis Arena (soon-to-be former home of the Red Wings), Ford was a troublesome space from the start.  With an overly wide house (and other never-solved problems) the acoustics were atrocious.  Despite that, the DSO created a number of landmark recordings for the Mercury "Living Presence" label during that time.  The hall did have a fabulous Aeolian-Skinner organ so buried in the fly-space that it could barely be heard.

Ford Auditorium, 1950s chic

Not exactly a shoebox (I'd hate to sit under that overhang!)

Finally bringing her down in 2011.

By the 1970s, efforts were afoot to reclaim Orchestra Hall and, following a nearly 20-year renovation (the building had been re-used as a theater, among other things), the DSO moved home.  What goes around comes around and despite money troubles and labor strife, the DSO lives on.  In a city so recently bound for the dumpster, great things are happening in MidTown (and soon there will be a new hockey arena!  Ugh)

Magnificent Orchestra Hall...a thing of beauty.