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CSO conductors, 08-09 season

Published on June 7, 2009 in columbus symphony orchestra and conductors. 2 Comments Tags: columbus symphony, george manahan, guest conductors, kitchener waterloo.

To sum up the Columbus Symphony Orchestra 2008-2009 Winter season, the following is a chronological review of our guest conductors (who were also music director candidates), along with my personal opinions of them.

DAVID LOCKINGTON, music director of the Grand Rapids Symphony since 1999, and the Modesto Symphony in CA since 2007, conducted Tchaikovsky’s 4th symphony with us. He didn’t seem to make a lasting impression on me or the orchestra. Lockington seemed detached from the music and its emotions, though the orchestra, in our usual fashion, added what was missing and played well, despite not having played together for months.

EDWIN OUTWATER, music director of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, led us in Beethoven 8th Symphony, a Mozart piano concerto and David Diamond’s Rounds for Strings. He is known for his innovative programming ideas, as that program showed. His abilities off the podium are also impressive. But the orchestra had trouble playing well under his guidance. Beethoven’s 8th is very tricky for conductors, with “in the cracks” tempos and style, neither here nor there. Too slow and it’s logy, too fast and it’s comical. Outwater tried too hard to make the music his own, in my opinion, rather than letting it develop on its own with our help.

French Canadian JEAN-MARIE ZEITOUNI, who conducts Les Violons di Roi, conducted Rossini’s Semiramis Overture, Mozart’s Jupiter Symphony, Elgar Violin Concerto. If you read this blog regularly, you know my opinion of him. (I wrote about him HERE and also HERE and HERE.)

If we need to hire someone young and upcoming to save money, Zeitouni is our man. He is brilliant, speaking some 7 languages. His ear is excellent. It’s rare that a conductor will suggest pitch corrections to orchestra members, knowing the potential backlash, especially if they’re wrong. But Zeitouni had the confidence to do so, successfully.

Though much of the music was new to him, we wouldn’t know it by working with him. He sized up the pieces and their necessary rehearsal structure without blinking.

The Semiramis Overture of Rossini is notoriously difficult both for conductor and orchestra. He didn’t baby us with his tempos, asking for “Toscanini” speeds. But he also kept the players from rushing their parts, a great temptation in fast tempos. (funny, you’d think the opposite would be true, to drag when asked to play fast, but that’s not usually the case)

In one short conversation I had with him, he told me he had sized up the situation in Columbus as well, and already knew how he would proceed if he were asked to head the CSO.

Several key players in our orchestra predict a star-studded career for Jean-Marie Zeitouni. I agree. With his gifts, his relative lack of experience won’t slow him down.

The music director from the San Diego Symphony, YAHYA LING, took the driver’s seat for Dvorak 8th and the Brahms 2nd Piano Concerto, soloist Emmanuel Ax. Ling is the real thing: calm, sure, stable. He inspired us with detailed analysis of the music’s style and performance tradition. Having worked with the Cleveland Orchestra for many years, he has inherited their great tradition.

THIERRY FISCHER did a French program (Debussy Noctunes, Frank D minor Symphony). I was very impressed with him. His European training and upbringing molded him into an effective and confident musician. Unfortunately, along with that high tradition came some professional condescension and patronizing, not a good way to win respect in our Midwestern culture.

Hailing form Mexico, via private schooling in England and New York, ALONDRA DE LA PARRA recently formed her own orchestra in NYC- Philharmonic of the Americas, which features new music and players from the American Continent. She also did a 20th Century program with us, Jennifer Higdon’s stunning and relatively new Concerto for Orchestra, Copland Danza Cubano and Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F. In my review of that week, I barely mentioned de la Parra, instead focusing on Higdon’s music, which I LOVE.

De la Parra donned a smartly tailored suit with sparkling rhinestone buttons in the performance. She is certainly impressive to watch, and seemed to have the undivided attention of all the men in the orchestra (and perhaps the audience). Her astounding confidence was infectious.

But her confidence was not infectious enough to help us navigate some very dicey rhythms in Copland’s Danza Cubano. When she sang the rhythms to us in demonstration, they were extremely fast and rushed, surely not the way she wanted us to play them. Several orchestra members, including myself, went to speak to her about the critical importance of rhythmic stability to keep the ensemble together. Luckily she listened. But it left me wondering.

In the piano concerto, de la Parra had trouble following the soloist, at times stepping on his toes with an orchestral entrance after a piano solo section. During some orchestra tutti passages with solo lines, de la Parra seemed impatient for the music to happen faster than it was. It left us uneasy, not a productive feeling for seasoned players capable of so much.

Overall, her verve and style created a very exciting performance.

Finally, GEORGE MANAHAN ended our season with a bang, or I should say, a fateful knocking at the door. He directed us in Beethoven Leonore #3, the Piano Concerto #3, and the 5th Symphony.

Manahan is my kind of conductor: experienced, knowledgeable, efficient, clear, respectful and also worthy of respect. And the cherry on top? He achieves exciting performances.

Friends of mine who regularly attend our concerts told me how great the orchestra sounded, how well he followed the soloist, and how exciting the overall effect was.

A decade of running the NYC Opera has honed his extensive experience running a large arts organization in the US. He’s also an American who regularly conducts and runs American orchestras. He knows how they tick, inside and out.

Listen to his interview with Christopher Purdy HERE, to hear him speak. He is confident, informative and interesting.

So, don’t let me sway you. :-) Who would you pick for our next music director?

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Taking Charge

Published on May 30, 2009 in Orchestral Playing, Performances, classical music, columbus symphony orchestra, conductors and live music. 0 Comments Tags: beethoven fifth, betsy sturdevant, george manahan, orli shaham, Randy Hester.

When a capable leader takes charge, he/she doesn’t simply command, but instead leads with experience and integrity.

That’s what George Manahan did tonight with the Columbus Symphony. Neither ego nor excessive choreography were needed for him to impress or convince. He directed tonight’s concert with thoughtful leadership and detailed rendering of the music. And he had a blast while doing so! He’s not over the hill; he’s on top of it.

In the Leonora Overture Opus 72a (1806) of Beethoven, Manahan crafted the opening fragmented Adagio to highlight its neurotic parts rather than trying to mold it into a single mood. The ensuing Allegro emerged from pianissimo into a blinding crescendo using more than just dynamics. In Manahan’s hands, it began hesitantly and gained momentum as it grew in power.

Throughout the rest of the overture, Maestro Manahan encouraged the various and complex moods of Beethoven’s music to evolve, ending with one of the most unbridled Allegros I’ve ever played in that piece.

He then shifted to the role of accompanist with ease in Orli Shaham’s powerful and expressive performance of Beethoven’s 3rd Piano Concerto in C minor, Opus 37.

Ms. Shaham’s rendition of the heart-wrenchingly beautiful second movement Largo indulged its introspective and spiritual beauty. This music of Beethoven must have been created in the spirit of deep love and affection. At least that is the sweet emotion it inspires in me. At times it has the romantic Eastern European flavor of Chopin (which it preceded by decades).

One favorite part of mine in this movement is where the bassoon (Betsy Sturdevant) and flute (Randy Hester) pass off fragments of melody while the piano accompanies with rolling chords. Time seems to stop as the two wind instruments entwine their lines in some heavenly dream.

The rollicking Rondo Allegro last movement contains several potholes which often snag inexperienced conductors, where the orchestra must enter with a strong tutti passage following a blur of notes from the solo piano. Manahan caught them with a sharp eye and ear. (We had a less successful experience with another conductor recently, in a different piano concerto, but the same kind of dicey traps.)

Manahan conducted the Overture and the 5th Symphony from memory. I’m always impressed with this skill, even though these are “war horses” in the symphonic literature.

For the second half, Maestro Manahan drew a fresh and vigorous reading of the most recognizable symphony in the history of music, Beethoven’s Fifth (also in C minor, like the concerto). His confidence on the podium was never forced or strained. He conveyed excitement without tension, just the kind of energy which translates into good playing. After the orchestra relaxed into it, we all trusted his good energy.

In general, he kept the pedal to the metal, bringing out the maniacal rhythmical drive of the music. (Beethoven invented minimalist music WAY before Phillip Glass!) Some conductors will ride the brakes once in awhile to keep the performance civilized. Manahan wasn’t shy about guzzling gas. Nor was he a reckless driver. I suspect his considerable experience behind the wheel has sharpened his judgment for knowing the difference.

The Ohio Theater looked quite full from my view on stage. And they seemed thrilled with the concert.

On a side note- I am happy to say I was playing on a synthetic reed tonight. (a Legere reed, made in Canada) This is the first time I’ve ever done this. And I was quite happy with the result. I also found out that plastic reeds squeak just as well as cane ones! I’ll report more about these in another post.

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George Manahan

Published on May 29, 2009 in Behind the Scenes, Musician's Life, classical music, columbus symphony orchestra, conductors and live music. 0 Comments Tags: backun, beethoven, c clarinet, george manahan, manahan, orli shaham.

George Manahan conducts the Columbus Symphony Orchestra tonight and tomorrow, May 29 and 30, in an all Beethoven program which includes the infamous 5th symphony and the lyrical 3rd piano concerto with Orli Shaham as soloist.

Working with George Manahan this week has been a pleasure for me. I have enjoyed his detailed yet efficient rehearsal technique. He is quite specific about articulations in Beethoven, reminding us to take close notice of Beethoven’s markings. He conducts what the score says, which is not always the case with such a famous piece as Beethoven’s 5th symphony. His tempos are also authentic, which translates into brisk, since Beethoven’s tempo markings are quite fast. (Beethoven was one of the first composers to put metronomic tempo markings, using the newly invented metronome to stipulate them accurately)

I am particularly impressed with Maestro Manahan’s “stick technique”, his skill with the baton and all his gestures. (You may remember I mentioned that he conducted in both 3 and 4 during one part of Stravinsky’s Petrouchka during his last appearance with us 5 years ago). Of course, in Beethoven he doesn’t have anything like that to do. But he is vividly clear about every beat, every entrance, every cut-off. And within that clarity he also indicates his musical intentions.

As a performer, I couldn’t ask for more from a conductor.

There is an interesting interview with Maestro Manahan with Christopher Purdy’s blog on WOSU. You can listen to it HERE.

The program opens with Beethoven’s Leonora #3, the most often played of the 4 versions. The following is part of a detailed description of all 4 versions from a website called Music with Ease.

Beethoven’s only opera, “Fidelio,” was first produced in Vienna, November 20, 1805, under the title of “Leonora,” with the overture now known as “Leonora No. 2.” Subsequently the opera was shortened and produced with a new overture, the “Leonora No. 3.” After a few performances it was withdrawn, but in 1806, anticipating its production the name of “Fidelio,” he wrote a third overture, usually called “Leonora No. 1.” The performance did not take place however, but in 1814 a revision of the opera was given in its present form as “Fidelio,” with an entirely new overture. The chronological sequence of these overtures is as follows: Leonora No. 2 in C, op. 72, 1805; Leonora No. 3 in C, op. 72, 1806; Leonora No. 1 in C, op. 138, 1807; Fidelio in E, op. 72, 1814.

The clarinet part for the overture and part of the symphony is written for C clarinet. Most clarinetists do not owns Cs, and transpose those parts to play on their Bb instruments. Since I own a C instrument (which I bought for the occasional extremely difficult C parts, such as in Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier), I will use it. C clarinets are notoriously bright, which is why they fell out of use. I recently found a sweet Backun barrel for mine, which mellows the sound nicely.

Our piano soloist this weekend is Orli Shaham, who offers a spirited and lyrical rendition of Beethoven’s 3rd concerto. She’s also quite fun to work with. When she came on the nearly empty stage during our lunch break to practice, I was there with my colleague Woody. She said in an exaggeratedly loud tone, “Now that’s what I like to see, musicians on stage practicing!” During the rehearsal, she made one small request through the conductor about note length, and said something like, “Yeah, I’m the culprit messing with details again.”

At one point in the concerto’s heartbreakingly lyrical slow movement, the pianist holds down the “sustain” pedal through a long passage, blurring all the notes together. I later asked her if Beethoven had indicated this, and she said he had, that he was always experimenting with different sounds and colors. The effect is such that the music sounds as if it’s floating, hovering suspended as each note swirls around the next.

It’s amazing how fresh and new even such well known music can sound. Of course, Beethoven was the ultimate modernist. But don’t tell anyone. They might decide they don’t like his music anymore.

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Reviews and a Preview

Published on May 13, 2009 in columbus symphony orchestra and conductors. 0 Comments Tags: berlioz, brahms, christopher oriley, columbus symphony, george manahan, Ohio Theater, palace theater, peter stafford wilson, stravinsky, symphonie fantastique, tombeau de couperin, West Broad Elementary.

This update covers the Columbus Symphony events of the past few weeks, along with a preview of an exciting upcoming concert with conductor George Manahan.

Over the past few weeks we played several short educational concerts in various Columbus elementary schools.

Yesterday we played at West Broad Elementary. At each concert Peter Stafford Wilson, who conducts all these concerts, asks the children to name the “families” of instruments after pieces featuring them. In most schools, the kids had trouble answering correctly, but at West Broad, they nailed all the answers. Kudos to the teachers at W Broad Elementary!

This week we play another set of educational concerts in the Ohio Theater for Columbus children. The kids always seem to love coming to the ultra-fancy Ohio Theater to see the Symphony.

I remember going to see the National Symphony at the Kennedy Center while in Middle School. It was one of my first introductions to the symphony. I remember learning about the radical style of Berlioz through hearing parts of his Symphonie Fantastique. Did that experience help prompt my decision to become a musician? Yes.

Last week we played Ravel’s Tombeau de Couperin along with his G Major Piano Concerto and Brahms 1st Symphony, in the Palace Theater. Guest artist Christopher O’Riley served double duty as soloist and conductor.

I liked O’Riley’s idea of having members of the orchestra make a few comments about the piece we were about to play. It helped the audience connect a face and a personality to the music they were about to hear. I hope we do more of that.

By his own admission he had never conducted an orchestra. Not only did that take guts to admit, it took even more guts to do! He fared well in general, with some help from us. But that’s what it’s about, isn’t it? I think we play better as an orchestra when we have to rely on our best musical instincts, our internal rhythm, and our (remarkably vast) combined experience. Together we pulled it off. O’Riley is certainly an amiable guy, an earnest musician and accomplished pianist.

On May 29 and 30 we perform an all Beethoven concert with conductor George Manahan. I remember his stellar performance of Stravinsky’s Petrouchka here several years ago. Not only did he piece together the notoriously fragmented score into a cohesive whole in the performance, but he conducted in both a three and four pattern beat simultaneously in one spot!

Manahan is primarily known for his successful and seasoned leadership at the New York City Opera. In my opinion, that’s a terrific foundation for dramatic and vivid interpretations of symphonic music.

I look forward to playing the mind-blowing music of Beethoven (including his 5th symphony) with such a seasoned artist.

In his eleventh season as Music Director of New York City Opera, the wide-ranging and versatile George Manahan has had an esteemed career embracing everything from opera to the concert stage, the traditional to the contemporary. He has been hailed for his leadership at City Opera, where he “gets from his players the kind of heartfelt involvement unthinkable in the City Opera orchestra pit 20 years ago…these musicians operate with such consistent energy and involvement.” (New York Times)
George Manahan has distinguished himself throughout the world as one of… more the foremost conductors of our time, and is especially known in the opera world for his musical guidance of diverse productions including productions of ‘La faniculla del West’, ‘Daphne’, ‘Ermione’, ‘Dialogues of the Carmelites’, ‘Cendrillon’, ‘Die tote Stadt’. He has also toured Japan with NYCO’s production of ‘Little Women’.

Mr. Manahan’s guest appearances include the symphonies of Atlanta, San Francisco, Milwaukee, Indianapolis, Charlotte, and New Jersey, where he served as acting Music Director for four seasons.

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Galactic Transmissions

Published on April 16, 2009 in Clarinet, Musician's Life, Orchestral Playing, classical music, columbus symphony orchestra and conductors. 0 Comments Tags: alondra de la parra, Clarinet, columbus symphony, concerto for orchestra, jennifer higdon, orchestral piece, solo instruments.

Jennifer Higdon’s Concerto for Orchestra, written in 2002, transmits a magical portrait of a large, modern orchestra in a rich variety of colors, textures, rhythms and harmonic density. It seems to hail from an exotic (but friendly) planet across the galaxy, presenting a world both familiar and completely new. During louder passages in our two rehearsals of it thus far, I felt my insides vibrating, happily receiving its fresh and often impish message. The Columbus Symphony will be performing this piece this Saturday and Sunday, April 18 and 19.

Concerto for Orchestra is deftly orchestrated, as it should be, with lots of idiomatic writing for solo instruments and sections, in a playful style and form strongly reminiscent of Bela Bartok’s iconic masterpiece of the same name.

Higdon’s harmonic language uses whole tone scales mixed with modes to create a French sounding effervescence, and also infusing a magical quality into the music. She uses this mercurial lightness to great extent in almost rapturous passages which sound inspired by the orchestral music of Olivier Messiaen, another other worldly composer. She even indicates “mystical” and (in rehearsal today) “magical” for the style of the third movement. Many of the themes are hauntingly alluring.

Dissonances are so richly textured that they become simply dense colors rather than “wrong” sounding notes. Tonal melody can be heard through this thick haze of notes, but often only vaguely. Yet, despite the density of sound, balance is not much of an issue, an indicator of effective orchestral writing. Also, though fairly difficult music to play, it does not come across as a struggle for anyone in the orchestra.

Though much of the five movement work uses strong, repeated rhythms, either alone or under melodies and counterpoint, many intimate ensemble passages convey a jazzy freedom. In such cases, each part seems to have a mind of its own, chatting with and around the others.

Technically, the first movement has one passage written into the stratosphere of the clarinet range. I’ve never played a double high C in an orchestral piece. (I have played Ginastera Danses Concertantes on C clarinet, which then goes up to a double high B)

But the writing is such that it’s not unnatural to go up that high. The fingerings came somewhat easily (we often have to invent fingerings that high), and the style of this particular lick, a sfumando run, up in smoke, lends itself to the vagueness of such high writing. (Tuning up there often involves some luck.) Yet, since the flutes are also playing in the same range, the passage is not damaged by playing it down an octave, which I think the Atlanta Symphony did in their recording.

Overall, I am enjoying getting to know this relatively new work for orchestra. It is a nice balance of challenge and reward.

The young and highly touted conductor from Mexico, Alondra de la Parra has done well putting this all together so far, rehearsing intricate spots and transitional passages enough to give them a comfortable feel. Maestra de la Parra seems to understand the effervescent requirements of Higdon’s music, and is choosing tempos to that effect, though there were occasions where her intentions did not translate into effective stick commands. Overall, this young conductor seems unhindered by the masculine tradition of conductors, and her dynamism and verve on the podium convey a natural excitement for the music.

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Bragging Rights

Published on April 11, 2009 in Orchestral Playing, Performances, classical music, columbus symphony orchestra and conductors. 0 Comments Tags: debussy, harnoncourt, jennifer parker harley, musical interpretation, performance practices, rehearsals, tempos, woodwind player, woodwind section.

A few days ago I was thinking of writing a post on how difficult it is for a good orchestra to maintain its “chops” when performing “real” music only 8-10 weeks in a season. But I would have been wrong.

Tonight’s concert of Frank, Debussy and Ravel was a stunning performance. Last night was good, but tonight was 15% better.

Much of tonight’s success is due to Maestro Fischer’s vivid reading of the scores and his excellent preparation of the orchestra during rehearsals. Also, there was some “je ne sais quois”, perhaps a bit more trust of us, or of himself.

Whatever the reason, a great performance boils down to excellent players tuning themselves to the highest standards; to laser focus, to subtle cooperation and an almost clairvoyant sense of timing. None of this was lost on Maestro Fischer, who let us breathe together and taper note endings, sensing that our ability in those areas did not require over-control on his part.

I like Thierry Fischer’s tempos. As a woodwind player, he knows we (woodwind and brass players) only have so much breath. His airy tempos were a bit more organic tonight, flexing here and there to allow just a touch of whimsy.

Yet his overall interpretation stuck to the score with adamant focus. Fischer’s style follows the radical tradition of Nikolaus Harnoncourt, who re-invented classical musical interpretation by harking back to historical performance practices based on extensive research. (When I first heard Harnoncourt’s Beethoven 9 symphonies, it was like hearing them for the first time; the fresh vigor of the music had been restored from the creaky, wheezy, over-interpreted traditions of the 60-70’s.)

On a side note, it was a pleasure to have the woodwind section “whole” again after so many months of lacking several key players. Notably, Jennifer Parker-Harley was back in town this week to play second flute. It was good to have the team together to play again, even if only for one program.

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Conductor Thierry Fischer in Columbus

Published on April 10, 2009 in Musician's Life, The Music, columbus symphony orchestra and conductors. 0 Comments Tags: chamber orchestra of europe, claudio abbado, columbus symphony, stewart goodyear, thierry fischer.

Thierry Fischer, Principal Conductor of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and also Chief Conductor of the Nagoya Philharmonic, conducts Debussy”s Nocturnes, Frank’s D minor Symphony and Ravel this weekend with the Columbus Symphony.

Stewart Goodyear plays Ravel’s Piano Concerto in D Major for the Left Hand, a fantastical miniature concerto with scintillating orchestration.

Fischer is notably a fellow woodwind player, having held, among other positions around Europe, the title of Principal Flute under Claudio Abbado with the multiple award winning Chamber Orchestra of Europe.

His conducting mentor is Nicolaus Harnoncourt, whom he seemed to follow throughout his career as a musician, from the Zurick Opera to the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. (where Harnoncourt garnered DG’s Record of the Year award for a recording of Beethoven 9 Symphonies, though I don’t know if Fischer played)

Harnoncourt’s website quotes him saying “Art is not a nice extra – it is the umbilical cord which connects us to the Divine, it guarantees our being human.”

I can see Harnoncourt’s influence in Fisher’s conducting style. From the moment he began rehearsing with us yesterday, he seemed incredibly focused on moving beyond the technique of playing to the essence of making music. Yet he never, ever relinquished his insistence on accuracy of dynamics, articulation, phrasing and balance.

He refused to let us play anything beyond the literal dynamics, especially in Debussy’s Nocturnes, where transparent textures ARE the music. It took us awhile to get used to playing so softly, but once we did, the hushed music came to life.

The boom on our stage makes playing at those delicate dynamics risky, not because they won’t be heard, but because one spoil sport can ruin it by creating a domino effect of booming sound. It takes great discipline to continually control our volume on such a boomy stage. Let’s hope we remember to override our “survival of he loudest” instincts tomorrow night.

Fischer’s background as a woodwind player was evident in the constructive comments he made to the winds and brass, often suggesting we use “more support” in the articulation, or to “project with support rather than volume”.

His general demeanor reflected his elegant European background. I don’t ever remember a conductor who was able to single out individual musicians for criticism without causing personal offense. Yet his deferential tone didn’t prevent him from chiding, with just a hint of irony, whole sections of the orchestra for failing to note a suggestion made to another section. In other words, despite politeness, he meant business.

His sincere desire to serve the music served him well in gaining the full respect (at least from my point of view) of the musicians.

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