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IN Music News THIS WEEK: The Bolshoi: Better Live Than Red
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By Janos Gereben
The Bolshoi: Better Live Than Red
One of the major attractions of last weekend's Bolshoi Ballet run in Zellerbach Hall was the presence of the Berkeley Symphony in the pit for Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake. Not counting a few major ballet companies in the US, a LIVE orchestra is becoming rarer than hen's teeth, which is a terrible thing for dancing and the livelihood of musicians.
Cal Performances director Robert Cole, already honored by the French government for his good work, should get a major token of US recognition as well for somehow managing to present live music throughout his 15 years in Berkeley, even in a case like this where the nearly 3-hour-long running time means expensive overtime.
The Bolshoi — as cold, impersonal and brilliant as ever — fielded a conductor to match its style: Alexander Sotnikov propelled a consistent but not particularly affecting performance, reigning in Berkeley's talented musicians, who sound as if playing in a different universe when Kent Nagano is on the podium. Ballet, of course, IS something different, the music serving the dancers, but still, it's possible to letting the orchestra on a longer leash than Sotnikov's a-one-and-two through that otherwise ravising score.
Concertmaster Stuart Canin, for example, handled well Tchaikovsky's devious violin concerto built into the score, but clearly pulling his punch in order not to upstage the dancers. Canin, who has had a sterling career as soloist, concertmaster, and Hollywood studio musician, brought all aspects of that illustrious background to the performance, especially the last. However powerful that music is for the solo violin, it must be played as part of a "soundtrack."
Paley to Head Berkeley Symphony Board The Berkeley Symphony has named a new board chairman, filling, at least temporarily, the void left by the sudden passing of Peter Henschel in August. Martin Paley, former executive director of the San Francisco Foundation and the head of many important fund-raising drives for projects such as the new San Francisco Main Library, has accepted the position on a transitional basis. The board chairman, who is responsible for long-term strategic leadership, works with board president Kenneth Johnson, vice president Linda Schacht, treasurer Jack Eastman, and secretary Bennett Markel.
First-Hand Report from Seattle Seattle Opera general director Speight Jenkins told the San Francisco Wagner Society meeting Saturday that the $125 million Opera House reconstruction project is both on time (opening in August) and on budget, although there is a cash-flow problem, being addressed with the help of the city administration. The event will also mark Jenkins' 20th anniversary with the company. Although it's a "re-do of the old house," Jenkins said at the meeting in the SF Ballet building, the company is really getting a new house, only 30% of the 1927 building to be retained, "not much more than the foundation." There will be 2,890 seats when the Marion Oliver McCaw Hall opens, a loss of 127 from the old count because "the walls are being moved in" in the reshaping of the building that will have a first balcony that swoops down to the main floor, the addition of numerous boxes, and space for 40 in a standing room area, which did not exist before. Another, much more important, lack, that of decent backstage facilities, is also being addressed, along with the addition of storage space. The cost of trucking and rental was enormous in the past when the Seattle Opera produced such large-scale works as the Ring or War & Peace. A new production of Parsifal will open the hall, designed by Robert Israel, directed by François Rochaix, and conducted by Asher Fisch. Christopher Ventris will sing the title role, Linda Watson will appear as Kundry. The cast includes Stephen Milling as Gurnemanz, Greer Grimsley as Amfortas, and Richard Paul Fink as Klingsor.
A Sturdy Roof for Chicken Little? Yes, we (among many) have been talking up a blue streak about financial crises among the nation's symphony orchestras — a topic entirely close to home when you look just 50 miles south of San Francisco — but here come some statistics (not lies or even damn lies) to the contrary. The American Symphony Orchestra League says US orchestras gave more concerts and sold more tickets in the 2000-2001 season than ever before. Nationwide symphony-orchestra revenue from ticket sales totalled $775 million, representing a climb of 37% in five years. Of course, 9/11 came at the end of this period, but the figures are still interesting because this season took place against the dotcom decline and the beginning of serious economic problems.
Orchestra Struggling Back from Bankruptcy The Calgary Philharmonic, which suspended operations and received bankruptcy protection last month, gave a successful fundraising benefit concert on Saturday, filling the hall and raising $47,000. Music director Hans Graf flew to Calgary at his own expense to conduct the concert.
Milenski Steps Aside Michael Milenski, founder and general director of the Long Beach Opera for a quarter century, has resigned, turning the directorship over to principal conductor Andreas Mitisek, 39. Milenski, 61, gave no reason for the move, which will start in January, and conclude in the fall when he leaves the company.
(Janos Gereben, a regular contributor to www.sfcv.org, is arts editor of the
Post Newspaper Group. His e-mail address is janos451@earthlink.net.)
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Robert Cole
Stuart Canin