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IN Music News THIS WEEK:
Alsop's `Historical Appointment'
Rosenberg to Berlin
No List Is to Be Presumed Complete . . .
New Mill Valley Philharmonic Being Formed
Glynn Ross
Seattle Opera Budget Shortfall
Special Proms Concerts on Your Computer
Nagano's Berlin Successor
No Resolution Seen in Montreal Strike
New SFS Youth Orchestra Music Director
Hacko's Departure from Sacramento Now Official
Unexpected Budget Figures
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By Janos Gereben
Falletta's `Return Debut'
It was an unusual scene outside Davies Hall Thursday night: a capacity audience (2,850) squeezing through the doors, a long
"standby" line awaiting tickets that may be returned, and actual "scalping" on the sidewalk, with demand exceeding supply. The
attraction: a San Francisco Symphony summer concert, featuring the music of Piazzolla and other tango composers, the great
bandoneón master Daniel Binelli in person, a pair of stunning tango dancers, and conductor JoAnn Falletta, making
her Symphony debut here.
A DEBUT for Falletta? But this is the city where she headed the (late) Women's Philharmonic for a decade, beginning in
1986; the region where she conducted orchestras from Sacramento to San Jose over the years. Still, it was a first for Falletta
with SFS, although she is so much part of the local scene that there is even a music award in her name here (with SF Opera's
Sara Jobin being the first recipient).
The concert — under Falletta's fluid, focussed, effortless direction — was exceptional, Piazzolla's huge, rambling
Aconcagua bandoneón concerto at the core, Binelli drawing breathtaking sounds from his instrument, Polly Ferman
contributing lyrical piano solos. There was nothing off-season about the Symphony's playing, as solid and soaring as ever.
Salgan's Don Augustin Bardi featured Binelli and Ferman again, adding a pair of sinuously athletic dancers — Pilar
Álvarez and Claudio Hoffmann — who performed miracles on a narrow strip of the stage between the podium and the five-foot
drop to the audience level: artistic, graceful, bravura... and death-defying.
Piazzolla's Tangazo anchored the second half, between Marquez's Danzon No. 2, Ibarra's Symphony No. 2 (La Antesalas
del Sueno), and Ginastera's seductive Estancia Suite. All in all, an event that gives "summer concerts" a very good
name indeed.
Falletta — on her way to conduct the National Symphony at Wolf Trap this week — is very busy these days: she's been music
director since 1999 of the Buffalo Philharmonic, with a $10-million operating budget, and simultaneously, since 1991, of
the Virginia Symphony ($5+ million budget), getting rave reviews for guest conducting with major orchestras, having
produced more than 30 CD's. She is also artistic advisor to the Honolulu Symphony, which is without a conductor these days, so
Falletta will take up the slack for three pairs of concerts next season (other visiting conductors include Rossen Milanov,
Alexander Mickelthwate, Roberto Minczuk, former music director Samuel Wong, Heiichiro Ohyama, Norichika Iimori, Jacques Lacombe
and Naoto Otomo).
Asked for comment about the story of Marin Alsop's pending appointment to head the Baltimore Symphony, Falletta said
she'd hope the business about "women conductors" (of which she was in the forefront two decades ago) will soon "go away," as
"more people become aware of all the good work done by women musicians for so long, in so many places." In the past, she said,
the image of a conductor was usually one of an autocrat, someone who would hire and fire at will, yell at musicians, and throw
temper tantrums. "That kind of leadership from a woman has never been really comfortable. Today, of course, conductors work in
a different way. We're not generally like that anymore and I think the door has opened up for women. I think we'll see more
women (conductors) in the future."
Clearly evident in Davies Hall Thursday night was that Falletta is the very opposite of an "autocrat." In addition to working
smoothly and kindly with musicians, whose expressions (and playing) indicated enjoyment of making music together, Falletta was
unpretentiously generous to the soloists in the orchestra, and the featured artists, taking no solo bow. She applauded Binelli
hard and long, not with the usual "air kiss" of the baton, but with two-handed, loud, fan-to-the-max celebration that just
wouldn't stop, in tandem with the audience. Surely there are some "men conductors" like that . . . but not many.
Alsop's `Historical Appointment' With all the sudden, somewhat unexpected controversy surrounding the naming of Marin Alsop's as music director of the Baltimore Symphony (where orchestra musicians have raised objections), Alsop's own sober comments on National Public Radio's Weekend Edition on Saturday served as the most concise reflection. "Have we all made too much of that (being a woman)?" the program host asked her. "I almost had enough of it," Alsop said, with a rueful laugh. "It's great to be part of history, but it makes me a little bit sad that in the 21st century this kind of history can still be made." For the full interview, see www.npr.org, click on "Listen" above her photo.
Rosenberg to Berlin Outgoing SF Opera general manager Pamela Rosenberg will become Intendant, or administrative director, of the Berlin Philharmonic next year — the first woman and first American in that position. One reason Rosenberg gave for not wanting to renew her contract in San Francisco was that she wishes "to focus more creative energy and leadership skills on the development of new productions and new works," rather than being responsible for administration and fund-raising. It remains to be seen if the Berlin Philharmonic requires less of the "non-artistic" toil than San Francisco had.
No List is to be Presumed Complete . . . but even so, apologies for the omission of some prominent — and local — women conductors from last months's roundup in Music News. Kathryn Cathcart has a long and distinguished record in San Francisco and San Jose; Barbara Day Turner has conducted Opera San Jose for years, with "outruns" to many communities, all the way to Idaho (where she headed the music staff for the world premiere of Nosferatu.) SFCV reader Uri Wassertzug writes about Claire Gibault, saying that "I am a violist in the Washington Opera Orchestra and we had the good fortune a few years back to perform Idomeneo with her." Wassertzug urged Googling Gibault, and the result was impressive: "Claire Gibault is regularly invited as guest conductor at La Scala in Milan, Covent Garden in London, Edinburgh, San Francisco and São Paulo, Brazil. In April, 1997, she became the first woman ever to conduct the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. Last August, Britain's Glyndebourne Festival welcomed her to conduct its performances of Rossini's Count Ory." Starting as chorus master of the Lyon Opéra, Gibault rose to staff conductor there as assistant to John Eliot Gardiner. Let's try for another list of women conductors, one which makes a greater effort — with some 300 (!) names — but still falling short of completeness. The source is the Kapralova Society, a Canadian organization dedicated to promoting women in music: www.kapralova.org
New Mill Valley Philharmonic Being Formed Sara Morehouse reports in the Marin IJ that Laurie Cohen, of the Tennessee Valley Orchestra, will rename the organization as the Mill Valley Philharmonic. "The Tennessee Valley part of the orchestra is not recognizable enough," Cohen is quoted. "Even people in Marin, they're great hikers and you'd think they would know Tennessee Valley, but they don't, and certainly people elsewhere don't. We're constantly getting asked, 'Isn't that somewhere outside of Nashville or Knoxville?'" Cohen is supported by a colleague, another woman conductor, Tara Flandreau, of the College of Marin Symphony.
Glynn Ross My memories of first visiting Seattle 35 years ago have been inextricably linked with Glynn Ross, who died last week at age 90. He was responsible for the flags flying downtown: "Get Ahead with Salome!" and he created a production of Wagner's gigantic Ring cycle, intriguing enough to change my itinerary from Europe to the Northwest, and eventually even change residence. Ross was general manager of Seattle Opera — a regional company few people heard of then outside the US — which over the years he put on the map for good, to the point of competing for audiences with the Wagnerian Mecca of Bayreuth. A former Golden Gloves contender, with a nose to prove it, a one-of-a-kind USO officer, who put on Aida in post-World War II Naples, using troops (or POW's, the story he told me has faded by now) in an unending Triumphal March, exiting stage right, made to run around the building, and re-entering stage left. Ross remained in Italy, and became a stage director at the Teatro San Carlo, the first American to direct in a major Italian opera house. He then directed opera in the US — in Los Angeles, New Orleans, and elsewhere — also in San Francisco, with a 1948 Il Barbiere di Siviglia. [Obituary information from Seattle Opera about his "staging opera... with the San Francisco Opera, 1950-60" is erroneous.) During Ross' administration, 1964-1983, Seattle Opera not only did German- and English-language Ring cycles on shoestring budgets, but introduced the WHO's rock opera Tommy, featuring Bette Midler, presented the world premieres of Carlisle Floyd's Of Mice and Men, Thomas Pasatieri's Black Widow, and other works. After leaving Seattle, Ross headed the Arizona Opera until his retirement in 1998, at age 83. Altogether, Ross ran opera companies for 34 years without a deficit — a feat certain to remain unparalleled in contemporary opera history, just as unique as Ross himself.
Seattle Opera Budget Shortfall Seattle Opera is projecting a budget shortfall of $250,000 to $280,000 for the 2004-'05 season. This follows a smaller deficit that occurred at the end of the previous season. Operational expenses for 2004-'05 were approximately $18.5 million (originally planned for $19.5 million before some major staff reductions), and contributions, at $10.5 million, were as budgeted. Ticket revenue, however, at $6.9 million, was $1.25 million under budget. The budget for 2005-'06 is $25 million, which includes $7.8 million for the Wagner Ring, running in three complete cycles in August.
Special Proms Concerts on Your Computer The BBC Proms concerts — such as the Antonio Pappano-conducted Die Walküre, with Lisa Gasteen, Placido Domingo and Bryn Terfel — are available live on radio, and then for a week or longer from the BBC Website, at www.bbc.co.uk. For downloading Die Walküre broadcast, go to www.bbc.co.uk/radio. A notice says recordings are available for a week after the broadcast, but that refers to the link being carried on the site; if you have the URL (the Web address), you can play the music indefinitely, certainly as long as the season lasts. A couple of concerts to look for (and hear live, as they happen): Sunday, July 31, 10:30 a.m. PDT, Berlioz's Roméo et Juliette, Ilan Volkov conducting the BBC Scottish Symphony, with soloists Katarina Karneus, Jean-Paul Fouchécourt, and John Relyea; and on Tuesday, August 2, at 11 a.m. our time, San Francisco's Philharmonia Baroque, conducted by Nicholas McGegan, with tenor John Mark Ainsley, in music by Rameau and Handel.
Nagano's Berlin Successor The German conductor Ingo Metzmacher, 47, will become chief conductor of Berlin's Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester when Kent Nagano relinquishes the post next year. Metzmacher will continue his work with the Hamburg and the Netherlands Opera companies. Nagano is scheduled to lead the Montreal Symphony Orchestra beginning next year, and be musical head of the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, succeeding Zubin Mehta. Nagano is also expected to continue as Berkeley Symphony's music director for the 26th year.
No Resolution Seen in Montreal Strike The Montreal Symphony strike, now in its twelfth week, drags on, with August's six-week, between-season “dark” period rapidly approaching. The musicians are currently earning $600 per week in strike pay; that goes away (temporarily) in August. “Many musicians are worried that no agreement by August would jeopardize the orchestra's season and significance, and even encourage some to leave town for other jobs,” reports the Montreal Gazette.
New SFS Youth Orchestra Music Director Benjamin Shwartz was named as Wattis Foundation Music Director of the SFS Youth Orchestra, beginning in September, replacing Edwin Outwater, who continues to act as SFS Resident Conductor. Before coming to San Francisco, Shwartz was assistant conductor of the Delaware Symphony and of the Reading Symphony in Pennsylvania.
Hacko's Departure from Sacramento Now Official The stormy on-and-off relationship between Zvonimir Hacko and what was the Sacramento Symphony — now the Sacramento Metropolitan Orchestra — is officially finished. According to the Sacramento Bee, Hacko was asked to resign as a member of the board, and when he asked to retain his position as music director, the board denied him a continued contract. Executive director Janet Kerr told the Bee that ending the orchestra's relationship with Hacko was essential to the group's survival. "When you have a guy who is not beloved in the community, it's very difficult to sell tickets," Kerr said. "We came to an agreement that it was in the best interest of the orchestra that he not continue his working relationship with us for the 2005-2006 season." The orchestra's opening concert, originally scheduled for September, will be postponed until November as the orchestra is trying to hire a new music director. Sacramento Philharmonic executive director Jane Hill told Cynthia Hubert of the Bee that the Symphony/Metropolitan Orchestra attempt to survive only undermines efforts to build a solid audience for classical music in the area. "I'm not even sure there's enough support for one orchestra," Hill was quoted. "It's tough. It's a crapshoot every season. It takes a lot of work and a lot of community support. Why fragment that support? And what does the Sacramento Metropolitan Orchestra offer that the Philharmonic does not? What distinguishes it? What is its niche? I just don't get it." The Philharmonic, entering its ninth season, was at one time involved with Hacko as well, but it's been under the direction of Michael Morgan in recent years. See www.sacramentophilharmonic.org Hill's strong, if somewhat inelegant, final words on Hacko and the Philharmonic's orchestra rival: "They may have cut out the cancer, but the patient is an inflatable doll." Symphonic music in Sacramento is not for the faint of heart.
Unexpected Budget Figures Which is the largest symphony orchestra in the US? Chances are the answer is: the New York Philharmonic. In fact, if American Symphony Orchestra League figures are to be believed, New York's operating budget places it FIFTH, even after San Francisco! The list:
(Janos Gereben, a regular contributor to www.sfcv.org, is arts editor of the
Post Newspaper Group. His e-mail address is janosg@gmail.com.)
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JoAnn Falletta
Glynn Ross
