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MUSIC SHORTS
"Local Man" to head Marin Symphony
May 29, 2001
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By Janos Gereben
Bravely going counter to the general, lamentable trend of finding
music directors as far away as geography allows (see Minnesota
Symphony story, below), Marin Symphony looked no further than
across the Golden Gate Bridge, and came up with a winner — and a
young one at that.
Alasdair Neale, leaving the San Francisco Symphony after a
distinguished 12 years as assistant and associate conductor and —
especially — as Wattis Foundation Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony
Youth Orchestra, will succeed Gary
Sheldon as the Marin Symphony's maestro, beginning this fall.
The orchestra's board of directors is reported to have been
unanimous in the choice. Neale, already committed to guest-conducting assignments elsewhere, will lead Marin concerts in October, March and April. Next week, he and executive director Noralee
Monastere will choose guest conductors for the other three programs of the season.
Neale, 38, has been a conductor since his student years at Yale
University, where he served as music director of the school orchestra. He went on to Juilliard, and immediately took over the school's pre-college orchestra. Winner
of the American Symphony Orchestra's Leonard Bernstein conducting
fellowship, the young man (then 26) came West in 1989, becoming
assistant conductor to Herbert Blomstedt. He was promoted to
associate three years later.
Neale's devotion to the Youth Orchestra has been legendary, and
besides training and nurturing hundreds of young musicians, Neale
also made the organization internationally famous. "I've grown
with the (youth) orchestra," he told me recently, "I had the
pleasure of seeing boys and girls turn into young men and women
and grow musically and personally. I treasure that. We have now
developed something we can be proud of." Neale's work with young musicians took place in California, which ranks dead last among the states, yes, 50th in music teachers per
students.
Last week, Neale and Youth Orchestra - now in its 20th year - performed Mahler's
Resurrection Symphony, to rave reviews. On June 16, he
will conduct the orchestra in a "bon voyage" concert before the
group departs for its sixth major international tour under his
baton.
Heifetz' Guarnerius comes to life Stuart Canin, concertmaster of the San Francisco Symphony from 1970-1980, will perform a recital on Jascha Heifetz' legendary Guarneri del Gesu violin, "The David," in the Legion of Honor's Gould Theater next Sunday at 2:00 PM. Canin, the first person to play this Guarnerius after Heifetz' death in 1987, is an international recitalist and soloist, and former leader of the New Century Chamber Orchestra. "The David" Guarneri del Gesu violin was bequeathed to the Fine Arts Museums by Jascha Heifetz (1901-1987) with the stipulation that it be played only by "worthy performers." In addition to Canin, it has been played at the Legion by musicians from the San Francisco Symphony, students from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Gil Shaham, and Itzhak Perlman. "The David" Guarneri del Gesu was Heifetz' instrument of choice for concerts and recordings in the last half-century of his career. Made in 1742 by Giuseppe Guarnerius "del Gesu" of Cremona, Italy, it was named after its owner in the 19th century, Ferdinand David, the concertmaster of the Leipzig Gewandhaus who gave the first performance of the Mendelssohn Concerto, and whose famous pupils included Joachim. Tickets for the Canin "Guarnerius" recital may be purchased at the Legion of Honor, or by phone at 415-750-3624.
Women's Philharmonic Regroups Calling it a shift in focus, the Women's Philharmonic suspended its upcoming subscription season and gave strong indication of ending its local performance presence entirely. The organization, according to board president Leyna Bernstein, will focus entirely on "how best to continue placing women conductors, composers, and performers in top leadership roles throughout the American music industry." Meanwhile, Bernstein allowed that the upcoming "concert hiatus" is caused by a combination of the "cost of doing business in San Francisco" and disappointing concert attendance. The latter complaint is curious since performances appeared to have been fully attended. An additional factor cited was the reduction of contributions resulting from the region's economic slowdown. Not having much of an option, the organization's music director, Apo Hsu, agreed with the decision and said she will concentrate on her work as head of the Springfield, Missouri, Symphony. The Philharmonic's next scheduled event, a free concert at 6 p.m. on Monday, June 11, in the Yerba Buena Center Forum, will be held as scheduled. On the program: Rebecca Oswald's Sinfonia No. 1, conducted by Sarah Ioannides, Katharine O'Connell's Turner Seascapes, and five other short pieces, conducted by Lucinda Carver.
Gomorra in Marin The adventurous Contemporary Opera Marin's next at-bat will be the U.S. premiere of Austrian composer H. K. Gruber's 1992 Gomorra, an eminently tonal work, in the tradition of Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht. Gruber — a 58-year-old composer, conductor, singer, and double-bass player — is one of the more interesting figures on the European musical scene, labeled everything from neo-Romantic to neo-tonal to neo-expressionistic to neo-Viennese. One more neo: Gruber's best-known work, pan-demonium Frankenstein has been called "neo-gothic" (it was premiered a quarter century ago by Simon Rattle in Liverpool. Performances of the staged work, sung in a new English translation, are scheduled on June 23, 24, 28, and 29 in the Fine Arts Theater on the College of Marin Kentfield campus. College of Marin Opera Theater
Vänskä to Minnesota, You Betcha For its 10th music director, the Minnesota Orchestra (of the great American midwest) selected the 10th consecutive foreign-born conductor in its history: Finland's Osmo Vänskä. The previous nine were: Eiji Oue, Edo de Waart, Neville Marriner, Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, Antal Doráti, Dimitri Mitropoulos, Eugene Ormándy, Henri Verbrugghen, and Emil Oberhoffer. De Waart, who turns 60 on June 1, went from San Francisco (1975 to 1985) to Minnesota and then, in 1993, to the Sydney Symphony. The 48-year-old Vänskä, a clarinetist, will take over in 2003. Currently he is music director of the Lahti (Finland) Symphony and chief conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony (a post he will relinquish next year). Minnesota Orchestra concertmaster Jorja Fleezanis (formerly with the San Francisco Symphony) greeted the appointment by saying that Vänskä is "a leader whose presence makes a difference."
Play Strings, Win Money The 16th annual Irving M. Klein International String Competition will be held June 9–10 in San Francisco State University's McKenna Theater. With applicants from 20 countries, the competition produces 12 semifinalists who play short programs on Saturday, and the finalists perform longer concert pieces on Sunday. The top prize is $10,000 and the likelihood of international engagements. Klein Competition
Kirchschlager Online The young Austrian mezzo Angelika Kirchschlager, who has made a big splash in Bay Area recitals and opera appearances, gave a concert on Friday in Paris' Théâtre du Châtelet, carried live (and free) on the Web, at Online Classics, where a tape of the event remains available (along with concerts by Barbara Bonney, Anne Sofie von Otter, Montserrat Caballé, Cecilia Bartoli, and others. Kirchschlager, accompanied by Melvyn Tan, performs lieder by Schubert and Schumann's Frauenliebe und -leben and Gedichte der Königin Maria Stuart.
O Canada The Canada Council for the Arts, which contributed $5 million to all music-theater organizations last year, has given $2.5 million to the Canadian Opera Creation Program, working in collaboration with Opera America. COCP grants are open to international collaboration efforts in the production of new operas by Canadian opera and music theater companies. Check with your favorite Canadian institution or Claire Hopkinson, chair of the Professional Opera Companies of Canada and general manager of Tapestry New Opera Works.
The Music of the Islands Having followed its ups and downs at close range in the '70s, last week I checked into the status of the Honolulu Symphony while visiting Hawaii. The sturdy organization — at 101, the oldest orchestra west of the Rockies — is alive and kicking, with a curious split personality. Classical subscription concerts — 14 doubles — are given under the direction of Samuel Wong, and there is a separate, very active pops division, directed by Matt Catingub (son of the late, great jazz vocalist Mavis Rivers). Guest artists include Alexander Toradze, Jon Nakamatsu, and Cho-Liang Lin. Guest conductors next season include Anne Manson and Grant Llewellen. After a line of music directors from Joseph Stockton to Fritz Hart, George Barati, Robert LaMarchina, and Donald Johanos, Hong Kong–born Wong took over in 1996. Well liked and respected, the music director speaks bravely of expanding the season, giving concerts on neighbor islands and even on the Mainland, maybe getting a recording contract while at it. Those travel plans may be more than pipe dreams — many years ago, I accompanied the Honolulu Symphony on a tour of the Trust Territories. Any orchestra that manages to play Brahms in Majuro, Ponape, and Yap can make its way to California just as well. Stephen Bloom, executive director, reports that the organization will balance its budget this year, for the first time since 1998. One reason for the fiscal improvement: an anonymous donation of $1 million, under the condition that other donors will match the amount by the end of 2001. (Janos Gereben is arts editor of the Post Newspaper Group and technology editor for www.the451.com. Contact him at janos451@earthlink.net). ©2001 Janos Gereben, all rights reserved |
