During a discussion session that followed the Berkeley Akademie’s inaugural concert on Wednesday, musicologist Joseph Kerman reflected that many of today’s performing ensembles are seeking innovative ways of presenting classical music. Kerman’s remarks encapsulated the impetus behind the Akademie, a spin-off of the Berkeley Symphony, under the artistic direction of Kent Nagano and Stuart Canin. But while the Akademie’s innovations were both myriad and admirable, I found that the ensemble fell short of achieving its stated goals.
The Akademie — which presents one more concert this season in May 2008 — is distinguished from its parent organization, the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra, in a variety of ways. The smaller, more flexible ensemble allows for programming variety, and for Concertmaster Canin to lead some works from the first chair. The ensemble also emphasizes international artistic collaboration. Performing alongside the Berkeley Symphony members were six members of Germany’s Junge Deutsche Philharmonie (German Youth Philharmonic). Finally, the group collaborates with UC Berkeley’s music department to foster discussion and understanding of the concert’s music. Wednesday night’s program included several interpolated lectures by UC Berkeley Professor Emeritus Joseph Kerman, and by Robert Commanday, a former lecturer at the school (and the founding editor of SFCV).
The German spelling of the ensemble’s name draws a connection to a European model of music-making, and calls attention to Nagano’s current conducting position in Germany. According to an e-mail I received from the Berkeley Symphony, “Akademies were founded to share music, which had been primarily reserved for the court, with the community at large. As general music director of the Bavarian State Opera, Maestro Kent Nagano stewards one of Europe's oldest Akademie (or 'Academy') concert traditions, which you can now experience firsthand in the Bay Area!”
If the goal of the Akademie is to bring music to a larger community, the $60 ticket price seemed a little off the mark. (Those who are on the Berkeley Symphony’s e-mail list could purchase tickets at 50 percent off starting about one week before the concert.) Furthermore, the concert was held in one of Berkeley’s smaller venues, the First Congregational Church, with a capacity of 653 people.
Alexander Kahn is a Ph.D. candidate in music history and literature at UC Berkeley, where his research is focused on the Hollywood émigrés. He is also the assistant conductor of the Oakland Civic and the UC Berkeley symphony orchestras.