Yes, it would be simple to attribute this report to small-town
provincialism, but such is not the case. I have a history in and
attachment to New York as much as I have left my heart in San Francisco.
The last thing in the world I wanted to do was to lay in wait for the
Philharmonic and jump up and down in protest and disappointment.
So, I am doing this with a heavy heart, but do it I must. The orchestra
heard the last two nights in Davies Hall sounded something like the Los
Angeles Philharmonic under Giulini or maybe Mehta not at his best:
`very nice.' America's greatest orchestra it ain't.
The name of the problem is Kurt Masur. He is the music director. Music
directors pick programs. Lenny is revolving in his grave, knowing that
*the American orchestra* brought these programs to a small city where
Michael Tilson Thomas has been well honoring both American and contemporary
composers (while occasionally playing Mahler on a Bernsteinesque scale) --
Beethoven, Symphony No. 5; Shostakovich, Symphony No. 5.
Strauss, `Don Juan,' `Death and Transfiguration'/
Tchaikovsky, Symphony No. 6. Pathetique, indeed.
The name of the problem in performance is Kurt Masur once again. The
orchestra is still packed with great talent (solo work by concermaster
Glenn Dicterow, principal flutist Sandra Church, and principal clarinet
Stanley Drucker were spectacular), the Shostakovich Largo was superb,
the opening measures of `Don Juan' filled with energy -- but there is
no sustained excitement, nothing special or out of the ordinary.
Ok, touring is hard. The New York musicians must play in a different
city night after night. Being on the road is not the same as having the
home field advantage. But great orchestras (and great sports teams) often
respond well to the extra challenge, the unusual circumstances. *This*
New York Philharmonic, under *this* music director, failed to do so.
My (current) provincial half, my ears and my heart all say that *this*
San Francisco Symphony, under its far more adventurous and daring music
director, will do much better during its upcoming tour of Europe. NYPO
may still sound like a well-oiled machine (and that's exactly what `Death
and Transfiguration' was), but the San Franciscans (even with their aging
wunderkind from LA) will blow the walls down -- and that kind destruction
of the temple is far more memorable than the stately nice domes we have
just experienced.
Janos [log in to unmask]
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