Kevin Sutton wrote:
>John Fiset asks:
>
>>Another thought, back in the old days, did the Orchestras have as
>>many guest conductors or did they tend to work with just one person?
>>This may account for some of the change.
>
>Just the other day, I had this very conversation with Andrew Litton,
>music director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. He opined that there
>are several reasons for the homogeneity of sound in world orchestras.
>One, is the fact that music directors do not remain with their
>orchestras for as many years or for as many concerts per season.
Ozawa just left Boston after becoming the longest tenured Music Director
of the orchestra. Yet, to me, the orchestra has lost much of it's
heritage of sound during this time.
The sound of Kousevitsky's BSO was distinctive. However, I recall reading
a comment many years ago that K and others (Stokowsky included) could
visit other orchestras and quickly get 'their' sound. (Personally, I
wasn't around them so I can't vouch for the comment.)
>Second, Andrew believes that the large trove of available recordings
>has also made an impact. He also cited that the historical
>performance movement has changed the individuality with which "modern"
>orchestra conductors approach music before 1800. His last comment on
>the matter (before we moved to other topics) is that with the "star
>system" that seems to run CM these days, orchestra search committees
>want the hottest youngest conductor on the market. Therefore, older,
>more seasoned conductors often get passed over for major positions,
>and thus many orchestras, especially smaller ones, do not get to
>develop a sound with a veteran conductor.
I wonder if the chase for the biggest star on the market gets in the way
of an orchestra's sound. When Kousevitsky began in Boston and Stokowsky
in Philadelphia I doubt many subscribers know what the Vienna Philharmonic
or Amersterdam Concergetbau sounded like. Today, I fear Boards are quite
a bit more risk averse. So, orchestras, soloists, etc sound alike.
Regards,
Tom Connor
|
