One of the best ways to get attention as a conductor – at home and abroad – is to jump for another conductor at short notice, especially if prominent names are involved. And so it was that last month a conductor caused a bit of stir in a large midwestern city of the United States. The glowing reviews are summarised here on a Dallas website; but don’t be cynical, turning to the originals yields more of the same.
I was interested because this conductor has worked in Australia, although I wasn’t around when he did Bruckner on an earlier visit. What interested me most, though, were two responses from the blogosphere. One from a double bass player in the orchestra of said midwestern city, a musician who blogs with refreshing candour, offering musical insight while avoiding a jaundiced tone. The other from an intelligent and musical anonymous lawyer. When he blogs about concerts it’s from the audience perspective; he seems well-informed and astute.
The music was Bruckner 5. I happened to read Tonic Blotter first. He noted the conductor’s thorough background as a concertmaster and the fruits of his experience as an orchestral player. Then he said this (and I abridge for emphasis): ‘I just wish some members of the CSO would greet unfamiliar faces on the podium with a slightly more open-minded attitude. I mean, what is up with these trombones?! All too often…it seems the CSO trombone section reacts to a new conductor by playing overbearingly loud and super blary. [long ellipsis here] VZ expended heroic efforts in keeping the strings engaged and often fruitlessly raised the dreaded universal “too loud!” hand signal in the direction of the trombones. But, in the end, as inspiring of a debut as this was, vZ’s Bruckner to me illustrated how much better things could have been with an orchestra of the CSO’s caliber, had there been a little more cooperation from some.’
In short, it’s suggested, the conductor was hampered by an uncooperative orchestra.
On to the Bass Blog, where the view from the other side of the podium emerges: “The Dutch violinist turned conductor spent more rehearsal time than normal dealing with the strings; in a work such as the Bruckner an endeavor akin to lifting up a stone at the beach, watching the various small crabs and other multi-legged creatures scuttle off in all directions, and then trying to coax them into marching single file across the sand. In spite of the ultimate futility of the effort, it was entertaining to watch. Needless to say, the stone was replaced at the performances with increasing force each night. Still, these were some of the better accounts of the piece I can recall. Too bad the audiences were consistently and depressingly small.”
From this perspective the concertmaster background comes across almost as a liability. For the most part, it is implied, wind and brass are left to their own devices. Bass Blogger isn’t altogether unhappy with the result, but the stone-at-the-beach metaphor is a nicely damning aperçu. Meanwhile, Tonic Blotter witnesses things from the perspective of someone who hasn’t been at the rehearsals. Neither gushes in the manner of the critics.
Perspective is everything.