Tantrum In Beantown
Sarah and I spend a lot of time on this blog trying to tear down stereotypes about stuffy, self-important classical musicians who glide around the world in a haze of ego, forever thinking only of Bach and Mahler. The reason we do this is that we both believe passionately that a) there really aren't a lot of musicians like that anymore, and b) the few that are around make us all look bad.
So you can imagine my reaction to this story from Saturday's Boston Globe. It seems that a well-known Russian conductor, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, has pulled out of an entire run of concerts with the Boston Symphony at the last possible second (as in, after rehearsals had begun.) This normally happens only if the conductor in question is seriously ill, or is called away on a family emergency, in which case a staff conductor who has been at all the rehearsals will step in.
But in this case, the conductor is not only perfectly healthy, he's actually still sitting in Boston, giving interviews to the press about the horrific mistreatment of his apparently royal person that caused him to walk out on one of the most famous orchestras in the world. It seems that the maestro was taking a walk around Boston's Symphony Hall between rehearsals last week, when he noticed a poster advertising his concert. And on that poster, cello soloist Lynn Harrell's name was bigger than his.
Yep, that's the whole reason he walked out. His name wasn't in big print on a poster. (Okay, fine, he also claims to have been slighted further in the BSO's season brochure, where he wasn't included in a section on "Artists who inspire.") Unbelievable.
The Globe makes note of the fact that BSO assistant conductor Julian Kuerti, who took over the performances after Rozhdestvensky's hissy fit, "won a robust ovation and the clear appreciation of the orchestral musicians onstage, who insisted that he take a solo bow." I'll bet they did. Ask any musician: we'll always take a humble, competent leader no one's heard of yet over a superstar with an ego to match...
So you can imagine my reaction to this story from Saturday's Boston Globe. It seems that a well-known Russian conductor, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, has pulled out of an entire run of concerts with the Boston Symphony at the last possible second (as in, after rehearsals had begun.) This normally happens only if the conductor in question is seriously ill, or is called away on a family emergency, in which case a staff conductor who has been at all the rehearsals will step in.
But in this case, the conductor is not only perfectly healthy, he's actually still sitting in Boston, giving interviews to the press about the horrific mistreatment of his apparently royal person that caused him to walk out on one of the most famous orchestras in the world. It seems that the maestro was taking a walk around Boston's Symphony Hall between rehearsals last week, when he noticed a poster advertising his concert. And on that poster, cello soloist Lynn Harrell's name was bigger than his.
Yep, that's the whole reason he walked out. His name wasn't in big print on a poster. (Okay, fine, he also claims to have been slighted further in the BSO's season brochure, where he wasn't included in a section on "Artists who inspire.") Unbelievable.
The Globe makes note of the fact that BSO assistant conductor Julian Kuerti, who took over the performances after Rozhdestvensky's hissy fit, "won a robust ovation and the clear appreciation of the orchestral musicians onstage, who insisted that he take a solo bow." I'll bet they did. Ask any musician: we'll always take a humble, competent leader no one's heard of yet over a superstar with an ego to match...
Labels: conductors and conducting, orchestras not named minnesota
posted by Sam at
7:00 PM
3 Comments:
Thanks to the nifty links over at artsjournal.com, as well as your scoops here, I'm able to keep up on interesting things like this. It does seem hard to believe, but there still appear to be a handful of performers out there that would pull a stunt like this (although the thought did cross my mind, that maybe he's bipolar, and that might explain his being this irrational).
I imagine there are people like this in all lines of work (I can think of several in mine). In my world either you suck-it-up and continue onward with your work, or you get fired. In your world, they just don't get hired for further gigs, which is exactly what is going to happen to Rozhdestvensky. Orchestra managements don't have the time or money to deal with nonsense like this. So I think it's probably pretty safe to assume that he's done..here in the U.S. anyway.
Orchestras market the best-known commodity. I'm not saying I always agree with this - after all, I'm still grumbling over the "Schubert's Unfinished Symphony" program from last season...which was really Mahler's 9th...It's kind of the same principal, but I realize it happens. But it's probably fair to assume that Lynn Harrell is better known in this country than Rozhdestvensky is - I don't think this conductor has ever had a big presence here, and he of all people should realize that. You just cannot walk out on the BSO! (or any other group, it's a matter of common courtesy, if nothing else.)
Sam, you mention an interesting point that I have often wondered about - namely, what kind of Conductors the orchestra prefers to work under? I gather from what you are saying that you don't want to deal with ego's, which is good to hear since I often thought orchestra musicians liked to play under the biggest names possible and that it was a let-down if they weren't?
I mean, the Chicago Symphony completely fawned over Muti - he may be an incredible Conductor, but I'm not convinced that decision will be a good one long term. He's certainly been prone to this sort of thing in the very recent past. Considering the expense involved these days in marketing and branding MD's to a specific orchestra, this seems a very risky venture.
The bloggers that I mentioned in a previous comment I posted (and thanks for letting me know that they are now in Boston...I could not be happier!) were always complaining about the Guest Conductors that the Minnesota Orchestra hires. Their take is that they don't hire enough big names, and also that they keep hiring the same ones (part of that I believe is that Osmo conducts more weeks than an average MD, so there is less need for guests).
I personally like all the Guest Conductors that come through here, and think they are very talented, and I am assuming the musicians do too, or they wouldn't be here. I'm also not fooled by the hype and would rather not have to worry about any tomfoolery. Besides, in my opinion many of the A-list performers & conductors are overrated. I'm not going to name names, but there are several that come to my mind often.
In short, I don't think ego is good in any business, and not in classical music either. People change over time, and I'm sure there will continually be a new crop of people that challenge us in this regard...so please be on the lookout!
Regarding which conductors orchestras enjoy working under, there's not exactly a single template, and we don't always agree with each other on who the good ones are (although there tends to be a general consensus more often than not.) Visible displays of ego are always a minus, although in the case of a truly great conductor, we're more than willing to put up with some aloofness.
We actually get fewer guest conductors here in Minneapolis than almost any other major American orchestra, mainly because Osmo conducts us so often. (With tours and recordings, he's doing well over 20 weeks with us this season, compared with an industry average of 13-15 weeks.) But of the ones we do get, the orchestra certainly has favorites, and they're frequently conductors who the audience seems only vaguely aware of. (Exhibit A would be Gilbert Varga, who is hardly a household name in the US, but who consistently comes in atop our periodic internal polls on guest conductors.)
As for Rozhdestvensky, I think it's probably too much to assume that other American orchestras won't hire him after the BSO incident. Boston probably won't, but as you say, there are still orchestras that place a premium on star power, and even in this horrific economy, have money to burn...
Rozhdestvensky is getting on in years, I believe, so I was pleased to hear that Julian Kuerti was received with such appreciation. I tend to get frustrated by the "old guard" and by orchestras wanting an MD from their ranks rather than someone younger and hungrier (and just as much if not more talented). On the other side of that is the Dudamel phenom, i.e. someone who's young, charismatic and "hot" to bring more people into the hall for concerts. There are very few of them around, and I wonder just what their staying power is in the long run. So, I'm all for the music and a conductor who focuses on the music rather than how he's being marketed....
Thanks for this post, Sam.
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