John Storgårds is said to be high on management's short list to be installed as music director, and he will be on the Jones Hall podium conducting a program that includes :
- Brahms: Tragic Overture
- Rautavaara: Incantations for Percussion and Orchestra
- Beethoven: Symphony No. 5
But don't cry for us, Bayou City. We will be in the big apple to attend one conert of the New York Philharmonic at Lincoln Center (Pictures at an Exhibition) and two concerts of the Berlin Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall (Mahler 2 and Bruckner 9).
Because that is what happens when your orchestra is best in the world at something. People who love music will spend hundreds of dollars to come and see it create art, live and on stage.
After the break a few resources to give you some background in this week's repertoire and get you equipped to begin to make some judgments about the man who would be maestro. Be sure and let me know how it goes.
When I was in music school, Al Gore had not yet invented the internet. But now there are all sorts of musical resources, and I'll aim to share some of them with you on the blog. If you know of others, feel free to chime in.
First, the Brahms Tragic Oveture. You can see a score here.
Listen to some historical recordings by Georg Solti (I believe it's the CSO) and Carlo Maria Giulini with the Philharmonia Orchestra.
And how about some video with Lenny and the Vienna Phil:
And of course, Beethoven 5. The score is here.
And who knew there were so many ways to play "short short short long." Check out the way Maestro Muti flings the Philadelphia Orchestra into the opening movement before the audience even stops clapping:
Or Karajan gets the lighting right--on himself principally:
What to look for in this concert? Well for one thing, look to see if the conductor say out of the way of the music.
There is room here in this music, but not as much as you might think. Both Brahms and Beethoven crafted music that does not need a lot of help. The conductor must recognize the inherent heart beat or pacing that Brahms and Beethoven put in the score and then exist within it.
Ride the river, don't dam it up.
Too much conducting becomes like an obstruction in the river. You'll sense the turbulence in the water, you'll hear the hesitation or lack of confidence and power that such turbulence creates.
Overconducting can cause the orchestra to walk on egg shells or hold back, but not because they are learning the pieces or lack confidence in themselves or the music. They've played these pieces many times. Over-conducting feels like someone is shoving them around as they try to enter the stream, pushing them or yanking them back as they try to jump onto the moving sidewalk.
Beethoven and Brahms are the stars. Not the guy with the stick.
Oh, and any conductor who gives the horns the stop sign before they even pick up their horns for bar 26 in the finale should be dissected with his own baton.
Let 'em play. How hard can it be?
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