Archive for April 18th, 2013

Colin Davis and Adolph Herseth, Inspired Musicians

Thursday, April 18th, 2013

by Sedgwick Clark

New York music lovers were fortunate to hear many performances by the British conductor Colin Davis and the Chicago Symphony’s longtime principal trumpet Adolph (“Bud”) Herseth in its concert halls. Last weekend the music world lost both artists, who afforded me some of the most inspiring musical experiences of my life.  How lucky we are to have so many examples of their artistry on record and in our memories.

Colin Davis (1927-2013)

How many musicians give their finest performances at the end of their lives? Colin Davis did. When word of his death at age 85 hit the Internet last Sunday, April 14, his revelatory Beethoven Missa solemnis with the London Symphony Orchestra at Avery Fisher Hall on October 21, 2011, leapt instantly to mind. With infinite wisdom, he had conveyed the composer’s emotional message as never before in my experience. It turned out to be his final New York performance. Six years before, he had led the LSO with blinding commitment in Vaughan Williams’s Sixth and Walton’s First symphonies. Indeed, the Walton far surpassed his highly regarded recording on the LSO LIVE label. And on April 3, 2008, he led the New York Philharmonic in a searing realization of VW’s Fourth Symphony that rivaled the composer’s own hellbent 1937 recording.

In the spring of my first season in New York, 1968-69, Davis led Metropolitan Opera performances of Britten’s Peter Grimes, with Jon Vickers and Geraint Evans, and Berg’s Wozzeck, with Evans and Evelyn Lear–thrilling, both of them. On January 19, 1972, I met him for the first time. It was my third day in my new job as p.r. director at Philips, his recording label. He had just conducted the opening night of a new Met production of Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande, and our office took him to dinner afterwards. Eager to engage him in conversation, I asked him (for some reason I can’t recall) what he thought of composers conducting their own works. “Oh, they’re all terrible,” he replied. Astonished, I asked “Stravinsky?” “He’s awful!” he said, rolling his eyes. “Well, what about Britten?” I asked, thinking I had him there. “He’s the worst!” he exclaimed. I shut up.

My boss told me that he was the only Philips artist who never asked, or had his manager ask, for an advertisement in the concert program. He was unfailingly friendly and relaxed to this new kid in the office, and his delightfully British, mock-serious sense of humor could turn boyishly ribald at times. When joining a group for lunch after a Tanglewood rehearsal, one of the men pointed out that his fly was open. Davis thanked him, saying, “Mustn’t let the little birdie out.” Another time, after a winter concert, two attractive young women with markedly plunging necklines came to the Green Room to tell him how much they enjoyed the performances. Apparently they frequented his concerts, and after they left he expressed worry that they “might catch cold”–a concern he repeated several times later in the evening at my boss’s apartment over dinner.

Talking with him about Sibelius after he had led the composer’s Third Symphony in Boston was a great opportunity. I expressed surprise at how slowly he took the middle movement, Andantino con moto, quasi allegretto. “I love the ineffable sadness of the music at that tempo,” he said quietly. I suggested that he should record all the symphonies with the BSO. When I returned to my office I told my boss how wonderful the performance was and that he should record the cycle. Sibelius not being a big seller, she snapped, “Sedgwick Clark, if you ever tell him that, you’re fired!” Of course I remained mum, but she fired me three months later anyway. Davis did record the seven symphonies in Boston, as well as several other Sibelius works, and they were hailed internationally upon their release.

Colin Davis was Musical America’s Conductor of the Year in 1997 in recognition of his appointment as the New York Philharmonic’s principal guest conductor.

Adolph Herseth (1921-2013)

Friday, January 9, 1970, is a storied date for untold numbers of New York orchestra fans. On that evening at Carnegie Hall, Adolph (“Bud”) Herseth intoned the stuttering trumpet fanfare that opens Mahler’s Fifth Symphony, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Georg Solti proceeded to set a standard of all-out orchestral virtuosity that dominates the field still. Solti was called back to the stage 14 times in 15 minutes by a standing, stamping, cheering audience that refused to leave. Many orchestra players, too, were in no hurry to exit, milling about onstage after the hall lights were turned up, looking out in wonderment at the ovation and waving at audience members who remained to shout their praise. For three days hence my throat was so sore I could barely talk. It was the most exciting concert I’ve ever heard.

Herseth was principal trumpet of the most famous brass section in the U.S. from 1948 to 2001, and when he died at age 91 last Saturday his stature as a local hero was fully acknowledged in the press. John von Rhein wrote in the Trib: “For more than a half-century, Adolph Herseth’s distinctive sound and playing style were the bulwark of a brass section whose fabled power and brilliance have long been the sonic hallmark of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He was a legend, in the finest sense of that much-abused word.”

The next time you play one of those fabulous Chicago Symphony Orchestra recordings with Rafael Kubelik (Mercury), Fritz Reiner and Jean Martinon (RCA), or Georg Solti (Decca/London), pay special attention to the trumpet playing. You have seven CSO recordings of Ravel’s orchestration of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition to choose from.

Adolph (“Bud”) Herseth was the first orchestra player to receive Musical America’s Instrumentalist of the Year award, in 1996.

Looking Forward

My week’s scheduled concerts (8:00 p.m. unless otherwise noted):

4/19. Carnegie Hall. Dresden Staatskapelle/Christian Thielemann. Bruckner: Symphony No. 8 (Haas edition).

4/24 at 7:30. Zankel Hall. Young Artists Concert. Steven Mackey: Ground Swell. John Adams: Gnarly Buttons. Carter: Double Concerto. (John Adams and David Robertson, instructors.)

4/25 at 7:30. Zankel Hall. Young Artists Concert. Ives: Three Places in New England. John Adams: Shaker Loops. Andrew Norman: Try. Michael Gordon: Yo Shakespeare. (John Adams and David Robertson, instructors.)

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The Art of Booking

Thursday, April 18th, 2013

By: Edna Landau

To ask a question, please write Ask Edna.

If you ask anyone in the artist management business how things are going these days, they will tell you that everything seems harder than it used to be. Some concert series have ceased to exist or have been significantly cut back, a number of orchestras have also disappeared or have been seriously challenged by budget shortfalls and labor difficulties, and an increasing number of presenters are reluctant to take risks, preferring to book artists who are familiar to their audiences and who are likely to generate a healthy amount of box office income.  In light of all this, what can a manager or self-managing artist do to enhance the chances of securing one of the highly sought after slots in a presenter’s season?

I recently consulted with a few longtime, highly regarded colleagues to see if they had any words of advice. My first call was to Marna Seltzer, currently Director of Princeton University Concerts, but formerly (at the start of her career) a manager and booking agent at Herbert Barrett Management. I felt that her having sat on both sides of the fence would give her a particularly insightful perspective on this subject. A glance at the Princeton University Concerts website revealed significant information about this presenter’s approach toward programming. A beautifully written announcement of the 2013-14 season speaks about the quest for a balanced season “that has the potential to leave the audience not just wanting to come back but feeling that they must come back to hear more”. Ms. Seltzer further writes: “One thing I am sure of is that we don’t want to become predictable. Even though we protect our legacy and try to deliver you the quality and mix that you have come to expect from us, we will never stop taking risks, trying new things.” (Would that there were many more presenters who adopted this approach.) How does Ms. Seltzer keep abreast of these new things and decide which to feature? She told me that recommendations from presenter colleagues carry tremendous weight. This poses a big challenge to managers who may have difficulty getting their artist(s) on the radar screens of major presenters. What are they to do? Ms. Seltzer spoke of the supreme importance of building relationships. Initial contacts might be made at industry conferences or by paying a personal visit to a presenter on their home turf. She loves the opportunity to show off the university’s beautiful and historic Richardson Auditorium and feels that familiarity with the hall can be of great benefit to a manager in deciding which artists to propose. A personal visit also makes a lasting impression on a presenter. What doesn’t make a favorable impression is a manager who launches into a conversation without having taken the time to see what type of artists she presents, or getting a sense of her immediate goals and needs. Their sole mission is to convince her that she must present their outstanding soloist or ensemble, irrespective of any other plans she may have for the season. This manager is less likely to enjoy a long term relationship with her that could lead to a productive booking collaboration in the future.

Evans Mirageas, Vice President for Artistic Planning at the Atlanta Symphony, The Harry T. Wilks Artistic Director of the Cincinnati Opera and a much in demand consultant, told me that he genuinely understands how difficult it is for an emerging artist to “get above the noise”.  He, too, places a lot of stock in what his colleagues have to say. While it is unlikely that he will return phone calls from people he doesn’t know about artists with whom he is not familiar, he does try to respond to written communications, even if only with a few cordial sentences acknowledging receipt of the material.  He encourages managers to organize auditions for their artists with artistic administrators (if they are trained musicians) when they are unable to arrange for the Music Director to hear them. Once he has heard a promising artist in concert or an audition, he adds them to an Excel list that he reviews regularly. He welcomes and values periodic news he may receive about those artists’ successes, either directly or via their managers, and updates the list accordingly. Still, he says, artists and managers must understand that music directors and conductors have their own wish list of artist/collaborators and it can take several  years before regular contact on the part of a manager might bear fruit. It was heartening to hear him say that in addition to the fact that no presenter can afford a season featuring only marquis names, it is important for a presenter to achieve balance in their offerings and to introduce their audience to new faces. They should also leave room for artists who may not have achieved superstardom  but who continue to offer rich artistic experiences while already a few decades into their careers. He responds most favorably to managers who invest time and effort to learn what might be of genuine interest to him and the music director, and whose dealings with him are direct, honest, concise, and “gently persistent”. Another artistic planner at a major orchestra also told me that when he is approached by a manager with whom he does not have an established relationship, he really appreciates if they start a conversation or meeting by asking about the orchestra’s priorities and plans, and then follow up by zeroing in on the two or three artists they think might be most appropriate for the orchestra, rather than running through a whole list of names. He stressed the importance of a businesslike approach in all booking-related communications. It should never get to the point where  a manager personally takes  umbrage when a booking doesn’t materialize right away. Each party has their own agenda at any given time, but managers should trust that proposals that are discussed and are of potential interest to the orchestra remain in their minds and may well result in bookings when the timing is right.

To ask a question, please write Ask Edna.

© Edna Landau 2013

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