New York Philharmonic appoints Alan Gilbert next music director

[bhodges]

Another good article in The New York Times today about Alan Gilbert's appointment.  I think he is truly an excellent choice and may herald a great new era for the orchestra.

--Bruce

[Bunny]

Really? I personally think we need at least a ten year moratorium on Mahler recordings.

Especially if you don't care whether the NYPO breaks even or sees a profit.  Mahler is one of the composers that fills an auditorium.  There won't be any moratorium in the next 10 years.

My point is that those old fogies are old and dying and newer generations of donors aren't quite as square and conservative as the OME. There is an NME, if you will. The NYPO isn't currently funded by it, but there is no reason why a charismatic young conductor with interesting programming couldn't tap into new sources of funds outside the OME.

The next time you are in Philharmonic Hall take a look around you.  There are no young benefactors who are attending concerts.  You find a middle-aged and middle-class audience with a sprinkling of young faces who don't have the means to give the big bucks.  I hope those old fogeys last another century.

First of all, lucrative recording contracts are history. I wouldn't hold my breath on that point even if they were to resurrect Toscanini. Secondly, this increasing ass-kissing prerequisite is precisely the reason why fewer and fewer serious musicians want the job of MD of a US orchestra. That fundamentally needs to change. We need professional ass-kissers to do the ass-kissing so that conductors can concentrate on conducting.

If that were true, the the BP would never have gone for Simon Rattle.  One of the most attractive lines on his CV was his big buck contract with EMI.  And, take a look at the beating he's taking in Berlin.  That's another match that everyone thought was going to be made in heaven which has turned out to be a divorce in the making.

There's going to be politics, ass-licking, and more politics in whatever major cosmopolitan center you look at.  If any young conductor wants to think that he's above it, then he should look for a nice provincial spot where he can whip his orchestra into the form he desires, pick his own repertory without pain, and just do his thing without getting rich, or becoming a superstar.  Talent without ambition is as peculiar as ambition without talent, and I don't think that's what NY needs either.  New York needs someone with talent to burn, vision and the guts and ambition to make it through.  It's time for someone who can hold his own against the OME, who's smart enough to do it diplomatically, and has the energy to continue to be productive in this arena.

Btw, Gilbert's honeymoon has already begun.  NYC is the hardest place to succeed.  There's no way to predict whether this will be a match made in heaven or one of the greatest fiascos in music history.  NY has a way of leveling the best and inspiring the worst, so it's silly to try to predict what will happen.  Gilbert is going to have to last longer than the honeymoon which is already in progress, and right now the level of hype is setting him up for a big fall.  I don't envy him right now.  If everyone expects more than he can deliver, even if expectations are unreasonable, he's the one who's going to be blamed -- not the old fogeys or the media.

[MishaK]

Especially if you don't care whether the NYPO breaks even or sees a profit.  Mahler is one of the composers that fills an auditorium.  There won't be any moratorium in the next 10 years.

I said nothing of a moratorium on Mahler concerts. I asked for a moratorium on Mahler recordings.

The next time you are in Philharmonic Hall take a look around you.  There are no young benefactors who are attending concerts.  You find a middle-aged and middle-class audience with a sprinkling of young faces who don't have the means to give the big bucks.  I hope those old fogeys last another century.

If you had read what I wrote you would have noticed that I said that there are plenty young well-heeled folk who listen to classical music in NY. They just don't go to the NY Phil, because the programming is booooooring. I, and others as well, hope that Gilbert can change that and tap a bit into the audience pool that at the moment prefers to attend alternative venues in NYC.  If Gilbert can woo the current old fogies, fine, more power to him. But he will have to cultivate new audiences because today's kids are tomorrow's old fogies and the current old fogies are mortal.

If that were true, the the BP would never have gone for Simon Rattle.  One of the most attractive lines on his CV was his big buck contract with EMI.  And, take a look at the beating he's taking in Berlin.  That's another match that everyone thought was going to be made in heaven which has turned out to be a divorce in the making.

That's a completely different issue. US orchestras are extremely expensive as recording artists. The era of US orchestras with lucrative recording contracts with major record labels is over. Look around: Philly is with Ondine, SFSO and CSO have their own in-house labels, Cleveland and BSO have no permanent recording contract. The only exception is LAPO which currently has Salonen with DG and will soon have Dudamel on DG. But even so, Salonen's records haven't exactly been top sellers and neither are Sir Simon's with the BP and Dudamel will have to start making his records sound more like his concerts because his recent Beethoven CD is a bit of a superfluous dud.

[Joe Barron]

Nice article, Bruce. I loved the lede.

I haven't been to a Philharmonic concert in ages, though I suspect that state of affairs may change soon. I've been saying for years a major orchestra should appoint a young American as music director, and now that one of them has finally done it, I will follow his tenure with great interest. Anyone who does a good job with the Ives 4th is OK in my book.

Still, Iago may have a point abut old money. Look at Boston. Levine has done more to revitalize that orchestra than anyone could have imagined, but there's still a lot of grumbling from the OM patrons about they way he imposes some of his favorite composers on them. How dare he! I read a letter recently from a disgruntled concertgoer blaming him for the orchestra's financial deficit and stating that patrons are voting with their feet --- neglecting to mention, of course, that out of towners like me and Bruce are voting with our plane tickets, flying to Boston for many of the premieres. We wouldn't think of traveling for another Beethoven cycle, which we can find at home.

In any event, I wish Mr. Gilbert well, and I'll be waiting eagerly for the NYPO prospectus in the mail. I just hope he doesn't hit a brick wall.

I notice he played viola for the Philadelphia for a time. I wonder if my old friend Irv knew him. But Irv is gone, and I can't ask him.

[MishaK]

Alex Ross on his blog points out that Gilbert is really not that unusually young if you look at the big picture. Elder statesment music directors are a rather recent phenomenon.

http://www.therestisnoise.com/2007/07/how-young-is-al.html

[Bunny]

If you had read what I wrote you would have noticed that I said that there are plenty young well-heeled folk who listen to classical music in NY. They just don't go to the NY Phil, because the programming is booooooring. I, and others as well, hope that Gilbert can change that and tap a bit into the audience pool that at the moment prefers to attend alternative venues in NYC.  If Gilbert can woo the current old fogies, fine, more power to him. But he will have to cultivate new audiences because today's kids are tomorrow's old fogies and the current old fogies are mortal.

Do you really believe that?  If there are so many of them, why haven't I ever seen them at Carnegie Hall where the programming is a bit more diverse and the orchestras come from all over America and the world?  There is a big show for the major fund raisers, but no individual subscriptions.  Corporations buy the seats in the boxes and prime parquet, not individuals.  Same thing at the opera.  When I want great seats at the Opera, my husband calls up one of the banks he works with for tickets.  I never see the same people in my box at Carnegie from one concert to the next, and I'm in my 50s and I'm usually the youngest person in the box at any given performance unless I drag one of my kids.  Giving to the NYPO or Carnegie Hall is a corporate venture, and corporate money is controlled by the Old Fogeys.  Just look at the back of the playbills and count how many people are in there giving thousands.  With rare exception, the big donors aren't young and they never will be.

[Joe Barron]

Alex Ross on his blog points out that Gilbert is really not that unusually young if you look at the big picture. Elder statesment music directors are a rather recent phenomenon.

Well, maybe, but as I've said before, I don't read Alex Ross.

[PerfectWagnerite]

If you had read what I wrote you would have noticed that I said that there are plenty young well-heeled folk who listen to classical music in NY. They just don't go to the NY Phil, because the programming is booooooring. I, and others as well, hope that Gilbert can change that and tap a bit into the audience pool that at the moment prefers to attend alternative venues in NYC. 

I suppose if you have season tickets to the NYPO year in and year out you may want to hear a more "diverse" program. Me, I go to one concert, maybe even two, per year. WHen I go I don't want to hear Barber, or Dutilleux. I want to hear Bruckner, Mahler, Richard Strauss, Wagner, SIbelius, Tchaikovsky, etc., music that I know well and can relate to. That's just me.

[MishaK]

Do you really believe that?  If there are so many of them, why haven't I ever seen them at Carnegie Hall where the programming is a bit more diverse and the orchestras come from all over America and the world? 

Maybe this is your problem:

I never see the same people in my box at Carnegie from one concert to the next, and I'm in my 50s and

That's certainly not where you will find the young people. I also wouldn't say that programming at Carnegie is particularly diverse. Visiting ensembles tend to bring the same old warhorses year in and year out. Zankel on the other hand is another matter. The perspectives series is also pretty good. I lived in NY for a total of six years, but I only once had a subscription to Carnegie and that was a perspectives series. I was in my 20s then.

I'm usually the youngest person in the box at any given performance unless I drag one of my kids.  Giving to the NYPO or Carnegie Hall is a corporate venture, and corporate money is controlled by the Old Fogeys.  Just look at the back of the playbills and count how many people are in there giving thousands.  With rare exception, the big donors aren't young and they never will be.

That's a function of wealth which isn't easily attained at a young age. But as I said, you need to cultivate young audiences otherwise your old fogies will die and the current youth will not donate once they become old fogies themselves because classical music will have no meaning to them unless they start experiencing it regularly during their youth. For that reason it is absolutely imperative to attract young audiences even if they don't donate as much as the old fogies. Having been involved with organizing a series of chamber concerts in New York, I am quite aware that the pool of reasonably well heeled young (20s/30s) people with an interest in classical music or sufficient curiousity about music generally is quite deep in New York. Deeper than elsewhere in the US, both because of the high salaries paid in Ny and because of the disproportionate number of dynamic young people. There is absolutely no excuse for an institution like the NYPO not to be tapping into that. I know from a number of people from that pool that they avoid the NYPO because of the programming, the audience and the lousiness of the acoustics of Avery Fisher. A renovation of the latter is scheduled in the near future. Gilbert can help with the other two points.

Well, maybe, but as I've said before, I don't read Alex Ross.

Your loss, really. But may I ask why? Of all New York area critics, he certainly must be the least offensive.

[Joe Barron]

Your loss, really. But may I ask why? Of all New York area critics, he certainly must be the least offensive.

Well, I've been offended on a couple of occasions. As I've said on the "Alex Ross" thread, he gets a lot of stuff wrong---and I mean factual stuff, not just opinions. I've noticed some misinformation in his articles, and I decided that if I couldn't trust him with material I know something about, I certainly couldn't trust him with subjects I'm ignorant of, in which he could mislead me without my ever knowing it. He lost me as a reader a long time ago.

[MishaK]

Well, I've been offended on a couple of occasions. As I've said on the "Alex Ross" thread, he gets a lot of stuff wrong---and I mean factual stuff, not just opinions. I've noticed some misinformation in his articles, and I decided that if I couldn't trust him with material I know something about, I certainly couldn't trust him with subjects I'm ignorant of, in which he could mislead me without my ever knowing it. He lost me as a reader a long time ago.

I guess for me it's more a question of "what else is out there?". Compared to all the other NY area critics, Alex Ross is one of the few who has his head mostly screwed on properly. Tommasini is a shameless shill for his favorite artists and Holland, Midgette and Kozinn rarely know what they're talking about.

[Don]

Really? I personally think we need at least a ten year moratorium on Mahler recordings.

What's with the "we need" business?  I definitely don't need any moratorium on Mahler recordings or the recordings of any other conductor.  Keep them coming at a fast pace, and I'll decide which to acquire for my music library.

[MishaK]

What's with the "we need" business?  I definitely don't need any moratorium on Mahler recordings or the recordings of any other conductor.  Keep them coming at a fast pace, and I'll decide which to acquire for my music library.

Hey, it's Bunny who started with the "we need" business. I don't really "need" anything besides water oxygen and my wife. 

[Don]

Hey, it's Bunny who started with the "we need" business. I don't really "need" anything besides water oxygen and my wife. 

Bring along some ice and I'll join the two of you.

[MishaK]

Bring along some ice and I'll join the two of you.

I don't think we're into that sort of thing. (Boy have we gone off topic yet again...  )

[Larry Rinkel]

Ridiculous! The wimp will be in over his head. Totally. 

Thomas

Obviously that settles it.

[bhodges]

And this just up: Alan Gilbert conducting the Cleveland Orchestra in the following program, thanks to American Public Media's SymphonyCast:

Stravinsky: Symphony in Three Movements
Mozart: Clarinet Concerto (with Franklin Cohen, clarinet)
Dvořák: Symphony No. 6

--Bruce

[SurprisedByBeauty]

And now Gilbert has a new job, too!

Latest on Forbes.com:
Alan Gilbert's New Job means an architectural upgrade and, to some extent, a return home. It should be a mutually happy spell!