Did the NY Philharmonic really get the right man?
NewsFrom my monthly essay in The Critic:
It has been 65 years since the New York Philharmonic last appointed the right conductor, so long ago that hardly anyone alive remembers it except as legend. The ensuing vacancy of imagination has meant that every well-intentioned baton since then has been held up against Leonard Bernstein’s and found wanting in every department — music, human and media….
Read on here.
Dear Norman, a small detail- El Sistema was founded by Abreu in 1975. Chavez became President in 1999. At least Chavez did not screw it up (El Sistema, I mean).
Of course Chavez didn’t screw it up. Abreu retooled El Sistema for Chavez’s purposes and handed it to the president on a silver platter. Chavez and Maduro have been happily using it ever since. If you want to see the imbrication of music education and political propaganda, look no further.
Keep doing whatever you’ve been doing in the UK then. It has been working wonderfully. What a great example British music education is to the whole world!
Geoff Baker literally wrote the book on El Sistema. An optimistic, Guardian-reading lefty who thought he had seen a vision of utopia at the SBO visit to the Proms, he spent a year in Venezuela hoping to document the magical recipe, only to have his world upturned by that inconvenient imposter called truth. It would only be polite to listen to his highly academic, intimately researched viewpoint, especially since – Hemingway-like – he manages that rare intellectual feat of dis-confirming his own biases. And maybe read his book, along with his follow-up papers…
If something isn’t as perfect as imagined by a music professor in the UK, it doesn’t mean it’s all terrible either. If that’s the mentality no wonder Labour has been losing elections despite its abysmal opponents. The ideologically charged way Baker phrased his criticism would have you believe there is nothing to learn from the program. If El Sistema strikes some as propaganda, so do Baker’s frequent comments here.
No, they did NOT!!!
Some carefully considered reasoning here.
If iPhones could elicit smell, the article would be riddled w/ naphtaline and prescription meds odors.
What a cynical and myopic account of analysis. It seems that critica judgement and analysis is not one of the benefits of a daily dose of classical music.
A resurrected Bernstein or Karajan wouldn’t stand a chance in today’s world. They are a byproduct of the state of affairs of post-war, boomer growth which was the swan song of western cultural dominance after centuries of imperialism. No more is the standard Beethoven – now its to rap with a Cuban/Puerto Rican accent even in foreign languages.
Nobody cares about the NY Phil any more that Berliners care about the BPhil….its an overfunded museum piece that is struggling to find its place in a different century.
The disdain for Dudamel and unnecessary punching of his latin roots is cheap, even by these rock bottom standards of tabloidism.
Seriously? “only the baton will tell”?! Hilarious.
Its been decades since quality doesn’t matter. Survival does. And like it or not the latin aspect of his background will buy at least a little bit of time before these institutions either perish or they become so ingrained in entertainment, one would be lucky to hear any Beethoven at all.
One can only look forward to that.
Yes, but rap is not odourless, and neither is your contribution.
If you mean to say it smells like cash. Yes indeed it does.
And I didn’t mean Rap, but Reggaeton. Get with the times, will you? What is this, the 80’s? No wonder these lunatics still think about Bernstein or other white grandpas.
This niche has ceased to provide any valuable service and is now the last refuge of a pseudo intellectual class that has no place ij society anymore.
True rich, snobby people go to Art Basel, SXSW, and the likes, not to the Philharmonie or Geffen hall to hear people on wheelchairs snore.
Dudamel just delays the inevitable….
Ah Mecky, a cynic after my own heart!
I was with you until “Nobody cares about the NY Phil any more that Berliners care about the BPhil.”
Pardon, but I care about booth.
Should that read “it’s been decades since quality mattered”?
The Dude will abide.
If we ever needed a sign the classical music is doomed, it’s the desperate nickname ‘The Dude’
Any reference to Big Lebowski cannot be bas or out of place…
My goodness…what a horrible hit piece on the orchestra, multiple conductors, and the rising Maestro. This kind of abuse says far more about the writer than it does the subject.
And I’m betting he’d call himself a progressive!!
Bernstein stepped in during a period when everyone knew who Arturo Toscanini was, Leopold Stokowski, Vladimir Horowitz, et al. A period when Horowitz’s return to performing caused a traffic jam near Carnegie Hall. Bernstein did not step into a void. It’s hard to say if Dudamel will have much of an impact on anything. And it depends on how you measure success. More donors, I would think yes. More audience. Hard to know. A return to a golden era. Highly unlikely. There are so few people who care about this music. I am not sure that Bernstein himself could make a difference today. That was then. This is now. They might have fared better asking Beyonce to become music director.
There’s sad truth in what you say but I’ll go further; it reflects social decline and a descent into decadence and economic entropy. Every civilization has its golden age and it never lasts! The fatted calf brings quick destruction.
To present acidic opinions as facts (as you’ve done here) is anti intellectual – and downright childish. And as for The Dude’s English skills, one need only recall Seijii Ozawa, whose pathetic English skills extended over his nearly 40 years with the Boston Symphony. Who can forget his 1973 speech in which he said “Tanglewood still smell like Koussevitsky!”
Who cares if somebody has ‘pathetic’ English skills. It’s time the English-speaking world paid some respect to other cultures and learned another language!! Instead of cultural chauvenism.
I would generally agree with that. But if someone chooses to work and live in a country, then they should put some effort in learning that language. Is called courtesy towards your hosts.
Always embarrassing to hear him talk – and most of the time to hear him perform as well. Even Levine in his exceedingly small number of appearances was a vast improvement for the BSO.
Gustavo speaks English quite well, especially for a non native speaker. Listen to him sometime as he analyzes and interprets a musical work, whether opera, symphony or something newly composed. He is seldom at a loss for the word he wants, and communicates very effectively his passion for music. His accent is not a barrier once you get used to it.
It seems hard to believe now but when Bernstein left the NY Phil there seemed to be a general feeling that the time had come. Certainly the critics seemed to express that; almost a sense of relief. Sources seemed to suggest the musicians did too, but as we all know “sources” can be selective as to which musicians they talk to and which remarks they elect to expose.
And frankly the list of subsequent (and for that matter, prior) music directors who did not particularly do well with the NYP includes some pretty darn fine conductors. Boulez, Masur, Mehta — say what you will those were formidable talents. I never did quite understand Gilbert.
As shotgun marriages go, I’d say the NY Philharmonic has done well since Bernstein. Or to switch analogies abruptly, nobody as every ashamed of being a .300 hitters.
The musicians wanted Bernstein out. They had grown tired of him. However, mid-way during the Boulez era, they changed their mind and pleaded with Nick Webster to bring Bernstein back. Alas, Webster had already hired Zubin Mehta and that was that.
It’s inaccurate to say that Dudamel hasn’t conducted Schoenberg. In LA, he has conducted his “Accompaniment to a Film Scene,” his Piano Concerto, Gurrelieder, and Verklärte Nacht.
All excellent works too, in my opinion.
You’re right. Definitely should have chosen a woman.
Why? And will any woman do? You say “a woman”, not any particular Molly or Peggy.
First you’d have work out what a woman actually is!!
Back to Square One, if you please.
I think I have an idea, I just fail to see how it connects to picking a competent conductor, surgeon or mathematician. Or becomes the main criterion.
LMAO. Def hit a nerve. #poorangrysexistman
The Philharmonic got the best man under the circumstances.
And the circumstances are dire:
– Orchestras are like European countries, they realize their population is getting old and the reproduction rate is insufficient, so bingo, admit more immigrants so the country doesn’t die off and disappear
-Dudamel is there to attract and develope the next generation of Latinx and Black musicians and audience members to rejuvenate the Philharmonic and their subscription base
Why that is a desirable social goal depends on one’s view of cultural colonialism or the universality of music or cynical capitalism.
Will Dudamel succeed?
Judging from his results in LA, he will make enough of a difference to further the survival of the Philharmonic for another decade, which in these times, is infinitely better than not surviving for another decade.
Stop saying “LatinX”! South-Americans never asked for it! And they HATE it! Do they not get a say in the performative de-gendering of their own language? Just say “South-American” if the perfectly-harmless-until-now gender agreement irks you!
“immigrants so the country doesn’t die off and disappear” some country apply this bitter potion and are dying anyway. Maybe better die in your own bed….
I have maybe two personal favorites since Bernstein – of course anyone in that position is open to criticism for being too this, or too that… NYC is the land of critics – and you could argue it’s detrimental at times. It doesn’t allow certain talents to flourish as they would elsewhere. So there will be critics of Dudamel, but it really goes with the territory.
I would like to strongly defend Norman’s essay, minus the weird single appearance of the abominable anglicism “Latinx” in place of the proper word for all people of that background. Understand that I am coming from a strong engagement in popular culture, including having conducted several rock musicals in my market. The fact is that if I ask the average American, even one who is notionally involved in cultural matters, to name an American symphony orchestra conductor, the answer will almost inevitably be “Leonard Bernstein” even though he died 33 years ago. Of course Dudamel is not himself American, but I also mean this in the broad sense of “name someone who conducts an American symphony orchestra.” So-called classical music, like so many other phenomena that wax and (today largely) wane in American culture, eventually requires a viral moment, a super-compelling personality, a unicorn of some sort. I don’t know if The Dude is it, but he certainly comes closer than anyone else in the field that I can think of. I have seen him live in Los Angeles and he is fantastic. And installing him right at the iconic Lincoln Center in New York is the spectacular right choice irrespective of “rankings” of American orchestras. The urgent need of American serious culture to have a spokesman to its vastly growing Hispanic/Latino (I won’t go into the technical difference) population is a plus beyond that. I’m just talking reality. I hope this helps.
Bravo!!
Thank you for pointing out Norman’s use of the terrible “Latinx”, a word that the Hispanic/Latin American community itself has not taken up.
I don’t know what you are smoking, but if you ask the AVERAGE american what a symphony is, 99.9% of the time they will say “WHAT?!” And John Williams will be infinitely more likely an answer given his prevalence in pop culture and the fact that out of that 0.01% who knows what a violin is, 99.9% of them play Star Wars in their school, local, state ensemble/orchestra/band or you name it.
NOBODY remembers Bernstein, proven by the complete flop of the remake of West Side story.
There’s too much content and not even Spielberg can manage to get anybody’s attention span for over 15 minutes.
It’s over.
Funny, my daughter performed Stravinsky’s “Firebird Suite” in her state orchestra.
Over in occident, flourishing in Asia…..
Nonsense. Community orchestras are flourishing throughout the country. And in spite of budget cuts, there are plenty of high schools with orchestras or wind bands. The challenege is how to get these students who enjoy *playing* to come to concerts and enjoy *listening*.
I had a first hand experience. A friend’s teenage child loves playing in his high school orchestra. So I invited him to a concert, with what I believed would be an accessible program, namely Mozart. Alas, he was bored.
He’ll come back to it when he’s older. It happenned to me. Had he ever heard the Mozart before?
I hope you are correct. I don’t know whether he heard the Mozart pieces before, I did not ask. My guess is not.
If the N.Y. Phil. became ‘provincial’ during Jaap van Zweden’s time, it was because of a slight interruption called the Covid pandemic. Remember the Covid pandemic?!? . . . Not only could people not travel to N.Y. – or anywhere else, for that matter – but you couldn’t go to a concert because there weren’t any concerts? . . . How many Mahler symphonies did van Zweden get to conduct in N.Y.? . . . What about Bruckner? . . . Once again, NL, I would urge to stick to your own backyard. You have plenty of issues to chew on there.
We watched and listened as JvZ coached Hong Kong from beginners to champs in Wagner. Can you do that?
If you’re asking me; no, I can’t do that. Neither could most people. I don’t get the hate on van Zweden thing at all. I own two recordings from Dallas that he conducted, Mahler 6 and Mahler 3 (in that order). Both are very, very competitive with the best. His Bruckner cycle with the Netherlands Radio Phil. (Challenge Classics) is really almost as good as ANY out there. I’ve read nothing but good things about his Hong Kong based Wagner “Ring” cycle. In this day and age, that’s really saying something. I thought the Beethoven’s 9th that was on PBS (public television) that he conducted for the reopening of the David Geffen Hall was absolutely stunning. Perhaps Jaap van Zweden snubbed London at some point.
I absolutely disagree, not shameful performance, but nothing to notice or remember or come back to, i call it the Rattle effect….you think you like it, but will never feel the urge to listen to it again, it’s what i was talking about in an other post
I don’t care how many posts you talked about it in, I DO return to my JvZ/Dallas Symphony Mahler 6 and 3. They’re good – I like them (especially that M3). My JvZ/Netherlands Radio Phil. Bruckner 8 is as good as any in my collection. And yes, that includes dusty favorites, such as Furtwaengler, Karajan, Jochum, Wand, etc. I call it the rattled brain effect.
Batons are overrated — what really matters are the writings of Mr. Zachary.
I don’t know who Mr. Zachary refers to, but I certainly agree that the assessment of those who wave the stick is both misunderstood, and ‘exaggerated’ in terms of musical outcome. There are no more ‘maestros’ in the sense of Furtwaengler, Karajan, Szell, Reiner, Klemperer, Kubelik, etc., etc. Conductors are not permitted to assert their personalities and therefore, ‘control’, to anywhere near the extent it was one time possible to do. The orchestras know the standard repertoire backwards and upside down. They want conductors who are upbeat, personable, good communicators, and use the rather limited rehearsal time efficiently. Of course, they want them to know the music really well, and have an opinion on how it ought to go. They need to both cooperative and ‘good’ at accompanying soloists. They also need to bring new works with them that the orchestra won’t – hopefully! – hate playing, and audiences won’t hate hearing. That’s getting to be an art in itself. They also need to be really, really good at programming concerts. Musical vision is still really important, but conductors have to obtain those results while without wasting rehearsal time, and without being abusive or overly demanding. That’s just the way it is.
Since NL always seems concerned with where people are from, perhaps he wouldn’t object if the N.Y. Phil’s choice had come from Britain or Italy. How did that work out for Barbirolli?
I’m sorry but YOLA is no more “a trailblazer in music education and social cohesion” than Dudamel is the new Bernstein. Both ideas rest on mountains of PR hype. Real innovators in music education are streets ahead of YOLA. But Dudamel and YOLA get all the attention and plaudits because they have the marketing budgets and Mark Swed eating out of their hand.
Maybe so, but there are self-appointed elites everywhere you turn. They’re not so flash, the vast majority of them.
We in Los Angeles are relieved to have NY take the Dude from us. All this Latin programming season after season (and English/Spanish-only bilingual pre-concert PSA announcement) is not only tiredome but also smacks of selective cultural inclusivity.
I hope the next LA Phil music director is someone from Central Europe.
I take it that you will not be tired of someone from Central Europe programming Central European music season after season? Is Salonen programming Sibelius, Lindberg, and Saariaho season after season “selective cultural inclusivity”? What is wrong with someone from South America programming more South American music? Not everything has to be viewed from the perspective of DEI politics, despite how your idiotic local critics like to frame it.
As for PSA announcement, one third of the LA county population are Spanish speakers. I suspect this practice will continue even after Dudamel is gone.
I would not call Salonen a “Central European”. He’s Nordic and that’s a whole different tradition. Nothing wrong with season after season of programming Beethoven, Schubert, Mozart, and their contemporaries. There are lots of neglected works of the old masters without having to put up with questionable new music commissions from Latin America or elsewhere.
Re: bilingual English-Spanish only PSA announcement, how many of the 1/3 Spanish-speaking population are actually represented at classical music concerts? Maybe 2% and that’s unfair to the 98% of whites, Asians, Persians and blacks. Ask many first- and second-generation Americans and they will tell you they speak their mother tongues at home but in public they’re proudly English-only. They don’t like to be pandered to by white woke liberals.
Dudamel will invigorate the NY Phil, if not creatively, than symbolically. Or visa versa. Or both.
The bigger question now is whether the LA Phil, whenever that organization finds a replacement, ends up looking like it has gotten stuck with sloppy seconds. If the successor is someone like a Susanna Mälkki, the creativity may be fine, but the symbolism (or charisma) won’t. Or visa versa. Or neither?
Also, the outcome on both coasts will be filtered through a person’s tastes and politics. But the NY Phil for the next several years will be sitting pretty.
Visas are what you get in a consulate to enter a country. The adverb is vice versa. Also, use the adverb”then” instead of the conjunction”than” when, again an adverb, you mean “therefore”.
Probably not but the greatest conductors today have little interest in a more full-time association with the Philharmonic which remains way below the CSO, Cleveland, Boston, and Philadelphia orchestras in artistic stature, not to mention the great European ensembles.
Let’s try to juggle a few ideas at the same time…
1. “Ostracised since 2018 by Chávez’s successor, the crackpot Nicolás Maduro, he yearns for regime change back home…”
On the contrary, Dudamel remains close friends with the regime hierarchy. Even on recent trips to Venezuela, he was seen socialising with his friend Jorge Rodriguez – former VP under Chavez, one of the chief architects of Venezuela’s collapse and brother of the Delcy Rodriguez, Chavez’s one-time propaganda minister and, subsequently, foreign minister. Please also bear in mind that these people are close allies of Vladimir Putin, and form part of the Russia / China / Iran / Syria / Venezuela axis. This clear connection having been made, how finely balanced are the scales of hypocrisy, when Gergiev is banished while Dudamel becomes NY Phil director?
2. Dudamel – despite my well-documented loathing for his political sliminess and the complicity of the world’s left-leaning press in further lubricating that sliminess – does, nevertheless, have the proven star impact of a Bernstein, even if he is not, and never will be, the great polymath that Bernstein was. Our times simply don’t require that, unfortunately. Nobody can deny that he has captured the need of our culturally open, social media era, and been very successful in outward-looking programming, attracting untapped audiences, and scooping up treasure chests full of donations. The industry recognises that value adder.
All of this success, ironically, is built on the made-in-Venezuela Parsifal-like narrative of “transformation”. I still believe that music and the arts are key elements of “transformation” in society, but I vomit at the spurious, Miss. Universe inference that they hold power beyond those IN power. Just look at the cultural sophistication of Nazi Germany. QED. And this is where I wish Dudamel would develop some subtlety, read some of those books. He is in a very powerful position to add a much-needed amendment to his “transformation narrative”; the “but not music alone” amendment that challenges music-washing autocrats. Music is powerless in the face of tyranny, and Venezuelans – above all – should bloody-well know it.
That amendment will not be made, of course, and Dudamel’s brand of community outreach will continue to be successful in New York. A good outcome for New Yorkers. It is just a pity that well-meaning, well-healed New York democrats will, in embracing their new Messiah, embrace a dangerously incomplete, unchallenged narrative, whose underlying reality of 7.5 million Venezuelans in exile and a country in ruins will be brushed under the red carpet of celebrity.
Maybe one day Dudamel, like Shostakovich, will understand the real power of music – to reveal rather than conceal – and find the words to fully articulate it.
This essay is an embarrassment to journalism, given the number of errors, personal grudges being waged and waffle-laden opinions. And perhaps some subtle prejudice.
“Shantytown Socialist” – perhaps the most offensive, prejudicial and diabolical claim. Norman should personally call Dudamel and apologize for this awful phrase. Is it because Dudamel is Latino? Didn’t go to Cambridge or Oxford? Doesn’t conform to Norman’s opinion of appropriate breeding? Appalling prejudice.
Then to the matter of Bernstein’s 11 years with the NYPhil. As one other commenter correctly states, they weren’t happy years at all. The Golden Years with Bernstein were from the 1980s onward when he wasn’t Music Director. When he was in the 1960s, the musicians and audiences didn’t enjoy him much. Repertoire, attitude, schedule – all made him a challenging leader.
The New York Philharmonic has made an incredibly bold and important choice with Dudamel. Let’s give him a chance to unpack, settle in, plan a season or two, conduct, get to know the community, and then we can judge. Norman, in the meantime, perhaps hire a fact checker and leave NY alone.
Graham, my embbarrassments pale before yours but let’s not get into detail. I guess you’re still sore about the negative review I gave a bad record from your team.
Norman, you’re way off base. Even if that were the case, you’re avoiding the core issue here. “Shantytown Socialist” does not belong in a serious criticism of the NYPO’s choice of a new MUSIC Director. The keyword here is MUSIC, not politics. Don’t forget that Tom Wolfe labeled Bernstein’s hosting a Black Panther Party party, “radical chic”. I again urge you to stick to your own backyard, where the BBC is in a classical meltdown. In addition you have five full-time major symphony orchestras competing to stay afloat, in a huge city that has two subpar symphony halls. Yet, the BBC wants to cut down the number of salaried players for a very good orchestra that plays in what is probably the best overall symphony hall on the island. Don’t you think that gives you plenty to pick up the Union Jack over?
I’ve said this before, but I think Lebrecht is unfair to Masur. I’m not a New Yorker, so I cannot comment on the actual concert experiences, but judging, from broadcasts and recordings, I think he was quite a good choice.
Of all the NY Phil music directors since Bernstein, Mr. Masur was and is my favorite. He brought a deliberate, serious, and less ‘competitive’ style of orchestral playing to the Philharmonic. It is true that before he arrived many listeners concluded the members of the orchestra simply didn’t like each other due to the way they would distend orchestral solos, wrongly balance and cover each other up. Mr. Masur didn’t have Maestro Bernstein’s style and panache, but Mr. Masur was the correct man at the time he was hired.
May it also be so for Mr. Dudamel.
I was at Dudamel’s NY debut concert with the NYPO at the start of December 2007. Around me were a bunch of subscribers whose collective view was obvious: why didn’t we appoint this guy instead of Alan Gilbert? How much this concerned music-making and how much charisma, I didn’t ask. But they now have their wish and it will be interesting to see how it works out.
He was one of the worst conductors I’ve ever played for! Zero stick technique. The best he could do was to yell at the orchestra during concerts!! He was a real bastard!
Why do you NL continue to perpetuate the false myth that Jaap can Zweden earned $5 million with the orchestra in Dallas? The orchestra’s own tax filings show that this was never the case! The fact is that one donor, anxious that JVZ continue with the orchestra and not be wooed away, gave the orchestra $5 million or thereabouts as a one-off donation. His own salary from the orchestra was pretty much in line with other orchestras of a similar standard. Besides, if he was in fact being paid $5 million as a salary, whatever would have attracted him to leave and go to the NYPO?
This is the sad state of arts in the modern world. The conductors who are no longer true personalities but just front men for some backroom deals done by their agencies. With the exception of really few (maybe Rattle and, as much as I hate his political impact, Gergiev) they are no longer spokespeople for the cause of classical music and music’s relevance to humanity. Just keep appointing those young, clueless music directors, who will do anything for position, money and political support, and watch orchestras are being disbanded one by one. This was Dude’s career path too.
“Daniel Barenboim sent him Spanish reading lists of essential philosophers; there is no sign yet that Dudamel has read them”.
You’re mixing metaphors. The financial challenges, and the ‘dismantling’ of orchestras, has little to do with young, up-and-coming conductors. They need to work, like anyone else. They will bargain for the best salary they can get, just like any other professional in any industry. If they are being overpaid, that is the fault of those running the institutions. The ‘old’ conductors that everyone seems to be so sentimental over, have either passed away or are retired. Somebody has to take their place. If you don’t want to give the newer ones a chance, that’s you’re affair. You have the right to ignore them. . . . . That said, it is condescending to constantly refer to Gustavo Dudamel as, ‘the dude’. In fact, it’s downright insulting. His ‘career’ path has been to go from the L.A. Phil. to the N.Y. Phil. That’s not doing too poorly, is it? If he’s truly not up to being MD of the NYPO, he will hear about it in a hurry. Personally, I think he’ll do just fine, as long as Ms. Borda is there to support his programming ideas (which are really not all that radical). I’ve seen him conduct several times, and I really have no issue with what he does. I think he was a little more ‘electric’ in his first decade, but he still records interesting stuff. I very much liked the two-disc set of Charles Ives symphonies he made on Deutsche Grammophon.
The NY Phil had become undisciplined under Mehta. Masur restored the NY Phil’s luster. Masur shone particularly when conducting the large choral works of Bach. He was a marvelous music director and conductor.
Jasper
You mean like Bernstein “imported” Ives from Connecticut?
Also, by the time he was appointed, Bernstein had composed not one, not two, but THREE Broadway hits (and one estimable flop).
I’m kind of a loss to understand why it’s an accolade to say that Bernstein had his his passport nullified for suspect political views but a slur to call Dudamel a socialist.