Alan Gilbert: retrospective view

[John F]

Alan Gilbert Made the New York Philharmonic ‘a Bigger Box’
By ANTHONY TOMMASINI
MAY 31, 2017

In the spring of 2010, near the end of Alan Gilbert’s first season as music director of the New York Philharmonic, the players in the orchestra pelted him with crumpled pieces of paper in the middle of a performance. This wasn’t a mass jeer. In fact, Mr. Gilbert explained at a public interview at Lincoln Center recently, nothing could have pleased him more. The incident came during the Philharmonic’s inventive production of Ligeti’s audacious opera “Le Grand Macabre.” For a passage of frenzied mayhem, Mr. Gilbert came up with the idea of having the players toss paper fusillades at him.

But there was a purpose to the silliness, Mr. Gilbert, who is stepping aside after eight years as music director, said in the interview. It’s crucial, he said, for a major performing arts institution to work outside its comfort zone and “think outside the box,” though he added that dislikes that often-heard phrase: Mr. Gilbert prefers to strive for “a bigger box.”

Boldly stepping into that bigger box, Mr. Gilbert has expanded the mind-set of the Philharmonic — the major legacy of his tenure. His artistic priorities now seem embedded in the orchestra’s identity. It must champion contemporary music. It must foster associations with living composers and maintain the composer-in-residence position that Mr. Gilbert re-established (Esa-Pekka Salonen is now in his second year). It must continue to appoint dynamic performers as artists in residence and give them a say in programming. It must regularly leave Lincoln Center to perform unusual programs in spaces large and small, from National Sawdust in Brooklyn to the massive Park Avenue Armory.
The enormous success of “Le Grand Macabre” emboldened the Philharmonic and its players, at least for a while. In 2011, the Philharmonic presented an enchanting production of Janacek’s “The Cunning Little Vixen,” directed, like the Ligeti opera, by Doug Fitch, who has been a crucial Gilbert ally. In 2013, the Philharmonic offered “A Dancer’s Dream,” a program that included a staging of Stravinsky’s “Petrushka.” During the bustling Shrovetide Fair scene, the musicians, many wearing costumes, stomped their boots and swayed with the music; some even got up and danced. Mr. Gilbert, wearing a satiny black robe, leapt from the podium at one point to play the magician who introduces the puppets at the fair.

Still, from what we know, Mr. Gilbert did not receive consistent support for his ambitious plans from the Philharmonic’s administration and board, especially in recent years, as the orchestra has often seemed adrift. Indeed, the Contact! new-music series, one of Mr. Gilbert’s initiatives, was close to death this season and was saved only by personal contributions from, among others, Mr. Gilbert himself. In recent seasons, he has chosen to pick his battles with the administration, deferring perhaps too much to guest conductors, which has made for some sleepy programs.

At least for the near future, the Philharmonic remains committed to his most ambitious venture: the NY Phil Biennial, a project that has, twice so far, offered festivals that have made New York the capital of the international contemporary-music community. In the most encouraging bit of recent news, Deborah Borda, a visionary who broadly shares Mr. Gilbert’s values, is about to take over as the orchestra’s executive director, following her game-changing tenure at the thriving Los Angeles Philharmonic.
My doubts remain about whether Jaap van Zweden, Mr. Gilbert’s designated successor, will continue the Gilbert legacy. He’s a powerful maestro but has shown less passion for artistic innovation. Lately, though, he’s been talking up contemporary music and voicing strong support for Ms. Borda, both encouraging signs. Mr. van Zweden has made his reputation in the standard repertory, while over the years, Mr. Gilbert’s conducting of staples has been found wanting by some. I don’t really agree. For me, his performances of standard works as varied as Bach’s Mass in B minor and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony have demonstrated keen musical insight, a feeling for the shape and flow of a piece, and an unsentimental sense of drama. Also, when it comes to assessing a music director of a major orchestra, I care more about the larger artistic mission than the slow movement of a Brahms symphony.

I understand, though, what those who find Mr. Gilbert’s Beethoven and Mozart a little too wan are taking about. At the public interview, in answering a question about interpretation, he said something revealing. In rehearsal, he explained, especially with a well-known work, when he asks the orchestra to do something (to execute a gradual crescendo, say, or bring out an inner voice, or pull on the tempo), he cautions the players to “not make it obvious.” His interpretive choices should emerge without seeming deliberate.
That’s an admirable but difficult balance to bring off. Mr. Gilbert is not a charismatic type by nature. Perhaps he could go outside his own comfort zone and make things a little more obvious. When he conducts a contemporary work, however, you sense him afire with enthusiasm, owning every moment, making a piece click into place and take off. And in works that are just outside the standard repertory, like Schoenberg’s early symphonic poem “Pelleas und Melisande” or Ravel’s Suite No. 2 from “Daphnis and Chloe,” which he conducted blazingly with the Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall, he can be superb. His recordings of the complete Carl Nielsen symphonies and concertos, taken from live Philharmonic performances, are matchless.

I regret that he will not be around for the renovation of David Geffen Hall (assuming this $500 million project, currently scheduled to be completed by the fall of 2022, actually happens). The construction will force the orchestra out of its home for at least two seasons, and some within the organization dread the disruption. But Mr. Gilbert was ready to seize on it, as he said in a 2014 interview. It could force the Philharmonic to throw out its usual playbook, he explained, to alter its sacrosanct subscription series and to perform in unconventional spaces throughout the city. For two years, he said, the Philharmonic could “truly be New York’s orchestra.”

Adam Gopnik, the New Yorker writer who led the public interview, thanked Mr. Gilbert on behalf of the city for bringing a new sense of community to the Philharmonic. I’ve been gratified to see him so committed over the years to the Philharmonic’s concerts in the parks. And the way he commemorated the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks was perfect: He led a free performance of Mahler’s great “Resurrection” Symphony. The Philharmonic set aside 700 tickets for emergency workers and families of victims, and some 2,000 seats were set up at Lincoln Center Plaza for a video relay of the concert. The ovation went on for 10 minutes.

I’ll join the chorus: Thank you, Alan Gilbert.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/31/arts ... r-box.html

[maestrob]

I agree with most of what Tommasini says here, but Gilbert's idea of recording the Nielsen symphonies strikes me as a vanity project, dead on arrival: I really don't like them. Compared to Bernstein's (and Ormandy on I), Gilbert's set is truly lackluster IMHO. The notes are all there, and well-played, but there's no substance. It feels like a read-through, rather than an actual performance.

OTOH, his telecast of Mahler II was electrifying on the 10th anniversary of 9/11.

Go figure.

[John F]

I disagree strongly about Gilbert's Nielsen. Haven't heard the recordings but I attended all the concerts from which the records were made, and while Bernstein and especially Thomas Jensen may have been somewhat more intense, Gilbert's Nielsen is anything but "dead on arrival." How were these recordings a "vanity project"? Of course he wanted to make them, but vanity would surely have required a much more attention-getting project than a relatively little-known modern Danish composer on an obscure Danish record label.

[John F]

Went to "Das Rheingold" last night, Gilbert and the Philharmonic. My response was less enthusiastic than Zachary Woolfe's to the first performance, which begins, "It began as a compromise, and ended as a triumph":

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/02/arts ... human.html

Again I have to wonder what comparative basis Woolfe has for his opinions, in this case that the cast was "extraordinary - indeed, flawless." In fact it was very weak by the standards we should expect at this level. Eric Owens has been a fine Alberich at the Met, but he was not impressive as Wotan. His opposite number, Christopher Purves as Alberich, was completely miscast, a light lyrical baritone incapable of forcefulness; the Fricka and Loge, Jamee Barton and Russell Thomas, sang the notes but made almost nothing of the words. The best singers, in voice and character, were the giants and Freia, who brought the performance to life during their brief periods in it. They were Morris Robinson, Stephen Milling, and Rachel Willis-Serensen.

But in this opera it finally comes down to the conductor. Gilbert had prepared the enormous orchestra (six harps! anvils borrowed from the Met!) very well, he was completely in control, and there were moments of dramatic power - mostly when the giants were on - but otherwise there wasn't much dramatic or musical intensity, only now and then. This is the only ineffective opera performance I've heard from him, and given the circumstances - this was a late substitution for what Gilbert really wanted to conduct, Messiaen's "Saint Francis of Assisi," a completely opposite work - maybe his heart wasn't really in it.

In other posts I've suggested that maybe Gilbert wants to conduct more opera, and now he'll be free to accept more guest appearances like his two at the Met. What I didn't know, though it's in the Wikipedia article about him, is that Gilbert was music director of Santa Fe Opera for five years at the beginning of his career, concurrently with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic. So perhaps it should have been taken for granted that he would be in such complete command of his concert opera performances with the Philharmonic, including the first and most challenging of them, Ligeti's "Le Grand Macabre." Sooner or later he will get his chance to conduct the Messiaen opera and then, perhaps, we'll find out what we missed due to the contrariness of the Philharmonic's administration. I'll certainly be following his further career with interest.

[maestrob]

Thanks for your notes, John. I've also come to the conclusion that Gilbert's heart isn't in core repertoire, as Rheingold has become, and I'm sad that your experience was mediocre. Eric Owens is one of the finest singers out there today, and I'm disappointed that he wasn't inspired by Gilbert's preparation. This seems to be Gilbert's weakness: everything seems like a technical read-through, rather than a performance. Gilbert has led some inspiring concerts, or portions of them, but IMHO his weakness seems to be a lack of enthusiasm, as if performing isjust too easy for him, and his personality lacks the ability to exhort his performers to make music on a higher plane.

This results in empty seats at most performances. BTW: How was the attendance last night?

[John F]

I know about your attitude toward Gilbert's performances, and you know that mine is much more positive. You also know, if you read the Times review I linked to, that their critic took a far more positive view of "Das Rheingold" that I did. Obviously, Gilbert's work doesn't "click" with you, you've taken a positive dislike to it, and so be it. But your experience of his concert and opera performances, as far as it goes, is very different from mine and others' such as Tommasini and Woolf in the Times, so I must believe that your dissatisfaction and indeed condemnation is not so much Gilbert's fault as a matter of your personal taste.

Indeed, I'm rather puzzled about your taste, because in the "NEW discs/music" thread you constantly award many "stars" to recordings by lesser or no-name artists in repertoire of which others have made outstanding recordings. To take one example, can Edward Gardner's recording of Janacek's Slavonic Mass, with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and Choirs, which you rate at precisely "four & 1/2 stars," hold a candle to the classic versions by Bretislav Bakala, Janacek's pupil, and Charles Mackerras, who studied with Talich, both with Czech forces? You mention neither of these but only Leonard Bernstein's unidiomatic and exaggerated reading, which is hardly in the same class. So, as I say, your taste puzzles me. Not that my puzzlement matters all that much, but since you've confronted me about Alan Gilbert, I'm entitled to answer back.

[maestrob]

Oh, golly, John, now you're attacking me on matters of taste! We'll never agree, no two people ever do. You prefer the past, my own preferences lie more toward the present, with all due respect to what happened 50 years ago. The point of my reviews is that present day performances, the greatest of them at least, can build on what has happened already and improve on it. In music, nothing is written in stone, not even Toscanini's Beethoven, of which I'm so fond. In my view, Solti's Brahms exceeds Toscanini's by miles, even though I admire the latter's interpretations and listen to them at least once a year.

Since this is NOT a thread on Talich, Mackerras or Janacek, I'll just say that I felt that Gardner's work stood well up against these other conductors. As for my reference to Bernstein's powerful performance, I simply picked a recording that readers might have heard. I have the Mackerras, and it's outstanding.

You seem to want to make this a contest between us as to who has better taste: that's not my goal at all, nor is it my goal to offend you or create some kind of contest. Parenthetically, it might help things if you would listen to the recordings I review before reacting so negatively. In fact, when you mention performances that I don't know, many times I've bought the recordings and been happy with the results, so we don't disagree on everything!


As for Alan Gilbert, like most conductors, he has good days and weak ones. I just wish he had more enthusiasm, something that's hard to maintain on a daily basis.

[THEHORN]

I haven't heard enough of Gilbert's conducting to evaluate his overall tenure with the New York Philharmonic, but the few performances by him I've seen have been quite favorable , and Iwould like to hear more of him .
I certainly admire his commitment to contemporary music and out of the way repertoire from the past , though . And as a long time Nielsen admirer , I'm delighted by his advocacy of this composer , who is finally starting to be performed more often around the world and recorded than ever before . I wish him continued success conducting wherever .

[maestrob]

Hi, Robert!

You might try the Philharmonic's own website, which features Gilbert's live concerts on a regular basis. I've learned a lot by paying attention and listening to the live performances there.....

https://nyphil.org/whats-new?tag=webcast

[lennygoran]

Brian I noticed this NY Times article-aplogize if it's been been mentioned already? Regards, Len


Alan Gilbert to Lead NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra in Hamburg

By MICHAEL COOPER JUNE 23, 2017


He is leaving a fixer-upper on the Upper West Side of Manhattan for a sleek new home in Hamburg, Germany. Alan Gilbert, the departing music director of the New York Philharmonic, announced Friday that he would be the next chief conductor of the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, whose striking new $843 million concert hall overlooking Hamburg’s harbor opened earlier this year.

With the move, Mr. Gilbert is leaving behind the Philharmonic as it labors to jump-start the long-delayed renovation of its Lincoln Center home, David Geffen Hall — and moving to a city whose gleaming new hall has been capturing the imagination of audiences.

And he is returning to musicians who know him well: Mr. Gilbert was the ensemble’s principal guest conductor from 2004 to 2015, when it was known as the NDR Symphony Orchestra (it renamed itself for its new hall, where it took up residency in January). In a recent interview, before he had accepted the post, Mr. Gilbert spoke of his admiration for the way the Elbphilharmonie had worked to build a relationship with its audience prior to the hall’s opening.

“Necessarily, because there was no hall, their events were all over,” he said. “I think it was very clever, the way they kind of started creating an audience. And now that it’s opened, everybody wants to go see it, it’s so famous.”


He added, “It’s a real opportunity now in that city — to use the excitement.”

The orchestra is well respected, but has never been in the front ranks of German orchestras — an august group that includes the Berlin Philharmonic, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Dresden Staatskapelle and Munich’s orchestras.

“His vision for a 21st-century orchestra is a perfect fit for the Elbphilharmonie,” Christoph Lieben-Seutter, the general and artistic director of the Elbphilharmonie, said in a statement. Mr. Gilbert agreed to a five-year contract, starting in the 2019-20 season.

Mr. Gilbert was lauded in New York for his innovative programming, but was sometimes criticized for leading performances, especially in the standard repertoire, that struck some as lackluster. And he occasionally had tensions with the musicians, and with the city administration, which, given the Philharmonic’s budget woes, did not always allow him to realize his vision for the orchestra. (New Yorkers are hoping that the Philharmonic’s new leaders — Jaap van Zweden, its next music director, and Deborah Borda, its new president and chief executive — will put the ensemble on firmer ground.)

In interviews last month, Mr. Gilbert suggested that he would take on a new permanent position with an orchestra only if he felt sure that all the powers that be were in sync.

“What I’m looking for is an orchestra situation in which basically every constituent group, at least implicitly, understands this idea of searching for the new paradigm that I’ve talked about,” he said. “In other words, an orchestra in which the musicians and the administration and, even if it’s not conscious, the audience implicitly is eager to embrace this idea of the orchestra connecting with the people of the community in a meaningful, call it socially activist, way.”




https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/23/arts ... views&_r=0

[jbuck919]

You can find out what that orchestra is, more or less, from the Wikipedia article, which does not mention that the "Elb" part refers to the fact that Hamburg is on the Elbe River. On the face of it, this is not much in the way of a step up in Gilbert's career, but then, much as I hate to say it, the NY Philharmonic has proved itself over and over again since Bernstein to be an orchestra from which it is hard to move a step down.

When I was a teenager, my father's extremely sparse collection of LPs included a performance of Swan Lake. One of the movements in that ballet involves a trumpet solo, and on this recording it was played horribly flat. At the time there was a visiting (a so-called exchange) student at my school who came from Hamburg. He was quite a decent violinist and in my home we played some things together. It was from him that I learned that the German for bow rosin is Kolofonium. (You have no idea how many times I had to use that when I lived in Germany. ) Anyway, I naively pulled out this recording to make the point about the flat performance and for the first time looked for the name of the orchestra: the Hamburg Philharmonic. Of course I was in stitches, but I cannot identify that orchestra with this radio orchestra that Gilbert is going to conduct. If I search "Hamburg Philharmonic," only the radio orchestra comes up, and the Wiki article on that band does not mention any history of having been called anything else.

[jserraglio]

The Elbphilharmonie: Gilbert leaves New York for “a bigger box.”

Looks like this orchestra is right in Gilbert's wheelhouse. A smart career move to bail out of the NYP if he feels they are retooling and retrenching for the umpteenth time.

I cannot identify that orchestra with this radio orchestra that Gilbert is going to conduct. If I search "Hamburg Philharmonic," only the radio orchestra comes up, and the Wiki article on that band does not mention any history of having been called anything else.

The NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester was once called the NDR Symphony Orchestra (Sinfonieorchester des Norddeutschen Rundfunks; it was also known in English as the North German Radio Symphony Orchestra). Their principal conductors have been a distinguished lot (Christoph von Dohnanyi went there after 20 years with the Cleveland Orchestra). Lots of recordings, including this one:

[John F]

Thanks for posting that story, which I missed. I agree that this new post should suit Gilbert very well. The German radio orchestras, and Hamburg's in particular, have long featured modern and new music in their programming, so Gilbert won't have to fight his orchestra's administration to conduct whatever he wants to. Clearly I was wrong in guessing that his next step might be into opera, but the German radio orchestras have often performed operas on the air, such as the premiere of Schoenberg's "Moses und Aron" in Hamburg in 1954 (published on records), and at least Gilbert won't have to look at Eurotrash nonsense while he conducts. Also, Hamburg in north Germany is not a long commute from Stockholm where Gilbert and his family will live.

[lennygoran]

Looks like this orchestra is right in Gilbert's wheelhouse. A smart career move to bail out of the NYP if he feels they are retooling and retrenching for the umpteenth time.

Thanks for the photos-I was only in Hamburg once over 40 years ago--recently PBS had a Rick Steves travel show on the city and apparently it's become quite a city-the places in Hamburg he went made it look very good indeed! Regards, Len

[John F]

I've always thought highly of Hamburg since the first time I visited in the '60s. Both the radio orchestra and the state opera are good, and I like the look and atmosphere of the place.