Who's in charge at the rehearsal?

[Ricordanza]

If I were a professional music critic, I would never review a rehearsal. But I’m not, so I’ll offer some impressions of an open rehearsal of the Philadelphia Orchestra that I attended on Thursday morning, February 15.

The Orchestra holds three open rehearsals each season, with tickets offered to contributors. Of course, the higher the contribution, the more tickets are available. With my modest contribution, I have limited opportunities to attend these events, but I’ve been to a few of these over the years and found them fascinating.

For Thursday’s rehearsal, the guest conductor was Christoph Eschenbach, a former music director of the Orchestra. The soloist was violinist Joshua Bell, who has appeared with the Orchestra many times since his debut with the orchestra at the ripe young age of 14. The music was all from the second half of the 19th Century: Two pieces for violin and orchestra--Poeme by Ernest Chausson; and Violin Concerto No. 5 by Henri Vieuxtemps—plus Brahms’ Symphony No. 1.

The first thing I noticed was the unusual arrangement of the orchestra on the stage. For most Philadelphia Orchestra concerts, we see the “American” arrangement: four string groups form a semicircle around the conductor with first violins to the conductor’s left, then the second violins, then the violas and finally the cellos, who complete the semicircle on the conductor’s right. Some guest conductors favor the “European” or split plan, where the first violins are still to the conductor’s left, but the second violins are on the conductor’s right. But Eschenbach used an arrangement that I had never seen before, with the violas on the conductor’s right. Does this make a difference with the sound of the orchestra? Evidently, Eschenbach thinks so.

When I saw this arrangement, I thought, this is a conductor who is asserting his individuality. He’s showing who’s in charge. But my impression began to change after the first piece, Chausson’s Poeme.

Orchestra and soloist played the piece straight through, and then went back to review certain passages. So far, this is what I had observed in other open rehearsals. But who was the one going back to those passages and directing the orchestra members to make adjustments? It was almost always Joshua Bell and rarely Eschenbach. That was something I had not seen before. Perhaps it reflects the fact that Bell is now a conductor—he is the music director of the well-known chamber orchestra based in England, the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields. Or maybe it reflects Bell’s dominant personality in this setting, notwithstanding the tradition that the conductor is in charge.

Henri Vieuxtemps’ Violin Concerto No. 5 is probably the best known of his seven concertos for that instrument. With its rich melodies and violin fireworks (which Bell dispatched with apparent ease), it’s easy to see why audiences respond to this work. After a run-through of this piece, again, Bell dominated the comments and suggestions for the orchestra.

After intermission, Eschenbach had the orchestra to himself as they played Brahms’ magnificent Symphony No. 1. Every part of this symphony is appealing, but the stirring anthem in the fourth movement—and the way the orchestra builds to that anthem—is one of the great moments in the symphonic literature.

While listening to the music, I was watching the conductor. In general, Eschenbach’s conducting style is restrained, with minimal gestures. I guess, at age 83, we shouldn’t expect him to dance and jump on the podium. I wonder if Eschenbach had more to say in the first (and private) rehearsal with the orchestra, but in this open rehearsal, he only had them repeat one passage from the second movement. Perhaps he thought they couldn’t do any better than they did, and this listener couldn’t disagree with that.

[Rach3]

Interesting,thanks.

Perhaps also reflects Eschenbach had a substantial and notable career as a soloist himself , and appreciated those conductors who were willing to listen to him,and remembers those less hospitable ?

[Ricordanza]

Interesting,thanks.

Perhaps also reflects Eschenbach had a substantial and notable career as a soloist himself , and appreciated those conductors who were willing to listen to him,and remembers those less hospitable ?

Could be, but Bell interacted directly with the musicians; he didn't direct his comments to Eschenbach. Although I couldn't hear everything that was said, I had a good view of this. I was sitting in the first row of what's known as the Conductor's Circle, which is behind the stage. Thus, I saw what the musicians saw.

[diegobueno]

In my experience, the soloist always conveys his or her concerns to the conductor, who then relays this to the orchestra, or the soloist may ask the conductor's leave to address the players. Might you have missed some subtle body language or eye contact between soloist and conductor? Maybe Bell and Eschenbach are familiar enough with each other that Eschenbach can allow Bell some freedom, especially when dealing with issues of string technique.