Klarinet Archive - Posting 000456.txt from 2000/02

From: "David B. Niethamer" <dnietham@-----.edu>
Subj: [kl] Fwd: New Atlanta Symphony Music Director(s)
Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2000 08:49:47 -0500

---------------- Begin Forwarded Message ----------------
Date: 2/10/00 12:46 AM
From: Ben Carlisle, bcarlis1@-----.edu

Offered without coment=E4
from accessatlanta.com (and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
I'd be interested in comments about this rather unique "collaboration".

New era for the ASO
Appointment of magnetic, media savvy conductor Robert Spano as director
praised; Donald Runnicles to share podium
Wendell Brock - Staff
Wednesday =C4 February 9

Robert Spano --- the 38-year-old music director of the Brooklyn
Philharmonic
and one of the brightest stars in the new generation of American
conductors
--- has been named music director of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.
In an unusual collaborative partnership, Spano will share responsibilities
with San Francisco Opera music director Donald Runnicles, who has been
named
ASO principal guest conductor. Both have signed four-year contracts, and
both plan to continue their current engagements in New York and
California.
The appointments, approved by the ASO board Tuesday, end a two-year search
to replace conductor Yoel Levi, who departs this summer after a rocky
12-year tenure. They also signal a new era for the orchestra, which has
had
just three conductors in its 56 years and whose $23 million budget makes
it
the Southeast's largest cultural organization.
Though Spano and Runnicles have met only once --- at a hastily arranged
Hartsfield International Airport interlude in December --- they are
charged
with sharing ideas in a culture that has long been the domain of
autocratic,
baton-wielding maestros. They will program concerts together. Both will
play
visible roles in education and community-outreach efforts. And since both
are seasoned pianists, they are certain to appear onstage in chamber music
concerts.
Fortunately, says ASO President Allison Vulgamore, "They really dig each
other." She says she will serve as "facilitator" for the two artists.
"At a time in which so many fine orchestras are actively searching for
musical leadership, to be able to get someone of Spano's stature,
experience
and vision is a real coup," said Joe Bankoff, the King & Spalding attorney
and ASO board member who led the search.
In truth, Spano --- an urbane, intensely wired chain-smoker who is often
compared to the young Leonard Bernstein --- has been mentioned as a
candidate for music director positions from New York and Boston to Atlanta
and Houston. A protege of Boston Symphony Orchestra music director Seiji
Ozawa and director of the BSO's conducting program at Tanglewood, he is
known for cutting-edge programs that appeal to even the most jaded,
black-clad New Yorkers. His celebrity status was signaled by recent visits
to "Late Night With David Letterman" and "CBS Sunday Morning."
Calling from Cardiff, Wales, where he is conducting a Welsh National Opera
production of "Cosi fan tutte," Spano said of the Atlanta symphony: "The
orchestra is so terrific. It's just great making music with them, and the
thought of doing more of that is really tantalizing." He said he is
especially interested in partnering with arts institutions such as the
High
Museum of Art and the Alliance Theatre.
The conductor, who plans to buy a home in Atlanta, comes to town Sunday
and
Monday to greet ASO staff, musicians, volunteers and press. He will visit
an
elementary school, a Rotary Club and the Georgia Council for the Arts,
where
he'll meet Gov. Roy Barnes. He'll be back for ASO concerts May 4-6.
Around the world and in Atlanta, colleagues praised his appointment. More
than one observer pointed out that Robert Spano has the same initials as
late ASO conductor Robert Shaw. Others say he has the kind of magnetism
needed to build a new Symphony Hall.
Reached in Japan, where he was vacationing, Ozawa said: "I believe in him
so
much. I am very, very happy. I congratulate the ASO for choosing him. That
will be very positive for your city's future." Calling Spano a man with "a
very big heart," he said, "for me, there is no ego when he works. That, I
think, is a good sign for a future conductor."
Said Seattle Symphony music director Gerard Schwarz: "Of the younger
generation of conductors, internationally, he is clearly among the stars.
Hopefully, he'll take that great orchestra in that phenomenal community
and
run with it. There are few orchestras in the country that have the
potential
of what's happening in Atlanta."
"It's a very encouraging suggestion about the way the Atlanta Symphony
Orchestra might be heading," said Tim Page, former classical music critic
of
The Washington Post and now artistic adviser to the St. Louis Symphony.
"He
is definitely one of the most exciting, adventurous and solid of the
younger
generation of American conductors. I'm delighted with the appointment."
On Sept. 16, Spano will open the 2000-2001 ASO season with soprano Sylvia
McNair in a program of opera arias and American classics. He'll return for
four additional weeks, to be announced later. Runnicles, who is 45 and a
two-time Grammy nominee, will appear with the ASO for two weeks next
season.
The duo's first full year will be the 2001-2002 season, during which Spano
will conduct 14 weeks of concerts and Runnicles six. By comparison, Levi
held an 18-week contract.
Runnicles said he found in the ASO "all the qualities that turn me on." He
also praised Atlanta audiences. "It's a terrific public," he said from San
Francisco. "I think together we have to get to know that public and get
out
into the community and see what the community wants to hear."
Spano, whose Brooklyn contract also runs through the year 2004, is a sushi
addict who is said to enjoy an occasional post-concert martini. He smiles
when he is conducting, and when he becomes engaged in conversation, his
nose
wrinkles with childlike, almost impish, excitement. He is an ambassador
for
classical music in the way that Wynton Marsalis is for jazz or Michael
Feinstein is for the American songbook. He says he doesn't have an e-mail
address, but with so much collaboration in the works, he intends to get
one
immediately. He is a serious composer. He's single.
"He's fun to sit down and eat with," says Alvin Singleton, the Emory
University music professor who was on the search committee. "He's a real
person. He tells jokes you understand. He's also very serious. He reads a
lot."
"I don't know of any other conductor who has been on 'Letterman' twice in
the last year," said Gregg Gustafson, executive director of the Brooklyn
Philharmonic. "He's gotten the attention of a media that rarely pays
attention to anything in our world, and it certainly raises our profile."
By recruiting a critics' darling with a knack for creative contemporary
programming, the ASO is positioning itself for greater recognition and
record sales. Spano is one of the most sought-after conductors in the
world,
yet he has made no symphonic recordings. "I think Robert is going to be
very
hot with that young (professional) market," Vulgamore said. "We've done
something very big here by stealing him. "
Since joining the Brooklyn Philharmonic in 1996, Spano has weathered
turbulent financial times. With a budget of about $2 million, the
orchestra
does just five concerts per season. In 1998, after a period of
instability,
its subscribers had dwindled to about 400. By this season, the subscriber
list was up to 900. And yet such lean conditions are said to fuel his
creativity.
"Sometimes in those times of change, it releases a certain kind of energy
that feeds Robert and that he thrives on," said Gustafson. "So I think he
will feel right at home in Atlanta."
The past few years at the ASO haven't exactly been a tea party. At first,
Levi enjoyed enormous popularity. But after a musicians' strike in 1996,
the
board extended his contract for two years and asked him to leave
afterward.
Subsequently, his partisans tried to storm the board. With the new team,
Vulgamore emerges with more power and an eye on the institution's artistic
as well as fiscal well-being.
Some observers say that such a structure might be wise. "If an
organization
is focused on ideas and problem solving and strategy rather than a cult of
personality," Gustafson said, "that's a healthy thing in American
society."
ROBERT SPANO
Personal: Born in Conneaut, Ohio. Grew up in Elkhart, Ind., "the band
instrument capital of the world," where his parents still live. Single, no
children.
Education: Studied at Oberlin Conservatory
in Ohio and the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia.
Professional experience: Assistant conductor of the Boston Symphony from
1990-92. Music director of the Brooklyn Philharmonic since 1996. A
frequent
guest conductor at major orchestras and opera companies around the world.
Next ASO concert: May 4-6. $19-$49. John Harbison: "Remembering Gatsby."
Chopin: "Piano Concerto No. 1" with soloist Jean-Yves Thibaudet. Excerpts
from Wagner's "Der Ring des Nibelungen." Symphony Hall, 1280 Peachtree St.
N.E. 404-733-5000. www.atlantasymphony.org.
Recording: No orchestral recordings. One chamber CD: "Hindemith & His
Friends" (Capstone). Spano plays piano with flutist Judith Bentley.
DONALD RUNNICLES
Personal: Born Edinburgh, Scotland. Wife Elizabeth is a violist. Daughters
Tamara Sophie, 4, and Ashley Isolde, 2.
Education/experience: Attended St. John's College, Cambridge. Studied at
London Opera Centre. Got a practical education by working with the
Glyndebourne, Bayreuth and Salzburg festivals. Worked as music director of
city of Freiburg, Germany, 1989-93. Joined the San Francisco Opera as
music
director in 1992. Frequently conducts at the great opera companies and
symphonies of the world, including the Metropolitan Opera in New York and
the Vienna State Opera.
Next ASO concert: Nov. 2-4. $19-$49. Orff: "Carmina Burana." Symphony
Hall,
1280 Peachtree St. N.E. 404-733-5000. www.atlantasymphony.org.
Recordings: At least six, including the San Francisco Opera's "Harvey
Milk"
and two works with Georgia-born mezzo-soprano Jennifer Larmore: Bellini's
"I
Capuleti e i Montecchi" and Gluck's "Orphee et Eurydice" (both Teldec).
--- Wendell Brock

=E3=E3=E3Ben Carlisle
bcarlis1@-----.edu

----------------- End Forwarded Message -----------------

David Niethamer
Principal Clarinet, Richmond Symphony
dnietham@-----.edu
http://members.aol.com/dbnclar1/

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