Premise Checker
2005-07-16 23:17:25 UTC
Near a Breakthrough at the Baltimore Symphony
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/16/arts/music/16also.html
[I have only her recording of the Tchaikovsky 4th and R&J Ov. I so
strongly prefer the older recordings, like Mengelberg and Mravinsky and
several others, too, that I can't compare her with any of the moderns,
really. But I'll give this Naxos disc some additional hearings.]
By [3]JEREMY EICHLER
The conducting podiums of large American orchestras have historically
been an all-male province, but the Baltimore Symphony may finally be
changing that. On Wednesday, a 21-member search committee voted to
make the American conductor Marin Alsop the orchestra's next music
director. If her appointment is ratified by the orchestra's board on
Tuesday, she will become the first woman to lead a major American
orchestra.
Ms. Alsop, 48, is currently principal conductor of the Bournemouth
Symphony Orchestra in England, but insiders have long speculated that
a major American post was on its way. Her three-year contract with
Baltimore, which has not been finalized, states that she would serve
as music director designate starting in the 2006-7 season and begin
her official tenure in the fall of 2007, said James Glicker, president
and chief executive of the Baltimore Symphony. She would succeed Yuri
Temirkanov, now in his sixth season with the orchestra.
"I'm absolutely thrilled," Ms. Alsop said yesterday from a cruise off
the coast of New England. "I'm very honored to be able to be the first
woman to have this position, and I'm hoping it will soon become a
nonissue for the women who follow me."
Deborah Borda, president of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, said that if
the appointment goes through, "it would be a great leap forward and a
significant moment in American musical history."
It would be highly unusual for an orchestra's board to reject the
recommendation of the search committee, which was headed by the board
chairman and included six other board members, as well as orchestral
staff, musicians and an outside consultant. Ms. Alsop's probable
appointment was first reported yesterday in The Baltimore Sun.
Women have led smaller American orchestras, but never one of the 24
largest in the country when ranked by annual operating budgets,
according to Julia Kirchhausen of the American Symphony Orchestra
League. The Baltimore Symphony falls easily within that group, with an
annual budget of $30 million.
Ms. Alsop's appointment would bring to a close a search that began in
December and included an unusually high degree of consultation with
audiences and the larger community. Opinion-canvassing efforts
included three town-hall-style meetings where audience members
discussed what they were looking for in a music director. The
orchestra even hired a research firm to conduct a telephone poll of
residents in the Baltimore area. "People wanted somebody who would be
actively involved in the community, and who could bridge the gap
between audience and performer," said Mr. Glicker, the orchestra's
president and chief executive. "Marin fit those requirements and was
an audience favorite from a survey point of view, and in ticket
sales."
For her part, Ms. Alsop seems eager to build a substantial presence in
Baltimore. Her contract stipulates a 14-week season each year with the
orchestra, longer than Mr. Temirkanov's typical season of 11 to 12
weeks. She spoke of countering the trend of jet-setting maestros, and
embracing an older model of a music director building a major presence
in a city. A native New Yorker, Ms. Alsop cited Leonard Bernstein as
an inspiration for how a conductor can connect with local audiences.
In her own concerts, with the Bournemouth Symphony and with the
Colorado Symphony Orchestra, which she led for 12 years, she has been
known to speak casually with audiences directly from the podium.
Her willingness to be involved with the community would no doubt be
important; Mr. Glicker confirmed that in addition to her artistic work
she would be expected to take a leadership role in fund-raising. The
Baltimore Symphony has been dogged in recent years by fiscal problems,
and after recently opening a second home in North Bethesda, Md., a
suburb of Washington, the orchestra has an accumulated deficit of $12
million projected for 2006.
But Ms. Alsop seemed undaunted by the financial situation. "I look at
it as a moment of opportunity rather than a moment of fear," she said.
"Many orchestras these days are having fiscal problems. To me, that's
the moment not to be conservative and hunker down. It's an opportunity
to take intelligent risks. And make a statement, to really step out
and differentiate yourself from every other orchestra with similar
fiscal problems."
Her plans for the orchestra include taking on more recording projects,
possibly by expanding a relationship she has built with the Naxos
label, which in the fall will release the next installment of her
critically acclaimed Brahms cycle with the London Philharmonic
Orchestra. Mr. Glicker said the orchestra also hopes to increase its
online presence.
"I think it's a moment to assess what's possible, and to take a few
chances, a few calculated risks," Ms. Alsop said. "In every orchestra
I've been music director of, it's all been about calculated risk."
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/16/arts/music/16also.html
[I have only her recording of the Tchaikovsky 4th and R&J Ov. I so
strongly prefer the older recordings, like Mengelberg and Mravinsky and
several others, too, that I can't compare her with any of the moderns,
really. But I'll give this Naxos disc some additional hearings.]
By [3]JEREMY EICHLER
The conducting podiums of large American orchestras have historically
been an all-male province, but the Baltimore Symphony may finally be
changing that. On Wednesday, a 21-member search committee voted to
make the American conductor Marin Alsop the orchestra's next music
director. If her appointment is ratified by the orchestra's board on
Tuesday, she will become the first woman to lead a major American
orchestra.
Ms. Alsop, 48, is currently principal conductor of the Bournemouth
Symphony Orchestra in England, but insiders have long speculated that
a major American post was on its way. Her three-year contract with
Baltimore, which has not been finalized, states that she would serve
as music director designate starting in the 2006-7 season and begin
her official tenure in the fall of 2007, said James Glicker, president
and chief executive of the Baltimore Symphony. She would succeed Yuri
Temirkanov, now in his sixth season with the orchestra.
"I'm absolutely thrilled," Ms. Alsop said yesterday from a cruise off
the coast of New England. "I'm very honored to be able to be the first
woman to have this position, and I'm hoping it will soon become a
nonissue for the women who follow me."
Deborah Borda, president of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, said that if
the appointment goes through, "it would be a great leap forward and a
significant moment in American musical history."
It would be highly unusual for an orchestra's board to reject the
recommendation of the search committee, which was headed by the board
chairman and included six other board members, as well as orchestral
staff, musicians and an outside consultant. Ms. Alsop's probable
appointment was first reported yesterday in The Baltimore Sun.
Women have led smaller American orchestras, but never one of the 24
largest in the country when ranked by annual operating budgets,
according to Julia Kirchhausen of the American Symphony Orchestra
League. The Baltimore Symphony falls easily within that group, with an
annual budget of $30 million.
Ms. Alsop's appointment would bring to a close a search that began in
December and included an unusually high degree of consultation with
audiences and the larger community. Opinion-canvassing efforts
included three town-hall-style meetings where audience members
discussed what they were looking for in a music director. The
orchestra even hired a research firm to conduct a telephone poll of
residents in the Baltimore area. "People wanted somebody who would be
actively involved in the community, and who could bridge the gap
between audience and performer," said Mr. Glicker, the orchestra's
president and chief executive. "Marin fit those requirements and was
an audience favorite from a survey point of view, and in ticket
sales."
For her part, Ms. Alsop seems eager to build a substantial presence in
Baltimore. Her contract stipulates a 14-week season each year with the
orchestra, longer than Mr. Temirkanov's typical season of 11 to 12
weeks. She spoke of countering the trend of jet-setting maestros, and
embracing an older model of a music director building a major presence
in a city. A native New Yorker, Ms. Alsop cited Leonard Bernstein as
an inspiration for how a conductor can connect with local audiences.
In her own concerts, with the Bournemouth Symphony and with the
Colorado Symphony Orchestra, which she led for 12 years, she has been
known to speak casually with audiences directly from the podium.
Her willingness to be involved with the community would no doubt be
important; Mr. Glicker confirmed that in addition to her artistic work
she would be expected to take a leadership role in fund-raising. The
Baltimore Symphony has been dogged in recent years by fiscal problems,
and after recently opening a second home in North Bethesda, Md., a
suburb of Washington, the orchestra has an accumulated deficit of $12
million projected for 2006.
But Ms. Alsop seemed undaunted by the financial situation. "I look at
it as a moment of opportunity rather than a moment of fear," she said.
"Many orchestras these days are having fiscal problems. To me, that's
the moment not to be conservative and hunker down. It's an opportunity
to take intelligent risks. And make a statement, to really step out
and differentiate yourself from every other orchestra with similar
fiscal problems."
Her plans for the orchestra include taking on more recording projects,
possibly by expanding a relationship she has built with the Naxos
label, which in the fall will release the next installment of her
critically acclaimed Brahms cycle with the London Philharmonic
Orchestra. Mr. Glicker said the orchestra also hopes to increase its
online presence.
"I think it's a moment to assess what's possible, and to take a few
chances, a few calculated risks," Ms. Alsop said. "In every orchestra
I've been music director of, it's all been about calculated risk."