Music of Note: Philharmonia Leads CCM Gala

(first published in The Cincinnati Post Oct. 8, 1992)

From Beethoven to Broadway, Saturday's gala performance at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music's Corbett Auditorium celebrates 125 years of CCM history.

On hand for the event will be a flurry of CCM alumni, who will celebrate their alma mater with a weekend of reunion activities. They'll renew friendships, reminisce about the old Cincinnati Conservatory and the College of Music - CCM's parent schools - and hear CCM's plans for expansion.

At the gala, they'll toast star alumnae such as Metropolitan Opera soprano Barbara Daniels, pianist Anton Nel, musical-theater stars Michele Pawk and Lee Roy Reams and actress Sarah Jessica Parker ("Honeymoon in Vegas"). Tony- winner Faith Prince ("Guys and Dolls") and director Hal Prince will join in via videotape.

Performing the Beethoven Ninth will be Gerhard Samuel and the Philharmonia Orchestra, a team about which CCM can be particularly joyous.

Acknowledged as one of the world's finest conservatory orchestras, the Philharmonia has performed in Paris and London, as well as New York's Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall. The New York Times and the Boston Globe have praised its recordings.

And it gives its director "goose pimples."

Samuel used that phrase in describing a recent rehearsal of Brahms' Third Symphony: "We did the second movement, and I didn't stop. We just made music. Some people came up to me and said they had goose pimples, too," Samuel said.

Entering his 17th season at CCM and at the helm of the Philharmonia, Samuel, 68, is one of Cincinnati's pre-eminent musical citizens.

Indeed, Cincinnati gained what California lost. Samuel is still remembered in the San Francisco Bay area for presiding over a golden age at the Oakland Symphony, where he was music director from 1959 to 1971. He was also associate conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta (1971-74).

A native of Germany, he studied with legendary Boston Symphony conductor Serge Koussevitsky and with composer Paul Hindemith at Yale. He guest-conducts all over the world - although he has never been invited to conduct any of Cincinnati's major musical organizations, the Cincinnati Symphony, Cincinnati Opera, May Festival or Cincinnati Ballet.

His ensemble-building skills were well-used by the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, which he left on a strong artistic and financial footing after serving as its music director from 1984 to 1991.

In January, Samuel will guest-conduct and take on tour the Southwest German Radio Orchestra in Baden-Baden (now under the leadership of former CSO music director Michael Gielen).

A well-known composer, Samuel has had music performed by the New York and Los Angeles philharmonics, by the Philadelphia Orchestra and in Canada, Europe and Mexico. His "Looking at Orpheus Looking" was performed by the CSO last season and will be performed by the Baltimore Symphony in February.

Samuel makes no bones about preparing his Philharmonia musicians for the world beyond the conservatory walls. He auditions all his players every year, which is not even done in professional orchestras.

"I always tell them, 'Don't get too possessive of your seat.' Some people who played with me last year aren't there this year because somebody outplayed them."

Samuel holds the auditions not just to pick the best players: "When they leave here, the first thing they have to do is audition. So they have to learn to keep their nerves together, what to prepare and how to prepare it. And realize you've got 10 minutes to do it."

Samuel's rehearsal regimen is demanding: "We don't even have that many rehearsals - just the right number, so there's a pressure to get it done quickly and efficiently."

The students must come prepared: "We don't spend hours teaching them the notes."

Philharmonia positions are coveted; about 350 people auditioned for its 100 spots this fall.

And the players thrive, judging from their post-CCM experiences. Former Philharmonia players fill orchestra ranks from Cincinnati and Columbus to Holland, Germany, France and Italy.

They have written Samuel thanking him for the training they received in the Philharmonia, he said.

"We tell them, 'It's hard; you'd better know it.' And it's getting worse, with orchestras going under. For every vacancy, 200 or 300 people show up."

Another thing Samuel tries to instill in his young players is an appreciation for new music.

"I believe in it. After all, the people we cherish today were new at one point. Think of the thousands of composers that were active in Beethoven's time. If they hadn't been played, maybe Beethoven wouldn't have been played either."

Samuel would like to see audiences give new music the same chance they give movies: "When people go to the movies, they may or may not get one they like, but they keep going. They don't go to see 'Gone With the Wind' once a month."

In the Philharmonia's upcoming season, premieres by Ned Rorem, Harold Blumenfeld and Nora Crane will share programs with Dvorak, Schumann and Beethoven. The orchestra will perform and record music by French composer Charles Koechlin (1867-1950) in April.

The Philharmonia's international reputation has been much enhanced by its recordings, which include the world premiere of the Symphony in E Major by Hans Rott (a major influence on Mahler) and the Mahler edition of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. Last spring, the orchestra made the premiere recording of a recently discovered symphony thought to be by Franz Schubert.

"We do interesting things you can't hear anyplace else," Samuel said. "It's a good mixture."

And, at $5, it's the best musical bargain in town.

There's a special excitement about working with a young orchestra, Samuel said.

"They're not jaded. They're incredibly full of energy. And something very special happens that doesn't always happen with a grown-up orchestra."

The Philharmonia Orchestra will perform an all-Brahms concert to open its '92-'93 season Oct. 17 at Corbett Auditorium. Soloist in the Piano Concerto No. 1 will be CCM eminent scholar James Tocco; call 556-4183.

The program for CCM's 125th-anniversary concert Saturday, sponsored by the Friends of CCM and directed by CCM opera professor Jonathan Eaton:

CCM PHILHARMONIA Orchestra, Chamber Choir and Chorale: Beethoven (Mahler version), Symphony No. 9 ("Choral"), final movement. Tracy Markin, Janice Conrads, Michael Hendrick, Micah Graber, vocal soloists.

DAVID CANARY: Welcome.

ANTON NEL, pianist: Schumann, Introduction and Allegro apassionata, Op. 92.

ALYSSA PARK, violinist: Saint-Saens, Introduction and Rondo capriccioso.

SARAH JESSICA PARKER: Introduction.

BARBARA DANIELS, soprano: Menotti, "To This We've Come" ("The Consul").

MARK OSWALD, baritone: Gounod, Avant de quitter ces lieux ("Faust"); Rossini, Largo al factotum ("Barber of Seville").

FAITH PRINCE: Videotaped message.

MICHELE PAWK, LEE ROY REAMS: Musical theater.

HAL PRINCE: Videotaped message.

MATTHEW BEHAN, LAUREN ASHLEY STACEY: Bernstein, "A Simple Song" ("Mass"); "Make Our Garden Grow" ("Candide"). With Sarah Jessica Parker, David Canary; Philharmonia, choirs.

TICKETS: Saturday's gala includes reception, 5:30 p.m.; dinner, 6:30 p.m., CCM Corbett Plaza; concert, 8:30 p.m.; dessert and dancing to the CCM Faculty/ Alumni Jazz Combo. Tickets: $125 donor, $250 patron, $500 benefactor (556-2100).