It's the C Word

Mary Ellyn Hutton
Posted: Jan 8, 2010 - 9:39:22 AM in news

photo by Mark Lyons

Cincinnati Symphony music director Paavo Järvi told members of the orchestra at a rehearsal Thursday at Music Hall that next season, his 10th anniversary with the orchestra, will be his last.
   Many reasons are being advanced for his decision: frustration with Music Hall, a 3,500-seat civic landmark (read sacred cow?) never meant to be a concert hall; frustration that the CSO board rejected an optimal plan to build a smaller hall in the parking lot adjacent to Music Hall; restrictions on his programming; cessation of CSO recording activities; geography, i.e. commuting in and out of the Midwest; and personal issues, including a 2009 DUI conviction.
   All this in addition to the dismal economy, which is spelling doom for orchestras right and left. Cincinnati arts patroness Louise Nippert redeemed the financial situation at years end with an $85 million gift that will shore up the CSO for the immediate future, but with a specification that the money not be used to reconfigure Music Hall.
   Ultimately, however, there is likely one overriding concern for Järvi (who turned 47 in December). As he told the Cincinnati Post only a few years into his tenure, the problem with the CSO is that careers "just die" here.   Much as he may sincerely love the CSO, he has a right, perhaps even an obligation, to utilize his talents at the highest level. Cincinnati is a very high level, but even the most zealous local supporters cannot deny that it is not the acme.
   With notable gains in his international reputation during the past couple of years, including a path-breaking Beethoven cycle with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen and accession to the leadership of the Orchestre de Paris (beginning in September 2010), fate is knocking on his door. He could stay in Cincinnati and build, as Erich Kunzel did with the Cincinnati Pops, ultimately making it the best in the world (perhaps in part because the Boston Pops did not tap him when they could have). Or he could seek his fortune elsewhere. Either carries risk of some kind.
   The test will be whether he can depart without acrimony on anyone's part.
   Järvi may have his own demons, but he is immensely talented and deserves to conduct in a hall that is not chronically half-empty and to pursue his art and share it with others in the wider world.

Comments

cincytee
08 Jan 2010, 12:12

Cincinnati may not be the acme, but neither was St. Louis when Leonard Slatkin started there. I remember Music Hall nearly full for CSO concerts and the musicians' praising Music Hall for its acoustic excellence, It seems that either building a new, smaller hall or massively reconfiguring Music Hall is an awfully expensive way to cover up that the organisation -- including the music director -- simply isn't filling the seats.

George Butler
08 Jan 2010, 12:40

When you've got four gigs going, when you're on the road 80% of the time, when you've got a brilliant, talented wife (with her own scaled-back concert career that too requires travel), and two little girls at home... something's gotta give! Tough, tough choices, even if you enjoy all four gigs.

And, as talented as he obviously is, even Paavo needs time for score study, planning and preparation for future projects, listening, and reflecting. That's hard to do rushing from one airport to the next.

Because the really good ones make it look so easy, we take these guys for granted. But, when done right, being a conductor and music director requires a lot of work and time.

Even father Neeme, with his more than fifty years of experience and all of his recordings, claims to still "practice" six hours a day. (I can't believe he has six hours a week of free time, but he makes a good point.)

Remember, Paavo is still a relatively 'young conductor.' Besides his father, there's Maazel, Levine, Kleiber, Muti, Jansons, Giergev, etc. As good as he is now, his best years are still ahead of him.

Kyle Werner
08 Jan 2010, 15:34

I'm confused by the statement that "careers just die here." In my experience, it is the opposite - Cincinnati is constantly being used as a stepping stone by promising young musicians. Just think of oboist Liang Wang, conductor Xian Zhang, and now Paavo. Musicians come to Cincinnati, gain experience and recognition, and then move onto bigger gigs in major cities. Cincinnati is in a unique position. For many young musicians, it's a good enough music scene to be a key career stepping zone, but not alluring enough to be considered a final destination. However, musicians everywhere make changes in their career paths. For instance, Mathieu Dufour has been principal flutist of the Chicago Symphony for several years, but is now leaving to take the position in the LA Philharmonic. The reasons for such decisions are often numerous and complex.

Mary Ellyn Hutton
08 Jan 2010, 15:50

What was meant was that staying in Cincinnati too long could be fatal. Ten years is a decent tenure. Xian Zhang and Liang Wang left at the first opportunity. L.A. Phil. is the next new thing and took many by surprise. Yes, I agree reasons for musicians to move are numerous and complex. What is the tipping point is the question?

Elizabeth Smith
08 Jan 2010, 16:46

Dufour is not staying in LA - the NYTimes reported this yesterday. He did not feel the LA Phil had a culture or sense of ensemble yet. The Chicago Sun-Times has a big article about his decision.

Robert Walters (sp?), the oboist, also left Cincy years ago - first to the Met, and now at Cleveland and Oberlin.

I do think Cincinnati is rich with music/theatre opportunities, especially for young people.

Owen Lee
12 Jan 2010, 04:31

I've thoroughly enjoyed Paavo's tenure as Music Director. I think he is one of the very best conductors out there. But 10 years is a long time, especially in the classical music world. To take only one other orchestra as an example, the New York Philharmonic had Kurt Masur for 11 years and Lorin Maazel for 7 years. There are many other examples. The passing of the baton is part of the natural life-cycle of orchestras, and we've had some guest conductors in recent years whom I would be more than happy to have as Music Director.

I would also suggest there are different facets to the word "acme." While Cincinnati might not be the absolute acme in terms of cachet, blah blah blah, I and many would say without hesitation that the quality of music making is at the "acme" level. We go out there on stage with the mindset of being no less than the best, and we have the skills to back that up. Our audience deserves and demands this.

The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra was already one of America's top 10 orchestras for 106 years before Paavo Jarvi showed up, and if everyone involved keeps working hard, shall remain so well into the future.

Cheers,
Owen Lee
Principal Bass, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra

Owen Lee
12 Jan 2010, 04:40

BTW, it should be clarified that Xian Zhang did not leave the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. I think she was on the faculty at CCM when she was hired by the New York Philharmonic.

Also, I've been in the CSO long enough to see some wonderful musicians come and go. In each and every instance, they have been succeeded by a musician of the very highest caliber.

Mary Ellyn Hutton
12 Jan 2010, 11:48

Thank you, Owen, for a very thoughtful and intelligent comment. There have been some wonderful, long music directorships that have transformed people's perceptions about what is "The Best" in symphonic music. The most often cited example is George Szell in Cleveland. Some of us hoped Paavo would do that in Cincinnati. People condescendingly say that the Cincinnati Symphony is one of the best orchestras in the world, but that brand name, U.S."Big 5" identity will not die, and conductors like Paavo cannot help being affected by it. Therefore it remains a "best kept secret" -- that cliche we all laugh off, not without a touch of bitterness. We need the kind of music director who not only can, but will merge allegiance to music with allegiance to an orchestra and a community. Sure, even the "best" conductor can stay too long (Karajan at the "top-ranked" Berlin Philharmonic, for example). This was not the case with Paavo. Cincinnati was just getting to know him. His post-concert "talk back" after the CSO's Jan. 10 Sunday matinee -- Music Hall was very full, by the way -- was a stunning example of what he can do when he is willing and able to turn around and communicate directly with the audience (he will do it after concerts but not before, when he is intensely focused on the music). While CSO recording activities lasted, Paavo felt he was getting the orchestra's "secret" out to the world. That was good and necessary, as is touring, but we must get the world to come here.

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