The Kurt Stops Here

Dear Readers,

We lost another giant.  Mo. Masur has passed on, at the age of 88, due to complications from Parkinson's disease.  My reminiscences are not really important, though what I learned from him, especially during the summer of 1986 at Tanglewood, was unforgettable and invaluable.  Parkinson's is a cruel affliction, among the world's most inexorable death sentences.  Yet I will remember Mo. Masur not for that struggle, but for his performances, especially of Brahms, which moved me away from the Szell paradigm to a warmer, more generous approach, and his teaching, which was equally generous and ever insightful.  Yet, I also remember him telling us how he wouldn't do Symphonie Fantastique, because he considered it dishonest.  Then two days later, he conducted Liszt's Dante Symphony.  Oh well, chacun à son gout.   We will celebrate his memory with our Salome performance in January, the last German work we will perform this year.   And I will do my best to pass on what he taught, to continue the chain, maintain the legacy, as we pursue the cause of art to which he dedicated his life.  Requiescat in pace. - MG

A few newer rules of the road

Dear Readers,

Waiting for my ride to the airport in Beijing.  Escaping just in time; a new 4-day red alert was posted, as the air turns foul yet again.  Below please find a post begun while we were preparing Elgar earlier this fall.  I like the ideas, and it never hurts to be reminded every now and then of what may seem obvious, but at times gets lost in the process.  For your edification:

It was a solid, productive sectional, and now I was girding my loins for a crucial rehearsal in a few minutes.  While working with the strings and wind/brass/perc separately, I was reminded of several basics:
1)  We (the conductor) don't rehearse for ourselves.  We rehearse for the orchestra, to help them play as well as they can.  The strings needed the chance yesterday to hear the Elgar 1 without all the extra notes and noise, to see where they double each other (2nd's and violas, violas and cellos, 1st's and violas, etc) and to hear how their harmonies line up with each other.  Also, there are just some nasty licks, and it is better to take care of that stuff with W/B/P waiting a few feet away.

2)  PANIC is never a good motivation or practice/rehearsal method.  Practice reduces panic.  As I like to say, practice doesn't make perfect, but it does make BETTER.  And that is a fundamental truth of rehearsal; it should sound better at the end than it did at the start.

3)  Controversial though it may sound to some readers, it is NOT, in my view, the conductor's job to fix intonation in winds and brass.  The conductor may choose to do so, at his/her own risk, but in my view, in a professional setting, the last thing orchestral wind players want to hear from the podium is that they are out of tune.  Either they already know it, and would fix it with a gentle (off-the-podium) reminder, or they don't, in which case, as we say here, "Get a new orchestra."  Seriously, one of our mantras is "A great orchestra takes care of its own business."  This is different from working with a high school band, or an ensemble of non-majors, where often it is the conductor's job either to fix pitch, to teach about how to fix pitch, or both.  The Philharmonia wind/brass sections know that intonation is above all about LISTENING and AWARENESS.  All I needed to do was to remind the musicians (perhaps more forcefully than I would have liked) of the protocols for intonation.  They responded immediately, and well.

4)  ORCHESTRA MEMBERS: STOP THE FOOT-TAPPING.  Please.  Now.  For the sake of your insoles, if for nothing else.  Those who tap their feet while playing aren't tapping in tempo, either in yours nor frankly even in theirs.  Where it came from, I don't know, but I'm putting it up there with my crusade to "CURE PODIUM DEAFNESS."

5)  CONDUCTORS:  Less beating, more listening.  I've said this 1000 times over - the bigger your gesture, the less you will listen.  And active listening trumps active beating every time.

There you have it, friends.  Next post will be stateside.  Best wishes to all for the holidays! - MG

"TALK SHOW II" - the sequel!

TALK SHOW II

Interviewer:     So, Maestro, what have you been up to since we last met?

Maestro:         Thanks Bob, it’s great to be back.  We’re working on something really exciting at the symphony right now.

Interviewer:     What’s that, Maestro?

Maestro:         Well, we’re trying to connect with the next generation, a whole new demographic, you know.  Get them to go to our concerts.

Interviewer:     And you have a new idea?

Maestro:         Sports.  And music.

Interviewer:     So how does that work?

Maestro:         Three words, Bob, just three words.  LeBron James.

Interviewer:     I’m afraid I don’t get it, Maestro. 

Maestro:         LeBron James!

Interviewer:     But what would he do with your orchestra?

Maestro:         Does it really matter, Bob?

"TALK SHOW" - for those who missed it the first time around...

TALK SHOW

Interviewer: "Why did you start conducting, Maestro?"

Maestro:      "Well, Bob, I just LOVE to beat! I'd do it all day if I could. Beating, that's why I got into it; that's what turns me on about conducting. That and the money."

Interviewer: "What else do you like about conducting?"

Maestro:      "Well, Bob, when I am not beating, I really like to talk to the orchestra, you know, explain things."

Interviewer: "Like what, Maestro?"

Maestro:       "I like to tell them how great a piece is, and how much Beethoven has meant to me personally. Then I especially like to tell them when something sounds really bad. And then I like to have them do the passage over and over again. With my beat. Did I tell you, Bob, how much I like to beat?" 

…and now this, live from Tianjin!

The report from a masterclass I did Friday night in Tianjin, at the playhouse of the Grand Theater.  Mozart and Verdi Requiems.  I guess I said something about driving a bus…and apparently I need to lose a few. Best to all. - MG

马克·吉普森：指挥就像开公交

2015-12-12 天津大剧院

作一个指挥家到底是一种怎样的体验？那个一直对大家指指点点的小棒子究竟有什么作用？你或许从来不知道乐队指挥与合唱指挥有多大的差别，你或许从来不知道，指挥在把控演奏和演唱的同时还需多么细心地注意自己的手势不要影响乐手或歌手的身体状态……昨天，指挥大师马克·吉普森在天津大剧院的指挥大师课上，就这些问题一一给出了形象生动的解答和展示。

只把拍子挥出来，那不是音乐，在我看来也不是指挥，你要让乐队知道你想要的是什么音乐。老师要传达的，和学生理解的总是有偏差，我要做的，就是让学生能听懂我想要指导的内容。做指挥很像做公交车司机，乐手们就像乘客，我要让他们舒适的享受“旅程”。

——马克·吉普森

昨晚的公开课，由马克·吉普森、天津音乐学院作曲系主任卢长剑、天津大学的北洋合唱团的同学以及指导老师温雨川、天津音乐学院指挥专业学生陈昊明共同完成，马克先生分别用了莫扎特和威尔第的安魂曲作为展示内容，重点强调了指挥家与合唱团的真正交流，不仅需要手势传递语言，并且需要透过眼神传递感情和信息。

合唱指挥的手势应该尽量的低，活动的范围也应该尽量的小，因为当你的手抬高时，歌手的喉头也会跟着提高，这会影响到他们的气息与发声。除了手势，我还可以用我的呼吸、我的眼神向他们传递我对音乐的把控。

如何学习成为一名指挥

吉普森教授给出了自己的答案：“首先要热爱音乐，然后要学习音乐，学习演奏，多看乐谱，少听录音，当然这是我自己的理解。”

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Who's afraid of Herodias?

Dear Readers,

So why should it be so difficult just to study Salome?  Sometimes, I can barely bring myself to pick it up, much less open it.  And yet, in spite of its immensity, at least of its orchestral scope, it is just the same 12 notes.  Same twelve notes as in Bach, as in Mozart, as in Schoenberg, Debussy and Brahms.  Different order, different level of density, but ultimately, just 12 pitches in various patterns and forms of organization.  Is the conducting difficult?  Not really - it is 1, 2, 3, 4 and occasionally 5/4.  Phrase structure?  Mostly 4-bar phrases.  Deep dramatic issues?  Not so much - girl meets guy, tries to get to know him, guy turns girl down, she has his head chopped off.  Mixed marriages - you know, they never work.  A lot of talk about the moon.  Oh, and there are some Jews yammering about; we had similar discussions when I was at Temple Israel in Minneapolis.

So what is the problem?  Well, they may only be the same 12 notes, but there are SO DARN MANY OF THEM!  Kind of makes me miss Arvo Pärt.  That, and anticipating the problems of rehearsing it  (you think it is hard to play on the piano? Take a gander at the 1st violin part) and preparing for the balance issues of concert performance when the orchestra is on stage.

I think it is crucial - just as we ought never underestimate the complexity of a Mozart piano concerto - not to overestimate the challenges of a big Strauss score.  It's like how you go about eating a 3-lb. porterhouse - one bite at a time, and what you don't eat now, take home and have tomorrow.  I have found it helpful to open up the score on any given day somewhere in the middle, or towards the end, and sometimes to work backwards.  This helps me get a larger view of the work, and to look at mastering the score in pieces rather than as a marathon from the first page to the last.  Above all, DON'T PANIC.  It will all get learned, if you - or rather, I - keep at it.

And don't skip steps, tempting though it may be.  I'm currently writing the text in the margins of my piano score (yes, I'm working out of a piano score first, then will address the instrumentation and traffic - only one anxiety attack at a time, please).  Speaking text, speaking text in rhythm, repeating text.  I think of it like grinding the ink for my sumi-e paintings; just keep gently grinding the stone, over and over again.

I'm pretty much through these first two parts of my process, and have started singing it (yes, it's already translated; the more German you do, the more German you know!).  I sit down and play the score more for pleasure than for understanding at this point.  Still haven't sat down with a recording, and I'm not sure I will.  It is a luxury to have the time to do this; nothing worse than cramming a score down my mental gullet.

There comes a point, after the dread, the laziness, the fatigue, when it becomes fun.  Pleasurable.  I'm starting to get to that point; the point where the notes don't seem quite as small, the harmonies not quite as thorny, the words not so tongue-twisting.  Where the drama emerges as a panorama of possibility, not imperative.   Just keep going.  Chop wood, carry water.  Or in this case, chop head, carry..uh...torches.

Best to all from Beijing,
MG

AQI 365 - "Hazardous" and other niceties of Beijing

Dear Friends,

That is what the air quality index was in Beijing at 6:00 am this morning.  We are all wearing masks today.  And yet, in spite of the bad air, it is good to be back here.  I'll be working with 17 aspiring, eager conductors this week at Central Conservatory, and probably another two dozen next week at China Conservatory, on the north side of town.  Sandwiched in between is a masterclass at the Tianjin Grand Theater (look it up, it's pretty grand!) on Mozart and Verdi Requiems (a few conductors, w. chorus and piano) this Friday.

It was a busy fall, as many of you know, with highs and lows. The Philharmonia performed everything from Mondonville to Carousel, Schoenberg to Rachmaninoff, Bach to Madama Butterfly.  Along the way was an Elgar 1 (I still believe in the piece, even though we didn't really do justice to this incredibly difficult score) and Mahler 7 (great perf. led by my friend and colleague, Ulrich Nicolai!).

On my desk now is Salome, but even she must await the conclusion of The Beat Stops Here, which is due to Oxford on Jan. 15.  Eek!  Just around the corner.  Most of the writing is done; there is still a lengthy chapter on conducting Des knaben Wunderhorn.  I have to finish up a few chapters (last mvmt, Scheherazade, very ending of Dvorak Scherzo Capriccioso, Brahms Tragic Overture, Manon/DesGrieux duet) and the metronome chapter.  Then proofing, back material, front material and the daily prayers offered up to the publishing gods/goddesses.

In the course of a lot of thinking about conducting, I do want to iterate a few basics, if you don't mind:
1)  One is down, usually ;-)
2)  Cross on two, at least sometimes ;-)
3)  "The orchestra has the right to expect that the conductor knows the score at least as well as they do." - Herbert Blomstedt
4)  Protocols for opera study: a) write out text, b) speak text, c) translate text, d) sing text
5)  Going from a long note value from a short note value requires…say it with me…"an EXTRA PIECE OF INFORMATION."
6)  Once you rebound vertically, you lose any influence on sound.  Stay off of the trampoline!
7)  Establish PULSE, then surf the sound!

Will try to write every day that I am here; there is much I want to share about our craft and our "horrendous profession."  Take care, and best wishes for the holidays.  Now to find that darn mask…

MG