by Jarrett Hoffman
IN THIS EDITION:
•Oberlin’s Messiaen Mini-Festival begins at noon (note the time correction), and The Cleveland Orchestra plays Shostakovich and Sibelius
•The San Antonio Symphony terminates its contract with music director emeritus Sebastian Lang-Lessing (pictured)
•Almanac: Handel’s Royal Fireworks Music, and a royal disaster of a premiere
HAPPENING TODAY:
Oberlin Conservatory’s two-day Messiaen Mini-Festival will begin at noon (note the time correction) when conductor Timothy Weiss, organist Jonathan Moyer, and guest pianist and Messiaen specialist Jason Hardink gather at the Birenbaum to discuss the composer’s music and influence. Attendance is free.
And at 7:30 pm, The Cleveland Orchestra will give the first of three performances of a program pairing Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 10 with Sibelius’ Violin Concerto. Klaus Mäkelä conducts, and Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider is the soloist. Read Mike Telin’s interview with the violinist from yesterday after rehearsal, and get tickets here.
NEWS IN SAN ANTONIO:
The acrimony between the management of the San Antonio Symphony and its musicians, who are currently on strike, reached another level late last week when the orchestra fired music director emeritus Sebastian Lang-Lessing.
The conductor had agreed to lead the Musicians of the San Antonio Symphony (MOSAS) in a pair of independently-produced concerts next month. But the orchestra’s management says that’s a violation of his contract, which prohibits artists from making or announcing appearances in the city within 60 days of their commitments to the orchestra. Lang-Lessing was scheduled to lead the San Antonio Symphony in May.
“The symphony management knows very well that these concerts they have programmed will not happen,” the conductor says, according to an article by Kathleen Petty in San Antonio Mag.
As Petty writes, “The symphony has announced cancellation of concerts shortly before each scheduled date throughout this season while the musicians have been on strike but has refrained from cancelling the entire season with hopes that an agreement will eventually be reached.”
An earlier article by Nicholas Frank in the San Antonio Report provides further context to the situation. On April 3, Frank wrote, “The announcement of the upcoming MOSAS concerts includes the caveat that Lang-Lessing will conduct ‘if an agreement is not reached to resume [previously scheduled San Antonio Symphony] performances before then.’”
And Frank’s April 18 article announcing the conductor’s termination includes remarks from Akron Symphony music director Christopher Wilkins, who is also Music Director Emeritus with San Antonio, and who is scheduled to lead MOSAS on two dates in June.
“I’m willing to do anything I can to support the players and their livelihood. It’s been such a terrible time for them,” Wilkins said. “Part of what we can do is sell tickets and raise money, so I really hope people will turn out in force. And the other is to display what a great orchestra is about.”
TODAY’S ALMANAC:
On April 21, 2020, Daniel Hathaway noted some explosive events involving the music of George Frideric Handel:
On today’s date in 1749, a public rehearsal of Handel’s Royal Fireworks Music took place — against the composer’s wishes — at London’s Vauxhall Gardens. Obviously not respecting social distancing, an impressive crowd of 12,000 turned out, causing traffic jams for three hours on London Bridge.
The eventual premiere performance on April 27 in Green Park was something of a disaster — one of the pavilions caught fire, rockets went astray, and other effects fizzled due to rain.
Click here to listen to a not historically informed performance by the London Symphony led by Cleveland’s own George Szell — he also leaves out the 101 cannons called for at the work’s debut.
Imagine the internet frenzy that would surround an event like that today. Would Handel’s PR team be frustrated with having to put out all the fires (haha), or would they be gleeful about all the free publicity? (What’s that I smell — a series of talk-show appearances? A book deal?)