Leipzig Week in Boston, Part II
November 6, 2019 | By Keith Powers, Musical America
BOSTON—Last week’s “Leipzig Week in Boston” [see Part I of this story] offered a chance to see the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Leipzig’s Gewandhausorchester onstage in Symphony Hall, first individually and then blended. It was a lesson in differing physical playing styles. Swaying in their seats, the Germans—especially the high strings— moved their bodies expressively. American musicians sat still. “That’s how we were taught,” says BSO flutist and exchanger Clint Foreman, “after my first rehearsal in Leipzig the principal said to me, ‘Why don’t you move?’”
But varying appearances don’t preclude basic similarities. “At some point we have to stop talking about the differences,” says Ludwig. “We are all musicians. We are all able to blend in with each other. Let’s talk about the similarities—I hope actually that’s the outcome of this joint project.
“In orchestras as good as the GHO and BSO there is a sound in the DNA,” he continues, “and maybe the music director can make slight changes. But generally the sound stays the same and the music director adapts to it.”
“You have to understand the DNA of each orchestra,” Nelsons says in agreement, “and feel part of it. It’s your instrument, and you build this sound, whether it’s rich or transparent or soft. But you use their DNA.
“You have two grand pianos,” he says. “They are both great. And you play each with a certain attitude.”
So do the players adapt. Asked about the different pitch frequencies the orchestras use to tune, flutists Foreman and Ludwig both responded with a shrug, using their hands to twist imaginary flutes, as if that’s all it takes to match pitch.
The GHO/BSO alliance has been bolstered by business associations as well. Flying orchestras across the Atlantic is not cheap, and the alliance has become another facet in the never-ending fundraising efforts in Boston. The GHO is largely state-supported and so has different motivations for the exchange; cultural ambassadorship for their city is certainly one, and they take it very seriously, “especially on tour. We want to show that we come from a city with a lot of culture, especially on tour,” says Gewandhaus violinist Veronika Starke.
“Maybe it’s because we’re paid by the city,” says Ludwig, “but as a member of this orchestra I will do anything I can for Germany, for Saxony and for Leipzig.”
German Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and BSO Music Director Andris Nelsons
Longterm recording contracts between both orchestras and Deutsche Grammophon—the complete Bruckner with the GHO, the complete Shostakovich with the BSO—will continue for each with other composers. (Nelsons hinted at an upcoming Strauss tone poem cycle.) Commissions have been a priority for both organizations, and the joint premieres of the Nelsons era—works by Sean Shepard, Jörg Widmann, Sebastian Currier, Andris Dzenitis, and others—are a point of personal pride.
“We are giving a chance to these composers to express their vision of how they see life today,” Nelsons says. “We are thinking of the repertory of the future, looking to the future with the eyes of the past.”
Performing together certainly rejuvenated the exchange musicians. “It’s like when you just began,” says Gewandhaus violinist Veronika Starke, of sitting in with a new orchestra. “Even after 24 years in the GHO, I could still feel how a young musician feels. You don’t want to stick out, so you have to be over-prepared.”
That feeling sounds like the energy Nelsons in continually trying to convey—which he also brings to his conducting responsibilities at Tanglewood. His work there has been a revelation—he clearly enjoys leading student orchestras, and does so without the slightest condescension. He’s perpetually enthused about music- making, and expects the same of all his colleagues. And that may be another key facet—how this professional exchange can benefit the respective teaching academies—the Mendelssohn Akademie and Tanglewood.
“The Mendelssohn Akademie is smaller, so the focus is more on chamber music,” says Nelsons. “But there and with the TMC, there is a feeling of excitement at music-making. It feels wonderful. Now with the two [professional] orchestras together, sitting next to each other, there is the same kind of excitement.”
Apart from joint touring and recording projects scheduled for 2022, plans for the immediate future are sketchy. Certainly the exchanges will continue, and those between the two institutes will become more robust. Expect more revelations in the coming months.
“We have several big projects planned in the next few years,” Nelsons says. “Strauss is one, playing half the Strauss tone poems here and the other half there, and possibly recording. We have the musician exchange, and commissions will continue, and this playing together. It’s very exciting and we would like it to continue.”
How long it lasts, only time will tell.
“While the relationships are still healthy,” says Nelsons. “I will stay in both places until they finally say, ‘We are fed up with Nelsons.’ ”
And that’s not likely to be anytime soon.