Jul 22
Placement of Violins
Dear Maestro Botstein,
I attend several concerts around NYC and noticed that ASO often has its violins on either side of the conductor, whereas many orchestras have the violins all on the left side. Can you explain why? Is it just what is called for in the works the ASO performs? Is this conductor’s privilege? How does it affect the sound in the section and overall?
Victoria M.
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Dear Victoria,
The seating of the two violin sections together is a relatively recent convention–post World War II. Before then it was conventional to separate the first and second violins in order to maximize their antiphonal effect. Unless a composer has specified the orchestra’s seating, it is left to the conductor to determine what she or he thinks will work best with a certain composition. I often follow a general rule: if the work was composed before 1945, the violins are separated. If after, the violins are seated together. However, I will always make an exception to this rule if I think the work is better served by another seating plan.
Leon Botstein
No commentsJul 14
SummerScape 2008
Dear Maestro Botstein,
I am very much looking forward to this summer’s Bard Music Festival centered around Sergei Prokofiev. It surprised me to see that this year’s SummerScape opera production was composed of neither by Prokofiev nor one of his Russian contemporaries. What is the connection between Prokofiev and the Polish composer Karol Szymanowski?
Sincerely,
Evan C.
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Dear Evan,
Prokofiev and Szymanowski were friends and contemporaries. We decided not to do any of Prokofiev’s operas because most are very well known and already spoken for. They have many champions and recent performances. The one that is not done so often–The Story of a Real Man–is a piece of Soviet propaganda, and we didn’t feel that its glorification of military might and conquest was appropriate especially in the context of the Iraq war. Szymanowski’s King Roger and Harnassie, however, are masterpieces that are rarely performed. Giving them hearings and compelling productions is a significant and worthwhile endeavor.
With best wishes,
Leon Botstein
No commentsJun 6
More American music for ASO?
Dear Maestro,
For several years now we have enjoyed Summerscape and the ASO season at Fisher Center and look forward to many more. Our favorite evening, we must admit, was when Ken Burns narrated Lincoln, but last season we also enjoyed Erica’s solos and hope she will do more in the future. We’d like to know, as New Yorkers and baby boomers if you’d consider a Summerscape of Bernstein or even Gershwin? We loved Copeland and long for more of the unique sound of American music.The American Symphony Orchestra should, after all, be the instrument to celebrate what is best about American music.
Thanks for listening…we’ll see you soon
Robert and Johanna
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Dear Robert and Johanna
Though Bernstein and Gershwin may not be our first choices when the Bard Music Festival turns again to an American theme, rest assured that we are planning to do more American music both at the Bard Festival and during our regular season in New York. I hope you will join us for our March 22 2009 concert of music by William Grant Still, one of the greatest but underrepresented American composers.
Leon Botstein
No commentsMar 4
Welcome to Ask the Maestro!
Welcome to the new “Ask the Maestro” section of the American Symphony Orchestra’s website! This page is your chance to interact with the Orchestra and its music director, Maestro Leon Botstein. As time goes on, we anticipate that it will grow into a long and rich dialogue, and a one-of-a-kind resource for ASO fans and listeners all around the world.
Feel free to submit comments and questions via the “Comments” links in each individual post, and check back often as we expand this exciting new area of the ASO’s home on the web.
No comments