WQED fm PSO Tour Blog

The first concert of the 2012 European Residency tour is over. Mahler’s Second Symphony cast its spell of beauty and terror leading to a transformation and a choral resurrection. The two choirs from Spain were gorgeous: the Orfeó Català and the Cor Cambra del Palau de la Musica Catalana. We heard soprano soloist Laura Claycomb for the first time with contralto Gerhild Romberger.

The Palau was packed and hot with all 1800 seats filled. I sat next to Amanda Vosburgh and Resident Conductor Lawrence Loh. The century-old hall is amazing. Architect Lluis Domenech outdid himself in the whimsical style of Gaudí. Stone figures leap from the walls, Spanish tile depicts flowers and leaves, everywhere you look there is a new detail to admire. The names of composers are in tile in the ceiling with Mozart, Gluck, Beethoven, and Carissimi, the latter not on every hall of fame list.

Before the concert, lots of cameras were out to capture a bit of the exquisite design of the Palau. Principal tympanist Ed Stephan shined up his timpani with Windex. Backstage, I met hornist Tom Bacon, a recent retiree from the Houston Symphony. There are 115 players on tour, including “extras” needed in the Mahler and a few substitutes to cover for musicians who had family commitments or other needs to stay home.

It was  a long day with a full rehearsal of the Mahler with the chorus, and for tomorrow night’s concert in Madrid, Dvorak’s Ninth Symphony the Sibelius Violin Concerto with soloist Nikolai Znaider.

The offstage band and percussion for Mahler arrived early for a special session. It must have been challenging to readjust to the new acoustics with the choir high above the organ loft and spill into the second balcony.

There were notices of the concert with Manfred Honeck’s photo in El Pais and La Vanguardia, two of the national Spanish papers. Pop music nostalgia is just as powerful in Barcelona as at home. Doo Wop comes to the Palau de la Musica on November 18 when the Platters will sing “Only You” and “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes.” There were ads in today’s paper for Barry White and Whitney Houston tribute shows and a visit by the “Original Glen Miller Orchestra with the Andrews Sisters.” All that plus Handel’s Messiah, concerts by the Barcelona orchestras, and visits by ensembles such as the Academy of Ancient Music Berlin.

A TV documentary crew from the Anima network was interviewing the singers downstairs where there is a compact choir rehearsal room. The concert was recorded for broadcast on Radio Catalunya, which will share it with the European Broadcasting Union. We were promised a copy to share with you.

I enjoyed a few more tapas – a sort of egg omelet, and a bit of brie and red pepper in the backstage bar. There is a fabulous gift shop and café at the entrance. Manfred Honeck signed Mahler CDs after the concert.

CDs from Spanish superstar soprano Montserrat Caballe, 79, are featured in the gift shop. She was reported to have suffered a stroke just two days ago and is in a Madrid hospital. You may remember her big hit “Barcelona” with Freddie Mercury after he left Queen in 1987. It was heard often during the 1992 Olympics. Our hotel is in the former Olympic Village. Now, there’s a casino next door.

The bags are already on their way to Madrid. It’s a train ride to the Spanish capital for a 10:30 concert Friday night featuring Mozart’s Requiem as we heard it in Pittsburgh a few weeks ago, but this time with the Spanish choirs we heard tonight.

The Pittsburgh Symphony’s instruments arrived at the hotel this morning, allowing the players who can’t carry their instruments with them to reunite. It was a terrific repeat of yesterday’s California-style weather. I joined a group of string players including violist Paul Silver, violinist Carolyn Edwards, and cellists David Premo, Aaron Zelkowicz, and Michael Lipman for a multi-part subway ride from the Olympic Village to the Telefèric de Montjuïc, which lifts you, alpine village style, to Montjuïc (the Mountain of the Jews), where much of the 1992 Barcelona Olympics was staged.

Here you’ll find the Miró Museum and wonderful views of the city including the still-under-construction masterpiece of Antoni Gaudí, his basilica known as Sagrada Familia. At the top, we looked out over the blue Mediterranean waters and the industrial edge of the city. The Miro Museum is a joy, now featuring the special exhibition Explosio! El llegat de Jackson Pollock, exploring the artists who were influenced by Pollock and his method of drip painting. We admired Yves Klein’s fire paintings, involving painting a nude model who crawled around on a canvas which was then burned. Allan Kaprow was influenced by John Cage in assembling a vast wall of old tires behind a fence and calling it Pneumatics all the way back in 1961. Niki de Saint Phalle’s paintings involved firing a gun at the paint and canvas. Not to be outdone, Shozo Shimamato threw glass bottles of paint at the canvases in addition to gunshots.

Then there’s Joan Miró himself, who said in 1920 that his intention was to “assassinate painting” as a surrealist. We enjoyed floor-to-ceiling Miró collages with umbrellas, his amazing paper work, and colorful squiggles. A giant model of Lovers Playing with Almond Blossoms, a work designed for an office complex in Paris, was a standout. It all makes you appreciate the Miró at the Carnegie Museum of Art that much more.

Back in town, it was time for a tapas lunch at a place called Sagardi. The meal included beautiful olives and anchovies, handmade sausages, cream cheese combinations, and lots of things I could not identify.

The Picasso Museum was next. It offered a chronological look at his output, including the decade he spent in Barcelona. Picasso’s early landscapes and portraits are a revelation, since we know best his cubist work. The Museum is beautiful and occupies what appears to be at least two old buildings.

At lunch, there was a small discussion of important verbal expressions of conductors. Manfred Honeck has an endearing habit of asking for “organical beautiness” and special gestures pronounced “guesstures.” Mariss Jansons often requested “dramaturgical” playing meaning he wanted more drama. He was also fond of asking for a sound “like small drum.” Is it Manfred who often suggests we take it from the “very first beginning?”

The conductor’s lot is challenging — speaking in a second language to request the very finest of fine points on a musical phrase. There is a complete list of the sayings of Eugene Ormandy somewhere on the Internet.

Our group admired the Cathedral of Santa Maria de la Mar. Mary of the Sea is represented at the altar by a statue of Mary — at her feet is a wooden ship. The ceiling is blackened by fires from the Spanish civil war. Strangely, recorded music played in the sanctuary; Wagner’s Tannhäuser, Verdi’s Triumphal March from Aïda, a bit of Mozart’s Requiem, and other choral hits. Someone had simply slipped Robert Shaw’s golden hits into the player, I guess.

The shops we passed were wonderful. I was impressed with a great newsstand named La Vanguardia, which was left unattended. Even the dog was asleep, making a comment on the penchant of the next generation for getting its news from the internet. Other specialty shops were a great Spanish classic tile store, ART Escudellers; you could outfit the cast of Die Fledermaus at a shop of nothing but masks like Arlequín Máscaras, or make your afternoon disappear at the oldest magic store in Spain, El Rei de la Mágia, founded in 1881. Next time you need cups to hide your money in or an “ordinary” deck of cards, you know where to go. Knitters would love All You Knit is Love, which sells everything a yarn enthusiast could want.

Thursday is a big day. It starts with a full rehearsal of Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 “Resurrection” with what local musicians say is the best choir in Barcelona, and ends with this tour’s first concert at the Palau de la Musica, an ornate theater with colorful design by an architect who studied with Gaudí.

On Tuesday evening, cellist Adam Liu demonstrated his practice cello for me and Bronwyn Branerdt, who is a regular cellist with the New York Philharmonic, New Jersey Symphony and the Philadelphia Orchestra. This Prakticello has a wood structure which comes apart to fit in a suitcase, unlike a regular cello that’s typically strapped into the airplane seat next to you at full fare. It is also quieter than a full-voice cello so it doesn’t annoy your hotel neighbors while you practice.

Adam, Bronwyn, and I set out to find Caelum (“Heaven” in Latin), one of the oldest pastry shops in Barcelona, which sells “Tentaciones de monasterios,” a wide range of items baked or made by monks at monasteries. We looked into the Catedral, which suffers a bit on the tourist trail next to Antoni Gaudi’s showy Sagrada Familia which will be under construction till at least 2026. The Catedral is older and wonderful.

Then, a taxi to Escriba, founded in 1906 in the old Casa Figueras on the broad boulevard, Las Ramblas. More incredible pastry. Las Ramblas is pickpocket ground zero, but we got away clean on this visit. It was hopping with kitschy T-shirt vendors and lovely flower vendors on the big night of Barcelona’s soccer championship with Ireland. We had tapas, which Adam Liu described as the Spanish equivalent of dim sum, and walked back to the hotel.

Amid the centuries-old pastry shops and tapas bars are Burger King, Dunkin Donuts, and Starbucks. We dropped into the Starbucks but found the WiFi was down for the day. I admired a newsstand with lots of out-of-town newspapers. The BBC scandal of host John Savile, described as a “pervert” by The Sun, is on all the front pages. Javier Bardem and Bob Dylan are on the cover of the Spanish edition of Rolling Stone.

With luck the Pittsburgh Symphony will generate some positive ink when they play.

Pool at the Hotel Art Barcelona

This Pittsburgh Symphony tour began smoothly with arrival in sunny Barcelona on time. Waiting for the shuttle bus at Heinz Hall on Monday morning, violist Penny Brill told me the Mahler Second Symphony last Friday night was “what it’s all about, why we do what we do as musicians, a thrilling performance.” The reviews were great, and the audience went nuts. With luck, the Spaniards will do the same later this week as the PSO performs with a Spanish choir and an organ played by Larry Allen at the Palau de la Musica.

There are interesting substitute musicians from orchestras around the country on this trip including the Utah Symphony, the Charlotte Symphony, New York free lance players, and members of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra which sadly was locked out Sunday night, as the Minnesota Orchestra has been since October 1st.

Hotel Arts Barcelona

On the bus from the airport, our tour guide pointed out a few of the buildings designed by Spanish architect hero Antoni Gaudi, and suggested that while our hotel is near the water, most residents of Barcelona would find it too cold for swimming. Our guide suggested the Picasso and Miró Museums, noting that Pablo Picasso lived here for ten years. She also cautioned that this is a large city and one must be careful about pickpockets. With the economy in crisis and with high unemployment the problem of professional pickpockets is intense.

Spanish TV includes a take on the Today Show called La Mañana. While I am tapping out these words, the three hosts are interviewing dentists and oral surgeons regarding the latest in dental procedures with an Experto Ortodoncia displaying a nice model of jaws and teeth. Remember to brush and floss, and listen to tour reports at 8:30 am and 5:30 pm daily. I’ll be posting on Facebook and we’ll have a photo gallery so please stay tuned. If you miss a report, look for audio on demand at wqed.org.

Jim Cunningham is on his way to Europe with the Pittsburgh Symphony! “Group A” assembled at Heinz Hall this morning for the flight to Atlanta, where their flight overseas departs this evening. Manfred Honeck will lead the PSO for concerts in Barcelona, Madrid, Paris, Cologne, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, and Luxembourg, as well as a week-long residency and recording sessions at Vienna’s legendary Musikverein.

Watch for a post from Jim en route this afternoon or evening.

Jim Cunningham at Avery Fisher Hall

Jim Cunningham at Avery Fisher Hall

The white marble of Lincoln Center reflected the bright sunlight and blue sky above Manhattan on Sunday afternoon as a large crowd of New Yorkers turned out to hear Hilary Hahn play Prokofiev’s First Violin Concerto, as well as the New York premiere of Steven Stucky’s Silent Spring, and Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony with Music Director Manfred Honeck.

After the short rehearsal, I wandered the backstage area, looking at posters of the many events at the hall amidst the New York Philharmonic and Pittsburgh Symphony instrument cases. There are several busts of former music director Gustav Mahler by Rodin, busts of Beethoven and Paul Robeson. I admired the model of Lincoln Center and its homes of the Metropolitan Opera and New York City Ballet as well as the Juilliard School of Music.

Podcast: From Lincoln Center

Mildred Miller Posvar with Bruno Walter conducting

Mildred Miller Posvar with Bruno Walter conducting

There are terrific displays from the New York Philharmonic archives including a complete case devoted to conductor Bruno Walter with his rehearsal jacket and recordings. It was fun to find Pittsburgh’s operatic treasure Mildred Miller Posvar singing Das Lied von der Erde (The song of the Earth) by Mahler. She is pictured with Walter conducting at the recording session.

There’s an exhibit of the New York Philharmonic in Times of Strife. It tells the story of the music chosen when John F. Kennedy was shot, and the score conducted by Lorin Maazel – John Adams’ On the Transmigration of Souls – to honor the victims of 9/11. The Policy of Choosing a Conductor explains the controversy surrounding the attempt to hire Wilhelm Furtwängler after his years spent under the Nazi regime in Germany. A retired 48-star flag is in a display case after its moment onstage at the Philharmonic.

Zarin Mehta and Hilary Hahn

Zarin Mehta and Hilary Hahn

I bumped into pianist Gary Graffman, who was backstage talking to violinist Meng Wang of the Pittsburgh Symphony. The President and Executive Director of the New York Philharmonic, Zarin Mehta, said he will bring Manfred Honeck to New York next season to conduct Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony. He loved the Pittsburgh concert and has heard the orchestra on many occasions with Lorin Maazel and Mariss Jansons. He laughed off hiring flutist Robert Langevin and clarinetist Mark Nuccio away from Pittsburgh by saying we have stolen some wonderful players  from the Montreal Symphony. “That’s the way of the orchestra world,” said the brother of  conductor Zubin Mehta.

Hilary Hahn with the PSO at Avery Fisher Hall

Hilary Hahn with the PSO at Avery Fisher Hall

Hilary Hahn was resplendent in her sparkly red dress by Carolina Herrera which she found on a shopping trip in Los Angeles.

Manfred’s son Joachim said he loved his trip to Pittsburgh last week. He’s on his way back to Vienna to study comparative literature. Don Quixote is among the books he’ll look at carefully.

Manfred Honeck admired the conducting moves of Lorin Maazel captured in photographs in the Green Room adjacent to his dressing room. In Manfred’s room there was a cold bottle of Taittinger champagne as a gift from Lincoln Center with fresh flowers. On the wall is a reproduction of the score of Beethoven’s  Seventh Symphony with Gustav Mahler’s pencil markings in red and blue from his years as Music Director in New York.

Lincoln Center at dusk

Lincoln Center at dusk

The sky was still crystal clear after dark at the end of the evening. The steps leading up to Lincoln Center are embedded with tiny lights that spell out names of ensembles who are to appear at the hall. Lines of yellow taxi cabs sped by as I walked past Carnegie Hall where a cheerful throng lined up at the stage door after a concert of high school band competition winners from across the country. I scored a ticket to hear the Yale Philharmonia and Chorus in an all Handel program with a Concerto and Coronation anthem that brought conductor William Christie a standing ovation and an encore of the final chorus from the anthem.

Manfred Honeck and son Joachim

Manfred Honeck and son Joachim

Hilary Hahn played a Bach Sarabande in D minor as an encore, and the Pittsburgh Symphony offered Khachaturian’s Galop from The Comedians as their last music. In the middle of the Galop, Principal Clarinet Michael Rusinek plays a solo with a quote from Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony, and this time a moment of Leonard Bernstein’s New York New York – “It’s a hell of a town. The people ride in a hole in the ground.”  There was a standing ovation before the encore. New Yorkers don’t get out of their seats for a standing ovation as often as other parts of the country. This weekend I heard four concerts and joined in four standing ovations.  It was great to be a part of it in old New York. Wonderful Town indeed.

Pittsburgh Symphony at the Tilles Center

Pittsburgh Symphony at the Tilles Center

Yesterday, the Pittsburgh Symphony returned to the C. W. Post campus of Long Island University, about 50 minutes from midtown Manhattan, for the first time since 1988. Long Island is the 17th largest island in the world with over 7.5 million residents. The Post campus is named for Charles William Post of the Post cereal company. The administration has offices in the original mansion given to the private liberal arts college with 10,000 students and more on a second campus in Brooklyn. The campus has a sprawling country estate feel with an arboretum open to the public for walking among rare species of trees and plants. I walked a little but in the winter and at night with a howling wind and light snow blowing the conditions were not ideal for exploring. Even so it was lovely.

LIU's George Lindsay, Jr. and Noel Zahler

LIU's George Lindsay, Jr. and Noel Zahler

It was great to see LIU’s Dean of Visual and Performing Arts Noel Zahler, who I last saw on opening night at Heinz Hall in September just before he left his post as as Head of the Carnegie Mellon School of Music. He is delighted with his new job. Wife Clara Zahler is also working for the college at the Tilles Center. They live just 8 minutes away.

There were lots of fun stickers backstage as in many theaters from visiting productions and shows including a Pittsburgh Symphony tour sticker from 1988. Ed Stephan warmed up on his drum pad while violinist Peter Snitkovsky and Bass Drum regular John Soroka continued their 34-year-long backgammon game in the break from the rehearsal.

View from the Tilles Center stage

View from the Tilles Center stage

George Lindsay, Jr. is the General Manager of the Tilles. He expressed a genuine delight in working with over 150 students to put on thousands of shows in the 30 years he’s been in the theater. The staff including the technical director Thomas Pascarella could not have been nicer. The student union was a little sleepy. The Starbucks Coffee shop closed at 7:00 pm. Only 2,000 students live on campus; 8,000 are commuters. George told me the business has really changed. Subscribers are now much older. Most concert goers decide at the last minute. I heard some nice spots on WQXR for the Pittsburgh concert.

Can you spot the old PSO sticker?

Can you spot the old PSO sticker?

Six orchestras will visit C. W. Post this season– down from 13 orchestras in a single season a number of years ago. The Dresden Philharmonic and Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos will appear on March 30. Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo had been there Friday night. Alan Gilbert led the New York Philharmonic in Thomas Ades’ Polaris in January. The Leipzig String Quartet, the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra and the Soweto Gospel Choir are all coming this season.

Lorin Maazel brought the Orchestra of France in 1984. Kurt Masur, Alan Gilbert, Yo Yo Ma, Herbie Hancock and many many more have their photos on the wall just outside the 2200-seat theater built in 1981.

PSO Principal timpanist Ed Stephan practices backstage at the Tilles Center

PSO Principal timpanist Ed Stephan practices backstage

Steven Stucky’s Silent Spring was received warmly on Long Island. He has three pieces in New York this week. The New York Philharmonic is playing Son et Lumière three times and on Friday the New Amsterdam Singers will perform his Whispers, written in 2002, at the Church of the Holy Trinity. Steven is the Pittsburgh Symphony’s Composer of the Year. Manfred Honeck will take his Dreamwaltzes on tour in October, 2012.

Hilary Hahn was sensational in a red gown for her performance of Prokofiev’s First Violin Concerto. The Tchaikovsky Fifth Symphony drew applause at its false ending that often confuses  audiences. After the final blast, there was a standing ovation. Then came the Kabalevsky encore, the Galop from The Comedians ion which Principal Clarinetist Michael Rusinek cuts loose with a solo cadenza that is different every time.

Violinist Louis Lev told me he was going to investigate an all-night chess emporium in Greenwich Village where you can join in the fun of some fighting chess every day of the year, 24 hours a day.

LIU Posters at the student union

LIU Posters at the student union

I enjoyed walking around the student union at LIU with banners for the fraternities and sororities. Posters suggest “Find Out How Good You Really Are,” encouraging potential students to explore careers such as radio. One poster features a successful grad who was offered a job on Z-100 New York even before he graduated.

For principal Trumpet George Vosburgh, it was a return to his old stomping ground. He grew up just thirty miles away from CW Post in Nassau County’s Woodmere near Kennedy Airport.

Tinsy Lipchak and Visit Pittsburgh have gathered contacts for business growth opportunities to hear the concert this afternoon. They are meeting first at the Porter House restaurant in the Time Warner Center. Representatives of tour sponsor Alcoa Foundation will be backstage to say hello to Manfred Honeck.

Snitkovsky v. Soroka backgammon match (34 years and counting)

Snitkovsky v. Soroka backgammon match (34 years and counting)

I saw Berlin Philharmonic conductor Simon Rattle in the lobby yesterday with his wonderful frizzy white hair. He was gone before I could whip out my camera. The Berliners are back on the plane this afternoon and the Pittsburgh Symphony will be back in the city Monday night.

In just three hours at Avery Fisher Hall, the home of the New York Philharmonic, we’ll hear the Pittsburgh Symphony there for the first time since 1991 with Lorin Maazel.

One World Trade Center rises into the clouds

One World Trade Center rises into the clouds

The New Yorker in its February 23rd issue describes the Pittsburgh Symphony as “the remarkable ensemble, now in the reliable hands of Manfred Honeck.” Time Out New York tells us, “Manfred Honeck and his Pennsylvania players hit Lincoln Center’s Great Performers series with the New York premiere of Steven Stucky’s Silent Spring” and the Friday New York Times suggests “the visit by the conductor Manfred Honeck and his Steeltown musicians includes two substantial attractions: “Silent Spring, a new work that commemorates the 50th anniversary of Rachel Carson’s environmental book of the same title, and the superb violinist Hilary Hahn who performs in Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 1.”

The Pittsburgh Symphony has arrived in the Big Apple late by a few hours due to high winds, rain, and snow on the East Coast. The day began in Pittsburgh with a full rehearsal at WQED, while Cirque Dreams occupies the stage at Heinz Hall.

Podcast: At Carnegie Hall
 

I arrived at 12:30 pm with PSO Vice President of Public Relations Jim Barthen. We took a trip to the new World Trade Center memorial which has become one of the top visitors’ spots in the city – even while under construction. The new One World Trade Center (formerly known as Freedom Tower) was only partially visible, disappearing into the clouds. It’s best to make online reservations which are free, or you might have to stand in a long line. It’s a very sobering feeling to watch the fountains in the footprint of the towers with cascading water three stories deep. The gift shop was mobbed with folks buying Fire Department caps and accounts of the events of 9/11. You must clear security and remove your shoes and belt just like airport security.

Jim Cunningham with Carnegie Hall Executive and Artistic Director Clive Gillinson

Jim Cunningham with Carnegie Hall Executive and Artistic Director Clive Gillinson

At 5:00 pm I interviewed  Sir Clive Gillinson, the Executive Director of Carnegie Hall, who told me he looks forward to the Pittsburgh Symphony returning in 2014. He is very pleased with the first season of Carnegie Hall live broadcasts. I asked him about the finances for the radio broadcasts and he politely told me he never shares financial details of his projects at Carnegie Hall. His thought reminded me of the story from Carnegie Hall a few years ago of the stagehand whose salary was in excess of $500,000, including a significant amount of overtime.

Clive Gillinson is a most persuasive advocate of classical music and its vitality. He enjoyed great success following his career as a cellist in the London Symphony Orchestra and the Philharmonia serving in administrative roles. He created the very successful CD label LSO Live. He still commutes to London every month to spend time with his family, but says he adores New York City. I reminded him that Andrew Carnegie made his fortune in Pittsburgh and the Pittsburgh Symphony has been coming to Carnegie Hall with great success for over a century.  The Chief of Public Relations at Carnegie Hall,  Synneve Carlino, worked for the Pittsburgh Symphony earlier in her career. Her family is from Boston, but she remembers her time in Pittsburgh with great pleasure. The staff at Carnegie Hall was extremely cheerful and welcoming in spite of the extreme sensitivity to snoopy visitors with cameras and recorders. Reporters are required to wear big red ID stickers.

Berlin Philharmonic violinist Stanley Dodds and media relations director Elizabeth Hilsdorf

Berlin Philharmonic violinist Stanley Dodds and media relations director Elizabeth Hilsdorf

I had a delightful interview with Stanley Dodds, a violinist with the Berlin Philharmonic who was born in Australia. About 40% of the orchestra are now German born with eight native Berliners. The Berlin Philharmonic are staying in the same hotel with the Pittsburgh Symphony as is their Music Director, Sir Simon Rattle .

Tonight’s concert at Carnegie Hall featured Bruckner’s Ninth Symphony in a new version completing the unfinished final movement.  The Berliners have just recorded it for release in this spring. The concert was completely sold out and received a standing ovation.

Berlin Philharmonic poster at Carnegie Hall

Berlin Philharmonic poster at Carnegie Hall

Sir Simon is tall with his fantastic afro-like white hair bobbing. The tympanist was  very dynamic with extremely athletic moves. Emanuel Pahud, Principal Flute, had some nice moments as did oboist Albrecht Mayer. There was laughter when the house lights had dimmed and the audience began to quiet and applaud a violinist thinking he was the concertmaster only to watch him sit in the fourth row and give a little wave before the concertmaster took the stage. During the ovation at the end of the 90-minute, heaven-storming Bruckner, Sir Simon walked all the way through the orchestra to shake his Principal French Horn’s hand and proceeded to stroll through the ranks of his players shaking hands all the way to the last row. The chief of press relations for the Berlin Philharmonic is Elizabeth Hilsdorf. She also learned the business working with the Pittsburgh Symphony about a decade ago at the invitation of Gideon Toeplitz. She has the title “Pressesprecherin.”

Carnegie Deli's strawberry cheesecake

Carnegie Deli's strawberry cheesecake

I had a piece of Carnegie Deli cheesecake. The people at the table next to me asked if they could take a picture of it due to the humongous portion. The Bruckner Society of America was meeting there and they had a very jolly post-concert event near the Carnegie Hall Gift Shop in the Shorin Room. The treasurer for the group, John Berky, was the manager of the Hartford, CT public radio station. He was driving back to his home in Hartford at the end of the evening. It was worth driving ’til 2:30 am to hear the Bruckner, and I believe the Pittsburgh concerts in New York will be equally exciting.

Saturday it’s off to Long Island at 2:00 pm for a full rehearsal and the PSO’s first visit to the CW Post Campus’s Tilles Center since a 1988 concert with conductor Michael Tilson Thomas.

SPECIAL NOTE: The Pittsburgh Symphony’s 9/11 commemorative performance of Mahler’s Fifth Symphony at the Berlin Philharmonie is now available for viewing on demand, thanks to American Public Media.

Podcast: Tour Finale and 9/11 ceremony in Berlin

Rathaus, Berlin

Rathaus, Berlin

On the tenth anniversary of 9/11, the Pittsburgh Symphony completed its European Festival Tour 2011 in reunified Berlin, Germany at the Berlin Philharmonie, home of one of the world’s greatest orchestras. At 2:30 pm, a memorial event took place at the Berlin Rathaus, or Town Hall, in the former East Berlin. The ceremony began with Samuel Barber’s Adagio played by violinists Mark Huggins and Christopher Wu, violist Randoph Kelly viola and cellist Anne Martindale Williams. Berlin’s mayor Klaus Wowereit spoke, and was followed by U.S. Ambassador, Philip Murphy.

Remarks from the Reverend Scott Corwin of the International Baptist Church were followed by sacred texts from Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish, Islamic, Baha’i and Christian faiths. There was a performance of Sweet Coexistence, put together by a group known as JUGA, an acronym for the Jung, Glaubig, Aktiv Initiative; and a series of readings of messages of life and hope written by 9/11 family members and read by students and friends of the John F. Kennedy School in Berlin. The ceremony closed with a brass quartet of Charles Lirette and Chad Winkler trumpets, James Nova and Murray Crewe  trombones playing Paul Hindemith’s Morgenmusik.

Berlin Mayor Wowereit

Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit seeks re-election

I enjoyed speaking with the very popular Mayor Wowereit, who is up for re-election next Sunday. He is openly gay, which was controversial at first but is now just a fact. He’s widely regarded as having done good work for the city and no one expects his rivals to win next week. The ceremony was covered by several major networks.

I met my former class mate Ken Nein, who sang in the Thiel Choir and now teaches  English and works for a school library in Berlin. Ken was recently honored by the Mayor’s Office for his volunteer work with a school library. We walked from the Rathaus in the former East Berlin under the television tower built by the communists and  known as “the Pope’s revenge” because of the bright cross it reflected on a sunny day in the non religious Eastern bloc.

Berlin on a sunny Sunday afternoon was a lively place. Walking down the famous boulevard of the Unter den Linden past the Berlin Opera, where Daniel Barenboim has conducted. It’s now closed for restoration. Past Humboldt University, the Berlin Cathedral, and the Komische Oper and on to the Brandenburg Gate, I ran into the Rabbi of Berlin whose brother is a Pittsburgher, Rabbi Itkin. I’d seen the Rabbi at the 9/11 memorial just an hour earlier. He radiates a cheerful energy in this city which wiped out its 140,000 Jews during Hitler’s regime. The members of JUGA had performed Sweet Coexistence again in front of the Brandenburg Gate, where Ronald Reagan commanded, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”

Bierbike in Berlin

The Bierbike rides again!

I stopped to admire Marilyn Monroe at Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum. Hitler’s wax model has been a hot spot in years past. It was attacked once and now resides behind glass. There were used books on the sidewalk in front of Humboldt University. Souvenir vendors sold one item I didn’t remember seeing in other countries—gas masks. I seriously thought of buying one. It seemed like it could be useful at a staff meeting or the Christmas party or maybe even Halloween, but not being certain about fitting it in the suitcase I held back. The beer wagon was rambling down the Strasse. This blog has some video of a similiar Bierbike, a pedal-powered beer wagon in Cologne a few years ago during Karneval. Here it was again, Berlin style. Eight guys sitting at a bar drinking beer and pedaling. Slowly. Seems like just the vehicle to get you to a Steelers game. Or to keep a beer belly at bay.

If you have a reservation at the restaurant Käfer on top of the Reichstag, you can be whisked to the dome designed by British architect Norman Foster avoiding the usual long wait for tourists. It’s amazing to stand on top of the Reichstag, where a famous photograph was made near the end of World War II as Soviet troops on the roof took down the Nazi flag. Some say the Russians faked the photo, but it’s a symbolic one just the same. A dramatic thunderstorm rolled up while we were on the roof, but a taxi driver arrived just in time in the deluge saying, “I don’t give rides to wet passengers.” He took us to the Philharmonie just the same, where Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony thrilled the packed home of the Berlin Philharmonic and its great maestros Simon Rattle and Herbert von Karajan. I spoke with composer Wolfgang Rihm at intermission. His music is formidable, but in person he is very gentle and good-natured. He said that he was delighted to have had the chance to hear the Pittsburgh Symphony in Wiesbaden and in Berlin. The Berlin Festival is featuring 13 of his works, and he’s producing a steady flow of new offerings as “the most important composer after Stockhausen in Germany today,” according to Dr. Winrich Hopp, the Director of the Berliner Festspieler, who also said it had been ten years too long since the Pittsburgh Symphony was last at the Philharmonie.

Manfred Honeck applauds Isaias Zelkowicz (image from Arte.tv)

Manfred Honeck applauds Isaias Zelkowicz

At the last bow, Manfred Honeck pulled retiring violist Isaias Zelkowicz from the orchestra to give him his flowers. There’s a café backstage where the players lingered, enjoying a Berliner Kindl pilsener, and a large quantity of sweet cakes provided by the Philharmonie. The Berlin orchestra’s famous logo adorns instrument cases backstage. The walls are decorated with massive photos and text in German in English detailing the history of the places the orchestra has played and recorded in Berlin including the Altes Philharmonie, reduced to rubble in 1944, and the Jesus Chistus Kirche in the suburb of  Dahlem, where Herbert von Karajan made hundreds of recordings for the Deutsche Grammophon label.

Podcast: Beethovenfest 2

Beethoven's birthplace

Beethoven's birthplace

The city where Beethoven was born has been putting together a festival in his honor since 1876, when Franz Liszt organized the first one. Liszt also organized the fundraising for the Beethoven memorial statue or Denkmal in the Münsterplatz in the heart of the city. Thousands gathered in the square throughout Saturday to watch a Beethoven documentary and a live transmission of Hélène Grimaud and the Pittsburgh Symphony performing Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto. Onlookers sat around the flowers at the base of the statue enjoying the  sun and the energy from Ludwig van Beethoven’s gaze. The regional beer, Kõlsch, was for sale with pretzels. Cafés surround the square. I browsed at the lively Saturday market in front of the old courthouse, and made a pilgrimage to the house where Beethoven was born. The last stop on the tour is the room where he was born. It’s empty, except for a bust on a pedestal indicating Beethoven’s short stature. There’s a special exhibit devoted to his string quartets. I looked at his ear trumpets and instruments. I bought more CDs of instruments from Beethoven’s collection including one disc of Pablo Casals playing his cello. You’ll be hearing them all soon on the QED Morning Show.

Sauerbraten

Sauerbraten at Dreesen Gasthaus im Stiefel

Then, I walked next door to the restaurant Dreesen Gasthaus im Stiefel. This is German cooking at its best. Sauerbraten, the marinated beef—the full menu item reads “Rheinischen Sauerbraten vom Rind mit Rosinensauce, Rotkohl, Kartoffelknödel und Apfelkompot.” Potato dumplings, red cabbage, applesauce, and for desert apple strudel with cream sauce, naturlich! I sat outside and enjoyed the street traffic. A tall cold alcohol-frei Erdinger made it complete. In Beethoven’s house you can see the glasses he wore, with wire-rim frames like Schubert’s. Across the street is a discount eyeglasses shop, “30-50% off!”

Walking back to the hotel, Pittsburgh Symphony bassist Aaron White was sampling a street vendor’s crepe with a banana and Nutella for just one and a half euros. On the way to the Beethovenhaus, trumpeter Neal Berntsen was having one. I couldn’t resist any longer.  I saved it for blog writing.

Dreesen Gasthaus im Stiefel

Dreesen Gasthaus im Stiefel

Next to the Crêpes Kõnig cart was a newspaper stand. One headline on a tabloid read “New York Terror Angst.” Listening to the radio, I heard a documentary produced for the WDR 3, NDR and SWR networks on the 10th anniversary of 9/11.

Hélène Grimaud was a smash with the audience in Bonn, as Anne Sophie Mutter had been last night. Last night was opening night of the Beethoven Festival with some of Germany’s most prominent politicians in the first row, speeches, and TV cameras. Guests included Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, SPD party leader Peer Steinbrück, and one of the members of the Sayn-Wittgenstein family—the same family that brought Liszt the great love of his life, Carolyne zu Sayn-Wittgenstein.

.

Ilona Schmiel and Stefan Blunier

Ilona Schmiel and Stefan Blunier

Ilona Schmiel has run the festival for the past eight years. She was delightful, as was the staff who provided newspapers and fruit backstage. I must admit the weekend edition of Die Welt left with me at the end of the evening. I have an entire suitcase full of printed matter and newspapers. In spite of budget crises, the European orchestras spend a fortune to produce massive season-long prospectus books in shiny full color. Something to behold and lug around with me. The door on my garage broke, and inside it is floor-to-ceiling with boxes of old newspapers that must be moved before the door can be repaired. I’m not complaining.

TV cameras galore

TV cameras in the Beethovenhalle

Hélène Grimaud and Anne-Sophie Mutter, in addition to their fascinating playing, have thousand-watt smiles. Hélène Grimaud signed for everyone in the lobby tonight. Also in the lobby is a terrific art piece with five cuckoo clocks that sequentially open their doors and play tunes. The artist is Erwin Stach. His piece is called Kuckucksuhrenorchester Politische und Andere Lieder. You press a button to start it up. Concertgoers arriving early were sitting in a small row of chairs laughing and enjoying it. There was a pre-concert talk with Pittsburgh Symphony CEO Larry Tamburri and Manfred Honeck’s manager Lothar Schaacke.

It was the tour’s final performance of the Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5, and the encores by Bizet and Khachaturian.

With David Mareček

With David Mareček

Backstage, I met the conductor of the Beethoven Orchestra of Bonn, Stefan Blunier, and the CEO of the Czech Philharmonic David Mareček, who told me Manfred will conduct Franz Schmidt’s Book with Seven Seals next season in Prague. David must be one of the most youthful orchestra managers in the music world. I’d guess his age at 35. Maybe we will get the Schmidt in Pittsburgh. Eric Shiner, the new Curator of the Andy Warhol, was at the reception for tour sponsor Lanxess. He told me Andy would have loved the concert. We talked about the Warhol Beethoven poster in the gift shop of the Beethoven Haus. He told me about his New Castle family and how pleased he is to be at the Warhol, which has some great shows coming up this fall. He’s in Cologne this week making some arrangements for Warhol shows in Europe.

Nutella and banana crêpe

Nutella and banana crêpe

When I got to the room at the Hilton, the Last Night of the Proms was on the BBC. The speech given by Edward Gardner was interrupted twice by malfunctioning microphones. Terrific fun, all the way to the audience linking arms to sing Auld Lang Syne at the very end. Does BBC America show it? It should be on PBS, and I hope you caught it on Classical QED 89.3.

Berlin on the tenth anniversary of 9/11 to close the tour in just a few hours.

.

.