Concert Formats by Music Director Michael Christie
The Phoenix Symphony recognizes that our diverse patron groups enjoy concerts in different ways. Last season we began discussing with audience members the idea of having several concert formats while still playing the same music. At the beginning of the 2006/2007 season we had approached concerts in a fairly uniform way but now we are ready to fully implement the concert format concept.
Ultimately, an audience member now has a great deal of choice when it comes to the type of experience they would like to have at Symphony Hall.
We hope you enjoy these new options.
Michael Christie
Virginia G. Piper Music Director, Phoenix Symphony
- Thursday Classics (7:30pm) – “the pure” experience. No talk, no enhancements during the performance. Just music. We will however continue to offer Intermission Insights due to their popularity.
- Friday Coffee Classics (11am) – a one-hour program with brief introductions to works.
- Saturday Classics (8pm) – the “audience-friendly” experience. The Phoenix Symphony through the use of video equipment, Keeping Score and other developing enhancements will offer patrons different ways to approach and learn about the music they hear.
- Sunday Classics (2pm) – matinee performance with an adult education angle. There will be more specific information conveyed about the works followed by a Q&A between interested patrons and the performing artists at the conclusion of the performance.
Ultimately, an audience member now has a great deal of choice when it comes to the type of experience they would like to have at Symphony Hall.
We hope you enjoy these new options.
Michael Christie
Virginia G. Piper Music Director, Phoenix Symphony
14 Comments:
that sounds a nice way to see try to please the various preferences of the audience.
Good luck to you!
Well, a nice idea to do some things only on some days. Unfortunately, I really enjoyed Keeping Score but am not interested in changing my attendance day from Thursday so I guess I'll have to do without. Would it be possible to have some of the Keeping Score sheets available in the lobby so that those of us who are interested in the breakdown could pick one up and follow along as best we can without the numbers?
As for this evening's concert, I left the Hall just thrilled by what I had heard and experienced!!!! Robert Levin was a real treat, the two opening Beethoven pieces were interesting to hear, the Mozart was delightful, the Debussy was gorgeous and a feast for the mind as well as the ears, and I can't say enough about the Choral Fantasy. Wonderful balance between the soloist, orchestra, chorus, and vocal soloists -- and it is always a pleasure to hear Charles Bruffy sing.
Great program and a thoroughly delightful evening. Heartfelt thanks to Michael, the Orchestra, Chorus, vocal soloists, and especially Robert Levin for showing us how much fun a performance can be. Bravo!
To Sonny - Yes, well I must admit that the irony didn't escape me that hours after posting the concert format idea it experienced its first deviation. I can only predict as much as I can!
The downside of not introducing the program to the audience is that I couldn't explain that as part of the composer narrative concept these works looked at Beethoven's pre and early Vienna period. Beethoven was known and revered as an improviser at the keyboard. I chose Mr. Levin because I knew he would improvise the Mozart cadenzas and when he offered the audience participation element I thought it would further illuminate my point.
Just like we had Orion Weiss perform three movements of Pictures at an Exhibition on the piano before we played an orchestral version last season I continue to think that offering an occasional, unusual approach to give further context is well worth the effort.
In any case, Sonny I hope you can appreciate that we are trying to be nimble and make adjustments to have a better experience for everyone. Thanks for writing.
As a side note it's interesting to me to be looking out at the audience trying to guess who anyone of the bloggers might be!
Thanks for coming to the concerts. This is shoulder season for us so I hope you don't mind me encouraging all of our bloggers to bring a friend to a future concert.
I will check with our Production Staff about making Keeping Score available in the lobby for those who'd still like to follow along. Should we contemplate a Keeping Score section in the audience that would have a screen angled so that only one part of the auditorium could see it?
Silly question but does anyone know why we have to do the word verification when posting? I'm not particularly caught up in the whole blogging business so it strikes me funny each time!
"Word Verification" (which is showing me the word "xttepzl" right now) is a way that the blog can prevent automatic internet spam robots from posting hundreds of continuous comments. Automatic spam robots have the ability to enter text into the comment field and push the submit button, but they are unable to read images which is what those silly words are. If purchase tickets through a system like ticketmaster you'll encounter the same type of system.
Personally, I enjoy reading the word verification words and trying to make up musical definitions for them. For instance, "xttepzl" could indicate the violinists should take their mutes and use them to strum the strings like a guitar.
-Brendan
As other posters have noted, the stagehands were kept more than busy setting and resetting the stage Thursday (10/5) night. I'm guessing (hoping?) that some kind of [union?] rule requires that the stage be set fully for the musicians to practice, but other orchestras have figured out that you can do that backstage. If there is such a rule and it can't be changed, then good concert design can minimize or eliminate the need for multiple stage re-settings in a single concert. These distractions added the better part of half an hour to the concert, without adding a single musical value.
Unlike other posters, I thought the program was poorly chosen. Minor chamber works are much better suited to smaller venues such as SCFA, instead of cavernous (and again half-empty) Symphony Hall. I liked the Debussy very much, but its only apparent connection to the rest of the program is that it uses [part of] the chorus. And, frankly, I would much rather hear some first-rate works by recent composers than third-rate Beethoven.
Grayce
I've passed on your comments about the production side of the concert to our concert production staff.
Hello bloggers,
Thanks very much for your comments. I am the Operations Manager of the Symphony, and I would be happy to clarify the rationale for the multiple stage changes seen in this week’s concert.
I’m sure we are in agreement when I say that the focus of any concert should always be on the music, and that stage changes should always be kept to a minimum. However, it is also my belief that time spent creating clean, repertoire-specific stage set-ups ultimately serves to enhance a performance from the perspective of musicians and audience alike.
That being said, please bear in mind that our concert this week is rather unusual in the sense that the programming includes several permutations of large and small ensembles, instrumental and vocal soloists and chorus. In a “regular” Classics week, major stage changes will often fall during intermission. While this is ideal, it isn’t always possible to limit our stage changes to intermission and still create an environment conducive to making and enjoying great music during the rest of the concert.
The central question here seems to be how one defines the mode and necessity of stage changes for any program:
*The ensemble must always be set in such a manner as to facilitate good communication between conductor and musicians. This includes considerations such as musicians’ sight lines, aural balance, stage lighting and placement of equipment. When moving between ensembles of disparate size and instrumentation- such as the Beethoven chamber pieces and the Mozart piano concerto- it is essential to adjust the set-up in order to ensure these considerations are met.
*From the audience, the stage set-up should serve in the same capacity as a frame does on a painting: it provides polish and context by focusing attention on the art within. The first piece on the second half of the concert (Debussy) does not call for a piano. I believe it would have been distracting to leave an unused piano anywhere on the front of the stage during that piece.
*Our plans must always adhere to the terms of our musicians’ Master Agreement. At this point, the only warm-up space available to them at Symphony Hall is the stage. Therefore, we must set the stage for full orchestra during the warm up period and then re-set it if we are playing small pieces at the beginning of the program.
*We must work within the physical constraints of the concert venue- including audience sight line issues and fire code regulations. As I mentioned above, the first piece on the second half does not call for a piano. Ideally we would have been able to somehow leave that piano somewhere onstage, out of sight of the audience- enabling us to more quickly reset for the piano solo pieces. However- due to the shape of the stage and the acoustical shell, our various options to keep the piano onstage would have required us to block audience sight lines, violate fire code, or undertake another large reset twice! Therefore, we felt our best option was to take the piano down into the pit.
As you can see, planning the stage changes is perhaps a more calculated process than it may initially seem. Ultimately, the goal of all this planning is for audience members to enjoy the music without needing to think much about the way the orchestra looks. As I said above, the set-up is just a frame for the music.
I would be happy to address any questions you might have. I can be reached at rsepulveda@phoenixsymphony.org.
Thanks again,
Rachel
What I found so stimulating about Levin and Gerhardt was that both went well beyond what was normally done by artists for many decades. The time I spent with them in the rehearsals and in the intermission chats reinforced the positions each took with respect to their individual angle on the approach to the cadenzas and such. Alban had an inward looking approach from where I was standing and that intimacy had its impact. Robert is a gregarious guy and that came across in his performances. I think it's pretty special in this digital compression era where the studio sound is tweaked for the safety of the home stereo system to have these personalities exert themselves live. I'll leave judgments about the appeal of each approach to my fellow bloggers.
Ninjadoc - I can't imagine trying to perform the feats Mr. Levin did this weekend without the benefit of all the music that has come after Mozart's time. I won't speak for Robert but I don't recall him stating to me that he was going to improvise with a plan that ignored what we know now. Clearly, there are two approaches to going to concerts, both legitimate. The first is to replicate as closely as possible the music that we are left with from that time and the second obviously is to work within the construct. The concerto is a unique form that theoretically allows for that question to be asked. Symphonic works in my mind leave fewer textual choices.
There are different ways to skin this cat though (no pun intended, Sonny). If you will only be happy with the original cadenzas Mozart wrote shouldn't we play the whole performance on Fortepiano with replica early orchestral instruments? We'd certainly have to ditch our giant concert venues for performances of music from this era. Even with the "proper" cadenzas we still perform the works with the benefit of the development of the whole "classical music" world.
The other side of the coin is just as valid however so you might want to see what others write! There is no right or wrong answer in my mind, just a matter of personal preference.
Part of my job in helping our musical community to grow is to find ways that stimulate these kinds of questions. The more seek our own truth on the matter the further we get from the dreaded "classical music as museum piece".
The 11/9 concert was fun, and so was the pre-concert chat. Both the guest conductor and the piano soloist had interesting things to say. If you can possibly attend the chats, they are often informative and sometimes amusing. And of course they're optional. : - )
The one piece of talk during the concert that could have been useful would have been a reminder by the conductor that the Tchaikovsky 6th has a "false ending," which always elicits some applause when the piece isn't done yet. He might have said something like, "Remember: This is the symphony that doesn't end when you think it does, so be patient."
We also have a beautiful new companion dog on stage, and watching her (?) learn her trade will be fun.
Grayce
To Sonny,
I am not sure if you are being facetious when you referred to Carneiro as a "lightweight." I take it you mean that an orhestra member told you that as well. For the record we did not all feel that way. She has much work to do, no doubt. However, she has more fundamental skills, in my opinion, than anyone we have seen this season. She simply has not has the podium time to know how to make a great performance. In my mind it was easily the best week of rehearsals we have had. She has a real future and the PSO should form a relationship with her as she grows.
Also Sonny you are right the Orpheum is terrible. It sounds bad and it feels like there is no audience from the stage because it is so dark and quiet.
This is a link to a review of a report done on how to rethink the orchestra industry. I think all of you bloggers who write in here may find it very interesting.
www.artsjournal.com/adaptistration/archives/2006/11/knight_and_day.html
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