Yesterday evening's program consisted of Haydn's Mass in B-flat Major (the "Little Organ Mass"), Mozart's Horn Concerto No. 1 and Haydn's Symphony No. 98. Christian Knapp conducted.
It was immediately evident that many of the key players in the orchestra were missing, but I didn't pay it too much heed during the Haydn Mass, as the organ, choir and soloist were the focus of that piece. Maria Mannisto sang a beautiful solo in the Benedictus of the mass, and the choir was lovely to listen to.
However, it became clear once the distractions of singers and organists were out of the way, that something was very wrong with the orchestra. There were whole clumps of violinists that we had never seen before. And the sound of the orchestra as they accompanied John Cerminaro in the Horn concerto was weak and slightly amateur sounding. We began to notice more and more faces that we hadn't seen ever before. Alexander Velinzon was there at the head of the first violins, but none of the other key players were anywhere near. The second violins were missing all their key players. Both bassoon players were unrecognizable.
During intermission we asked one usher who all these players are and why they're masquerading as the Seattle Symphony. She said "well, it's the Seattle Symphony of course. There is a gallery of photos of all the players downstairs, you can go take a look." I didn't believe her. We went to ask the ushers on the other side of the tier. One of them admitted that he had also noticed a lot of faces he had never seen before. We spoke with that usher (his name was Jim) and another usher throughout most of intermission, speculating on what might be going on. We were told that they would look for answers during the second half, and that we'll get to speak with Keith, the house manager, after the concert was over.
Things got even weirder during the symphony in the second half. More winds, brass and percussion joined the orchestra, most of them people we had never seen before. There was a flute player who looked like a nervous student, an unrecognizable timpanist, and a few brass players who again, were not part of the Seattle Symphony.
The situation in the strings was particularly bad. There was a cluster of non-SSO players at the back of second violins who looked like bad students. This one lady who looked like Edith Crawley from Downton Abbey never used more than about four inches of bow, and she was often playing over the fingerboard. There were at least two or three foreign players in first violins as well, including this guy with golden hair sitting at the back, again bringing the demeanor of a nervous student. The entire tone of the strings was flat, limp, and in many places they were not quite in sync with each other. The young guy on the flute had a tone that even the most brilliant sound engineer couldn't bring close to the sound of Demarre McGill. And the alien players in the brass section came in late at times, and their tone occasionally cracked.
By the end of the symphony we were determined not to leave until we got answers. Was the orchestra on strike? Do a chunk of the regular players dislike Knapp? Or Cerminaro? Who were these players on the stage, and why was this billed as a Seattle Symphony concert when at least half the players did not belong to the Seattle Symphony?
We met up with Jim afterwards, and he gave us the obvious answer that I should have realized earlier. The Seattle Symphony was in the pit at McCaw hall that evening, for the opening night of Suor Angelica/La Voix Humaine. Many of the players on stage were "subs." Their names were not listed anywhere in the program. I guess the symphony hopes that most people in the audience won't care or notice that they're not actually getting to hear the Seattle Symphony on an evening like that.
Jim suggested that we go meet Keith, the house manager, which we did, and I expressed my view that it was dishonest for this concert to be billed as a Seattle Symphony concert, and that even if most people can be fooled, it's not fair to those who aren't. We spoke with him for a few minutes, and he took some notes and my subscriber ID, and said he'd pass on the message. He was a very nice guy.
Anyways, so that's it. Yesterday evening was an interesting experience. It really gave me a new appreciation for the quality of the Seattle Symphony.
Next up is Mozart and Tchaikovsky with Gerard Schwarz on May 9th!
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The Seattle Symphony and Seattle Opera actually 'share' the orchestra. When the opera performances are going on, (usually 4 times a year) the orchestra 'splits' and so some people will be playing in the opera pit, and the rest in the concurrent symphony concerts. These tend to be smaller programs, hence the Baroque series, and Mozart series. Both orchestras usually have to be beefed up somewhat with substitute musicians as there simply aren't enough contracted musicians to go around. The splitting up of musicians, however, cannot just be done down the middle so that there are an equal number of contracted musicians and subs in each orchestra. Many things go in to determining the roster. For instance, playing in the opera is not required - you can sign a contract for that or not. Also, musicians can request to play certain operas or other programs. One of the symptoms of this system is that really, every associate principal player is also a principal player, sitting in a principal position about 40% of the time. Hopefully this explains why you sometimes don't see every player you'd like to! I was not at the concert on May 4th but I'm sorry it was less than satisfactory for you.
ReplyDeleteOh, and I believe that substitute musicians aren't listed in the program because the programs are printed quite far in advance, too early to include the names of everyone who is hired for each specific concert.
ReplyDeleteI'm aware of how the system works. I attended the Four Seasons concert on March 8th while many of the players were performing La Bohème at the opera. The orchestra was downsized, but they were not inadequate, and there were no masses of foreign faces amidst the players dragging down the quality significantly.
ReplyDeleteI'm not at all complaining about the absence of any particular favorite musicians, or a splitting of the orchestra. What happened last night was something else entirely; there were a large number of subs in the orchestra who simply did not play well enough to be subs for Seattle Symphony musicians.
If it was a choice between last night's ensemble and no ensemble at all, they should have not had a concert. Or they should have publicized it as what it was and reduced the ticket prices.
The programs contain many concerts, and they contain rosters that are consistent throughout the year. They could publish their sub list in the programs, without specifying which ones are performing on which nights. But they don't do that because the subs that played last night are not Seattle Symphony musicians in any way, shape or form. They don't belong in any roster in their program, and they don't belong on the stage.
ReplyDeleteOn the whole I'm not particularly upset about last night. I'll keep my eye on the opera schedule from now on, and this has also given me a new appreciation for the quality of the Seattle Symphony musicians. :)
ReplyDeleteIt could be a risk both ways - for instance, sometimes it could be the opera orchestra that is lesser in quality due to number/quality of subs. Although I suppose that it wouldn't make as much difference in the opera, with more of the focus being on the stage and singers. My instinct also tells me that some subs are probably fabulous, whilst others are not as good. I also think that it is cheaper for the orchestra to hire subs often, rather than have an audition for a permanent position. I agree that this has the potential to bring the quality down, but I'm sure some people feel that $$$$ are more important than quality, hence May 4th's concert.
ReplyDeleteWell, there's another element in all of this that I haven't even mentioned yet, and that is that even if the subs were all straight from the Chicago Symphony, people would still have been paying to hear the Seattle Symphony while being presented with a different ensemble.
ReplyDeleteIs there no respect or understanding for the fact that an ensemble has a unique sound? Does the SSO management consider their orchestra to be a vague, generic ensemble where the players are interchangeable?
Fifty years ago there would have never been any great orchestra in the world suddenly giving a concert with this number of subs, for no reason other than that the orchestra is the orchestra, and if you replace a bunch of the people, it is no longer that orchestra.
It's not just about quality. It's about being the Seattle Symphony.