March 14-17, San Francisco Symphony & MTT - Mahler 9

[justininsf]

Anyone going to see this concert? 

[barry guerrero]

I'm in S.F. on Thursdays & Fridays, but I've retired M9 in terms of live performances. About 10 years ago or so, John Kim and I saw Seiji Ozawa/Saito Kinen Orch. do M9 at Davies Hall, and the mostly Asian audience was dead silent - you could hear a pin drop during those super soft parts at the end of the  two outer movements! For me, that made all the difference in the world. I'm not a big fan of MTT's Mahler, but I'm sure this M9 will be very good - it'll have to be if they want to keep up with Dudamel/L.A. (the new cd is knock-out!).

I used to go see Ozawa with the SFSO when I was a kid. I always felt his performances were really good. For Mahler in S.F., I liked Edo DeWaart the best. Anyway, enjoy the show. I'm also very cash strapped these days.

Barry Guerrero

[justininsf]

I just got the Dudamel in the mail today based on your recco, will be listening to that soon. 

I actually saw MTT do Mahler 9 a few years ago, I enjoyed it very much.  I've heard many people do not like his Mahler, or his conducting in general.

I've only seen this piece live twice before, I can't pass it up, it is the 9th after all!

[barry guerrero]

I'm sure it'll be fine. MTT's personal way with Mahler probably 'gels' better now than when they made the recordings. Also, everybody always puts their best foot forward when they do the 9th. It's one of the few Mahler symphonies that all of the musicians in the band 'get'. I'm really more concerned about audience noise than the 'interpretation'.

[justininsf]

I'm sure it'll be fine. MTT's personal way with Mahler probably 'gels' better now than when they made the recordings. Also, everybody always puts their best foot forward when they do the 9th. It's one of the few Mahler symphonies that all of the musicians in the band 'get'. I'm really more concerned about audience noise than the 'interpretation'.

Interesting topic:  where are the best behaved audiences?  I hear Japan is always nice, what about in the States?

[akiralx]

Interesting topic:  where are the best behaved audiences?  I hear Japan is always nice, what about in the States?

Australians are OK, though there were a few hacking coughs during a recital by the pianist Alexander Gavrylyuk last week which I attended in Melbourne- and it is the middle of summer here.  Also some imbecile's mobile rang noisily during the finale of the Schumann Fantaisie op. 17... 

Excellent pianist if you get the chance to hear him.  The Mussorgsky Pictures gained a standing ovation.

[justininsf]

Mobile phone is unforgivable, there was a thread here about an iphone alarm going off during the last mvt of Mahler 9 in NY I believe.

[justininsf]

The musicians went on strike, looks like this series of performances may be cancelled, the Thursday performance is already cancelled.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/12/san-francisco-symphony-protest_n_2863164.html

[barry guerrero]

Yeah, right, 141,000 dollars - base pay, mind you  (many get paid much higher) -  isn't enough to live comfortably in a city where many thousands of people live under the poverty line or just above it, including myself. Give me a break! Ever heard the S.F. Conservatory Orchestra?  .    .   .  They're excellent, and I'll  bet that those kids would jump at the opportunity for a third of that pay, maybe less.

In a nutshell, they're out of their minds.

[justininsf]

Yeah, right, 141,000 dollars - base pay, mind you  (many get paid much higher) -  isn't enough to live comfortably in a city where many thousands of people live under the poverty line or just above it, including myself. Give me a break! Ever heard the S.F. Conservatory Orchestra?  .    .   .  They're excellent, and I'll  bet that those kids would jump at the opportunity for a third of that pay, maybe less.

In a nutshell, they're out of their minds.

Let's not forget 10 weeks paid vacation, and of course ALL of the perks of being a symphony member:  high teaching fees, being invited to play festivals, travel to perform in other cities/countries plus per diem which I hear is very high, etc.

They're just behind Chicago and L.A., so ranked 3rd highest in the country.

But Barry, you have to cut them some slack, they are extremely oppressed and taken advantage of, it's a good thing somebody is fighting for their rights that are obviously being trampled on.

[AaronMcGarvey]

This is a perfect example of why orchestras are folding. There is a reason people think that classical musicians are stuffy snobs and no grasp on reality, which is unfortunate. A 17% increase over the last couple of years and they want 5% annually? I don't remember the last time my dad got a raise in his job and, as a future music teacher, I know they are just now considering giving teachers a raise in Florida after a wage increase freeze a number of years ago. I feel like some of these musicians have forgotten why they became musicians in the first place.

[barry guerrero]

Maybe orchestras should be allowed to make trades. For example, we could trade a principal trumpet for another at a lesser salary, plus two draft picks from any conservatory of our choice. You know, like pro sports.

[waderice]

SF had better watch themselves financially, or they'll end up like Philly did.  Philly came out of Chapter 11 last year and is on the upswing.  Though their music director doesn't yet have the credentials that Michael Tilson Thomas does, he is on the rise, and is very enthusiastic about the orchestra.  So far, I've heard some great concerts by them this season, among them a great Carmina Burana, unlike any other I've ever heard (conducted by Fruhbeck de Burgos).

Wade

[barry guerrero]

Yep, the local S.F. news is reporting that both the S.F. Opera and SFSO ran deficits exceeding what they had budgeted for.

The even sadder thing is that the SFSO could have used these Mahler 9 concerts as memorials for principal oboist William Bennett, who just recently passed away in an S.F. hospital.

[Roland Flessner]

The Minnesota Orchestra has been locked out for months, and it doesn't appear they'll have a season at all this year. I read that the management wanted to reduce average salary from $140K to $89K. Yes, 140 sounds like a lot to me, but I can understand why the musicians would have trouble with a big cut like that.

Here in Chicago, the CSO went on strike for one concert last fall, but salary wasn't a sticking point; it was mainly employee contributions to health care.