Public Comment

Let me say at the outset that I welcome any feedback from what I write, even negative feedback. Far too often it’s as if what we write simply goes down a black hole. Just the other day, however, after the wonderful New Year’s Eve concert at Herbst Theatre given by American Bach Soloists with countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen and soprano Mary Wilson, I received some heartwarming feedback from none other than Mary Wilson. When I introduced myself to her in the lobby as she prepared to begin signing CDs, she broke into a wide smile and said, “I read you all the time. In loved your review of Handel’s Messiah we did at Grace Cathedral. It made me think about the Messiah in interesting new ways.” Where feedback is concerned, it doesn’t get any better than this. 

Let me turn, however, to the negative feedback offered in the December 21 issue of this paper by jason victor serinus (who signs his name in all lower key letters). In response to my December 15 article in which I voiced my reservations about the naming of Esa-Pekka Salonen to replace Michael Tilson Thomas as Music Director at San Francisco Symphony, Mr. serinus chided me for ageism because I called the 60 year-old Maestro Salonen “a bit long in the tooth.” He also chided me for saying that my favorite candidate to replace MTT was “a much younger” Susanna Mälkki, who is 49 years old. There is indeed a half-generation’s difference in ages here; and in the world of major symphony conductors a half-generation’s difference is quite significant.  

I should point out here that I would have had far fewer and less serious reservations about the appointment of Esa-Pekka Salonen if Maestro Salonen, in his first statements to the local press as designated Music Director, had not announced his commitment to continuing MTT’s exploration of video special effects to accompany the music. In my reviews of MTT’s work at SF Symphony I have consistently deplored his sophomoric attempts to gussy up the music (even Beethoven’s music, for god’s sake), with video animation. To now hear that Esa-Pekka Salonen intends to give us more of the same simply touched a nerve in me and was the main reason I voiced my reservations about his appointment.  

However, I also wrote that naming Susanna Mälkki to succeed MTT “would have been a major step forward in promoting women to top orchestral positions.” In saying this, I was thinking mainly about this country, where women conductors are few and far between, especially at major orchestras. Sure, Susanna Mälkki is Music Director at Helsinki Philharmonic in Finland, and Jane Glover, who was Music Director at London Mozart Players from 1984 to 1991, is currently at the helm of the Chicago ensemble Music of the Baroque. But I wish that a major American symphony orchestra would welcome Susanna Mälkki to a Music Director position. 

Moreover, when it comes to replacing the old guard of conductors, I pointed out that the Metropolitan Opera recently took a bold step in naming 43 year-old Québecois conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin to replace James Levine. I might also have pointed out that when the Los Angeles Philharmonic replaced Esa-Pekka Salonen in 2008/9 after his 17 year stint there, they chose the dynamic 27 year-old Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel, who quickly established himself and his LA Philharmonic as among the finest not only in this country but in the world. I can only say that I was hoping the San Francisco Symphony would take a similarly bold leap into the future instead of conservatively offering us more of the same.