The Berlin Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall - An evening of receptions

This concert event was initially envisioned by me as a simple excursion from Connecticut with my “concert buddy” Michael Cucka. But as the event came closer, I was informed that John A. Phillips (the “P” in SPCM) was going to be in New York for the concert and I was asked by one of his associates if I could assemble a small reception. Our first plan was to meet him prior to the concert at a local restaurant and then I invited some other people I knew were attending. But then others could only meet after the concert and I began investigating post-concert options. Nothing looked very good until I contacted Carnegie Hall and was offered (at a huge discount) one of their rooms right off of the Rose Museum Room on the first tier. My idea was that attendees could self-fund the expense of the room rental and the cash bar – and the security guard. So the word was sent out and just enough people joined in to make this a financial possibility – although not without its risks. I took the plunge and scheduled the event, made the payments and then waded through all the paperwork and permits that Carnegie Hall can generate. We met prior to the concert at the Carnegie Deli, a renowned dining spot right across the street from the hall. The deli is not just renowned for its good food but also for its insanely enormous portions. This all harkens back to the McDonald’s executive who came up with the concept of “Super Size Me.” It works like this: If a patron comes into a restaurant, the owner should attempt to maximize the profits gleaned from that one visit. To do this, the owner increases the portion and charges more for it. The incremental cost of the food is negligible, the customer likes the big portion and the owner earns more profit. Unfortunately, for Americans, this has gradually resulted in an epidemic of obesity as we attempt to eat these oversized portions. It has gotten so bad, that the Earth’s orbit may be affected by the weight imbalance in the Western Hemisphere. This may someday be more critical than climate change. Just take a look at my deli sandwich (a $19.95 item) below. Everyone gathered according to plan and everyone had a good time getting to know each other as we struggled through our meals. The orchestra played very well (except for one horn wobble at the conclusion of the Adagio) and Rattle gave us one if the best orchestral presentations to date of the fourth movement in the new SPCM Finale. John Phillips advised us over dinner that a one note adjustment was made in the rehearsal so the Carnegie Hall performance may be unique – even to that of the EMI recording which has already been done. The appreciative audience gave a long ovation. After briefly meeting with Simon Rattle backstage, Mike Cucka, John Phillips and I went to the reception room where about 20 people had gathered to meet with Dr. Phillips. All attendees were offered free CDs or DVDs from the Dominican Republic concert of 2010. Dr. Phillips made a short speech and there was a question and answer period that lasted until the event ended about one hour after the concert. As distracted as I was with collecting money and taking pictures, I think the event went well. I hope that Dr. Phillips enjoyed the well deserved attention. People from as far away as Oregon, Washington State, Philadelphia, Texas and Chicago were in attendance to meet with John Phillips. I only wish that I had more time to spend with Dr. Phillips. But by preparing the events for him, I was so pre-occupied with reception itself that everyone had more time with him than me. Overall, I think the evening was great. It is always wonderful to hear a great orchestra sink its teeth into Bruckner and it is wonderful that Simon Rattle has championed the Finale so that it has been given some high profile performances. The Finale needs to be heard more often. But now, I venture briefly into personal opinion. I openly admit that I enjoy hearing the Finale completions that have been presented by SPCM, Carragan, Letocart, etc. They are wonderful vehicles for us to hear Bruckner’s final thoughts and everyone who listens to the Ninth Symphony should come to it with an understanding that Bruckner’s intention was clearly to compose a four movement symphony. They should also be given the opportunity to hear what his plans were as presented in these completions. However, as wonderful as these completions are, I still come away feeling that Bruckner had compositionally “painted himself into a corner.” The task of capping off the first three incredible movements with a Finale and Bruckner’s declining health combined to deny us of a truly fitting conclusion. Kudos to the completers but I feel that the material left for them by Bruckner doesn’t measure up what comes before. I have shared this opinion with all of the completers. I do not favor any one completion over another and I openly admit that it is just my opinion. For what was otherwise a wonderful night of music and entertainment, there was one particularly bad moment. It had to do with the pre-concert talk by Professor Walter Frisch of Columbia University. Professor Frisch’s discussion of the first three movements of the Bruckner Ninth was fine. He gave interesting examples from Wagner’s music and even that of Stravinsky (the Bruckner Ninth Scherzo and Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring). But for the Finale, he appears to have fallen back on some mis-leading information that, as he presented it, was downright wrong. He spoke generally of the Bruckner Ninth Finale completion as being heard for the first time tonight on a US stage. While it was certainly true that this was the first time for the SPCM Finale, it was not true regarding other Finale completions. A little research on his part would have led him to the fact that the Bruckner Ninth with a Finale completed by William Carragan was performed on January 8, 1984 by Moshe Atzmon and the American Symphony Orchestra ON THE VERY STAGE HE WAS STANDING ON! That sold out concert was favorably reviewed in the New York Times. That’s twenty eight years ago! Other performances of that completion were presented in California and Arizona. Nors Josephson's Finale completion was also presented by Richard Rosenberg at the Hot Springs Music Festival in Arkansas. I heard a few groans around me, so some people were listening. His statement may have sounded compelling but it was an incorrect depiction of the Finale’s interesting performance history. Professor Frisch has since graciously offered his apologies for the oversight. Fortunately, the rest of the evening went off very well and I was home and safely in bed by 3AM.

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	The New York Times Review
	ConcertoNet .com review