EFTA02520203.pdf

From: President Sent: Thursday, August 29, 2013 8:02 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Message from Leon Botstein's office Dear =r. Epstein, President Botstein asked that I send you =his article from the L.A. Times. Best =egards, Catherine ♦ Catherine Susser =uiggi I PO Box 5000 Annandale-on-Hudson, NY 12504 <=pan style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: 'Menlo Regular'; color: =gb(102, 102, 102); ">I I www.bard.edu adiv> <=iv> http://www.latimes.com/e=tertainment/arts/culture/la-et-cm-botstein-hollywood-bowl-review- 20130829=0,4204208.story Music review: Botstein has last laugh =ith L.A. Phil at the Bowl • The conductor's hands-off interpretive approach =uesday made for a sensational Prokofiev with violinist Jennifer Koh as =oloist. Leon Botstein =onducts the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl. (Michael =obinson Chavez, Los Angeles Times / January 14, 2009) By Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times =usic Critic EFTA_R1_01656797 EFTA02520203  August =8, 2013, 2:20 =.m. They laughed =hen Leon Botstein became president of Bard College in 1975, at the very =dea that a 28- year-old could enliven a venerable New York liberal arts college. They laughed in 1990 when Botstein =tarted the Bard Music Festival, which had the appearance of a vanity =peration for his own seemingly dubious ambitions as a conductor. They =aughed once more when he became music director of the American Symphony Orchestra 20 years ago, especially after some =ocky early performances and scathing reviews. From what I gather some =merican orchestras were laughing this summer at the very notion of =otstein making his Hollywood Bowl debut. The Los Angeles Philharmonic was the first major American orchestra to =nvite Botstein to conduct. That debut was Tuesday night in a program of =rokofiev and Shostakovich. It was a success. Then again, so is Bard College, =hich Botstein has made a progressive leader in many areas of education. =o is the Bard Music Festival, which continues to be, year after year under Botstein, the summer's =ost stimulating music festival. And so is the American Symphony, which =otstein has used to spearhead the kind of adventurous thematic =rogramming that many other orchestras are now looking at as a way to remain relevant. Why, therefore, all the worry, especially =iven that Botstein has had an active career guest conducting in Western =nd Eastern Europe and served as music director of the Jerusalem Symphony for eight years? =e's even begun getting rave reviews in New York. Part of the problem is that, =erhaps out its own insecurity, America's music establishment has a =istory of mistrusting intellectuals. And Botstein happens to be someone "The Colbert =eport" can turn to when looking for an egghead. The populist, picnic-friendly =owl, with its large video screens, may seem like the last place for an =cademic. And yet Botstein's basically hands-off interpretive approach served him exceedingly well in a =ensational performance of Prokofiev's Second Violin Concerto with =ennifer Koh as soloist. Botstein may keep an objective, emotional =istance as a conductor, but he also had no intention of getting in the way of an intensely passionate violinist. This was, believe it or not, the =11-around most compelling performance of anything I've heard all summer =t the Bowl. For once, the amphitheater's many moving parts were placed at the service of an extraordinary =oloist, who dug into the concerto with an unrelenting =ntensity. Botstein provided Koh with a secure =ramework in which to operate. The L.A. Phil, which had sounded like it =ad entered into late summer doldrums last week, came roaring back to life on a sultry evening. The =ew sound system was more vibrant than ever, capturing the bodily =ubstance of Koh's sound. At last, even =he controversial high definition video was just fine. Finally, the =olors on screen matched the stage, and so did the luminosity, no longer fighting the music or forcing your attention to go where you =ay not want it. Koh was so worth watching that I almost wish the Los =ngeles Opera would consider installing video when Koh returns to town =n October as Einstein in the Philip Glass and Robert Wilson opera "Einstein on the Beach" at the Dorothy Chandler =avilion (just kidding.) The big piece Tuesday was Shostakovich's =enth Symphony. Botstein introduced the night by placing the program in =he context of Soviet music. Prokofiev's concerto was written in 1935 just before he returned from =he West to Russia. The composer then had to spend the rest of his life =ontending with Stalin, and both died, coincidentally, in 1953 on the =ame day. Shostakovich's Tenth, written just after =talin's death, is often interpreted as a bitter reproach to the =ictator. The first movement is long and moody. The second movement is a macabre march; the third, a =eird waltz. Derisive anger bubbles up everywhere. The last movement is =uminative and ferocious. Climaxes hit you over the head. 2 EFTA_R1_01656798 EFTA02520204 The composer =akes himself the protagonist, using musical codes for his name and that of a mistress. The symphony finally ends =ith a coda of glee. The usual way to treat this symphony is =s if it were an epic Russian novel, squeezing character out of every =xtravagant Shostakovichian utterance. Botstein didn't. His performance was adamant. He does love =oud. But he =therwise displayed an element of emotional caution. Without too many =nterpretive cues or really any kind of cues, the orchestra needed to be very alert. The wind solos were impressive. The brass =roved solid. The strings held things together. The L.A. Phil made it =ork. In the end, =otstein made neither too little nor too much of Shostakovich's best but =till indulgent symphony. It was what it was, which is saying a lot. And Botstein was what he is, which is also saying a =ot. 3 EFTA_R1_01656799 EFTA02520205