There’s always a but

A little vacation to Seattle afforded me the opportunity to 1) visit my dear friend; 2) check out the Seattle landscape and its associated environs; and 3) hear the always-in-the-news Gerard Schwarz do his thing. To be honest, I was excited to do those things in that order. After having read so many things about the Music Director of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, most of it not very favorable, one can hardly blame me for not being too excited about hearing him and his orchestra go through the motions one more time. But this was going to be different. After all, one doesn’t get to hear a major orchestra put on such an imposing and austere piece as Johann Sebastian Bach’s Mass in B minor. In today’s world of overflowing, post-romantic orchestra rosters, always with at least 100 members down to hecklephone, it would be insane to have an orchestra put 80% of its staff on vacation as only a baroque orchestra is needed. And yet, that is what Schwarz was able to do for his performance of the Mass on Maundy Thursday.

There is something to be said for having so much control over an orchestra that a music director can perform personal favorites regardless of the bottom line. It certainly seemed true in this case since there were quite a bit of seats left empty, and needless to say, after the intermission there were quite a few more. I guess once you’ve heard about seven massive choral fugues in just the first two sections of the mass, you’ve gotten the gist. I of course felt that people were going to miss out on a rare opportunity. Tchaikovsky and Brahms can be heard all the time, but Bach? Outside the Brandenburgs and some of the other concerti, and maybe an orchestral piece up-sized by later composers, Bach isn’t well represented on the concert stage. But there it was, the Bach Mass performed by the SSO and Gerard Schwarz. Many rounds of applause on that choice Herr Music Director. After all, if we are going to encourage people to look forward and enjoy the modern music scene, there is certainly room to enjoy the ancient favorites as well. Music doesn’t begin with Mozart.

Here comes the but…

I’m sure you are familiar with the loveless marriage (hopefully not from personal experience)? In such a relationship, the participants are together for reasons outside their personal interest in staying together. Maybe it’s the kids, or public appearance, but regardless, the couple is in it for the long haul. After a while, no matter how strong the reasons to stay together, cracks start to show. Less talking, more independent activities, and the most basal performance of obligatory duties toward each other. I am sure you get the drift. As I watched and listened to a rather sluggish and sloppy performance of the Mass in Benaroya Hall, I was immediately drawn to the parallel. The micro-sized orchestra performed their duties well enough, but there was some less than perfect playing around the edges, and certainly a complete lack of investment in the music. It didn’t help my mind any either that Schwarz had a stool to rest on at his discretion because of his injured leg. It made it seem as if he were just phoning it in at times from his perch atop the wooden stool.

The Seattle Symphony Chorale and the soloists for the mass are not part of this low-burning antagonism between Schwarz and the SSO, and sure enough, the music director’s control over them was much more assured. That’s not to say that they performed flawlessly, but they certainly responded better to Schwarz’s direction than the orchestra. There was a lot of sloppy playing. The trumpet section, composed of three young men, were constantly flubbing those high clarino notes, and didn’t seem to have an interest in getting it right the next time. I was a little surprised by this because Schwarz is a trumpetist, but there it was. Local celeb and cellist Josh Roman was there doing his continuo work but already seemed gone from the constraints of the SSO. The only players who seemed like they were interested in excelling up there was the quarter-time concertmaster Ani Kavafian and the principal horn John Cerminaro in his obliggato work in the aria “Quoniam tu solus sanctus.” As a huge Bach fan, I was a little disturbed by this general sense of disinterest in the quality of the music that was being produced.

That’s not to say that there weren’t moments when the ensemble and music director didn’t remember why they had loved each other at one time. The chorus “Et in terra pax” was handled exceedingly well by all parties. The sluggish pace that Schwarz was using at the beginning of the Mass really worked here, allowing the audience to hear the build up of voices in the chorus and the orchestra. In the “Confiteor” section of the Credo, Schwarz had such an impressive control of the chorus, and thankfully the orchestra stood out of his way. I think in the end that’s the problem. Gerard Schwarz is a very good conductor and the Seattle Symphony Orchestra is a very good orchestra, but at this point in their relationship, they stand in each other’s way. The kids are grown up, and the public doesn’t care anymore. The divorce will certainly not raise a single eyebrow. You can’t have a good orchestra if it isn’t inspired by its music director, and vice versa. When that happens, it is time to read the writing on the wall and move on. Everyone benefits, including the music.