| James Conlon and NY Phil Revive Lost Music |
| Written by Kevin Filipski | |||||||
New York PhilharmonicBeethoven: Piano Concerto No. 2Zemlinsky: A Florentine Tragedy James Conlon, Conductor Jonathan Biss, Piano Anthony Dean Griffey, Tenor (Guido Bardi) James Johnson, Baritone (Simone) Tatiana Pavlovskaya, Soprano (Bianca) October 18—20, 2007 Avery Fisher Hall (64th Street and Broadway) Admission: $26-$102 or buy tickets here 212-875-5656 nyphil.org  But thanks to the selfless advocacy of conductor James Conlon, many of these composers and their works are returning to the classical repertoire. The 57-year-old Conlon has been a particularly convincing proponent of Austrian composer Alexander Zemlinsky, who was able to escape persecution from the Nazis by emigrating to the United States in 1938, where he died four years later, his music neglected and his reputation virtually nil. Conlon has recorded several of Zemlinsky’s voluptuous, emotionally stirring orchestral works on EMI Classics, and he regularly includes Zemlinsky’s music in concert programs. In his Oct. 18th–20th concerts leading the New York Philharmonic, Conlon conducts Zemlinsky’s one-act opera based on an Oscar Wilde story, “A Florentine Tragedy." Ironically, it was performed this past summer at the upstate Bard Music Festival with the superb baritone who has made his mark on this opera, James Johnson (he also sang it at Bard). Prior to the Zemlinsky work, 26-year-old pianist Jonathan Biss is the soloist for Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 2. In the midst of a busy schedule, Maestro Conlon discussed Beethoven, Zemlinsky and the “degenerate music” composers. Q: You have been a tireless champion for this music, returning it to concert halls, opera houses and recordings where it belongs. What about this music appeals to you? James Conlon: I’ve expended a great deal of energy in recent years in promoting this music and provoking interest in it. It’s one of the great losses of the 20th century that this music has not been played. Basically, two generations of composers whose music was banned for a short period (only 12 years) caused a rupture in a 200-year-old musical tradition. I take any time I can to address this inequality. There are three issues: moral, historical and musical. I feel you’re morally obliged to redress this, but this is secondary to the historical issue, that we have written the history of 20th century music with enormous omissions. This music has fallen off the face of the earth, so to speak, for reasons that have nothing to do with the music. Our understanding of music history in the 20th century has to be completely reassessed. That leads to the third reason, artistic—it’s great music. (Playing this music) is not designed as merely a memorial, and it’s a selective process: I’ve made my own choices. That third element is, finally, the most important. Q: Do you feel this music would be held in higher esteem if the Nazis had never banned it? JC: This music would have had its normal place in the repertoire if it wasn’t for events in Nazi Germany. For decades to come, I’d like to be one of those forces that promotes an interest in and a passion for it. I am very passionate for this music: I relate to it as I relate to the music of Mahler, Strauss, Wagner, Brahms, Beethoven and Mozart. I feel the same urgency to dig into the depths of this music, and when I come back to it I always see new things. Q: Tell me about your interest in Zemlinsky’s opera, “A Florentine Tragedy.”  Works of Alexander Zemlinsky, once neglected, are now returning to the classical repertoire. Q: James Johnson sang the lead role of Simone this past summer at the Bard Music Festival. Is he the current Simone of choice? JC: James is always my first choice–he sang it with me at La Scala, in Aspen and Chicago. I think he’s marvelous in this role. You need somebody who can sing it without tiring. It’s a very demanding role: there are very few pauses, it’s demanding in the weight of the voice, in the text, in the musicality. But James is an exquisite musician. Q: In the other roles are soprano Tatiana Pavlovskaya as Simone’s cheating wife Bianca and tenor Anthony Dean Griffey as her lover. JC: Tony sang that role with me in L.A. last year, and then in Chicago. He’s one of the finest American tenors around. Tatiana is associated with the Mariinsky Theatre (in St. Petersburg), but I’ve worked with her consistently for the past five or six years. She also sang it with me in L.A. She has a marvelous and wonderful voice and very strong musical personality. Q: Since it’s such a static piece (one set, one act, three characters), does the opera work better fully-staged or in concert? JC: We actually had a hybrid evening when we did it in L.A. because we used abstract projections at the rear of the stage. For the Philharmonic program, we thought it would be best to perform it in a concert setting.  Jonathan Bliss performs Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 2. JC: Jonathan and I have worked together for many years, including regularly at the Ravinia Festival (a summer festival outside Chicago). We’ve done a lot of Mozart and Beethoven, and I love him as a musician. We’ll do Beethoven’s fourth concerto later this season in Cleveland. Q: Since they are on the program, is it fair to compare Beethoven and Zemlinsky? JC: Well, I wouldn’t go fishing too much except to say the following: Zemlinsky belongs to the direct line of composers from Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Schumann through to Brahms and Wagner. In concert, I like to pair Zemlinsky intelligently and one of the most satisfying pairings is always with Beethoven, because the pure classicism of Beethoven’s music sets off Zemlinsky’s romantic genius. Q: Do you feel there’s still a lot of work to be done in resurrecting the music of these forgotten composers? JC: There is a lot of work to be done, that’s true, but there’s been an enormous amount of interest, so it hasn’t been in vain– I’m delighted with the progress we’ve made. {mos_ri}
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