Acclaimed American symphony conductor JoAnn Falletta is Artistic Director for the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. She also spends time guest-conducting and is coming to Springfield for a program with the Springfield Symphony Orchestra this weekend. NEPM’s John Nowacki spoke with her ahead of this Saturday afternoon’s concert.
John Nowacki, NEPM: You've guest conducted orchestras not only here in the US, but all over the world. In light of that, what are the sort of challenges you encounter as a guest conductor?
JoAnn Falleta, conductor: Well, the challenge for us is to get to know the orchestra, and that's a hard thing. You can't really sit down and talk to them, you know? So to have them play and observe how they're making music, how they're moving, how they're following me, and then vice versa. They are observing me and trying to figure out what my signals mean and how to how to get in sync with each other, so that that's a very important time for me.
Then I spend the rest of the week learning about them, learning about how they make music, learning about how the solo woodwinds play and how the brass plays as an ensemble. It's very interesting and really a beautiful experience.
Now, you mentioned this is your return to Springfield. You've conducted the orchestra once before. What is it about this particular orchestra that made you want to come back? What are you looking forward to with these musicians?
Well, I found them very responsive and very musical. Of course, when I'm doing pieces they may have done before, I may be asking for different things. Some orchestras don't like to change. They don't like to try to be a little flexible. But they were so flexible and they were so musical, so intent on bringing the pieces to life. I was really inspired by that. I remember going home thinking 'what a beautiful orchestra that is' and how wonderful it was to work with them.
Well, let's talk about the upcoming concert. What should the audience expect or be looking forward to with this concert?
Conductor JoAnn Falleta: It's a very different concert, but a very fun concert. I mean, first of all, the main piece is one of the great masterpieces and probably one of the most popular pieces in our entire repertoire. That is Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition. A beautiful piece, originally written for piano by Mussorgsky and then taken by Ravel and transformed into this extraordinary piece for orchestra. And it is exactly what it says: It's an art gallery. It's an art exhibition focusing on the paintings of a man that that Mussorgsky loved very much, his friend Viktor Hartmann, who had passed away. This is Mussorgsky's tribute to Viktor Hartmann. He went to an exhibit of Victor's paintings and decided to transform that into music, and it has become one of his most beloved pieces.
This is something that's not been done, I don't think, here in Springfield before. There's a visual aspect to the Pictures at an Exhibition, isn't there?
There is! And this is the first time I'll be doing it this way, I'm kind of excited about it. Adrian [Wyard, the Guest Visual Choreographer] will be in charge of changing the images as we go, in the music, from painting to painting. So it will give the audience a chance to actually be in Mussorgsky's shoes as he walked through that exhibit, thinking of his friend Viktor Hartmann and, you know, smiling at one painting and feeling sad at another painting. They'll experience all of that.
And talking about good friends. You have another good friend whose music is on the program. And that would be Kenneth Fuchs.
That's right. Now, Ken and I have been friends since our Julliard days, and that's going back. This piece is a big thing because it's a world premiere, in a strange way. The piece has been recorded, but it's never been played in a concert. And this is his concerto for saxophone. It is so beautiful. It's called "Eventide," and you can imagine a kind of pastoral landscape, which is one of the things that Ken excels at. The soloist is the alto saxophone, played by Tim McAllister. Now, Tim is arguably the greatest saxophonist in the world today, and and a friend of mine and a friend of Ken's. So we're coming together for this world premiere of a very beautiful American piece just written really.
I want to switch a little bit here. And that is: Mei-Ann Chen, Courtney Lewis, and of course you have all conducted the SSO [Springfield Symphony Orchestra] recently. But are women conductors still rather uncommon or has the conducting scene changed for women?
Oh, there are a lot more women. You know, when I first started conducting, I went to Madison and Julliard. There were very few women studying orchestral conducting, and and there were some people who were quite skeptical that it could ever happen. But now things have changed. I would say in the last 10 to 15 years, things have changed and young women are being accepted into programs to study, and and they're conducting all over the world.
And I'm sure that you've talked with a number of women who are aspiring to be conductors. What do you tell them?
Well, I tell them the same thing I would tell any young person wanting to be a conductor, male or female: you have to be totally dedicated to it because it's a life that you spend with your scores. You spend every day studying your scores and being enmeshed, being enveloped by music. That's a beautiful place to be, I think, and I think all most conductors feel that way.
You have to be very dedicated, but not to hesitate. If you feel that this is the world that beckons to you so strongly, there's every chance that you can do it. And I would really just encourage them to go forward, learn as much as you can from everyone you can, and consider it a lifelong journey, because it really is.
That was NEPM’s John Nowacki with guest conductor JoAnn Falletta. She's conducting the Springfield Symphony Orchestra Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m., with a Classical Conversation pre-concert talk at 2 p.m.
