[Trombone-l] Gilbert Kaplan's guest appearance

Tue Dec 23 15:49:57 CST 2008

>> But when he's playing it with a live orchestra, he packs the house. 

I think the point Mr. Finlayson was making was that Gilbert Kaplan does
NOT pack the house. MAHLER packs the house, specifically his 2nd
Symphony. Joe the Plumber could be conducting and there would still be
standing room only.

If you told me Mr. Kaplan packed the house with a reading of the <insert
your favorite piece-of-crap-that-nobody-wants-to-listen-to here> then I
might believe HE has star power and people are buying tickets to hear
HIM.  No, I for one agree with Mr. Finlayson.  I've not played under
Kaplan (I'm not that good--he wouldn't conduct the outfits that would
accept my current level of playing).  I did however hear one of Kaplan's
recording years ago (I can't recall the orchestra - sorry).  I was not
moved.  Whatever was good on that tape was clearly the result of
personal initiative on behalf of individual musicians or sections, not
anything that was coordinated from the top down.

Too bad really.

---Chuck

-----Original Message-----
From: trombone-l-bounces at samford.edu
[mailto:trombone-l-bounces at samford.edu] On Behalf Of Matthew Stoecker
Sent: Thursday, December 18, 2008 4:35 PM
To: rayhorton at insightbb.com; sgamble at tucsonsymphony.org
Cc: TROMBONE-L
Subject: Re: [Trombone-l] Gilbert Kaplan's guest appearance

I'm a little surprised by the vehemence of the reaction against Mr.
Kaplan's Mahler's 2nd. I have never heard him do it live, but I've
listened to the recording, as well as many other recordings of this
work. I find parts of his recording to be sloppy, to be sure. I also
find parts to be incredibly insightful, and he brings out a few things
I've never heard in this work before.

But when he's playing it with a live orchestra, he packs the house. Now,
I just got done playing the Christmas Pops concert with the Sammamish
Symphony, one of the community orchestras I play in. I hate the
Christmas Pops concert. Polar Express suite, Jingle Bells set to Stars
and Strips Forever, Sleigh Ride, you name it. BUT, we do two concerts of
this program instead of the 1 concert we normally do, and both concerts
are full. People pay to see it and it is our orchestra's bread and
butter. Those pops concerts make it possible to fund the fun music for
the other concerts.

I wish there was a bigger audience for the great works of classical
music. I wish people would come out to hear The Rite of Spring with the
same enthusiasm that the come to hear christmas carols, but it doesn't
happen. The Gilbert Kaplan story is a good story, and if it gets people
into the halls and exposes them to the music, that's good for the people
and it is good for the orchestra. Musicians who insist on the absolute
purity of everything they do are musicians who are soon to be unemployed
because the audience didn't go to a conservatory-and most members of an
audience will not be as sophisticated in their tastes as most members of
a professional orchestra. It is sad but it is the way it is, and when
Gilbert Kaplan, or Sting, or the Moody Blues or whoever offers to come
by and fill up the coffers with a concert that guarantees a packed
house, I'd expect professional musicians to be professionals and not
bitch so much.

Matthew StoeckerQuinnTheEskimo Vintage Hornswww.quinntheeskimo.net>
Date: Thu, 18 Dec 2008 15:03:17 -0500> From: rayhorton at insightbb.com>
To: sgamble at tucsonsymphony.org> CC: trombone-l at server5.samford.edu>
Subject: Re: [Trombone-l] Gilbert Kaplan's guest appearance> > Steve's
comments are apt, when talking about the things some of us in > the
trenches have to do to stay in business - we grit our teeth, hold > our
nose, and take the check.> > > But this was the NYP (Mahler's orchestra,
for one thing) and the Mahler > 2nd, not "Stars and Stripes" with the
local fire captain up front. > Kaplan has been pulling off this fraud
all over the world. It's high > time he got called on it. > > > Now, if
Kaplan wants to come to Louisville and replace the money that > the city
just withdrew for THIS season because of it's financial > problems,
that's another story. We'll keep our complaints to ourselves > while he
has his fun. > > > Raymond Horton> Bass Trombonist,> Louisville
Orchestra>  > > > Steve Gamble wrote:> > Hello John,> >> > I saw you on
the Cleveland broadcast of Bruckner 5 from Bruckner's old> > stomping
grounds. I was practically moved to tears. So many folks> > glibly
comment that they 'gotta go practice' or that it's 'time to quit'> >
after hearing a great performance. But that Bruckner actually made me> >
have such thoughts...fabulous top to bottom, beginning to end. > >> >
Certainly Dave's blog was very well articulated. And his call for> >
striving for the highest artistic integrity is positively motivating.> >
But when such a call doesn't recognize the realities and practicalities>
> of staying in business, and that the integrity of those responsible
for> > the business end of things might actually be compromised if they
DIDN'T> > hire the likes of Kaplan when the situation dictates, then
there might> > be a point at which such a call could actually be
counterproductive.> > For all but a very very few of us, that's the real
world. (Actually  ,
  at> > the moment, I can't think of anyone in our business that doesn't
have to> > slum it every now and then.) The best way to deal with it is
to reserve> > the idealism for one's own contribution to the whole
endeavor.> > Periodically remind them of your artistic concerns, but let
the other> > folks do what they need to do.> >> > Steve Gamble, bass
trombone> > Tucson Symphony Orchestra> > 2175 N. 6th Ave.> > Tucson, AZ
85705> > 520-792-9155 x118 office> > 520-792-9314 fax> > 520-991-7056
cell> > sgamble at tucsonsymphony.org> > www.tucsonsymphony.org> >> >> >
-----Original Message-----> > From: John Lofton
[mailto:jaqwanbone at cox.net] > > Sent: Thursday, December 18, 2008 11:38
AM> > To: Michael McLemore; Steve Gamble; 'Trombone List'> > Subject:
Re: [Trombone-l] Gilbert Kaplan's guest appearance> >> > I'm not sure I
agree with Mr. Gamble's interpretation of Dave's blog on > > Kaplan -
that a call for artistic integrity as a primary value for our > >
industry is impractical. A  s
  I understood Dave's blog, it expressed -> > quite > > articulately I
might add - the frustration professional musicians feel> > when > > mgts
and musicians have diverging agendas. The ensuing debris fields of> >> >
that conflict are where the Kaplan's reside poignantly representing how
> > differently mgts measure quality - usually in increments of> >
butts-in-seats > > and donations - as opposed to artistic integrity. I
understand Dave's > > article as a challenge to performing musicians to
be more proactive, > > especially with respect to communicating our
feelings to mgts while > > simultaneously raising our level of
expectations. I found it not only > > realistic but refreshing and
energizing judging by the number and> > quality of > > responses.> >> >
John Lofton> > Bass trombone, Los Angeles Philharmonic > >> >> >> >
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