Can Dallas do it? Can van Zweden do it?

Inside the Meyerson

A central figure in the cultural scenes of a metropolis is the music director of the city symphony, as it has always been since the 17th century in Europe. One can argue that curators of museums or historical societies could be equally important, but only the chief director will be seen almost weekly under the spotlight in public and then examined, evaluated, discussed and gossiped about for the rest of the week.

The rise of Dallas Symphony Orchestra during Jaap van Zweden’s tenure is evident as now DSO has joined the rank of other prominent orchestras such as Cleveland, Pittsburgh and San Francisco, all which frequent Carnegie Hall in New York City. Thanks to the overall economy in Texas too, DSO does not have to battle with the financial woes that have been around with many older establishments such as Detroit and Philadelphia.

Yet, van Zweden’s emphasis on precision and intensity can occasionally go too hard. At the season finale, his choice of Beethoven’s Chorale Symphony can hardly be argued, but I am glad that Norio Ohga, the inventor of compact disc, had not had the chance of listening to this performance, not to mention agreed with his tempo; otherwise the total length of music CD would have been shortened to merely one hour.

In choosing between Beethoven’s own metronome markings and the standard adopted from historical reference, van Zweden preferred the former. It was exuberating to hear the brisk tempo of the first movement, or was exhilarating to follow the prominent timpani beat in the Scherzo; yet in the slow movement in which time seems to suspend and the air we breathe carry meditative echoes, I was pushed up and down in a Wagnerian music flood instead.

Last night, right after the thunderstorm with hail, I listened to Furtwangler’s 1942 performance. The sound was nothing comparable to the magnificent acoustics in the Meyerson Symphony Center; yet Beethoven was one of those composers whose music spirituality and profundity is immune to the sound quality of recordings. I noticed that there are some unexplained moments when Furtwangler held the silence longer or accelerated suddenly. In certain passage, the orchestra’s sonority clashed nearly in a state of abandonment, possibly due to the sound quality; yet my mind was more convinced with this kind of chaos amidst breathing tempos than the tightly-knit all-out performance.

In my first season as a subscriber to DSO, there are some memorable concerts such as all Beethoven night with rarely-played Concerto for Piano, Violin and Cello, Brahms’ requiem, Bartok’s Concerto for Orchestra (a perfect fit for van Zweden’s DSO), Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring (a successful casual Friday event), and Olga Kern’s appearance on all Tchaikovsky night. Of all, the performance of Mahler Symphony No. 6 was the one together with Mahler Symphony No. 2 from the last season, defined the sound of DSO in my heart.

Merely in his third year as the music director, van Zweden has already extended his contract. He is less glamorous than his mentor Leonard Bernstein, and less public-centric like his peer Michael Tilson Thomas. He transforms himself into electrifying rod when on stage with his bodily language an embodiment of music notes. It is a sharp contrast when he greets patrons in the green room of the concert hall – a stocky, bald-headed guy with a European accent. A banner hanging outside Meyerson Symphony Center features a cartoonish version of van Zweden, with his stooped back and raised baton hinted by a few curved lines. Yet he has a face that seems to attract attention regardless how tall surrounding people are, like those of famous maestros in the past, like Stokowski or Karajan. Under his guidance, DSO now has filled some of the most important positions, such as the new concertmasters. His inclination to theatrical affectation occasionally conflicts with his heed to the original scores. Yet critics have agreed that the orchestra sounds more coherent and tighter like a small ensemble with a big voice.

It takes decades to project a phenomenal sound that is instantly recognizable with an orchestra. Reiner and Solti stayed in Chicago for three decades, Stokowski and Ormandy covered nearly seven decades of Philadelphia Orchestra, enough for a regular concert-goer’s life span.  Will Dallas be able retain van Zweden long enough to form its unique voice? (Or should I say can van Zweden get acclimated to the Texas heat? Luckily regular seasons skip the hottest months!) Dallas has much more to do to make it attractive, besides the Cowboys and Mavericks. In presenting it as a cultural center of the southeast, Dallas needs a central figure not only to reinvigorate the spirit of city and its people, but also to make it a destination stop for his charisma and power. Can van Zweden do it?