Kubelik's downfall in Chicago
Michael Schaffer
Chicago after only a few seasons in the 50s? You read everywhere that
he was driven out by the evil critic Claudia Cassidy, but rarely what
the criticism was about. I heard it had something to do with his
programming, which contained too much new music for her taste.
Also, I read somewhere that some people there didn't like Kubelik
supporting black musicians in classical music.
Any more specific information?
Tom Deacon
On 10/6/05 2:07 PM, in article
1128622041.6...@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com, "Michael Schaffer"
<ms1...@gmail.com> wrote:
There are now TWO biographies of Reiner, one out of print and another brand
new.
Both will give you chapter and verse on the "campaign" to drive Kubelik from
Chicago. And Reiner does not have clean hands in this story.
TD
rkhalona
Chicago (you can see a complete list of concerts that I've compiled at
http://vagne.free.fr/kubelik/cso.doc).
One of the reasons Kubelik ran afoul was that he programmed *a lot* of
modern music (esp. American composers like Barber, Harris, Dello Joio,
Carpenter, etc.), which certainly did not endear him to the
conservative public and the even more conservative critics such as Ms.
"Acidity" Cassidy.
Another reason was Kubelik's personality; he was an enlightened man,
not an autocrat. This is often perceived as weakness, which is a no-no
for a music director (one could argue that he was too young and
inexperienced to deal with an orchestra and a community that had
prevented even Furtwaengler from conducting the orchestra a few years
before). In the end, it was Chicago's loss, but his return to the
orchestra (esp. in the early 1980s when he performed several of the
programs he had conducted as MD in the 50s and some other things -- see
list of guest conducting appearances in the document cited above)
validated him in the end. I was fortunate to witness several of those
concerts and the huge ovations he received must have been gratifying to
him.
RK
J. Teske
wrote:
I'm too young to know this first hand (I'm 63) but my violin teacher
was from Chicago, was in a professional string quartet and used to get
tales from Chicago from the brother of the violist in that quartet who
was in the CSO. I got some of the gossip at the time from that source.
(early 60's when I was in college.)
Cassidy ran more than a few conductors out of town. Desire Dufaw,
Kubelik, Jean Martinon. Reiner was a bigger fish than she could
attack. Furthwangler was also courted by the CSO, but was veto'd by
the board because of the German question. This last incident irked
Yehudi Menuhin who championed Furthwangeler when no other Jewish
musician would in the post war era. Menuhin boycotted Chicago for many
years. It was said that Cassidy flexed her muscles just because she
could and because it could sell newspapers. Col. McCormack must have
loved that.
I never heard much about how she treated the Chicago Opera or how she
wrote about individual recitalists to Chicago. Anyone know about this?
Jon Teske violinist
Dontait...@aol.com
CSO is correct. Claudia Cassidy played a role in discouraging
attendance, but there were other things, and Kubelik's advocacy of
"new" music was a major one. He did play some music by "frightening"
composers such as Schoenberg (and recorded the Five Orchestral Pieces
for Mercury), but hard as it may be to believe, CSO audiences were also
put off by such composers' music as Martinu, Bartok, Harris, and
Roussel among others now considered conservative. It was reflected at
the box office, and orchestral managements always watch how many
tickets haven't been sold. The number kept increasing during Kubelik's
tenure, unfortunately.
Kubelik also antagonized the CSO's musicians. On page 90 of Nancy
Jordan Fako's book about Philip Farkas, the great French horn player
who was the principal of the CSO for years [Philip Farkas & his Horn:
Crescent Park Music Publications [1998], she quotes Farkas from a 1988
tape he made for the CSO's Oral History Project. He began "[Kubelik] is
now one of the great conductors of the world, but at that time he had
something to learn." Farkas, who was extremely conscientious, went on
to say that although he had seldom reported off, he had had a bad case
of the flu and had been forced to do so for several days. He'd been
unable to practice his horn, which he said was ruinous, and when he
came back to work the skin on his lips was peeling. He noticed that for
an early CSO broadcast Kubelik had scheduled the Marriage of Figaro
overture followed by the Nocturne from Mendelssohn's Midsummer Night's
Dream Music (with its crucial solo horn part). Farkas went to Kubelik
and said he simply couldn't play the Mendelssohn because of his
condition. He asked Kubelik to change the program. Kubelik refused and,
after an argument, told Farkas to just not show up for the broadcast.
(The payoff for this is that Farkas quoted other CSO horn players of
the time as saying that none of them wanted to risk playing those solos
and that for the broadcast they divided them up, two bars to one, three
to another, and so on.)
Anyway, Claudia Cassidy certainly played a role in Kubelik's
departure from the CSO but declining attendance and musicians'
hostility did too.
I also heard a number of Kubelik's "return" CSO concerts, as Ramon
did. I was at his first ones since his resignation as Music Director,
around 1966 - his real "return," his first time back since he'd left in
1953. There were many cheers and much affection. A few years ago, the
CSO issued the stunning Dvorak Eighth he did at those concerts in one
of its Radiothon CD sets.
A final word: my late friend Bill Holmes was a big Kubelik fan and
attended many Kubelik/CSO concerts in the early fifties. Bill told me
that he was at Kubelik's last concert as CSO Music Director, in 1953.
He said that after the last work on the program Kubelik came back and
conducted an encore - Joseph Suk's "Sokol March," which is subtitled
"Into a New Life."
Don Tait
rkhalona
Many thanks for your interesting observations. I find the Farkas
anecdote particularly interesting. I believe the program in question
was
Broadcast Program (from 8th Street Theater)
27/ix/1950
MOZART: Overture to "The Marriage of Figaro"
MOZART: Horn Concerto in E-flat major, K. 447
Philip Farkas, horn
MOZART: Symphony No. 38 in D major, K. 504 ("Prague")
(i.e., I could find no record of the Mendelssohn being played on that
occasion)
I will remember this anecdote the next time I listen to the live
recording of the finale of the horn concerto, which has been released
by the CSO (albeit a performance from a different date -- 27/ix/1950,
from WGN's studio, in fact). Kubelik's last program as MD of the CSO
was (from previously cited doc.)
25/iv/1953 Popular Concert
SMETANA: From Bohemia's Meadows and Forests
DVORAK: Symphony No. 9 in E minor ("From the New World")
JIRAK: Symphonic Scherzo
DVORAK: Aria "O Lovely Moon," from "Rusalka"
SMETANA: Aria from "The Bartered Bride"
SMETANA: Aria of Caroline, from "The Two Widows"
Eva Likova, soloist
DVORAK: Two Slavonic Dances, Nos. 6 and 8 (no Opus number given)
SUK: March, "Into New Life"
(Note: This appears to have been Kubelík's last concert as music
director of the CSO.
The choice and meaning of the last work played could not have been more
obvious.)
RK
alanwa...@aol.com
I am afraid I do not understand the position of Mr Farkas. You are
either okay to play or not and, if not, you ring the Orchestral Manager
and he goes and finds a substitute. You do not ask the Conductor to
change the programme to accommodate your incapacity, or not in my time
anyway. I have never heard of anything like that and frankly
disbelieve the story.
Concert programmes changed to accommodate orchestral musicians?
Surely, you are joking?
The encore you mention is Josef Suk: Towards a New Life, Festive Sokol
March, Op.35c
Kind regards,
Alan M. Watkins
rkhalona
broadcast were one and the same. This must have been one of those WGN
telecasts, of which I was told no video footage survives.
RK
Dontait...@aol.com
What I quoted from Philip Farkas did not have to do do with a CSO
concert, but with a one-off broadcast in 1950 or 1951 on either a
Chicago radio station or the CSO's 30-minute telecasts around 1951 on
Chicago's WENR-TV, channel 7. Farkas had been absent due to illness and
the converstaion apparently happened shortly before the broadcast was
to take place. I know how you know, so well, about how musicians
interact with management. I do not. I can only say that what I wrote is
the account of the incident with Kubelik that Philip Farkas gave and
was published. From what I have heard from people who knew Philip
Farkas he was not only a supremely great horn player but a totally
honest man and never, ever a fabricator. However, you are of course
free to not believe him.
Don Tait
Sacqueboutier
>
> I am afraid I do not understand the position of Mr Farkas. You are
> either okay to play or not and, if not, you ring the Orchestral Manager
> and he goes and finds a substitute. You do not ask the Conductor to
> change the programme to accommodate your incapacity, or not in my time
> anyway. I have never heard of anything like that and frankly
> disbelieve the story.
>
> Concert programmes changed to accommodate orchestral musicians?
> Surely, you are joking?
>
> The encore you mention is Josef Suk: Towards a New Life, Festive Sokol
> March, Op.35c
> Kind regards,
> Alan M. Watkins
>
Or are you too small to admit you were wrong?
--
Best wishes,
Sacqueboutier
Heck51
Kubelik's running afoul of "Cloddia" is pretty well-known, and so was
his fondness for "modern/contemporary" music. I seem to remember
comments regarding his "weakness" in the "standard" repertoire [another
favorite critic 'tub to thump'].
I'm curious about the "2nd" biography of Reiner...
I'm familiar with Philip Hart's "Fritz Reiner"
what's the other one??
thanx.....
Raymond Hall
news:nobody-0FB93B....@comcast.dca.giganews.com...
> In article <1128622041.6...@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com>,
> "Michael Schaffer" <ms1...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> I heard it had something to do with his
>> programming, which contained too much new music
>
> the
> audience's taste, as well as the reigning music critic's. Ya gotta sell
> tickets.
It often seems a strange appointment that the NYPO made, regarding Boulez,
if the management and orchestra wanted to sell tickets, especially knowing
that Boulez would program a fair bit of new music.
Who else at the time, was in contention for the NYPO director position?
I am all in favour of new music, btw, but if it is bums on seats that is the
prime consideration ......
Ray H
Taree
Eric Nagamine
The new one being? Presumably the Hart is the one OoP.
--
-----------
Aloha and Mahalo,
Eric Nagamine
http://home.hawaii.rr.com/mahlerb/broadcaststartpage.html
Miguel Montfort
[...]
> I'm curious about the "2nd" biography of Reiner...
>
> I'm familiar with Philip Hart's "Fritz Reiner"
>
> what's the other one??
Kenneth Morgan: »Fritz Reiner - Maestro & Martinet«
http://www.press.uillinois.edu/f05/morgan.html
Miguel Montfort
Heck51
"Kenneth Morgan: »Fritz Reiner - Maestro & Martinet«
http://www.press.uillinois.edu/f05/morgan.html "
thanx, Miguel....
Alex
"Raymond Hall" <rayt...@bigpond.com> wrote in message
news:_Tm1f.9558$U51....@news-server.bigpond.net.au...
> "John Rethorst" <nob...@nowhere.net> wrote in message
> news:nobody-0FB93B....@comcast.dca.giganews.com...
> > In article <1128622041.6...@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com>,
> > "Michael Schaffer" <ms1...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >> I heard it had something to do with his
> >> programming, which contained too much new music
> >
> > Reminiscent of Boulez and the NY Phil. There may be too much new music
for
> > the
> > audience's taste, as well as the reigning music critic's. Ya gotta sell
> > tickets.
>
>
> It often seems a strange appointment that the NYPO made, regarding Boulez,
> if the management and orchestra wanted to sell tickets, especially knowing
> that Boulez would program a fair bit of new music.
Also worth pointing out the Barbirolli, though not liked by some critics
owing to his simply not being Toscanini, actually sold tickets to a higher
capacity than AT, so the management (and musicians, for other reasons) were
quite happy with him.
rkhalona
http://www.press.uillinois.edu/f05/morgan.html
Miguel Montfort >>
>From the preface of the above book about Dr. Reiner:
<<"Any day in which he failed to lose his temper," one critic remarked,
"was a day on which he was too sick to conduct">>
RK
Michael Schaffer
I didn't find any in-depth info in the Hart biography of Reiner.
Kubelik is only mentioned briefly in 4 places, and there wasn't any
mention of Reiner being involved, unless I overlooked it.
rkhalona
In the 1970s Mercury reissued some of Kubelik's recordings on two 3-LP
set volumes ("The Kubelik Legacy" vols. I [MG3-4500] and II [MG3-4501])
with a long essay by the then Chicago Sun Times music critic, Robert
Marsh. He analyzes in pretty objective fashion the reasons for
Kubelik's demise in Chicago. In addition to reasons already mentioned
on this thread, one of the reasons he cites was his overexposure; he
simply conducted too much music! (I was pretty amazed when I compiled
the list of his appearances as MD). He simply couldn't be "on" all the
time -- no one who conducts that much possibly could. He observes that
when Solti took over the orchestra in 1969, he shrewdly limited the
numer of appearances he would be required to conduct , partly to avoid
overexposure. An abridged version of the Marsh essay appears on some
of the Mercury CD reissues, but I would be glad to make you a copy of
the original if you'd like.
RK
Michael Schaffer
So is the black musician thing untrue? The website on which your list
of concerts is posted makes a brief reference to that. Apart from that,
I can only remeber hearing about it once before. It may have been on
BBC. I tried to reach the host of that website to see if he could
provide some more information, but his email address is inactive.
rkhalona
<<So is the black musician thing untrue? >>
It may well be true, but you would have a hard time having anyone to
admit it on record if it is. Things have changed a little since then,
but not that much.
RK
alanwa...@aol.com
I would only gently point out that while you are right about a
conductor not being "on" all the time that might equally apply to the
orchestra - or perhaps it just applies to "my" orchestra (s) although I
do not personally think so.
I think it one of the mysteries of music, in fact, as to why you are
"on" sometimes and not others and I suspect that people who play at any
level will have experience of that.
Sacqueboutier
Are you kidding? Things have changed quite a lot. One of the newest
addtions to the trumpet section is Tage Larsen (formerly solo cornet
with the Marine Band). He is African American and he's freeking
amazing...one of the most musical players I've ever heard...better than
Wynton, Maurice, and a host of others. John Hagstrom is also formerly
of the Marine Band.
--
Best wishes,
Sacqueboutier
Michael Schaffer
Do you have to be a member of the Marine Corps to join that band or do
they also players from the "outside"? I looked at your website recently
(I also saw you there), and I really wondered - I may actually have
asked you that before, but I am getting old, so my menory is getting
weak - if it isn't very hard to play in those tight red uniforms? I
bought a few tracks on itunes (from Sousa's greatest hits), the playing
is really very good throughout.
rkhalona
addtions to the trumpet section is Tage Larsen (formerly solo cornet
with the Marine Band). He is African American and he's freeking
amazing...one of the most musical players I've ever heard...better than
Wynton, Maurice, and a host of others. John Hagstrom is also formerly
of the Marine Band.
Sacqueboutier >>
That's not what I meant. I meant that people are seldom willing to
admit that race played a factor in past events, even when it clearly
did.
RK
Sacqueboutier
>
> Do you have to be a member of the Marine Corps to join that band or do
> they also players from the "outside"? I looked at your website recently
> (I also saw you there), and I really wondered - I may actually have
> asked you that before, but I am getting old, so my menory is getting
> weak - if it isn't very hard to play in those tight red uniforms? I
> bought a few tracks on itunes (from Sousa's greatest hits), the playing
> is really very good throughout.
When an opening occurs, we advertise in the union papers and send out
releases to the conservatories and universities. An open audition is
held and the winner enlists afterward. They enter at the rank of SSgt
and go straight to D.C., bypassing boot camp. This is done for a
number of reasons, including: 1. The player just spend several
thousand dollars getting trained to do the job at the level that would
win the audition. It is a waste of money for the government to pay for
combat training that is not needed. 2. Marine boot camp is rough.
One blow to the chops and that's the end of a career.
The auditions are almost always won by conservatory trained musicians.
We have Julliard, Eastman, NEC, Illinois, Indiana, North Texas,
Shepherd, Peabody, Curtis, Cinnicinati, Michigan, and Arizona (most of
the best music schools in the country) graduates among our ranks, many
with doctorate degrees. Several of our musicians have studied in
Europe and we have one fellow, a bassoonist, who is from Paris and
studied at the Conservatory there...a fine player. All of our wind,
brass, percussion, and string players would fit in nicely in any major
symphony orchestra in the world.
And yes, it is uncomfortable playing wind instruments in those
uniforms, especially with the fitted collar. :-)
--
Best wishes,
Sacqueboutier
Sacqueboutier
Understood, now. I still think perhaps no so seldom. I am quite
conservative, yet I see a lot of racism in past events...sexism too. I
watch old cartoons with my kids and am appalled at what I see. I do
teach them context, though. It's important for them to know what once
was, and why it's not that way to such an extent any more.
--
Best wishes,
Sacqueboutier
Michael Schaffer
Sacqueboutier wrote:
> On 2005-10-07 18:16:11 -0400, "Michael Schaffer" <ms1...@gmail.com> said:
>
> >
> > Do you have to be a member of the Marine Corps to join that band or do
> > they also players from the "outside"? I looked at your website recently
> > (I also saw you there), and I really wondered - I may actually have
> > asked you that before, but I am getting old, so my menory is getting
> > weak - if it isn't very hard to play in those tight red uniforms? I
> > bought a few tracks on itunes (from Sousa's greatest hits), the playing
> > is really very good throughout.
>
> When an opening occurs, we advertise in the union papers and send out
> releases to the conservatories and universities. An open audition is
> held and the winner enlists afterward. They enter at the rank of SSgt
> and go straight to D.C., bypassing boot camp. This is done for a
> number of reasons, including: 1. The player just spend several
> thousand dollars getting trained to do the job at the level that would
> win the audition. It is a waste of money for the government to pay for
> combat training that is not needed. 2. Marine boot camp is rough.
> One blow to the chops and that's the end of a career.
Not necessarily, as evidenced by Mr Herseth playing the trumpet for
many decades after he had a car accident with massive injuries, but
yes, in general, you are right of course, and it is easy to see why
sending them to combat training would be unnecessary.
A guy I knew here in San Diego was in the MC as an active soldier and
also played the trumpet, I think in a local military band. The corps
probably has a number of bands, doesn't it? I had thought that to get
into your bands, you would have to rise "through the ranks" so to
speak.
> The auditions are almost always won by conservatory trained musicians.
> We have Julliard, Eastman, NEC, Illinois, Indiana, North Texas,
> Shepherd, Peabody, Curtis, Cinnicinati, Michigan, and Arizona (most of
> the best music schools in the country) graduates among our ranks, many
> with doctorate degrees. Several of our musicians have studied in
> Europe and we have one fellow, a bassoonist, who is from Paris and
> studied at the Conservatory there...a fine player. All of
But you have to be an US citizen, right?
Matthew B. Tepper
following letters to be typed in news:2005100720284650878%
nospam@nocomspamcastnet:
> When an opening occurs, we advertise in the union papers and send out
> releases to the conservatories and universities. An open audition is
> held and the winner enlists afterward. They enter at the rank of SSgt
> and go straight to D.C., bypassing boot camp. This is done for a number
> of reasons, including: 1. The player just spend several thousand
> dollars getting trained to do the job at the level that would win the
> audition. It is a waste of money for the government to pay for combat
> training that is not needed. 2. Marine boot camp is rough. One blow to
> the chops and that's the end of a career.
I thought I had read somewhere that the Marine Band members are indeed
combat-ready. Please explain if I have in fact misunderstood.
--
Matthew B. Tepper: WWW, science fiction, classical music, ducks!
My personal home page -- http://home.earthlink.net/~oy/index.html
My main music page --- http://home.earthlink.net/~oy/berlioz.html
To write to me, do for my address what Androcles did for the lion
I ask you to judge me by the enemies I have made. ~ FDR (attrib.)
Matthew B. Tepper
letters to be typed in news:1128733310.971371.319440
@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com:
> Not necessarily, as evidenced by Mr Herseth playing the trumpet for
> many decades after he had a car accident with massive injuries, but
> yes, in general, you are right of course, and it is easy to see why
> sending them to combat training would be unnecessary.
Or Al Hirt, who was serving as King of the Bacchus Krewe during the 1970
Mardi Gras in New Orleans, when somebody threw a brick at him and hit him
in the mouth. It required several stitches, and he was months recovering,
but he did play again. (And I would *love* to have again his recording of
the "Get Smart" theme song!)
Brendan R. Wehrung
At one time his widow was working on a book, but I don't know if it was
ever finished.
Brendan
--
Brendan R. Wehrung
We have/had (may have been shipped off to Iraq) training command band in
Michigan which cycled though my city's summer concert series once in a
while. They included former members of the Marine (and other service)
Band(s). I'm sure these have day jobs as well in service.
Brendan
--
Sacqueboutier
>>
>
> Not necessarily, as evidenced by Mr Herseth playing the trumpet for
> many decades after he had a car accident with massive injuries, but
> yes, in general, you are right of course, and it is easy to see why
> sending them to combat training would be unnecessary.
> A guy I knew here in San Diego was in the MC as an active soldier and
> also played the trumpet, I think in a local military band. The corps
> probably has a number of bands, doesn't it? I had thought that to get
> into your bands, you would have to rise "through the ranks" so to
> speak.
No, one does not have to go through the ranks. Yes, the USMC does have
field bands at bases around the country. These are comprised of
enlistees who chose to enroll in the field band program upon
enlistment. They go through basic training and then are shipped to the
Armed Forces School of Music in Norfolk, VA for about 6 weeks. These
men and women are soldiers first and can be deployed anywhere in the
world.
The auditions are almost always won by conservatory trained musicians.
>> We have Julliard, Eastman, NEC, Illinois, Indiana, North Texas,
>> Shepherd, Peabody, Curtis, Cinnicinati, Michigan, and Arizona (most of
>> the best music schools in the country) graduates among our ranks, many
>> with doctorate degrees. Several of our musicians have studied in
>> Europe and we have one fellow, a bassoonist, who is from Paris and
>> studied at the Conservatory there...a fine player. All of
>>
>> But you have to be an US citizen, right?
>
> Same rules apply as with any military personnel.
--
> Best wishes,
Sacqueboutier
Sacqueboutier
> Sacqueboutier <nos...@nocomspamcast.net> appears to have caused the
> following letters to be typed in news:2005100720284650878%
> nospam@nocomspamcastnet:
>
>> When an opening occurs, we advertise in the union papers and send out
>> releases to the conservatories and universities. An open audition is
>> held and the winner enlists afterward. They enter at the rank of SSgt
>> and go straight to D.C., bypassing boot camp. This is done for a number
>> of reasons, including: 1. The player just spend several thousand
>> dollars getting trained to do the job at the level that would win the
>> audition. It is a waste of money for the government to pay for combat
>> training that is not needed. 2. Marine boot camp is rough. One blow to
>> the chops and that's the end of a career.
>
> I thought I had read somewhere that the Marine Band members are indeed
> combat-ready. Please explain if I have in fact misunderstood.
The US Marine Band is not combat-ready. Nor are the US Army Band, Air
Force Band, Coast Guard Band, and Navy Band.
The various field bands around the country (and world) *are* combat ready.
--
Best wishes,
Sacqueboutier
rkhalona
Eric Nagamine wrote:
> >
>
> The new one being? Presumably the Hart is the one OoP.
Fritz Reiner, "Maestro and Martinet"
by Kenneth Morgan. The Hart biography can still be obtained easily on
paperback and used hardcover copies abound.
Incidentally, from Hart's biography, here's a little known fact
regarding
Miss Cassidy's influence in Chicago:
(context: one year after Rodzinski's departure)
<<After a year with Eugene Ormandy as musical adviser, the trustees
reviewed a short list of possible conductors, including George Szell,
William Steinberg, Rafael Kubelik and Fritz Reiner. They rejected
Reiner and Steinberg "for reasons accepted by the trustees" but gave
careful consideration to Szell before voting unanimously to engage
Kubelik for three years beginning in the Fall of 1950. Kubelik was
thirty six years old when he assumed his post, at an annual salary of
thirty thousand dollars.
One reason for not offering Szell the Chicago post was the trustees'
fear that his selection would aggravate the long-standing antagonism of
Claudia Cassidy, the powerful critic at The Chicago Tribune. From 1942
on, Cassidy had savagely attacked the trustees of the Orchestral
Association, first for appointing Defauw and then for dismissing
Rodzinski. Cassidy was not one to confine her coverage of the CSO to
reviews of its musical performances. She also commented editorially on
the policies, performance and personalities of the management, the
Orchestral Association, and the trustees.>>
So, it appears that Szell/Cleveland fans should be thankful to Miss
Cassidy for preventing Szell from landing in Chicago.
RK
Paul Goldstein
says...quoting Hart's Reiner bio:
><<After a year with Eugene Ormandy as musical adviser, the trustees
>reviewed a short list of possible conductors, including George Szell,
>William Steinberg, Rafael Kubelik and Fritz Reiner. They rejected
>Reiner and Steinberg "for reasons accepted by the trustees" but gave
>careful consideration to Szell before voting unanimously to engage
>Kubelik for three years beginning in the Fall of 1950. Kubelik was
>thirty six years old when he assumed his post, at an annual salary of
>thirty thousand dollars.
>
>One reason for not offering Szell the Chicago post was the trustees'
>fear that his selection would aggravate the long-standing antagonism of
>Claudia Cassidy, the powerful critic at The Chicago Tribune. From 1942
>on, Cassidy had savagely attacked the trustees of the Orchestral
>Association, first for appointing Defauw and then for dismissing
>Rodzinski. Cassidy was not one to confine her coverage of the CSO to
>reviews of its musical performances. She also commented editorially on
>the policies, performance and personalities of the management, the
>Orchestral Association, and the trustees.>>
>
>So, it appears that Szell/Cleveland fans should be thankful to Miss
>Cassidy for preventing Szell from landing in Chicago.
Interesting, but is there any reason to believe that Szell would have left
Cleveland for Chicago in 1950? (Other than, perhaps, feeling that it would be a
lot more fun to live in Chicago than in Cleveland . . .)
Michael Schaffer
I am currently reading "Season with Solti: a year in the life of the
Chicago Symphony" by W.B. Furlong (1974). It is a very interesting book
which descibes, as the title suggests, a season of the CSO, how it is
put together, what happened during the season. It also provides a lot
of background information about the key figures, not just Solti, but
orchestral management and players, and a history of the orchestra
itself.
It contains very little information about the Kubelik era though. The
Martinon era and the problems that led to the end of his time there are
covered in much greater detail, partially, I guess, since they were
relatively recent history at the time. Also, these events directly
influenced the fact that Solti was there for the season described in
the book.
The book contains a "revelation" that must be a deep shock for a lot of
CSO and Solti fans: when it became clear that Martinon's contract would
not be renewed, they started looking for a new principal conductor. The
first one they asked, based on a consensus of management and a
committee of players was actually - Karajan. They even waited for a
long time for Karajan to respond and extended the waiting time twice.
Only when it became clear that he wasn't seriously interested, did they
start negotiating with Solti (and Giulini in his role defined as
principal guest conductor).
jrs...@aol.com
It's a very entertaining book. John Edwards was a very enterprising
manager and he was gutsy to think he could haul in a Karajan or a Solti
or a Giulini. He got two out of three of the most marketable men at the
time and it worked out very well. It would have been interesting to see
if the city that spurned Furtwangler would have taken to Karajan, but
politics had changed in the ensuing years. In any case, musically,
Solti and Giulini proved to be an inspired combination.
--Jeff
Todd Schurk
Yes-Claudia was not fond of Szell. In a letter to Carlotta Reiner she
said "I hear Szell is sick with a fever. His temperature has shot up to
89 degrees"...
Bob Harper
What was the source of Cassidy's power? I've not seen that discussed in
this thread. I used to hear her in her dotage opining away on WFMT, and
by then she was certainly not a critic, but rather a spouter of totally
unsupported one sentence judgments about all sorts of matters cultural.
It was hard to believe that anyone had taken her seriously, but
obviously they did. Why?
Bob Harper
M.W. Kluge
Bob Harper wrote:
> What was the source of Cassidy's power? I've not seen that discussed in
> this thread. I used to hear her in her dotage opining away on WFMT, and
> by then she was certainly not a critic, but rather a spouter of totally
> unsupported one sentence judgments about all sorts of matters cultural.
> It was hard to believe that anyone had taken her seriously, but
> obviously they did. Why?
>
> Bob Harper
To understand Cassidy better, you could seek out a Chicago Magazine
profile published c. 1956. This article came on the heels of the
Kubelik era, and it paints her in a quite unflattering light - reviews
of works that she arrived too late to hear, blatant manipulation of
management at the CSO and Lyric Opera, her lack of musical education,
you name it. The article had little impact - Cassidy remained the
primary critical force in Chicago for the next ten years, until her
readership lost loyalty over a blatant conflict of interest (she began
trashing Martinon performances after he fired the CSO manager, who
happened to be a Cassidy protege).
Her claim was that she only wanted the best for Chicago, but "best" was
understood to mean "my preference." The irony of the Kubelik saga to
me is that if Cassidy had been around at the beginning of the Frederick
Stock era, when he was a young violinist who had only recently taken up
the baton, she might well have run him out of town too.
Mark
GMS
me is that if Cassidy had been around at the beginning of the Frederick
Stock era, when he was a young violinist who had only recently taken up
the baton............... "
Just for the sake of accuracy, I believe that Stock was a violist in
the CSO before assuming conducting duties.
Gary Stucka
Cellist, Chicago Symphony Orchestra
rkhalona
<<Interesting, but is there any reason to believe that Szell would have
left
Cleveland for Chicago in 1950? (Other than, perhaps, feeling that it
would be a
lot more fun to live in Chicago than in Cleveland . . .) >>
I think it's safe to say that in 1950 Chicago was a more prestigious
post than Cleveland, and if the money had been good...
On the other hand, Szell might have preferred to exert more control
over his future, and Chicago may not have offered that in view of the
circumstances.
Still, it's interesting to imagine what a Szell/CSO era might have been
like.
RK
Michael Schaffer
Were you already in the orchestra when Furlong wrote that book?
GMS
No, that book was published in 1974. I joined the CSO in 1986.
By the way, on page 236 there is a photograph of a cellist named
Theodore Ratzer. The caption describes him as "not a regular member of
the orchestra". While certainly a true statement in 1974, my good
friend, Teddy, had belonged to the CSO from 1920 until 1957 (the first
Principal Cellist of Stock's newly formed Civic Orchestra, Ted was
invited directly into the CSO by Stock and he served most capably for
37 years. I loved hearing all of his stories from the early days.)
Ted Ratzer died in 1989 at the age of 90.
Michael Schaffer
Speaking of the early days, do you know if it is true that for the
first decades, until the early 20s or so, they spoke German in the CSO
rehearsals? I seem to recall that I heard that in a TV documentary a
long time ago, but my recollection of this is as vague as what I heard
about Kubelik getting into trouble for supporting black musicians. Do
you know anything about that? Is it true or false?
rkhalona
<<Speaking of the early days, do you know if it is true that for the
first decades, until the early 20s or so, they spoke German in the CSO
rehearsals? I seem to recall that I heard that in a TV documentary a
long time ago, but my recollection of this is as vague as what I heard
about Kubelik getting into trouble for supporting black musicians. Do
you know anything about that? Is it true or false? >>
I think it's true. I have an old book on Theodore Thomas that mentions
that.
I'll try to dig it out.
RK
rkhalona
Take a look at this about the history of the Chicago Civic Orchestra
(the CSO's AAA band):
http://www.cso.org/main.taf?p=12,5,4
RK
Sacqueboutier
>>
>
> Speaking of the early days, do you know if it is true that for the
> first decades, until the early 20s or so, they spoke German in the CSO
> rehearsals? I seem to recall that I heard that in a TV documentary a
> long time ago, but my recollection of this is as vague as what I heard
> about Kubelik getting into trouble for supporting black musicians. Do
> you know anything about that? Is it true or false?
In the early 1800s, the president imported a lot of Italian wind/brass
players to join the Marine Band because they were the best in the
world. For many years, the rehearsal language was Italian.
--
Best wishes,
Sacqueboutier
Michael Schaffer
It looks like there must have been a lot of very good wind players in
Italy at that time, judging from the highly virtuoso wind parts often
found in contemporary pieces such as Rossini's overtures.