This weekend are the last subscription concerts we'll do under our current Music Director, Andreas Delfs (at least in his capacity as music director). We are doing Mahler 8 next weekend with Andreas, but as a special event. So this was the weekend in which gifts were presented and presentations were made. I was asked to make the presentation last night and this afternoon. This is what I said:
We were sitting on stage one Tuesday morning about 15 years ago when a young German guest conductor arrived, said “good morning,” and began rehearsing the Schumann “Rhenish” symphony with tremendous authority. I vividly remember thinking to myself “definitely music director material.” I was so intrigued that I followed Frank Almond and him to Eagan’s and invited myself to lunch. I took away from that lunch four impressions: that he was really smart, that his English was better than mine, that he was remarkably poised and at-ease for someone so young, and that he was a rather cool customer. So at least I got three out of four right.
I didn’t suspect that I would be spending 12 years working for him, and I still can’t believe it’s been that long. It’s been 12 years filled with musical growth for the orchestra, programming, PR, and media innovation for the MSO, and relationship-building with our community. It was Andreas’ idea that we go to Cuba, for example – and he had the smarts to make sure, a year in advance, that every network in America would be there to cover our concert – as well, of course, as the return to Cuba of young Elian Gonzalez. He’ll be glad to know that very few of us still blame him for the lunch that made our first night in Havana such an interesting one.
The fact that Andreas was the first person in the MSO family to own an iPod led him to champion our becoming the first American orchestra to sell selected archival recordings on iTunes. And there were all the great programming ideas – the Gershwin program with an actor playing Oscar Levant providing context, performing Schoenberg’s “Survivor from Warsaw” twice on the same program so the audience could really get it, with the Barber Adagio as an interlude, the time Andreas played accordion on some Kurt Weill songs with Ute Lemper– and of course there was the “Hansel and Gretel” with a very pregnant Gretel.
Equally remarkable for our business was how much a part of Milwaukee Andreas, Amy, and their four children became. I’d never before worked for a music director who I would run into at Mayfair Mall, or at Applebee’s, or at a student recital at the Conservatory. Andreas and Amy made friends throughout Milwaukee, most of who became strong supporters of the MSO.
But most important is what Andreas did for the orchestra musically. Over one-third of the orchestra you see on stage was hired by Andreas. Two-thirds of the principals were hired by Andreas. This orchestra has become a perfect reflection of Andreas as a musician. Even the fact that it is, in his own words, “the nicest orchestra in the world” is in part a reflection of his own personal style and character. Not many music directors would tolerate – much less enjoy – every request to “start at letter “R” being met with the following response – (orchestra makes a pirate growl “ARRRRGH”).
What I will remember most are all the wonderful performances - the Bruckner 7 that first made me understand what a giant Bruckner was, the “Hansel and Gretel” that had me in tears at the dress rehearsal, the Brahms German Requiem with our wonderful chorus, the “Boris Godunov” at St. Josephat’s that began Andreas’s tenure here, and the Rite of Spring last season that so perfectly captured the terror and ferocity that must have shocked and awed audiences at its Paris premiere almost 100 years ago.
In recognition of his achievements, on so many fronts, as MSO Music Director, County Executive Scott Walker has proclaimed Friday, June 12 and Sunday, June 14 to be Andreas Delfs Days. And the MSO has named Andreas Conductor Laureate beginning next season.
As a small expression of the MSO family’s thanks and our hope that you and Amy will keep Milwaukee in your hearts, we have some very Milwaukee gifts. We have a Harley-Davidson jacket – come back in 38 years and you’ll get a motorcycle to go along with it. We have Sprecher beer and Usinger sausage for when you get tired of whatever they eat in Hawaii. And we have a one-of-a-kind book commemorating your tenure here, in case you need to be reminded of what we all looked liked.
It’s been a remarkable time. You’ve built a permanent place in our lives and our hearts, and you will always be welcome here. Please join me in thanking Maestro Andreas Delfs for twelve wonderful seasons.
what a lovely and moving tribute. thanks for sharing it with us.
Posted by: bratschegirl | June 08, 2009 at 05:55 PM