Volume 23 Issue 9 - June / July / August 2018

FEATURE
CYLLA VON TIEDEMANN
With kids at Roy Thomson Hall
IN THE CITY
AND ON THE
ROAD
But at least you can hear the hall breathe…
Right. So with the RSNO it’s a different kind of contract, where
a service can mean a rehearsal or it can be a concert or a recording
session. In the States and North America generally, that’s not the case.
Recordings have to be in a separate contract.
Has raising kids in this city helped shape your perspective on what
needed to be done at the TSO to build bridges to that next-generation
audience that everyone talks about as some kind of holy grail?
I’d say first that one’s own children are not a good gauge because
they’ve grown up with music around them all the time and they play
instruments and so on. But for me, reaching out is not just a generational
thing. I have always tried to make the concert hall a friendly
place, a non-elitist place. And sometimes that’s been quite trying,
because when you are about to go out and really perform… I mean,
when an actor’s about to go out and be Hamlet they really don’t want to
go out before and spend five minutes explaining the play. How do you
gain the credibility of then being Hamlet? Obviously it’s not quite the
same when I step onto the podium. I am not becoming another person,
but when I start to conduct I am becoming an interpreter, and hopefully
some kind of transmitter of feeling and atmosphere and everything else.
So it’s a tough transition from “mine genial host”?
Exactly. You’re in two very different modes. And certainly, there
are certain pieces before which I have not spoken. Or have tried to
separate the speaking from the performance in some way. But people
have been generally appreciative of my welcoming them, trying to give
them some sense of what they are listening to and what to listen for.
To demystify the thing…
Right. So to get to your question, if I can help people who might
otherwise not come back, and who might now say “I have friends who
would actually enjoy this,” and even bring someone with them the
next time, then that’s gratifying. And all in all, the size of our audiences
is gratifying.
I remember a performance of the Tchaikovsky Sixth where you
spoke from the front of the stage. The second mezzanine was filled
with first-timers. You were explaining the structure of the piece how
the Third and Fourth Movements are a reversal from the norm.
In terms of character you mean?
Yes, exactly. And you said “So don’t be surprised if you want to
applaud at the end of the third movement.”
Ah yes, I remember.
And then you actually went further – you said “In fact, if you feel
like applauding, go right ahead because this ‘rule’ we have about
not applauding between movements of a symphony actually didn’t
come into effect until a decade after this symphony was written and
performed.”
That’s correct. Yes.
And what was so interesting about that for me was seeing what
you earned from that as conductor later on.
How so?
continues to page 92
What does the summer mean for musicians?
For some, it means a break from a busy
concert season. For others, it means the
busiest time of the year – either touring the summer
festival circuit or running a festival themselves. In
either case, for many arts workers the end of the
“official” concert season marks a break from routine,
and an opportunity to pursue new things.
In this annual series, we interview music-makers from across our
local community to ask them about their summer plans. This year, we
got in touch with pianist Philip Chiu, who will be busy touring the
country as a chamber musician and recitalist; stage director Amanda
Smith, who is preparing for an upcoming season of operatic endeavours;
composer Elisha Denburg, who has new compositions in the
works, in addition to helping organize this year’s Ashkenaz Festival;
and soprano and arts administrator Donna Bennett, who will be
helping to manage the upcoming season at Westben, as the organization
makes the transition from summer festival to year-round music
centre. With all of these artists, their plans for summer vacation, or
lack thereof, provide a hint of exciting musical projects to come – and
a glimpse into the ever-evolving nature of what it means to build a
career, and a life, in the arts.
PHILIP CHIU, pianist
What are we interrupting
(i.e. what music-related activity
are we taking you away from to
write this)?
When I received your email
earlier this week, I was in the
middle of a tour dedicated to
performing in small communities
throughout Ontario and Quebec,
as Trio Corventano (Thomas
Beard, cello and Dakota Martin,
flute). We had a blast playing
an incredibly diverse program
of Gaubert’s Trois Aquarelles,
Haydn’s Trio in G Major, Hummel’s Adagio, Variations and Rondo on
“Beautiful Minka,” and Nikolai Kapustin’s absolutely fiendish Trio.
What, if anything, are you most looking forward to as an audience
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