A few months ago Elaine Calder asked the orchestra members to suggest guest artists with whom they would like to work. I’ve compiled a list of those who I’d personally love to see come, as well as those who I think would really create excitement and big audience numbers for our concerts. It’s been quite a while since we’ve had a big season of A-list soloists and conductors, and I think that sometimes you’ve got to spend money to make money, and skimping on guest artists can often come back to bite you on the wrong end.
Remember the recent big attendance figures generated by Itzhak Perlman and James Depreist? They cost a lot, but they make money for the orchestra. I figure that when you look through the season brochure or scan the pages of the newspaper, you want to see a name you recognize – that gets you in the door. I read somewhere that in print advertising, success is getting the consumer’s eye to stay on a page for 1/10th of a second longer than a comparable ad. That little catch of the eye is what adds up to success when your product is competing in a crowded field. So, without further ado, my semi-annotated wish list of guest artists:
Conductors
Yakov Kreizberg – he’s been here before, and I can’t wait for him to come back again – we’ve been lucky to have him as much as we have, he’s rapidly becoming one of the top guest conductors in the world today. He brings a wonderful combination of flexibility and rigor to his approach. His guest appearances here are always cited by the orchestra musicians as high points of the season.
Robert Spano – I worked with him years ago at Tanglewood, where he now heads the conducting program. He’s now the music director of the Atlanta Symphony. He is a dynamic force of nature who specializes in new music while bringing a new spin to old classics.
Michael Tilson Thomas – I played a concert under him while playing a week with the New World Symphony. He’s the closest thing we have to a modern day Leonard Bernstein, and he delivers all the goods: he can talk and he can conduct with the best of them. A Mahler symphony with MTT would be a trip to heaven, hell, and back.
Marin Alsop – she’s now music director of the Baltimore Symphony, where she’s putting together an adventurous season (very progressive). I think that snobbery kept her from being asked to come here in years past (being from the Eugene Symphony), but I think it’s time she was invited to come and work with us. It seems like Eugene is a couple steps ahead of us in terms of being on the right part of the cutting edge – maybe we could borrow couple of their moves for a change.
Soloists
Hilary Hahn, violin – she is one of the hottest violinists out there right now, and rightly so. She brings an Apollonian approach to playing that is so very satisfying, plus she has a diverse repertoire and a reputation for searching interpretations.
Alisa Weilerstein, cello – she’s the cellist to beat right now and her first Oregon engagement is at the little Sunriver Music Festival. She’s inspiring (for better or for worse) a lot of comparisons with Jaqueline duPré and recently made some high profile (and critically acclaimed) debuts with Big Five orchestras.
Angela Hewitt, piano – one of my favorite pianists, and a favorite of Portland keyboard afficianados: I’d love to hear her do Bach, Beethoven or Mozart with Carlos on the podium, it would be a pairing for the ages, I suspect.
Stephen Hough, piano – he’s playing Brahms 2nd Piano Concerto this season, and I’d love to see him as often as humanly possible – my favorite pianist who visits regularly.
John Kimura Parker, piano – he is a HUGE Portland favorite, and I know he’d love to play with us again – there’s no reason why he shouldn’t be seen more often around here.
Yo-yo Ma, cello – he hasn’t been here in 11 years – bring him back, he’d be the perfect opening gala artist, and everyone has a great time when he’s on stage.
Daniel Barenboim, piano/conductor – it’s a pie-in-the-sky notion, I know, but to have him come and conduct some Wagner and lead a Mozart concerto from the piano, it’s a no-brainer. I would love to see the orchestra work with a huge A-list star conductor of his stature.
Other
Other notions: do some concert versions of opera with big name vocalists, using the Keller Auditorium stage to allow semi-staged productions, and bring in an influential director like Peter Sellars to do some provocative staging as well.