Home >  A & E

Thursday, October 03, 2002

By Andrew Druckenbrod, Post-Gazette Classical Music Critic

Mariss Jansons won't be logging as many frequent-flyer miles, but that doesn't mean he'll be slowing down when he leaves the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra at the end of the 2003-04 season.

	Mariss Jansons cites the rigors of the trans-Atlantic commute as a major reason for quitting as music director of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in 2004. He is in negotiations with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam to become its music director and has signed for the same post with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in Munich.

Jansons revealed yesterday that he is in negotiations with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam to become its music director and has signed for the same post with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in Munich.

"It is a great honor, it is a great orchestra," he said of the highly regarded Royal Concertgebouw.

Jansons stressed that the Amsterdam post was not a factor in his decision in June to leave the PSO, noting that the offer came after his announced resignation.

The conductor doesn't believe leading the two orchestras in such close proximity is an issue. He will limit his work to five orchestras: Vienna Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra, Concertgebouw, Bavarian Radio and PSO, where he hopes to guest conduct once a year.

Yesterday's interview was the first time Jansons had spoken publicly to the news media and members of the orchestra about his decision to leave the orchestra, reiterating that the rigors of a trans-Atlantic commute and a desire to confine the bulk of his work to Europe were the primary reasons.

"It was very difficult for me to [leave the PSO] because I like very much this orchestra, which gives me a lot of artistic satisfaction," he said. "If you don't like something, it is much more easy, it can be an excuse. I don't feel there is anything wrong."

There is, of course, one well-publicized thing wrong at the PSO: Its financial resources are stretched thin because of a projected deficit of about $1 million. The orchestra recently outlined steps it was taking to address the shortfall, and Jansons is ready to play a part by returning an undisclosed portion of his salary back to the PSO.

He already has agreed to eliminate Shostakovich's Symphony No. 7, which would have required extra musicians, from an upcoming European tour, for a savings of $110,000. He's now proposed cutting it from a November program in Heinz Hall and at a concert in New York's Carnegie Hall, saving an additional $40,000.

"I am music director of this orchestra and it is my obligation to think how I can help," he said.

Jansons said he also hopes this change will restore the rest of the season to its original form. It had been announced that Christoph von Dohnanyi's program Oct. 18-20 would replace Thomas Ades' much-lauded "Asyla" with a warhorse, Strauss' "Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks." He would replace Shostakovich's Seventh with his Tenth Symphony in Carnegie Hall and the composer's Fifth on tour.

"I was very unhappy that we asked Dohnanyi to change his program. ... I want [none] of my colleagues to be victims of this," he said.

Lack of public support for the PSO, driven home by a $450,000 shortfall in ticket sales last year, has contributed to its financial woes. But Jansons would not use that as a reason for his departure.

"Even for the many things for which you are not satisfied -- such as the public not coming to concerts -- that is not a reason to leave," he said. "It is much easier to say, 'Ah, you don't come, bye-bye.' I would be a betrayer of my orchestra."

Still, he conceded disappointment in declining attendance. "Every city in the world would be proud of this orchestra," he said, suggesting that Pittsburgh embraces sports at the expense of culture.