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Sunday, June 29, 2003

By Andrew Druckenbrod, Post-Gazette Classical Music Writer

Heinz Hall has become a focal point for news as much as for music this year, especially in recent weeks as the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra opened contract negotiations with musicians in an atmosphere of financial crisis and amid a search for a new managing director.

It's been easy to overlook another search -- the one for Mariss Jansons' successor as music director.

Indications are that a decision won't be made until after next season to ensure that several key candidates get their due again with the musicians and audiences. Others may be brought in as substitutes or in special concerts for that reason.

The unfinished nature of the search means that speculation persists, and new names continue to emerge.

One intriguing possibility: Sir Andrew Davis.

The music director of the Chicago Lyric Opera and former leader of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra reportedly is high on the PSO's list, and considering the criteria symphony leaders have expressed about the position -- great conductor, English speaker and willing "marketer" -- it's easy to see why.

"It would seem logical to have someone like Davis on the podium of Pittsburgh," says his manager, Hugh Kaylor of Kaylor Management Inc. While Kaylor wouldn't say whether Davis has been contacted by the PSO, he acknowledged keeping "our options open."

The question is, would Davis be the right conductor for this group? Would he succeed in the core, largely Germanic repertory that's been the PSO's bread and butter over the years? Would the chemistry be there, that crucial ingredient that fuels a great director-orchestra relationship?

It's hard to know, given that it's been since 1990 that Davis conducted the PSO. Although he conducted here frequently before that --1977, '81, '86, '88 and '90 -- only 60 percent of the PSO membership is intact from that time. More than a few musicians said he is an intriguing possibility, but they'd want to have more experience with him at the podium.

Kaylor concurs: "We have to get him on the podium there. They have talked about Davis coming back as a guest conductor."

While Davis isn't scheduled to conduct next season, he may be brought in to substitute for a conductor. A much-publicized example of this type of maneuver comes from the New York Philharmonic in 2000, when Jansons, then a candidate to assume leadership of that orchestra, substituted for Kurt Masur at a "special" concert.

The queen of England may have knighted Davis, but he still has a relatively low profile in the United States. Acclaimed recordings aside, this is largely due to his lack of exposure in America. His major posts have been chief conductor of Glyndebourne Festival Opera from 1988 to 2000, music director of the BBC Symphony Orchestra from 1989 to 2000 and of the Toronto Symphony from 1975 to 1988. He still regularly conducts the BBC Proms. Now settled in Chicago, and guest-conducting more in America, he has a growing reputation in the United States.

Proof that the people who count the most appreciate him as a leader comes from his appointments as conductor laureate, which is the case with the BBC Symphony and the Toronto Symphony. Orchestras don't hand those out too often to conductors who left a bitter taste in their mouths.

Davis is a versatile conductor, able to conduct opera and orchestral music, and a wide variety of each, including a mix of classics and new music. The buzz is that he lacks charisma on the podium, but he usually has good chemistry with musicians. That he is a known commodity in the recording world would be welcome to an orchestra that rarely records anymore.

Not yet 60, Davis also has the reputation of meshing with a community. And those who know him in the music world say he would be up for all of the challenges inherent in the PSO post -- artistic and otherwise. He probably wouldn't move from Chicago, but would be far more accessible from there than from Europe if needs arose apart from his concert weeks.

Davis isn't alone as a dark horse emerging from the shadows. David Zinman's candidacy may be gaining momentum.

Zinman's biggest hurdle appeared to be his lack of desire to return to the ranks of music director. The longtime Baltimore Symphony maestro is comfortable running the Aspen Music Festival and the Tonhalle Orchestra. But new indications are that he may be interested in a larger job. The PSO gets to judge its chemistry with him when he guest conducts here in November. Meanwhile, he's wowing Europe with his successful courtship of a population subset that holds particular interest to Pittsburghers -- young people.

A recent report in the Financial Times of London details how Zinman's Zurich-based Tonhalle is attracting teenagers and twentysomethings in droves through concert parties:

"The historic concert hall is soon packed with brightly dressed, eager teenagers and twentysomethings ... transformed, with colored lights, projected computer animation, bars selling Red Bull and champagne, a chillout lounge and a dance floor. After the concert, the 1895 venue becomes host to an all-night dance party, with DJs and bands until dawn."

At $15 a head, the concerts have reached the status of "events," with people turned away at the door by bouncers, of all things. It remains to be seen whether that level of success could be achieved here, but one thing is clear: The 67-year-old conductor is in touch with the future of the concert world.

As for the musicians, Zinman says in the report that one of the keys for turning around the Tonhalle orchestra, having inherited a less-than-cohesive ensemble in 1996, was "listening to what his musicians have to say, encouraging them to think for themselves."

Not bad on the resume.

Another candidate, James Conlon, may remain on the PSO's short list despite having signed up to lead the Ravinia Festival in Chicago beginning in 2005. He's available, insofar as he's not leading a major symphony orchestra's regular season. (He has one more season with the Paris Opera.)

"In addition to his performances next season as principal conductor of the Paris Opera, he is doing a lot of guest conducting, which he very much enjoys -- including Boston, Los Angeles, New York, Cleveland, Pittsburgh and the Cincinnati May Festival," says Conlon's public relations representative, Connie Shuman. "He is not not interested in an orchestral post, but it has to be the right time and the right situation."

Conlon plans on moving back to the U.S. from Paris at the end of next season.

Musicians' opinion of Conlon's conducting is mixed, but many at the PSO -- especially board members -- feel he deserves a second hearing. He'll get just that when he returns to lead the PSO in a May 2004 program of Tchaikovsky, Dvorak and Stock (a world premiere cello concerto with Truls Mork). If the PSO search committee truly sees him as a serious candidate, the decision on music director won't be made until after that.

While Conlon, Davis and Zinman's stars are rising, those of other candidates are dipping below the horizon.

Word is that conductor Charles Dutoit is not going to be considered for the post, despite early indications to the contrary. While he gets good response from the PSO musicians, his reputation on and off the podium hurts his chances. His sudden resignation from the Montreal Symphony in the face of a possible lawsuit for allegedly harassing his players says it all.

Musicians and board apparently are split on the candidacy of PSO favorite Pinchas Zukerman, too. He has famous chemistry with the group, but it is in part because he isn't interested in being authoritative. Also, there's no indication he would want to assume the responsibility of the job.

Though he might have all the qualities the PSO is looking for, Leonard Slatkin's recent renewal of his contract with the National Symphony Orchestra through 2006 seemingly puts him all but out of the running. Likewise, Michael Tilson Thomas appears to remain a pipe dream for the PSO, if he ever was seriously considered. He's well ensconced in San Francisco.

Finally, one of the hottest young conductors around, David Robertson, appears to be having trouble overcoming some bad buzz and poor chemistry. Most musicians aren't convinced he's ready to lead a major orchestra, despite the great impression he made with the board and audience.

Others undoubtedly will surface as these names disappear -- Claus Peter Flor, Robert Spano and Yakov Kreizberg perhaps among them. And don't forget that Christoph von Dohnanyi remains an intriguing possibility, though certainly on a more limited basis. The rapport he had with the PSO was extraordinary.