Bidding farewell to two Finnish maestros in Los Angeles

By Vesa Sirén
     
      No wonder that the Finnish conductor was fêted generously in Los Angeles.
      He was the musical director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and was able to bring in more listeners, establish a more versatile programme and orchestra through “vigour, power, edge, warmth, and beauty”.
      He was not necessarily seen as the deepest maestro and orchestra builder, but he was considered an extremely inspiring and skilful one.
      “Audience Shouts Bravos for Philharmonic Leader” read one headline. He was “magnetic”, a “Mahler prophet”, a “trailblazer”, a “conqueror”, and simply “incomparable”.
     
He was a world-traveller and a virtuoso with the baton. On weeks off he conducted the Berlin Philharmonic and the best orchestras in Paris, and recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra.
      But in the written history of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, this Finnish conductor is simply “flaccid, paunchy, phlegmatic, and plodding”, who had “hardly any line in discipline”.
      He would shed tears while conducting the symphonies of Jean Sibelius, which he actually did quite well, and would lull his audience to sleep while lecturing about Gustav Mahler. His English was comical. "You can all go to devil with me", he would say to his orchestra in a fit of anger.
      Thus did the honour of Finnish conductor Georg Schnéevoigt (1878–1947) fade away in Los Angeles, in spite of the grand success of the 1927-1929 seasons.
     
Today, 80 years later, another Finnish music director is leaving the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
      He is an experienced world traveller, a regular guest of the Berlin Philharmonic and other top orchestras.
      He is also an inspiring orchestra builder, and programme planner, ana he is also very cool, according to newspapers from The Los Angeles Times to The New York Times, whenever the musical directors of orchestras are listed.
      He is of course Esa-Pekka Salonen. But is it possible that Salonen's fame could wither as fast as his Finnish predecessor's did?
     
Schnéevoigt's name was trashed by subsequent generations in part because the writer of the orchestra's brief history in the 1960s did not familiarise himself with the archive material from the 20s.
      The image of old Georg probably stemmed from the mean jokes and anecdotes of some contemporary musicians.
      These sorts of amusing stories pop up in the Los Angeles Times every time the LAPO's music directors are listed.
      It is also true that Schnéevoigt was followed by the future superstar Arthur Rodzinski.
      And when Rodzinski was followed in turn by the future legend Otto Klemperer, the memory of the victories of Schnéevoigt lost some of their sheen.
     
The reputation of Salonen could also fade somewhat from the present type of high praise and hyberbole.
      Perhaps Salonen will be seen in the 2060s as the last maestro of an ethnic minority.
      Perhaps it will take his successor Gustavo Dudamel to get the Hispanic population of Los Angeles to flock to the concert hall.
      Perhaps Dudamel will also bring the teachings of the Venezuelan El Sistema youth orchestra network to the slums of Los Angeles, and rescue thousands of impoverished people from drugs and crime.
      Such achievements would reduce the lustre of his predecessors, and with very good reason.
     
Still, Salonen will be very hard to forget, unlike Schnéevoigt.
      Schnéevoigt was in Los Angeles for only two years. Salonen’s period at the helm was 17 years, and it included magnificent tours and first performances, as well as the establishment of the Walt Disney Concert Hall by architect Frank Gehry as a Los Angeles landmark.
      Schnéevoigt can be heard only on a few records and radio recordings.
      Works by Salonen and the Los Angeles Philharmonic exist on dozens of records and their cooperation can be heard for free on the orchestra’s www.celebratesalonen.com website.
     
Schnéevoigt continued to make high-profile visits to Europe, Australia, and the United States, and he conducted the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra from 1932 to the outbreak of the Winter War in 1939.
      Salonen continues to be the principal conductor and artistic advisor of the Philharmonia Orchestra in London. His appointment with the London ensemble - with whom he incidentally made his international breakthrough in 1983 - was announced back in November 2006, and he began in earnest from the beginning of the 2008/2009 season.
      Salonen is able to pick the cream of the guest conducting invitations that come his way, and he plans to do some composing as well.
     
Nothing is likely to threaten the position of Esa-Pekka Salonen in the conducting pantheon.
      But then again, that's what people thought about Georg Schnéevoigt in 1929.
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 19.4.2009


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Salonen´s Philharmonia Orchestra want to come to the Helsinki Festival (17.3.2009)
  Esa-Pekka Salonen picks up one Grammy award and a share in another (10.2.2009)
  Esa-Pekka Salonen to lead Philharmonia Orchestra in London (20.11.2006)

Links:
  Georg Schnéevoigt (Wikipedia)
  Esa-Pekka Salonen (Wikipedia)
  Celebrate: Salonen website