The top of the Empire State Building was lit red with a white border on Thursday night. Nothing special at first glance, but the fact that the skyscraper is red has everything to do with a Dutchman. These are the colors that the New York Philharmonic uses in its corporate identity. And that orchestra is celebrating. With a gala concert in the David Geffen Hall, west of Central Park, Jaap van Zweden is inaugurated as ‘music director’.
If you have an eye for it, you will see his face all over the city. On billboards, Van Zweden greets you with the text ‘This is the beginning of a new era’. That era will be introduced on Thursday with a parade on the red carpet, because this is more than a concert: afterwards there is a chic dinner to thank the sponsors and donors. Where Dutch orchestras are largely dependent on subsidies, in the US they are dependent on patronage.
Who do you see on that runner? Star actor Alec Baldwin, for example, who helps make the orchestra known to the general public. He sits on the balcony during the concert, near the stage next to orchestra director Deborah Borda, and positioned so that the cameras recording the concert can easily find him. And wait a minute, is that Meryl Streep?
And there! Yes, Louis van Gaal, to be flown in personally by the maestro. Because this is also a Dutch party, with a room full of celebrities, from Paul de Leeuw to Francine Houben.
Although the dress code actually dictates tuxedo, half of the venue is dressed casually. Tonight the orchestra wants the rich and famous please, it also wants to make it clear that it is there for all New Yorkers. One of the plans of the Jaap era is to give afternoon concerts for city officials for 5 dollars.
Here he comes, from the side, the man who follows in the footsteps of conductors such as Leonard Bernstein and Arturo Toscanini. The first piece is a new work (Filament) by Ashley Fure. When Van Sweden was appointed, American music critics wrote that he probably wouldn’t do much about new music. They were not aware of his track record with the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, which is known for that. Fure’s piece is soundscape-like, theatrical, with a bassoonist in the middle of the hall. Singers walk around blowing black horns. A bassist plays his instrument with a credit card.
Applause. And then: it Piano concerto in G major by Maurice Ravel. Daniil Trifonov solos. The piano sounds a bit glassy. And as much as the orchestra wants to embrace the audience, it is as if the sound lingers around the stage. The acoustics are notorious, the hall from 1962 (2,700 seats) will be radically renovated. But this orchestra has some special voices. What a warm flute, a lyrical oboe.
Break over. The biggest donors are thanked and then director Borda speaks the memorable words: ‘Sit back and enjoy Stravinsky.’ The Rite of Spring is on the program, a piece full of remarkable rhythms, in which you can assert yourself as a conductor. The audience sees a conductor who knows what he wants: Van Sweden’s graceful stroke never leaves much to be desired in clarity. The brass players play with military precision – that tightness, without ever missing a tone, can only be found here, in the United States.
Almost finished. And then: that sacrifice dance at the end. No derailments now either. It’s a muscular performance, you gotta love it. But that seems to be the case for most of the audience, because it springs up immediately after the last note, and screams at the orchestra.
The first hurdle has been taken. 1-0 for Jack.
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