TAUSK’S TASK
New VSO leader ready to roll
All eyes are on the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra this season — or, rather, all ears. Not only is this its 100th anniversary, it is also the first season for new music director Otto Tausk. His repertoire choices, his conducting style, his tweaking of the VSO sound, and countless other details that make up the complex relationship between music director, orchestra, and audience will be subject to close, curious scrutiny.
Tausk has an interesting profile: most of his work to date has been in Europe, including a formative stint as Valery Gergiev’s assistant conductor with the Rotterdam Philharmonic. He’s also conducted in Australia and New Zealand. Where he has not been that much is the U.S.
A quick glance at Tausk’s inaugural VSO season gives telling clues to the directions he wants to explore. There is emphasis on soloists better known in Europe than middle America, and I strongly suspect this will play out to Vancouver’s advantage. Brothers and duo pianists Lucas and Arthur Jussen are featured in the opening pair of Masterworks Gold concerts this weekend; then, at the end of the month, there’s pianist Cedric Tiberghien in Bartok’s miraculous Third Piano Concerto; at the end of the season we get to hear cellist Harriet Krijgh.
Tausk has a particular interest in contemporary music — he’s recorded an extensive list of contemporary Dutch figures — and in later Romantic repertoire. His plans for next year include strong representation from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including masterworks by Strauss (Also sprach Zarathustra) and Debussy (Images). There are contemporary concertos by Sofia Gubaidulina and Michel van der Aa. There are lots of occasional and, one presumes, favourite shorter pieces (I’m especially interested to hear our new maestro’s way with Gabrieli’s Sacre sinfonias). And, of course, there are repertoire staples by Beethoven and Schubert, plus an all-Mozart program.
Just back from a last-minute substitute gig conducting Down Under, Tausk generously made time available to me for a telephone chat, characterized equally by modesty and enthusiasm.
A special summer project was conducting at the renowned BBC Proms concerts in London’s Albert Hall. Tausk’s special affinity for late Romantic music played out in his choice of Dvorak’s Cello Concerto and Strauss’ Ein Heldenleiben
as anchor works. Also on tap was a work by British suffragette composer Ethel Smyth. “This was my first Proms concert, and I had never conducted Ethel Smyth before, or, to be honest, even heard of her,” explained Tausk, adding that the suggestion of looking into her neglected repertoire came from the concert organizers. “I said we need an opener for the concert, so they suggested the Prelude from Smyth’s opera The Wreckers, and it was fantastic music. Wonderful to discover a composer through such a great piece.”
Tausk begins his Vancouver tenure with a dual salvo of concerts to launch the orchestra’s second century. The first is a true special with diva Renee Fleming, who is featured in Richard Strauss’ Four Last Songs. This is Tausk’s first collaboration with her, and he admits to a special fondness for Fleming ’s rendition of the ultimate swan song of musical Romanticism. “I have conducted this work many times, and from listening to recordings I now totally identify it with her interpretation. I am looking forward very much to working with her.”
Then on Friday and Saturday we hear the complete ballet score of Stravinsky’s Firebird and meet the Jussen brothers. “I thought it was terrific that we could bring guests from the Netherlands to Vancouver,” he says, mentioning that he knows their father, a professional orchestral player. “The two young brothers are really great. I’ve known them for several years, and to watch these two children grow into extraordinary musicians has been wonderful.” The Jussens perform Francis Poulenc’s Concerto for Two Pianos, an elegant, witty piece written by the most famous member of France’s Les Six composers in 1932, a commission from the celebrated Princess Edmond de Polignac, nee Winnaretta Singer, heir to the Singer sewing machine millions.
Besides our new maestro and the Jussens, there’s yet another connection with the Netherlands on the program. The season formally begins with a new work, Helix, by Edward Top, former VSO composer in residence, who hails from Ommen.
“His piece is only a couple of minutes long,” says Tausk, “but he has created enormous colour and atmosphere.”
All conductors have their “preferred” sound. The VSO of Bramwell Tovey was very different from the VSO of, say, Kazuyoshi Akiyama. Tausk enlarged on his idea of an orchestra’s personality: “It’s a two-way thing. The sound doesn’t just come from me — it is a collaboration. No one can predict exactly what will happen, but I certainly want to take advantage of the clarity and colour this orchestra produces. We’re all blending in the same direction, I think, keeping the structure and clarity intact.
“Today I read a review of the Tasmanian concert I recently conducted. The reviewer said something that made me really proud: ‘Tausk brought a new kind of sound from the players ... which just exploded with personality.’ That can only happen when the musicians feel really personally involved in the music.
“I hope the repertoire we choose for Vancouver conveys what we are trying to do together, for example, how we all look at Beethoven. It’s a journey we haven’t yet even started, so we really can’t discuss what our destination will be. This year is the honeymoon.”