“(A) Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose.” – Gerturde Stein, 1913
As awkward as this summer’s first weekend at Tanglewood felt, things got ratcheted up last week as outgoing BSO Music Director Andris Nelsons arrived on campus for the annual Tanglewood Music Center’s opening exercises. According to an anonymous “correspondent” who shared their observations on the classical music tabloid/blog Slipped Disc, Seiji Ozawa Hall was filled with BSO musicians and TMC Fellows wearing not only the now-ubiquitous red roses, but T-shirts trumpeting their stubborn support for Nelsons.
Speaker after speaker delivered sanguine, if subtly cutting remarks aimed at the BSO board and CEO Chad Smith, who was seated in the audience alongside donors and members of his staff. TMC director Ed Gazouleas acknowledged the elephant in the room, saying that, “We live in troubled times…and trouble may even have come to these beautiful hills and green, green grass.”
BSO Principal flutist Lorna McGhee, one of the most outspoken musicians protesting Nelsons’ dismissal, warned the fellows:
“Never let people treat you like cogs in a wheel, or factory workers. Sometimes the incredible sensitivity that this work requires goes unrecognized and undervalued. It takes deep listening, humility, and empathy. Never apologize or be ashamed of excellence, because excellence is not ‘elitist.’”
Smith then briefly addressed the gathering, encouraging the fellows to “let your music mean something beyond the practice room, for the people around you, for the field you’re entering, and for the communities we hope will fall in love with your craft.” Smith walked off to “applause that was scattered, at best.”
Finally, it was Nelsons turn. After a long ovation “complete with abundant cheers, whistles, and Bravos,” Nelsons spoke directly to the fellows:
“There is a future for classical music, and classical music is not in danger, because we have you, the younger generations. You are the heart of Tanglewood. I wish you all the best and look forward to many more summers.”
Wait, what?
For the record, Nelsons’ contract ends following next year’s Tanglewood season, after which there are no plans to have him back in Boston, Tanglewood, or anywhere else the BSO plays. In a recent interview with Boston’s WGBH (see above), Smith said that while it was the BSO’s original wish to maintain some kind of ongoing relationship with Nelsons, that’s “not where it landed.”
So, what’s Nelsons angling at here? (Assuming it’s not just his shaky English.)
Deborah Borda, former CEO of both the NY Phil and LA Phil – where she was Chad’s boss for nearly two decades – has expressed surprise at the goings on in Boston, telling the NY Times that music director departures are usually managed “in an outwardly amicable way.” (Given her relationship with Chad, I wouldn’t be surprised if Borda was somehow involved behind the scenes in her new capacity as an arts consultant and manager.)
“The ongoing intensity of the upheaval is unlike anything I have witnessed over many years,” Borda added. “It isn’t serving anybody.”
After months of hoping he could deal with the Andris situation internally, Smith has now shifted to full damage-control mode. Speaking to the Times, Smith revealed that it was originally his intention to release a joint statement with Nelsons regarding his departure – much as Borda and the NY Phil did with former music director Jaap van Zweden in 2021 – “but that wasn’t agreed to.”
Regardless of all the earnest pleas from musicians, patrons, and various pundits with perhaps too much time on their hands, these Andris “standees” might want to consider the possibility that Nelsons is cannily using them to his advantage. Despite the fact that Nelsons serves at the pleasure of the board – which pays him a whopping $1.7 million for 12 weeks of work, according to the BSO’s most recent financial disclosure – he must somehow believe that these grass roots protests will stir up so much discord that the BSO will have no choice but to reinstate him, despite Smith’s insistence that reinstatement is “off the table.”
Such hijinks are precisely why most employees in the corporate world surrender access to their computers and are escorted off the premises the moment they’re let go.
Nelsons, who is bound by an NDA and not allowed to speak publicly about his situation, could easily end this unseemly circus tomorrow. He could say, in his own words: “Thank you to everyone for all of your support. It’s been a great run, but all good things come to an end. I have no hard feelings. Let’s make great music together for the next year, and go out on a high note.” After all, Andris has been in Boston for 12 seasons, has a whole other orchestra he currently leads, and regularly guest conducts some of the greatest ensembles in the world. Andris will be just fine. The least he can do is to have the good grace to go quietly.
As for the musicians, I’m sure they’ll be leveraging this discord to their own maximum advantage in their ongoing contract negotiations, with their current contract set to expire at the end of this summer. Beyond the usual money concerns, Smith has already agreed to make the musicians part of the search process for a new music director, provided it’s someone who can uphold the BSO’s world-class standard of performance while helping broaden it’s audience through outreach and expanded programming (aka “Pop Creep” j/k.)
Just who might that be? Time will tell, but given Chad’s track record in LA and his relationships across the classical, pop and Latin music worlds, I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, for now. Stay tuned.
