By Robert D. Thomas
Music Critic
Pasadena Star-News/San Gabriel Valley Tribune/Whittier Daily News
Mahler's Symphony No. 8 in Dodger Stadium? In February? Not likely.
Where do you put 1,000 musicians?
As revealed in its 2011-2012 season announcement today (LINK), the Los Angeles Philharmonic will be facing that vexing question when it presents a performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 on Feb. 4, 2012 at a location marked “TBD” in the season announcement.
At the work’s premiere on Sept. 12, 1910 in Munich’s Neue Musik-Festhalle, Mahler himself reportedly conducted instrumental and choral forces that number 1,000 performers (impresario Emil Gutmann later appended the subtitle, “Symphony of a Thousand,” of which Mahler disapproved, to the symphony).
The Philharmonic plans to replicate that magic number when Gustavo Dudamel conducts the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Simón Bolivár Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela, Los Angeles Master Chorale, Los Angeles Children’s Chorus, members of community choruses and eight soloists for the one-night extravaganza next February. I’m not aware of any organization in recent years that has attempted such a feat, in large part because of the question posted above: “Where do you put 1,000 musicians?”
For the Phil, the most obvious answer is Walt Disney Concert Hall and it’s where I fervently hope the program will be held. Acoustically it’s one of the world’s great halls and, although Mahler’s 8th has many roof-shaking measures, its also has moments of sublimely soft passages that would be magical in the Phil’s home. Moreover, Disney Hall possesses one indisputable advantage: a massive pipe organ. The opening chord sounded on anything less than such an instrument always sounds anemic, and the sound from the instrument’s 6,134 full-throated pipes would add to the first movement’s thrilling, thunderous conclusion.
At Disney, one can easily imagine 200+ instrumentalists on stage with 800 or so choristers in the seats behind the orchestra, rising to the ceiling and wrapping around the orchestras in portions of the Garden Terraces and balconies. It’s also easy to visualize the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus in a rear balcony and the soloists spread around the hall.
The apparent downside is that taking out 800 seats for choristers means only about 1,400 people would attend the concert. From a financial point of view, that isn’t as big a hit as it sounds — the law of supply and demand would mean higher prices for the smaller number of seats. Moreover, the infrastructure costs for holding this event in the Phil’s home would be far less than staging it in any other facility.
However, a more significant potential issue is that Dudamel and the Phil are committed to broadening the orchestra’s reach to new audiences, so — assuming that anyone other than hard-core Mahlerites would want to sit through Mahler’s 85-minute-long Symphony No. 8 — holding this landmark concert for only 1,400 patrons does give one pause.
Potential solutions?
1. Make the dress rehearsal open to the public, perhaps making tickets available to select groups that meet the “broadening” criteria. The Boston Symphony has been very successful with open rehearsals and, allowing for some education as to a rehearsal’s purpose, this would, in effect, double the potential audience.
2. Telecast the concert into the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. This would add 3,200 seats but would involve some infrastructure problems. Another issue: Feb. 4 comes just a week before LA Opera’s production of Verdi’s “Simon Bocanegra” opens in the Pavilion.
3. Make the performance part of next year’s theater high-definition telecast series (assuming that concept continues forward). For patrons, it wouldn’t be the same as being in the hall but certainly has the potential to reach millions of viewers. Moreover, presuming that the telecast quality continues to improve, the sound would undoubtedly be better than at least one the possible locales below.
It’s highly unlikely that any concert in February would be scheduled outdoors, so that lets out Hollywood Bowl, which probably couldn’t accommodate 1,000 musicians anyway (when Esa-Pekka Salonen conducted Mahler’s eighth in the Bowl to conclude his tenure as the LAPO’s music director, the total number of performers was than a third of the way to 1,000). The potential weather problems would also torpedo the idea of somehow holding the concert in Dodger Stadium (assuming acoustical issues there could be solved).
So, if not at Disney Hall, then where? Here are some of my suggestions:
Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in downtown Los Angeles
The nave of the Roman Catholic cathedral is probably flexible enough to fit in 1,000 musicians. The Cathedral has a major pipe organ, and the audience would probably be in the 3,000-5,000 range. It’s also kitty corner from the Music Center, which might help in terms of parking. Not the greatest acoustics but adequate.
Shrine Auditorium
More than a half-century ago, the Shrine hosted San Francisco Opera productions that included Wagner operas, so the stage (194 feet wide — nearly four times wider than the Metropolitan Opera House by 69 feet deep) might be large enough to hold 1,000 musicians. No organ onsite. Holds an audience of 6,300.
Staples Center
When I lived in Montreal in the early 1970s, the Montreal Symphony used to hold a series of concerts in the old Montreal Forum (home of the ice hockey Montreal Canadiens). The acoustics were lousy but they were able to sell a lot of tickets. It would take some major infrastructure costs to make this work in at Staples but utilizing a concert format, it might be possible to sell 12,000 tickets. February is also right in the midst of the NBA and NHL seasons so scheduling would be an issue.
Feel free to add comments with your suggestions.
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(c) Copyright 2011, Robert D. Thomas. All rights reserved. Portions may be quoted with attribution.
Dodger Stadium? Yikes. Still, Dudamel et al. could dress down and wear Dodger caps. Best part, an echt Star Spangled Banner sung by Placido Domingo.
Shrine Auditorium? Old and venerable, but not LALive enough.
Cathedral? But is it really that much bigger to accommodate a cast of thousands and an audience at the same time. There could be a procession of elephants however?
I vote for Royce Hall, but oh lordy the parking, not to mention Sunset Blvd.
I'd also consider a Warner's sound stage. That way Huell Howser could mingle and schmooze during the performance (;
Posted by: Tom Gossard | February 09, 2011 at 03:41 PM