Our attendance at the final Pittsburgh Symphony concert of the 2023/2024 season was filled with mixed feelings. It is always sad to see a season end, particularly when you wonder how many more seasons you will be privileged to enjoy. I came late to classical music and found it to be an interesting alternative to my first love, mainstream jazz. In the spring of 1963 I learned that a lovely young lady I had just met enjoyed the Pittsburgh Symphony concerts; I promptly obtained two tickets to a concert in the Syria Mosque and squired her there one Friday evening. I enjoyed it immensely, but made the mistake of behaving as if we were at a jazz concert. Major Faux Pas! At intermission I was severely reprimanded. “I have never been so embarrassed! Don’t you know a symphony concert is as sacred as the strictest Episcopalian Church service?” Etc. Etc. Etc. I immediately begged forgiveness and promised to mend my ways. It has never been clear to me how our relationship overcame this rough spot, nonetheless a few years later we were happily married, sharing season tickets for the PSO with two other couples. We have had some form of season tickets each year ever since.
Since my wife died, I have attended the concerts with Beth and her family. After five decades, I am still struggling to understand music despite my wife’s admonition, “Just enjoy the ‘what’ and quit worrying about the ‘why”’. At any rate, an afternoon or evening spent at Heinz Hall is always a special occurrence. As we drove home from this year’s final concert, I commented that this had been a specially rewarding year, with numerous high points. Thanks to Rachael’s musical career, we have gotten to know a number of these wonderful musicians, four of whom are retiring after this season. Violinist Chris Wu has been a supporter of the Quaker Valley Middle School music program for years; we met him at several of their fund raisers, including one in which Rachael played “side by side” with him and three of his colleagues.
Also retiring is cellist Michael Lipman (45 years), principal bassoon Nancy Goeres (40 years), and principal percussionist Andrew Reamer (35 years). They are all key members of the orchestra, each holding endowed chairs. Reamer’s sense of humor will definitely be missed. Each year the Thanksgiving weekend concert ends with a different form of “hi jinx”. Invariably he comes to the front of the stage pushing a cart with a full-size anvil mounted on it, and proceeds to play the “Anvil Chorus” on it with a sledge hammer. Ms. Goeres is an outstanding musician and soloist, one of half a dozen PSO principals who must be considered world class. It will be difficult to find a replacement for her and the immediately recognizable sound of her instrument. The same can be said for principal flautist Lorna McGhee, who is leaving for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity as principal flute for the Boston Symphony. She is the closest to James Galway that I have ever heard.
Maestro Honeck conducted six of the concerts we attended; I think he too is world class and marvel that the PSO was able to replace Mariss Janssons with a conductor of his caliber. Honeck’s rapport with the orchestra is obvious, and his ability to produce a unique sound out of nearly one hundred musicians is remarkable. James Joyce, one of the two Associate Conductors, functioned as Conductor of the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra when Rachael was Co-Concertmaster. We were pleased this year when he substituted for an ill Guest Conductor on short notice and produced a very respectable performance of Sibelius’ “Fifth Symphony”. Joyce is the host of a series of podcasts dealing with appreciation of music, entitled “Attention to Detail”. I listened to the one dealing with Mahler’s Fifth Symphony several times, greatly enhancing my enjoyment of the piece when Guest Conductor Osmo Vanska conducted it. I am confident Joyce will have an excellent career as a conductor.
Guest soloists always provide an interesting variety to the concert schedule. This year we were blessed with two outstanding violinists – James Ehnes and Hilary Hahn. Both of them performed unfamiliar (to me) pieces in impressive fashion. Ehnes played Leonard Bernstein’s “The Serenade, After Plato’s Symposium”; Ms. Hahn, Alberto Ginastera’s “Violin Concerto” and Pablo de Sarasate’s “Carmen Fantasy”. These are two remarkably capable virtuosi; hearing them back-to-back a week apart was a real treat. Not quite at their level, but still very impressive, is David McCarroll, the PSO concertmaster. Now in his second year with the orchestra, he is settling in well. This season he was rewarded with the opportunity to solo on Robert Schuman’s “Violin Concerto”, an opportunity he handled comfortably. Another interesting guest soloist was Cedric Tieberghein. He performed Maurice Ravel’s “Piano Concerto for the Left Hand” very capably. This is an unusual piece commissioned for pianist Paul Wittgenstein after he lost his right arm in World War I.
As for season highlights for the full orchestra, any season in which the PSO and the Mendelssohn Choir (including my friend Dave Wright) perform Beethoven’s Ninth has a bar set quite high. The piece is so great and the way they perform it is so remarkable that nothing else can compare. This year the four vocalists they imported were perfect for their parts. “Also ran” candidates for this year’s top highlights, at least to my illiterate ears, were Mussorgsky/Ravel’s “Pictures at an Exhibition”, George Gershwin’s “American in Paris”, and Franz Liszt’s “Dante Symphony”, each an example of program music.
The PSO averaged 1,400 attendees per concert this year, enough to give them a season total still well below that of a single Taylor Swift or Kenny Chesney concert. So much for Pittsburgh’s musical taste (which is a shame). Every PSO concert is a memorable experience; they deserve far more support than they receive.