September 23, 2010

Theodore Kuchar, Music Director of the Fresno Philharmonic Orchestra is currently in his ninth season in Fresno. This interview took place in Fresno on September 21, 2010.

MCF: You have programmed a lot of music by Shostakovich in Fresno over the years, and you seem especially attuned to the spirit of this music. What is it about the music of Shostakovich that appeals to you?

TK: There is no question that I am deeply attracted to the music of Shostakovich, for a variety of reasons. Firstly, I truly believe that no other composer during the 20th century, but possibly excluding Mahler from that statement, was able to translate the realities of life as did Shostakovich. Whether composing about forced celebration, architectural destruction or psychological torture there is a clarity in every message which may be understood by all of humanity. There was never a day during my childhood in which I did not listen to the daily occurrences as experienced by my father during the 1930s and 40s in Eastern Europe. Shostakovich tells the same stories with no less clarity and a far greater depiction of the realities which were a part of Eastern Europe's existence at that time.

In terms of utilizing each and the most diverse instruments of the orchestra, no composer during the 20th century, again, other than Mahler, was able to compose with such a proficient understanding of each instrument's technical limitations and fullest potential.

MCF: The Ninth symphony is immediately accessible. The first movement is particularly friendly, if not overly so. Do you feel that the movement is simply an expression of good times in the life of the composer, or is this sarcastic? Is there a story that goes along with the Ninth? Was it composed as a reaction to events in the Soviet Union? Is there an unspoken narrative in the music itself?

TK: My goodness - put this work's creation into a historical context. This was 1945, when "Russia," and the Allies, had just defeated the Nazis and Fascism. When the war against Hitler was won, Stalin's ego went overboard and all new artistic creations were to honor this worst of tyrants known to mankind [Stalin]. Put the number "9" in its proper musical place - the final, and greatest, symphonies of Beethoven, Schubert, Bruckner and Mahler. (I am aware that Schubert's "Great" C major Symphony is known as his "Ninth" but, in actual fact it is not). Also, let's not forget that Beethoven's, Bruckner's and Mahler's epic Ninth Symphonies all were composed in D minor!

Well, what could have been expected from Shostakovich in the Ninth Symphony? The "intelligentsia" expected him to use a massive orchestra, chorus and soloists to hail the leader with an epic work Beethoven or Mahler never could have conceived. Instead, we are treated to a work of approximately 25 minutes in duration, not an epic work in the key of "D", but a composition more in the character of Haydn and Rossini - in the key of "E flat major"! The hopes of the Soviet people were far from fulfilled once the war was finished. After a "victorious" World War II, life was to be worse than ever before, and just the way Shostakovich and the Soviet people were cheated by the authorities, Shostakovich, the composer, cheated the authorities.

MCF: The Fresno Philharmonic has become a very good orchestra during your tenure, and it has tackled some challenging new repertoire with success. In the third movement, marked "Presto" (extremely fast), the woodwinds have perilously fast sections, and the solo clarinet has a singularly challenging part. You must have confidence that the orchestra can handle this movement. What will you do in rehearsal to ensure the ensemble plays this movement with clarity and precision?

TK: The greatest asset any musician can hope for during moments of extreme technical complexity is comfort. I often get reports from a close informant in my Czech orchestra as to how various guest conductors work during my absence. Last week they were doing the Mahler Fifth Symphony and every day I was told that, from the first rehearsal, everything was being played at breakneck speed while being rehearsed over and over again, without any marked improvement or feeling of confidence during the performances. The orchestra [Fresno Philharmonic] has many excellent musicians yet during the first several rehearsals, I rarely "reveal my cards," as far as an ultimate tempo is concerned. I need this type of work when I am playing and every orchestra needs this "slower," systematic and analytical method of work in order to develop an ultimate technical assurance and confidence.