Delfs returns with “Carmina”
Andreas Delfs. MSO photo.
Andreas Delfs, in town to conduct the Milwaukee Symphony this weekend, had just crossed Water Street to bring some Starbucks coffee back to the conductor’s room at Uihlein Hall. That prompted him to ponder the state of the changed world Wednesday.
“I just toured mainland China with a Taiwanese orchestra,” he said. “I bought this same Starbucks coffee with a bill with Mao’s picture on it. He must be spinning in his grave.”
Delfs, the MSO’s music director from 1997-2009 and now its conductor laureate, and Amy, his wife, have led far-flung complicated lives since they left Milwaukee. They have homes in Flensburg, Germany, Delfs’ home town, in in upstate New York. They also have four teenage children, stepping down by odd numbers from 19.
“They’re all wonderful,” Delfs said. During the interview, he took a phone call from Dorian, they oldest, who had just landed a summer internship taking care of conductor Bernard Haitink at the Lucerne Festival. Delfs is not sanguine on the economic prospects of the classical music industry, but…
“If Dorian wants to get into the business, I won’t stop him. He’s interested in economics and how that intersects with the arts. He likes studying economics and he’s good at it. And he looks good in a suit.”
Delfs, 52, is intensely aware of the changed economics of the classical music world, particularly in the recording industry.
“We have thousands of CDs and rarely get one out,” he said. “If I want to listen to something, I go to Spotify.”
“These days, my top seller is Naptime for Tots,” Delfs said, with all good humor. “The record companies slice up albums and repackage them in all sorts of ways. They used the second movement of [Beethoven’s] “Emperor” Concerto, with John O’Connor and the London Symphony. It helps to pay the bills.”
Amy fielded a phone call regarding one of those bills; the boiler failed at their New York home, and the kids had to scatter to friend’s houses while it was fixed. (Just for the record, it appeared all would be well by Thursday.)
Amy had something to do with the program Delfs will lead in Milwaukee this weekend. They enjoy playing piano four-hands. Dvorak’s Slavonic Dances and Brahms’ Hungarian Dances are among their favorites. Delfs needed some music to complement Carl Orff’s big, splashy Carmina Burana, which fills the second half of the program.
“We play through them together all the time,” Amy said. “We’ve scoured antique shops looking for four-hands music and have a huge collection.”
So the two of them sat down at the piano and played through Brahms and Dvorak dances, almost all of which have been orchestrated. They picked some and Delfs interleaved them into a “dance mix” for the MSO this weekend.
Hiernonymous Bosch, “Seven Deadly Sins.”
“Dvorak and Brahms, if not exactly friends, were respectful colleagues,” Delfs said. “They corresponded and discussed music.
“Dvorak’s Slavonic Dances were big hits in the music publishing business. I’m sure Brahms saw that and thought, ‘I can do that, too.’ Dvorak breathed Bohemian folk music. Brahms thought he was getting real Hungarian gypsy music, but he got it via strolling musicians in the cafes of Vienna, so its ethnic origin is dubious. But Dvorak and Brahms tried to out-do each other. I picked things that sound like they might be direct responses. It’s 30 minutes of fun.”
Delfs, the orchestra and the MSO Chorus performed Carmina Burana many times during his tenure as music director. It’s almost a signature piece.
“[MSO Chorus director] Lee Erickson always does his best to prepare the chorus for what he thinks I want, and I always throw him some curve balls,” Delfs said. “Lee gets flustered, the chorus laughs, and then we all have a good time.
“Carmina is musical theater, a spectacle. You have to act a little and create characters and do wild things. Yesterday, we worked on In Taberna — In the Tavern. If the guys don’t sound drunk in the end, it’s not Carmina. That’s the genius of the piece: It describes the world as it was. It’s like Hieronymous Bosch, or Brueghel. It’s life, it’s lust, it’s juicy stuff.”
The Jan. 20-22 program features the MSO Chorus; Milwaukee Children’s Choir; Andrew Bidlack, tenor; Hugh Russell, baritone; and Norah Amsellem, soprano (replacing Heidi Stober, out due to illness). Concerts are Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2:30 p.m. at Marcus Center Uihlein Hall, 929 N. Water St. Tickets range from $25 to $102. To order, visit the MSO’s website, call the MSO ticket line, 414 291-7605, or the Marcus Center box office, 414 273-7206.
