Around the Universe in 40 Minutes – The ORF Radio Symphony Orchestra and Wayne Marshall’s ‘Planet-hopping’

Conductor Wayne Marshall working with the ORF Radio Symphony Orchestra. Photographs: Matthias Wurz (rehearsal pictures) & Geert Langelaar (interview pictures).

“The first thing to remember is this…,” Wayne Marshall, British conductor, dressed in casual all-black, took a seat in the Green Room. The afternoon rehearsal on Jan. 12 with the ORF Radio Symphony Orchestra Vienna (RSO Wien) had just ended a few minutes ago. Located at Vienna’s fourth district at the Austria Radio, the Grosser Sendesaal serves as main concert venue of he Radiokulturhaus, but it is also the home of the Austria’s only Radio Orchestra.

The 49-year-old musician paused for a refreshing sip of his soft drink and collected his thoughts. As he continued to speak he glanced thoughtfully across the small room, and with a gentle smile he said, “we are there to entertain the audience; and we are there to make music!“

It was Tuesday and the musical preparations for the concert on Friday, Jan. 15, progressed quickly. Just one more day of rehearsing of this week’s program, but those would take place at the Golden Hall at the Musikverein, a prestigious venue which for Wayne Marshall spark vivid memories, as we learned later.

As for the repertoire, it complements Marshall’s idea of entertaining the audience: Gustav Holst’s monumental orchestral suite The Planets (1918) as the center piece along with Bohuslav Martinů’s Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra (1943), together with the British piano-duo Jennifer Micaleff and Glen Inanga; and as an Austrian première the so-called Bright Cecilia Variations on a theme by Henry Purcell (2002), a collaborative work composed by some of the household names of contemporary British music, like Colin Matthews, Judith Weir or Magnus Lindberg. It comprises a set of five variations in diverse compositional styles to jazz, framed by the introduction of the original Purcell theme of Ode to St. Cecilia, concluding with a grand finale of the full orchestral forces.

Thoughts on Music-Making

“I am very interested in ‘interesting’ music,“ Marshall explained his programming, and with a twinkle in his eyes. “Music that communicates to people,“ Marshall added quickly. And for those who have followed his career know what that means for him personally: works by George Gershwin.

“I have always had a very strong interest in Jazz,“Marshall said in an interview in December 2002 with the appreciation website George Gershwin online, “George Gershwin … in fact I first heard his music when I was about eight, and the first piece I heard was this Piano Concerto (Concerto in F). I immediately thought then: this is music, which I was gonna play – simply because of the language of George Gershwin.“

Contemporary music, however, is a different matter for Marshall – then and today: “I have to be honest, I am not a great fan of very ultra-contemporary music, because that for me does not communicate,“ Marshall rebuffed, but the Bright Cecilia Variations – commissioned by the BBC in 2002 for the 10^th anniversary of its own popular BBC Music Magazine – is, in his own words, “a great piece! But there are a lot of compositions that I would not…,“ Marshall paused for a moment, but with a waving gesture of his hand and a cautious smile seemingly at loss, he abruptly ended, “let’s leave it at that.“

Wayne Marshall is one of the RSO Wien’s faithful guest conductors, and seemingly one of the orchestra’s favourite. His open and direct way of rehearsing was very much appreciated – at the same time there was a reciprocal hospitable atmosphere on part of the orchestra musicians.

And with Holst’s Planets, the RSO Wien and Wayne Marshall in their fifth collaboration set out for a truly remarkable 40-minute stellar rise of our planetary system – metaphorically speaking, of course.

Marshall’s interpretation of one the cornerstones of 20^th-century British music is as his conducting gestures: fast, direct – hard at times when it comes to the battlefield sounds of the opening movement ‘Mars, the Bringer of War’, for example – but at the same time refreshingly realistic. Listeners should bare in mind that World War I was upon Europe when Holst had composed the seven-part Planets suite. And war seems upon us right now with the RSO Wien’s overwhelming rich sound.

Far removed seem those so-called legendary English recordings of, let’s say, Adrian Boult (1889 – 1983), who not only conducted the world première of the work in 1918, but recorded it for the last time in 1979 at the age of 90. In Marshall’s contemporary interpretation, not much is left of the mysterious, ambiguous, esoteric sound of mythological ancient-Roman figures, on which the planet names of our solar system are based upon. Rather to the contrary, he offers impressive and colourful character studies of the ancient-Roman gods instead: A reading that took the Viennese audience in a storm and showed its appreciation with frenetic applause and standing ovations.

And as Wayne Marshall took his bow at the Musikverein that night, he not only had transformed the RSO Wien with a distinct ‘British’ sound, but also – more significantly – had succeeded in allowing for an superb and well-balanced interplay of instrumental solo-passages with the unified orchestral ensemble.

Particularly the second movement – Venus, the Bringer of Peace – sensual and expressive in its application of instrumental colours, is full of solos: the warm and soft opening of the solo horn, complemented with a delicately balanced wind choir against it, for example. During this most lyrical movement of the musical planetary suite, Marshall allowed for a rich, almost Wagnerian string sound, that on one hand supported individual, expressive solo entries of the wind instruments, and at the same time carried the bulk of the richness and warmth, particularly in lower ranges, before it all died away in a breathtaking fade-out of the second violins.

Meanwhile, back at the plain wooden interview table, Marshall’s début in Vienna with the RSO Wien should not be forgotten: a stunning concert performance of Bernstein’s Musical Wonderful Town (1957) at the Konzerthaus in October 2000 . And well-remembered was also his appearance at the Bregenz Festival of summers 2003 and 2004 – through at that occasion with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra – where he led West Side Story as the main opera production on the festival’s legendary floating stage.

The rise of a exceptional jazz musician conquering the magnificent concert stages of classical music is an achievement Wayne Marshall has brought on himself single-handed. As a pianist, he would occasionally direct the orchestra from the piano in works of Gershwin, for example. But advancing to an eminent British conductor is something that was not initially part of the career plan.

Less known in Austria, however, is the fact that Marshall had trained as an organist; and currently sought a careful balance of his diverse musical activities, between solo work and conducting.

To an innocent bystander, his thriving success as a performer has seemingly a lot to do with the phenomenal keyboard skills: a musician, one might say, who can perform Gershwin on an organ as delicately and lightly as on the piano creating the most of natural jazzy sounds, is sheer unheard of. His success, therefore, deserves a closer look for reasons, and one will usually find those in hard work and persistence, best observed in how Wayne Marshall rehearses.

So, let’s turn back the clock to where it all began.

Rehearsing

The rehearsal started promptly on Monday, Jan. 11 at 9 am at the Grosser Sendesaal – for the orchestra, it was the first working day after the Christmas holidays, and one sensed a slight fatigue on part of the orchestra musicians. Wayne Marshall entered the stage, cheerful but fully focused.

He caught the orchestra’s attention instantly with his immense artistic and physical energy – and fast tempi: just like a cold breeze of fresh air in a cosy, laid-back Viennese Kaffeehaus, where the waiter usually escapes your attention for some time. As a player you could not help but follow Marshall – his uncompromising and demanding gestures enforced it.

In complex rhythmic sections, on the other hand, he often stopped conducting altogether as to force the players to listen to each other much closer; but Marshall kept control effectively by communicating to the musicians with his expressive eyes, and so the rhythmical precision improved in no time.

Musical precision, therefore, is Marshall’s emphasis, and the short third movement – Mercury, the Winged Messenger – has ample of corners that needed rehearsing. Its ‘airy’ character, at the same time playful and dance-like character took most rehearsing at that point. The ancient-Roman gods’ messenger is at times also close to jazzy rhythms.

“Ta-ta-ta, ta-ta-ta, tah—tah— shorten the notes here to support the crisp sound,“ Marshall exclaimed to the wind instruments, while shifting his attention immediately to the strings. No conducting at this point, just some verbal counting indications and his eyes. But Marshall’s body as a whole went with the musical flow, enforcing sudden dynamic changes, particularly fast and often merciless crescendi and sudden drop back to pianissimo. And so, addressing the violins, he explained that “when the forte comes in at that point, it is really impressive! Let’s do it once more!“ And the orchestra – at the second time round – follows en-suite… well, almost!

For Wayne Marshall, performing in Vienna seemed almost sentimental, like a brief but passionate love affair. The musical inspiring give-and-take, the mutual respect between the conductor and the RSO Wien was fine-tuned and worked like clockwork. Rehearsing time was short in any case, and both sides put the most into it with a musically satisfying result.

But underneath the surface, however, there were different perspectives in Marshall’s view of Vienna. Born in Oldham in 1961, he was first musically educated at Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester (UK) before studying organ with Nicholas Danby and piano with Angus Morrison at the Royal College of Music in London. But soon, Marshall found his way to Vienna to the Hochschule for Musik und Darstellende Kunst – today a university – then, a different musical world altogether.

“I came here in 1983 – from October ’83 to April ’84.“ Marshall referred to his very first stay in Austria’s capital, having studied organ with Peter Planyavsky (b. 1947), former organist and Director of Music at St. Stephen’s Cathedral. Planyvsky, not unlike Marshall is also an all-round musician, was instrumental for the young organist, as he introduced him to organ improvisation.

And for those familiar with his first solo CD – Organ Improvisations (Delos, released 1999) – will remember the clear, crisp organ sound, when Marshall improvised on Gershwin’s ‘I got Rhythm’, or the lascivious, sensual tone for ‘I loves you, Porgy’: Just like on the piano, but with more depth and roundness of sound.

“It was kind of a post graduate year for me, or rather six months,” we return to Vienna, “it was good fun,“ Marshall smiled inexpressively. But in a cautious tone he added , “I was very surprised to find that people on the course of my age hadn’t had the same experience as I had as a performer.“ When studying organ, Marshall elaborated later, “you would expect the students to have played in Sunday services, as I had done back home. But this was not necessarily the case here in Vienna at that time – at least, this was my observation.“

But despite its provincial flair, Marshall’s stay in Vienna brought him a musical revelation. In February 1984, Leonard Bernstein (1917 – 1990) came to the Musikverein to perform Mahler’s 4^th Symphony. Marshall was allowed to witness the rehearsals, the only time he had the chance to see the maestro live. Lennie’s individuality – both in his musical interpretation as well as in communicating with the orchestra during rehearsals – had evidently inspired the young British musician to seek his own way.

“This is my third concert with the RSO Wien in the Musikverein,“ Marshall stated confidently as if he were to revive his memories 25 years back. But it was just seven months ago, he appeared here last in a concert of Jun. 8, dedicated to Lennie’s compositional genius from serious works, like the Chichester Psalms (1965) to excerpts of his beloved musicals, West Side Story and On the Town, among others

And since returning to Vienna as a performer, he evidently enjoys the traditional, almost imperial flair of Vienna’s most prestigious concert venue, where even the conductor’s Green Room is equipped not only with a Bösendorfer baby grand piano, but also spacious oil paintings with heavy, but lavishly decorated golden frames.

However, he noticed over time that the rather provincially-minded Vienna had opened up much more, and with a twinkle in his eye, he said:

“Now, it’s much more cosmopolitan; it’s European, it’s very modern.“

A Birthday Full of Surprises

Back at the Radiokulturhaus, preceding the grand finale of this week’s preparations, lies a day, Thursday, Jan. 14, of two shortened performances of Holst’s the Planets, narrated by Wilhelm Sinkovicz, long-time music critic of Austria’s daily, Die Presse.

In an attempt to tempt a new generation to classical music, Sinkovicz approached the RSO Wien some years ago with the idea to perform pieces of the large cannon of significant classical works and have it explained to the audience. The venture, called Klassische Verführung – not really a new idea but novel for Austria nevertheless – finally took off in fall 2004, and six times each season, Sinkovicz, seemingly enjoying the role of moderator, takes the stage alongside conductor and orchestra.

So today, it was yet again Wayne Marshall’s turn on the podium – already his second appearance on the program, following the success of the evening with popular works by Leonard Bernstein and George Gershwin in February 2007. One performance – casual in dress for the orchestra – in the morning, open to selected school classes of Viennese schools; and again in the evening in a formal public performance, which traditionally was also recorded for Austrian radio.

“Unfortunately, the stage is not large enough to accommodate also for a chorus,“ Sinkovicz explained apologetically to the audience the reason why the seventh movement – Uranus, the Magician – had to be omitted at this performance though; in spite of their charm, the ladies of the Wiener Singverein – even off-stage as instructed by the composer – certainly would not have fitted into the rather small concert venue along with the orchestra.

The omission of the powerful finale of Holst’s Planets with an impressive off-stage fade-out of the women’s chorus might have come as a surprise to the audience. But Wayne Marshall, when coming off stage after the morning performance, was in for a big personal surprise: the orchestra management had not forgotten his birthday, which fell in this week.

At the dress rehearsal the night before at the Musikverein, the orchestra, led by the concertmaster, had played a charming birthday Tusch for him as he entered the stage, filled with characteristic Gershwin quotations. But as he followed the orchestra members to the Radiokulturhaus foyer the next morning, he was amazed that some champagne was prepared for his birthday – secretly arranged by his partner, the pianist Jennifer Micaleff and the orchestra management, who both evidently did not forget to honour his birthday

“This is a wonderful orchestra. We’ve had a lot of fun together, and thank so much for all of this“ Wayne Marshall’s smile said it all, as he raised his glass for cheers.

Still, what was left out that day in the performance was impressive and dramatic: When the side doors to one of the buffet areas opened at the Musikverein’s Golden Hall opened during the Planets finale, who would expect the women’s chorus – the ladies of the Singverein – be standing in dressed in all-black and delicately coloured purple scarfs and chanting gently, ready to sing?

Of course, it took a bit of practice of putting choir and orchestra together over a television screen; and with the concert hall empty at the dress rehearsal, the chorus seemed too present, not mystical enough. Even more delicate was closing the squeaky doors while the ladies were singing, as to give the impression of them moving further and further away.

But at the night of the concert with a packed audience, this was all a different matter: the movement opened with the faint woodwind chords, out of nowhere. Marshall virtually does not move when conducting this passage, as not to disrupt the tension. Then, the moment arrived when the doors opened gently: the chorus and orchestra surpassed itself in the closing section, perfect balancing, and now with all seats in the auditorium filled, the female voices blended well into the background,with magical softness.

A few minutes, the audience held its breath; and when the doors gently closed, the chorus departed, as to another world, gently fading away, and what only takes a few seconds seemed to be going on forever.

“It’s the first time, I am conducting these pieces. And it’s all amazing repertoire, fantastic!“ His eyes once more glazed across the conductor’s Green Room. The journey around the universe has finally ended. For sure, Wayne Marshall will be off to new musical ventures soon. The Viennese audience, however, will follow his star.

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