Last night we attended another tour de force performance given by the New York Philharmonic. Featured artists included violinist Joshua Bell, who dug into the Glazunov violin concerto like a teenager behind the wheel of his first car. It was thrilling to hear and watch. And at the podium was assistant conductor Case Scaglioni, age 31, who conducted two of the three pieces on the program from memory with great artistry and depth. There was real joy in watching him coax various nuances out of Prokofiev's Fifth Symphony. There were shouts of "Bravo" from all corners of Avery Fischer Hall. That Prokofiev symphony has some magnificent textures and really difficult passages for the entire orchestra. I, for one, was so thrilled with their skill and enthusiasm that I lept to my feet to initiate a well-deserved standing ovation.
I was reminded of similarly thriling performances given nearly 20 years ago by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, then and now considered to be the superior of the two orchestras. Here's the thing. It's true that the musicians in Boston were then and are now among the best in the country. And, sure, the New York Philarmonic has improved over the years so that the gap between the two in terms of skill is now not what it once was. But you want to know what the key difference between these two orchestras is?
It's the audience.
I'll never forget a particularly thrilling concert I attended many years ago when I lived within walking distance of Boston's Symphony Hall. It was an all Lutoslawski concert conducted by the composer himself. The music was other-worldly and to see the man who'd imagined it all at the podium felt like a once-in-a-lifetime event. And clearly it was. I still think of that night more than two decades hence.
And yet, I also remember droves of gray haired BSO subscribers streaming for the exits in the middle of the first and second pieces played.
Last night, New Yorkers seemed thrilled to discover musical connections between Prokofiev and Debussy they may never have otherwise heard. And equally thrilled to offer encouragement to a 31-yr. old talented conductor.
And I had to wonder from a musicians' standpoint, which would you choose? If given the choice between playing with the best of the best to tepid audiences or with the very good but maybe not greatest players for one of the most unapologetically enthusiastic crowds you could ever hope for.
I'd choose New York.
