Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-06-03

through . lot Of new music
not in the orchestra's roper
toire? This spring you played
80 concerts made up Of three
different programs. and most
Of the music you had played q
number Of times during the
regular season here in town
and on the road. That kind of
repetition certainly makes the
orchestral player 60 stale. It
turns q man into q Stromberg-
Carlson photograph. What
would be lost by making the
symphony's spring season an
informal reading Of the hum
dreds Of fine orchestral scores
that it never has time to study
for its more painstaking con-
certs in the winter?"
Talent Is . Big Hazard
That's quite q bit Of sugges-
ton" said DR.. Mitchell. IT
wouldn't object to having more
young soloists. and that part
of your suggestion / would be
willing to go along with, in
principle. But let me ask
who's going to do the work Of
locating the good ones? Please
remember that a bad Soloist
could turn the concert into a
disaster, and to ask young
soloists to appear with an or
cheStra before an audience,
without q rehearsal. presents
much more responsibility and
risk than to appear in compe-
tition with each other in q re-
hearsal where stops, caused by
let us say-memory failure,
would cause no great embar-
rasSment or added. nervous
tension.
Another item I might mem
tion-something that critics
never have to think about
who will foot the bill for their
expenses? Since each student
Is accompanied by q chaperon,
this could be stable.
Now, before / conclude on
this suggestion of yours, let
me speak my mind on a state
ment you slipped into this
whole proposition. If you are
going to make an opinionated
statement like that about
turning a man into a Strorn-
berg Carlson I'll have to give
you an answer. Keats said "A
thing of beauty is a joy for
ever which prompts me to
ask: How can great artists in
music, or the theater, or any,
one who must perfrom re-
peatedly before audiences look
at their work in any other
light? AS a matter of fact,
great performances come as a
direct result of repetition.
whether as soloist or as an
orchestra, or in the theater.
1t seems to me that one of the
great lessons Of life everyone
must learn, and this applies
to just about anything, is to
retain interest in LIES repeti-
tions."
Il suppose it will be a lot Of
trouble finding soloists and
finding money to pay their ex-
penses, but it would be worth
It," I said. Maybe travel
money could be raised in their
nome towns-Lions Clubs, or
something like that"
The New Music" Controversy
Perhaps. Anyway, I think
it's a good idea if it can be
worked out. But your plan
Tor rea ding new music
wouldn't fit the children's con-
certs at all. They don't want
a lot of modern music. They
want not necessarily old
favorites, but solid and funda-
mentally interesting pieces.
Il didn't mean contem-
porary music necessarily" I
answered. Rather new pieces
that might be good for the
orchestra's regular repertoire.
Schubert symphonies, unfamil-
lar Tchaikovsky, several Ber-
lioz overtures, Mendelssohn,
and also perhaps some con-
temporary pieces. 1t was a lot
of work for you, but the
audience was fascinated by
your reading of the three new
A merican symphonies at
Catholic University this sea-
son. That was really an event,
and the audience knew it,"
Il think you must draw a
clear distinction between what
we did at Catholic University
and these efts. The
audience at Catholic Univer-
sity, being seasoned concert
goers, knew exactly what they
were coming to hear namely,
new music--and I'm glad to
hear you say it was a real
event. But the Youth of
America concerts are some
thing else. At many Of these
concerts. / asked for a raising
of hands in order to learn how
many were hearing a live
symphony concert for the first
time. and the average seemed
to be between so and rs per
cent.
Chief Responsibility
Now as I see my primary
responsibility. it is to make
these concerts the memorable
event of their visit to the Ma
TONS Capital. and If possible,
to stimulate the desire within
all Of them to become regular