THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, November 10, 1994 TAG: 9411100027
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E01 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: By MARK MOBLEY MUSIC CRITIC
LENGTH: Long : 108 lines
ASK THIS WEEKEND'S Virginia Symphony conductor about Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony and he pulls out a crumbling score. On the first page is written: ``Sixten Ehr-ling. Juni 1938.''
A long list of cities stretches out over the next few pages: Copenhagen. Stockholm. San Antonio. Philadelphia. Denver. Detroit.
Ehrling, the reigning Swedish conductor of the century, adds Norfolk to his list this week. The former Detroit Symphony Orchestra music director will lead Tchaikovsky's Fifth and two turn-of-the-century masterworks, the Sibelius Violin Concerto and Ravel's song cycle ``Sheherazade.'' The soloists are violinist Catherine Cho and mezzo Debra Kitabjian Every.
Ehrling, 76, is one of the few internationally celebrated conductors to have led the Virginia Symphony. He has been a frequent guest at the Metropolitan Opera, conducting Wagner's monumental ``Ring'' cycle and the first Met performances of Bartok's ``Bluebeard's Castle.''
But it is his teaching career that has led him to Hampton Roads. During a 15-year tenure at the Juilliard School, his students included Virginia Symphony music director JoAnn Falletta.
Teaching her ``was a wonderful experience,'' Ehrling said Tuesday before his first rehearsal. ``Once she left Juilliard, she had all the degrees she could have. She began coming to see me privately. Sometimes I wasn't sure who was teaching whom, because she was so well prepared. She's a wonderful, wonderful musician.''
Ehrling's own studies were at the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm and with the great Austrian conductor Karl Bohm. There's a lively 1942 recording of Swedish songs with Ehrling accompanying the Swedish tenor Jussi Bjorling.
His teaching career started after he was appointed music director of Sweden's Royal Opera. In 1954, he signed on as an instructor at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria. Ehrling's students there included Chicago Symphony Orchestra music director Daniel Barenboim.
``He's made a certain name for himself,'' joked Ehrling, who made his American debut with the Detroit Symphony in 1961. He was appointed its music director two years later, succeeding the French conductor Paul Paray. Far from an average regional orchestra, it had achieved such a high level of performance in French music that Ehrling says he avoided all French music in his first season.
Ehrling built a reputation on Romantic music and works by Scandinavian composers. If Cho or an orchestra member wants to discuss the Sibelius concerto, Ehrling has insight into the great Finnish composer.
In 1952, young Ehrling was invited, along with Philadelphia Orchestra music director Eugene Ormandy, to conduct at the annual Sibelius festival in Helsinki. Sibelius was 86, and festival organizers had envisioned a brief visit with both conductors to spare the elderly composer's health.
But Sibelius insisted on spending a day each with Ormandy and Ehrling, who recalled, ``He said, `You can't have two tenors in the same opera.' I got my own day.''
Ehrling asked about puzzling details of certain works. ``It was not just music, which you would expect. We talked about more. Even at that age, he liked to have a glass or two. It was interesting. Sibelius said, `Don't forget about my music altogether.' ''
Ehrling didn't. ``I have had a lot of wonderful experiences with that concerto,'' he said. He made two recordings of the concerto, including one with soloist David Oistrakh that is still in print.
Ehrling was originally scheduled to open the Norfolk program with a piece by another Scandinavian composer, the ``Maskarade'' Overture of Carl Nielsen. (An excellent live recording with the Danish National Orchestra is available on Audiofon Records; it also includes Nielsen's Third Symphony.) But Ehrling prevailed upon Falletta to substitute the Ravel songs and feature Every, a Philadelphian of Armenian heritage and one of Ehrling's favorite opera and recital partners.
``Debra is a very unusual musician,'' he said. ``Most singers just listen to themselves. She has such an incredible ear. She can hear the slightest mistake in the piano.'' Ehrling has cast her as Melisande in Debussy's ``Pelleas et Melisande'' at Royal Opera.
Ehrling's upcoming dates include a new production of Strauss' ``Der Rosenkavalier.'' Last year, after thinking he was through with teaching, he accepted a post of chief conductor and musical adviser at the Manhattan School of Music.
``I am selective about what I do,'' he said. ``Actually, at my age, I think I deserve to take it easy. At my age, most people have retired many, many years ago. I keep going because I enjoy it.
``I am not going out of my way to conduct. What the hell - enjoy life. I enjoy listening to music.''
Ehrling waved his hands at an imaginary orchestra and said, ``I don't have to be an air conditioning all the time.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by L. TODD SPENCER
Swedish conductor Sixten Ehrling will lead the Virginia Symphony in
performances Friday and Saturday. He is a former teacher of symphony
music director JoAnn.
Photos
Violinist Catherine Cho, left, and mezzo-soprano Debra Kitabjian
Every will be guest soloists with the Virginia Symphony.
SYMPHONY FACTS
What: The Virginia Symphony, with guest conductor Sixten Ehrling,
violinist Catherine Cho and mezzo-soprano Debra Kitabjian Every
When: 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday
Where: Chrysler Hall, Norfolk
Program: Ravel, Sibelius and Tchaikovsky
How much: $15 to $34
Information: 623-2310 or 671-8100
by CNB