After conducting an all-Schubert program in Verizon Hall on May 17, Maestro Christoph Eschenbach and the Philadelphia Orchestra flew to Tokyo to begin a 17-day tour of Japan, South Korea and China. Next January, after several weeks of concerts with the orchestra in Philadelphia he will lead them on a European tour. There will also be more Ondine recordings. This flurry of events at the end of his tenure with the Philadelphia is not what one expected when Eschenbach handed in his resignation as music director in 2006. What happened?

Eschenbach in Houston a Golden Age for Symphony
In the spirit of full disclosure I must confess that I come to this subject with a full-blown bias. I was living in Houston for almost the entire period of Eschenbach’s music directorship of the Houston Symphony (1988-1999) and I was deeply impressed with what I heard there. I recall numerous performances of unusual insight, among them Brahms’ “A German Requiem”, Mahler’s Third and Ninth Symphonies, Bruckner’s Second and Fourth Symphonies, Berlioz’ “Damnation of Faust”, Christopher Rouse’s Symphony No. 2, and Strauss’ “Four Last Songs” with Renée Fleming. And there were regular chamber music performances with Eschenbach and members of the orchestra as well as a recital with Fleming. Not least of all were the glorious opera evenings: Strauss’ “Elektra” (with Hildegard Behrens), “Arabella” (with Fleming) and “Der Rosenkavalier” (with Fleming), Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde”, and “Parsifal”. When the time came to leave, the tributes and special performances went on for weeks. NPR came to Houston to capture the excitement and local television broadcast several concerts. Houston knew it had something special in Eschenbach’s leadership of the Houston Symphony and was reluctant to let it go.

Disgruntled Musicians and Rabid Reviews in Philadelphia
Eschenbach came to Philadelphia as music director in 2003, riding a wave of adulation based on what he had done in Houston; unfortunately, the management of the Philadelphia Orchestra completely nullified their wisdom in choosing Eschenbach by moving too fast. They failed to properly engage the musicians in the selection process at a time when management had little credibility on any issue. To the musicians it was just another example of how little control they exercised in the workplace.

Many members of the orchestra had their backs up even before Eschenbach stepped onto the podium. Philadelphia Inquirer music critic Peter Dobrin dug deep into the backstage grumbling among musicians and every review of an Eschenbach concert became a diatribe against him both personally and professionally. The combination of Dobrin’s public pillorying and some of the musicians’ festering grievances led to a very ugly confrontation. Eschenbach was told by James Undercofler, the new President/CEO of the orchestra – in his job less than three months – that 80% of the orchestra didn’t like him. Eschenbach had no choice but to resign; he did so on October 20, 2006. It looked like the sort of failed marriage in which the former partners can hardly bear to be in the same room with each other let alone work together. But then came the unexpected.

West Coast Tour, Critical Acclaim and Second Thoughts!
What happened is that after tension between conductor and musicians came to a head Eschenbach took the orchestra on a tour to the mid-west and west coast in the Spring of 2007. After nearly every concert on the tour, the critics fell over themselves to shower praise on what they had heard:

Richard Scheinin, San Jose Mercury News
If you attended Sunday’s performance by the Philadelphia Orchestra in San Francisco, and if you know that its music director and conductor, Christoph Eschenbach, is basically being shown the door by his bosses, with the apparent blessing of his players, then you are probably mulling over this very question: Are they all insane? Because this performance of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 at Davies Symphony Hall was an event of near staggering power.

Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle
Whatever brotherly love may or may not be in force on a daily basis back home, Sunday’s concert…seemed to suggest a vital artistic partnership. This dynamic performance was marked by both far-reaching technical pizzazz and the interpretive wherewithal to make those resources tell.

Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times
It is not any outsider’s role to meddle in relationships. But when an audience is called to witness a performance on the level of the Brahms First on Wednesday, I think we are entitled to add our two cents’ worth. Mine to these musicians is: Get over it. This is as good as it gets.

Edward Ortiz, The Sacramento Bee
To experience stunningly delivered orchestral music is to become aware of the dizzying feeling that time has somehow stopped, and that all is being whittled down to one crystalline musical point…It is hard to believe that this orchestra and its intense conductor, Christoph Eschenbach, have shared a thorny relationship since 2003, because the two inhabited many intimate and selfless moments during the evening.

Bernard Jacobson,  MusicWeb
The Philadelphia Orchestra is still a great ensemble…It is, however, possible to be great and yet not to know what is good for you. There was a sad irony about hearing the superb performances Christoph Eschenbach drew in this touring appearance from a band of players of whom, we are told, a majority dislike his leadership.

Clearly, some re-thinking and soul-searching was required. It was too late to reverse the decision – neither conductor, musicians nor management could completely reverse their field after a matter of months – and Charles Dutoit had already been hired to act as caretaker music director for the next four years. Notwithstanding these facts, it was apparent to everyone involved that an important musical relationship was at stake and that sensible people ought to find a way to keep it going.

To date no title has been created, let alone conferred, to keep Eschenbach attached to the Philadelphia Orchestra but the volume of concerts, tours and recordings already contracted for the next several years suggests that none of the parties is in a hurry to let go. So much the better for all concerned.

One cannot say that in the five years that he led the Philadelphia Orchestra, Eschenbach made momentous changes in the way the orchestra plays or in the way it does business. Nor can one say that every concert was one for the ages. One can say unequivocally, however, that Maestro Eschenbach often made music on the highest possible level with the Philadelphians and his frequent visits will be missed.

Eschenbach was working his way through a very distinguished Mahler Cycle – only the Seventh Symphony remained – and his Beethoven Cycle was vibrant and exciting (downloads of all the Beethoven performances are available on the Philadelphia Orchestra website). Other repertoire in which orchestra and conductor excelled together included Messiaen’s “Turangalîla” Symphony, the Shostakovich Fifth Symphony (recorded live for Ondine: ODE1109-5), new works by Higdon, Assad, Pintscher and Dalbavie and performances with Eschenbach favorites such as Fleming, Lang Lang, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Matthias Goerne and Tzimon Barto. Eschenbach’s frequent chamber music performances in Philadelphia were also memorable; he remains one of the most gifted pianists of his generation.

Eschenbach’s life apart from the Philadelphia Orchestra is full indeed. He continues until 2010 as music director of the Orchestre de Paris and with this fine orchestra he tours and records regularly. One of the highlights of this relationship was Wagner’s “Ring” Cycle in Paris with a controversial staging by Robert Wilson. Speaking of the “Ring”, Maestro Eschenbach is scheduled to be in the pit for performances of it in China in the near future. Mahler continues to be one of his passions and he is working on a complete cycle of the symphonies on DVD. Eschenbach has become a favorite conductor of the Vienna Philharmonic and continues to lead that orchestra in Vienna and on tour nearly every season.

Eschenbach on Recordings – Some Recommendations

CDs

Beethoven: Piano Concertos No. 1 and 4
Lang Lang, piano
Orchestre de Paris
DGB0008725-02

Roussel: Symphonies (complete); “Bacchus et Ariane”; “Le Festin de l’araignée”
Orchestre de Paris
Ondine ODE1065-2/1092-2/1107-2

Mahler: Symphony No. 6/Piano Quartet
Philadelphia Orchestra
Ondine ODE1084-5D

Brahms: Piano Quintet/Clarinet Trio
Amadeus Quartet
DG4743582 (available as a Download from DG)

Richard Strauss: “Four Last Songs”; “Lieder”; “Der Rosenkavalier” Suite
Houston Symphony
RCA09026-68539-2

DVDs

Berlioz: Symphonie “Fantastique” Op. 14; “Harold en Italie” Op. 16
Tabea Zimmermann, viola
Orchestre de Paris
Bel Air Classiques BAC016

Schubert: “Die schöne Müllerin”
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, baritone
Christoph Eschenbach, piano
EMI Classics DVB3101959

A Wayfarer’s Journey: Listening to Mahler
Eschenbach discusses Mahler and conducts excerpts from various Mahler works with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris and the Curtis Symphony Orchestra.
PBS Home Video WAYJ601

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