Critic's Notebook: Jorge Mester says goodbye to Pasadena Symphony

William Foster Apthorp, a music critic in Boston a century ago, memorably said of the ending of music’s  most famous Fifth Symphony that “Beethoven seems absolutely unable to make up his mind to stop, and keeps hammering away ... in sheer mad jubilation.” 

Completing his 25th season as music director of the Pasadena Symphony with an unusually bittersweet Beethoven Fifth at Pasadena Civic Auditorium on Saturday night, Jorge Mester hammered away with consummate professionalism, with taste and determination but not quite jubilation, mad or otherwise. Mester had absolutely made up his mind to stop. At a rehearsal two nights earlier, he announced to the orchestra that he would no longer continue as music director. Saturday was his last concert.

We don’t have the full story. The Pasadena Symphony Assn. put out a press release Friday stating that it could not reach an agreement with Mester “on revised contract terms.”  Mester has declined comment. Before the concert, the chief executive of the Pasadena Symphony and Pops, Paul Jan Zdunek, came on stage to thank the orchestra’s sponsors. He left it to the organization’s president, Melinda Shea, to announce Mester’s decision and briefly thank him for his 25 years, which is a third of the conductor’s life.

It was an uncomfortable evening for the relatively new management struggling to keep the orchestra afloat. The turnout for a program devoted to heroic, middle-period Beethoven was large, and Mester was welcomed as hero. He led a concise account of the “Coriolan” Overture, letting this brief portrait of an ancient Roman freedom fighter speak for itself as well it could in the dry, acoustically uninviting auditorium.

A leisurely, moving account of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto followed, and after that the soloist Jennifer Frautschi, who played with a sweet tone and a chamber musician’s lyricism, returned to the stage with a microphone. A Pasadena native, she spoke of Mester’s support throughout her career, beginning when she played for him in 1985 at age 11 and Mester's invitation to her two years later to sit in with the second violins.

The Fifth Symphony was also broad and not particularly driven, as if Mester wanted to savor his last moments with his musicians. The ensemble playing was tight and committed. The phrasing was elegant. There was no showboating; there never is with Mester.

Much of the hammering away came not from Mester or Beethoven but from the audience and the orchestra. Violinist Julie Rogers interrupted a standing ovation to tell the audience she had been selected to speak for the players. Fighting back tears, she called Mester’s departure “an insurmountable loss to the orchestra and the community.” “We play not because it’s our job but because it’s you,” she said. Many members of the Pasadena Symphony are studio musicians who sometimes turn down lucrative dates to have a life in symphonic music.

The orchestra played “Auld Lang Syne” in tribute to Mester, who then, his voice cracking, addressed his musicians and said: “I love you very much. I’ll miss you very much.” He went out on a high note, with a Dvorak “Slavonic Dance” as an unscheduled encore.

This is not a welcome state of affairs. Mester, at 75, is a highly respected musician and member of the Pasadena community. The Pasadena Symphony, founded in 1928, has had only four music directors, each one significant. The longest-standing was Richard Lert, who once was taken to play for Brahms as a young boy growing up in Vienna and who remained in Pasadena for 36 years.

Whatever the contract disagreement is, the orchestra is likely now to lose more in music than what a few thousand dollars can buy. The Pasadena Star News reported Saturday that Mester’s salary for a five-concert season was $235,000 in 2007, the most recent year that tax records were publicly available. Given that the Pasadena Symphony, now merged with the Pasadena Pops, has barely weathered the economic downturn since then, Mester’s salary likely also has taken a downturn.

But the Pasadena Symphony will have no future at all without strong artistic leadership. The orchestra moves next season to the intimate Ambassador Auditorium, and a master like Mester will be needed to guide the ensemble in a much more exposed environment. A succession of young, inexpensive conductors, which the management expects to engage next season, cannot accomplish that, let alone plan seasons for the Ambassador.

This may well be the appropriate time for Mester -- who is also music director of the orchestras of Louisville, Ky., and Naples, Fla. -- to begin to transition out of Pasadena. Might a bit of fancy fundraising and an olive branch allow Mester to stay long enough to make a reasonable transition possible? As a start, I would ask the orchestra to restore the history of the Pasadena Symphony once on its website. Then everyone might better appreciate what is at stake.

-- Mark Swed

Photo: Top, Jorge Mester takes his emotional final bow as music director the Pasadena Symphony Saturday night in Civic Auditorium. Bottom, violinist Jennifer Frautschi, second left, hugs Mester after performing Beethoven's Violin Concerto in D Major. Credit: Ann Johansson / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[Amanda Mester]

I love you, Daddy. You are my rock, and I admire you more and more each day.

[Chris Reiter]

Dear Mr. Swed:
I read today's article about Jorge Mester with great sadness and yesterday's article by David Ng with dismay. I question the accuracy of the article in regard to Mr. Mester and unsuccessful negotiations with an implied message that the failed negotiations and potential financial failure of the orchestra was on his shoulders.
This is a conductor and orchestra who donated 100% of their time and services to the first concert performed after the announcement that the orchestra(s) were in financial trouble. That concert did not cost the association any money for Mr. Mester or the orchestra. There were rumors that the musicians who were unable to perform at that concert paid their substitutes out of their own pockets rather than burden the association. Mr. Mester also secured the services of the pianist that night to also perform for free. These are not the actions of a man too greedy to bend to negotiations. On the contrary, couldn’t one speculate that the problems with the negotiations are with the association management and a non-performing board? My understanding of a strong board for any organization is to be able to both personally provide funds and to have a rolodex of contacts also capable of making large contributions. Where have the board members been throughout this ordeal?
The orchestra was devastated to learn that Mr. Mester was terminated. They loved playing for him and respected his musicianship and ability to conduct them to performing beautiful music. Let’s also not forget that the musicians in the orchestra among he best performing and studio musicians in southern California. To find a conductor of Mr. Mester’s caliber and capability to make music with these musicians who are accustomed to working with the best composers and conductors in the professional music world, will be a long search. You get what you pay for. I suspect Mr. Zdunek doesn’t know the difference a conductor can make, he only knows the difference between what they are paid.
Pasadena audiences are knowledgeable. Concert quality has declined. The solo artist at the April concert was embarrassing at best. This was a third string musician with a first string orchestra. If this is the quality of performance that Mr. Zdunek desires, then he might as well fold the tent now. Concerts such as the April one aren’t worth the price of admission or even the effort to get to the auditorium with a free ticket in hand. It was the quality of the remainder of the program that enabled me to stay. Are we to believe that Mester was responsible for choosing that artist, or was the artist’s fee the determining factor of who was to perform? Of all the years I’ve attended Pasadena Symphony concerts, this is the first concert where the artist was not up to the task. Mr. Mester has always had excellent artists, many of whom were at the beginning of careers that have brought them world recognition. If the choice is between a concert consisting only of orchestral pieces, or a mediocre concert featuring an amateur soloist, give me the orchestra alone – if they want to perform for a get-what-you-pay-for conductor.
Perhaps one should look into the financial health of the orchestra that, to a reader and follower of the music world of L.A., seemed to take a deep dive after the Pops Orchestra with conductor Rachel Worby and the Pasadena Symphony were combined under the same management. What is the real story behind that union? If they are broke, how did they afford the new shell? The symphony seemed to be managing and suddenly stories of impending bankruptcy were rampant after the orchestras were combined. I wonder why that story has been such a well kept secret?

[Alan]

The Pasadena Star News incorrectly reported that Mester's salary for a 5 concert season in 2007 was $235,000. The Pasadena Symphony had an 8 concert season in 2007.

Alan

[Sherryl]

Jorge Mester's departure bodes ill for Pasadena but also for greater Los Angeles. Mester's genius won music lovers who valued the Pasadena Symphony as a world-class ensemble, worthy to place alongside the nation's major symphony orchestras. I dropped my LAPhil subscription years ago because Mester's Pasadena Symphony programs were more musically satisfying. Pasadena's loss will be great, but the greater loss is to the music patrons who knew Mester's PSO was the best in the West.

[Matt]

Symphony orchestras are in trouble. They are becoming as obsolete as film cameras. I can't afford to attend orchestra concerts anymore, so I watch them on you-tube. I read that the mighty Philadelphia Orchestra is close to bankruptcy. Orchestras don't record anymore--and how can they sell any cd's? Somebody who wants to start a classical collection can simply copy classical cd's from the Pasadena Library, or buy them for as little as a dollar on Amazon. The last time I heard the Pasadena Symphony was in 1983 when they accompanied the Los Angeles Ballet in The Nutcracker. What a great decade of classical recordings that was--the entire classical repertoire was being re-recorded for cd. Now many ballet productions use taped recordings to save money. It's unfortunate that the Pasadena Symphony is facing an uncertain future. If it folds, Pasadena can live with it, just like we have dealt with the loss of Beadles Cafeteria, Lee-Mac Camera, Reed's Camera, Pac-Man Arcade, and a host of other businesses that were victims of changing times.

[Barry]

Mr. Swed admits "We don’t have the full story," yet he then goes on to assume that Maestro Mester's departure is a matter of "a few thousand dollars" that the Pasadena Symphony Association is simply unwilling--not unable--to cough up. If we're simply going to speculate without information, why not assume that a music director is unwilling to take a cut to an already very large salary (on top of two other salaries) to make things work? The Pasadena Symphony Association isn't Goldman-Sachs after all, ruthlessly devoted to the bottom line and giving its execs. huge raises while the little people suffer; it's an arts organization run largely by volunteers, trying to keep the arts alive in very trying economic times, and Maestro Mester's salary (a fact Mr. Swed does cite) hardly suggests he's being exploited.

[Tom Vidager]

Very nice Mark. You're obviously a personal friend of Mestre's, so you write a sob-story review with "hints" about how to get him back.

That's why you music critics are going the way of the dodo.

How do you know that the young conductors hired won't be able to do a much better job conducting the orchestra than a guy who's been there too long (no conductor should stay with an orchestra for more than 8-12 years, otherwise complacency and dullness is bred)? It's nice that music critics now can criticise into the future thanks to clairvoyance (or is it just sheer self-importance?).

The orchestral model in the US is fundamentally flawed when a conductor gets $235,000 for 5 concerts, a process that conductor then repeats with two more orchestras, making a cozy $700,000 a year for 15 weeks of work with 3 mediocre orchestras.

How much is the Executive Director paid? He is the most important person in the organization, working probably 48 weeks of the year, raising funds, cultivating donors, devising marketing strategies, etc. in order to come up with the 60#-70% of the budget that isn't earned through ticket sales. All Mestre has to do is show up and wave his arms. That's the easy and fun part, if you strip it of bogus maestro mystique.

Conductors are vastly overrated in 95% of cases. Yes, there are a few that are worth the kind of money Mestre got, but Mestre ain't one of 'em, nor was Barenboim in Chicago, nor is Most in Cleveland, Dudamel in LA or a whole host of other glorified metronomes elsewhere.

Focus on hiring expert staff, then the orchestra won't have as many financial difficulties. If they know their job, they'll make a star of any moderately talented conductor that gets propped up on the podium in front of the musicians. Then make sure you hire a new, exciting conductor every 8-12 years, and you'll have the excitement that brings audiences in and increases ticket revenues.

A symphony orchestra is not a gerontological ward for people who were alive when dinosaurs roamed the earth.

Bye bye Mestre - and good riddance. Hope you find a comfy retirement home. You're at least 15 years overdue as far as the Pasadena Symphony should be concerned.

[Tom Vidager]

OK, so it's $700,000 for 24 weeks with mediocre orchestras.

And Mr. Reiter, if you think it's the Executive Director who gets to pick the soloist, then you are completely ignorant about the inner workings of a symphony orchestra. At most, Mr. Zdunek could have told Mester how much money was available for hiring a soloist in April. If the choice was bad, then place the responsibility squarely on the shoulders of the conductor. You can find very good soloists for even relatively small sums of money. It just shows that Mestre is out of touch with the talent that's available out there.

[Alan]

Mr. Vidager-
Mester's relationship with the orchestra has bred everything BUT complacency and dullness. It's true, conductors rarely stay with orchestras as long as Mester has with the Pasadena Symphony. That the musicians and the public still admire and support him after 25 years is proof of his talent and his staying power. Saying that the conductor simply needs to "show up and wave his arms" and that his job is "easy" speaks volumes...... as does your assertion that the office staff is more important than the artists.
And, again, the PSO had 8 concerts in 2007, not 5 as Mr. Zdunek was quoted as saying in the Pasadena Star News.

[Julie]

Turns out Mark Swed was right, we don't know the whole story. There are letters and emails documenting that Mester had indeed offered to greatly reduce his salary, as the board had requested, in trade for a slightly longer contract. The CEO, Paul Zdunek, refused this offer and sent out press releases that implied that Mester was being greedy and would not negotiate. Turns out it was Zdunek that would not negotiate.

This Tom Vidager person sounds like he is friends with Paul Zdunek, even using the same vocabulary, for example, "glorified metronome". This phrase is such a sign of ignorance I can't even begin to write about it.

Anyway, it will be interesting to see how all of this plays out now that the truth is coming out.

[Vino Roso]

cash for clunkers?

[Emmanuela Lalo]

" Many members of the Pasadena Symphony are studio musicians who sometimes turn down lucrative dates to have a life in symphonic music."

that's certainly not the case these days. they'll be fortunate if they get to play anything that pays. As for the maestro, it's time to retire while a 4/4 has four beats.

[Pasadena Symphony Musician]

to Emmanuela, that is indeed the case these days. I am one who has turned down studio work because I was already committed to a concert with the Pasadena Symphony. My loyalty is pretty much gone now that Jorge was fired. And I know for a fact I am not alone in both previously declining other work to play with Mester or having waning loyalties now. Maybe Zdunek wants to turn this group into a nice little community orchestra that he conducts for free. He can have it....without us.

[Genevieve]

I am afraid that Tom Vidager shows to much cynicism about classical music performance. The age of the persons involved in playing the music is usually the least important aspect of a live performance. Youthful exuberance can be enjoyable, and so can the thoughtfulness and wisdom of long years of experience. Dudamel is a young, incredible artist today, and I look forward to hearing him again and again as he matures, just as I enjoyed hearing Giulini, and Karajan, and Mehtha mature, and deepen as they grew older. It is pure folly and impudent ignorance to suggest that music lies only within the young.The most important thing is whether or not a real connection is made between the performers and the audience. I for one felt that connection as I listened to the final performance of Jorge Mester in Pasadena last Saturday night. Far from prosaic, the performance was nuanced and powerful, and to me at least very moving. The fact that a failed musician and want-to-be music director/CEO felt that Mr Mester was standing in his way is a poor excuse to fire a fine, world renowned musician who brought so much experience and depth of character to the podium.

And make no mistake, it is clear that this is a power struggle within that orgnization between its CEO and the (former) music director. One need only look at the history of Mr Zdunek to see that in his most recent job before coming to Pasadena, he oversaw the removal of another music director in Modesto, and the installation of their new music director. Maybe that is what it takes to get ahead these days, a CEO to pave the way. But at the expense of real, well-tested and proven talent?

And Mr. Vidager, don't kid yourself into believing that the executives of an arts organization are the be-all and end-all of an arts organization. Sure, artistes need people to raise money for them. That is the way it has been for hundreds of years. But there are artists and then there is the rest of us. The reason we pay them is because they do what we can only dream of doing. They do what we are willing to pay for, and we are grateful to hear. CD's and You-Tube will never replace what these artists can produce live and in person for us at a concert- -that magical experience of connectivity with human history, with art and the artist.

Raise money night and day if you have to, but don't interfere with what the artist knows how to do. The crowning achievement of Man's creation--Music.

[Tom Vidager]

Mestre should move to Venezia.