Commentary : Bravura Performance by County

For 15 years, I have been conducting concerts in high school, college and church auditoriums throughout the county. But last Monday night, standing in the heart of the county on a fantastic stage specifically designed for music and musicians, looking out at a beaming audience bursting with pride in their new creation, the sensation was unbelievable!

I was bursting, too, with excitement and gratitude in being part of the inaugural concert of our new Orange County Performing Arts Center.

When have our county leaders been brought together en masse in celebration of such a countywide accomplishment?

Historically factionalized by north versus south county, not to mention all the various municipalities, we finally have in the Arts Center an architectural monument that brings us all together.

Monday night’s activities led me to reflect on our county’s multifaceted nature. We are exuberant, careful, sincere, young, brash, learned and learning.

Our “exuberance” is shown in the pure ecstasy of the Center’s opening. From theOlympic-style brass fanfares on the balconies of the Grand Portal that greeted the arriving limousines with their jewel-bedecked guests, to the champagne, caviar, Stoli, lamb chops and Sacher Torte reception for 3,000, one could say that we felt “exuberant.”

Our “careful” characteristic is apparent in the county’s choice of the well-established Philharmonic of neighboring Los Angeles County to present our grand opening, rather than entrusting the orchestral portion of the evening to our own resident symphony.

We also were careful to follow tradition with an obligatory commissioned work. We kept it short and proceeded with compositions well proven in audience appeal.

Our county’s “sincerity” about developing its own arts is evident in the important fact that the work commissioned for opening night was written by one of Orange County’s own composers-in-residence. In addition, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony was not performed by an imported choir, but with Orange County’s own choruses. The ovation that the Orange County choristers received at the end of the performance was the greatest statement that could be made for the inspiration of a community sincere about its own artistic product.

Our county showed its “learned” aspect by the loving care with which our new Center has been built. It is undoubtedly an architectural masterpiece. From the wonder of the “Fire Bird” sculpture to the great care taken with the acoustical design of the theater, the Center is definitely a culmination of learned achievement. It will certainly prove itself to be a “world class” facility.

However, we are also brash. In our brashness, we want to eliminate the necessary process of building a respected artistic environment and instantaneously create “world class” musical productions. I wonder if we are truly ready for this massive jump.

Our Monday night audience enthusiastically applauded between each movement of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. Although in Beethoven’s day, audiences applauded or booed whenever they felt like it, 20th-Century tradition in concert halls dictates that this is not done. However, Monday night’s audience is learning. I am sure that within a matter of months Orange County audiences will follow the well-established traditions of Philadelphia and Boston and will refrain from applause between symphonic movements.

We will appear more learned, but we are still learning. The Center offers Orange County a wonderful place to cultivate its taste in the arts. There is no reason to assume that, within a few years after being a part of the great music making that will be taking place in the Center, our Orange County audiences will be any less knowledgeable than our friends in Philadelphia and Boston.

In my experience, county audiences have wide-open minds upon hearing new music. They are eager to learn. As a conductor working in this county, I do not feel that it is necessary to program the obligatory Mendelssohn oratorio each season in order to sell season subscriptions. The county has not established traditional musical prejudices. It is artistically young and learning.

Our county’s professional performing organizations entering the Center this year are just out of adolescence. The exuberance displayed at the Center opening demonstrates our county’s potential in the performing arts. As Philadelphians and Bostonians revere the generations that founded their outstanding artistic communities, our next generations will look back with gratitude to last Monday’s gathering of county leaders for their foresight in building a “world class” Center that will allow our county to develop a “world class” artistic community. Bravo, Orange County!