Drowning Out Politics With Art : The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Launches a Two-Year World Tour With a Diplomatic Agenda

The United Nations celebrates its 50th anniversary in 1995; the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra marks its 50th in 1996.

So, conducted by a Russian, blessed by the Queen of England and sanctioned by the United Nations, the Royal’s U.N. World Tour gets underway with concerts Sunday and Monday in Cerritos. The tour will take the orchestra to 40 countries in the next two years.

Reached by phone at his London flat, Yuri Temirkanov, who leads all 20 concerts of the tour’s U.S. leg, seemed a man of few words, and even fewer in English. (For the most part he spoke through interpreter Marina Stokes.) But he was outspoken on some matters.

“Apart from this tour, culture, music and art exist above politics,” Temirkanov, 57, said. “Politicians spoil the relationship between human beings. With art, we are mending this relationship.”

Relationship-mending programs throughout the tour will feature British and Russian composers. On the agenda Sunday are Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Scheherazade” and Stravinsky’s “Petrushka,” and on Monday, Elgar’s “Cockaigne” Overture, Britten’s “Four Sea Interludes” from the opera “Peter Grimes” and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5.

The launching of the tour coincides with the naming of Daniele Gatti as new music director of the Royal Philharmonic. He takes over at the start of the 1996-97 season and succeeds such predecessors as Sir Thomas Beecham, who founded the musician-owned company, Rudolf Kempe, Antal Dorati, Walter Weller, Andre Previn and, most recently, Vladimir Ashkenazy.

Gatti is music director of the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome and principal guest conductor of the Royal Opera at Covent Garden. Indicating that art doesn’t always exist far above politics, Ashkenazy quit in December, angry that the orchestra negotiated with Gatti without first getting his approval.

Temirkanov, the Royal’s principal conductor since 1993, apparently knew little about Gatti’s appointment. “I was in Russia,” he said. “I hope to meet him.”

Temirkanov was appointed principal conductor after having been principal guest conductor for 11 years. He was in Russia because that position is secondary to his post as music director and principal conductor of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, where he spends most of his time.

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On visits here with the St. Petersburg group, Temirkanov has been lauded on many fronts, including a layout of the orchestra that puts basses and cellos facing the audience, high on his left. But he admitted that wasn’t his idea: “I inherited the orchestra. They always have this seating and always have (had it).” The Royal Philharmonic uses a more usual configuration.

One might think the London and St. Petersburg orchestras would be strikingly different in other ways as well, but Temirkanov downplayed the differences.

“The sound is different,” he said, “I think in general the Russian strings are more intense. . . .

“But all the musicians are international professionals, and orchestras you cannot (categorize) by nationality--only good and bad. Like a human being, each orchestra has its own character and own profile. Maybe there are different schools for the brass and woodwinds. On the other hand, I recorded with the Royal Philharmonic all of the Tchaikovsky symphonies, and if you didn’t know that, I don’t know that you would think a British orchestra was playing.”

* The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Yuri Temirkanov, performs works by Russian and British composers Sunday and Monday at the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts, 12700 Cerritos Court Drive, Cerritos. 8 p.m. $45 to $75. (800) 300-4345.