A Most Fitting Tribute

How to honor Ernest Fleischmann, who stepped down as general manager of the Los Angeles Philharmonic in the spring?

Obviously, with multitudes of musicians to represent his accomplishments here for 29 years. In particular, there should be conductors aplenty with whom he had close relationships: Philharmonic music directors Zubin Mehta, Carlo Maria Giulini, Andre Previn and Esa-Pekka Salonen; former principal guest conductors Simon Rattle, Michael Tilson Thomas and Kurt Sanderling; to say nothing of Pierre Boulez or all the important conductors (and soloists and orchestra managers) Fleischmann discovered or fostered.

But it did not quite turn out that way at the Philharmonic’s gala concert tribute to Fleischmann at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on Tuesday night. Some conductors weren’t free. A couple are no longer appropriate choices, relations having soured. And then Salonen, who was supposed to conduct the second half of the program, concluding with his own “LA Variations,” which is dedicated to Fleischmann, fell ill with pneumonia.

Still, there was Mehta to the rescue. Originally scheduled to conduct the first half of the evening--Tchaikovsky’s tone poem “Francesca da Rimini” and Shostakovich’s First Cello Concerto with Mstislav Rostropovich the soloist--Mehta also assumed Salonen’s portion. He retained the scheduled five Strauss songs that Gundula Janowitz sang and replaced “LA Variations” with Wagner’s “Die Meistersinger” Overture.

The dynamic was clearly changed, especially by relocating the Tchaikovsky potboiler to the end of the program. Fleischmann continues to consult with the orchestra on Disney Hall, continues as an agent of its future. The gala, with three venerable musicians, now looked back to the past.

But it was a good, even revelatory, look back. There were Rostropovich and Janowitz, both of whom stand for something important and lasting in art. It was for Rostropovich that Shostakovich wrote his strong, striking concerto in 1959. At 71, Rostropovich no longer possesses the vibrant tone or the thrilling technique that made him famous, but he has not lost the intensity, the emotional commitment or the magical ability to hold an audience rapt. Likewise, in two solo encores, a Sarabande and Bouree from Bach’s Cello Suite No. 3, his sound was gruff and throaty, but the expression was eloquent and all the more touching for it.

Janowitz is as understated a performer as Rostropovich is extroverted, but she too had a similar spellbinding effect on the large, dressy audience. Her voice is remarkably well-preserved for a soprano over 60, and she centered each Strauss song with a sure focus. “Be still, my soul,” one song pleads; “dream, dream” a lullaby gently beseeches. “Morgen” is a great rush of melody in anticipation of a new dawn. With no fuss and pure art, such was made apparent.

Then there was Mehta. His return last week to conduct Mahler’s Ninth left many of us who have followed his conducting for decades stunned. The orchestra is responding to him with a generosity of sound that is simply magnificent, and he seems in control of music as never before. You won’t find too many apologies for the Tchaikovsky tone poem, but as the performance was galvanizing and electric, none was wanted.

The handsome special program book was crammed with tributes to Fleischmann. Tributes from famous musicians, from arts movers and shakers, from local politicians. Conductor Franz Welser-Most likened Fleischmann’s position in music to that of the pope in the Catholic Church. Arts patron Betty Freeman divided Los Angeles history into B.E. and A.E. (before Ernest and after).

Now my tribute. Fleischmann has long been honored for his unwavering loyalty to musicians in whom he believes and for his remarkable insight into talent. And for years he has remained a ferocious defender of Mehta against those of us who felt him a clearly proficient conductor who too often displayed more flash than substance. However, Mehta’s performance of Mahler’s Ninth, one of the deepest and most serious pieces of music ever written, has stayed with me, and will, I think, continue to. It’s taken me a long time to realize it, but once more, Fleischmann was right.