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A Tale of Two Brothers: Conductors Semyon Bychkov and Yakov Kreizburg
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10960 |
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Section : |
THE ARTS
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6 / 1986 |
2,214 Words |
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David Eaton
David Eaton is music director of the New York City Symphony. |
On February 23rd of this year, the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra made an appearance at New York's Carnegie Hall under the baton of the orchestra's music director, Semyon Bychkov. The following week the American Symphony Orchestra appeared at Carnegie under the baton of guest conductor Yakov Kreizburg. What made these concerts especially noteworthy was that the two maestros are brothers. The two young Russians have traveled similar courses in pursuit of their artistic aspirations, and the music world will undoubtedly be hearing a great deal from these gifted conductors.
My first experience seeing Mr. Bychkov conduct came in 1981. At the time I was on a concert tour of college campuses that happened to take me to Grand Rapids, Michigan. During my stay there, the opening ceremonies for the Gerald R. Ford Museum were to take place, and to begin the proceedings the Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra was to perform Wagner's Prelude to Die Meistersinger. Not having heard the Grand Rapids, Symphony prior to this occasion, I really wasn't expecting much from what I presumed would be a mediocre community group. From the very opening bars, however, it was apparent that this was no run-of-the-mill orchestra. This was a taut, incisive performance by an ensemble that obviously had been molded into a highly sensitive group whose music making commanded attention. At the time, the orchestra's music director, Semyon Bychkov, was relatively unknown in the international music community. Today, however, the mere mention of his name sparks immediate interest and speculation.
Rumors persist that Bychkov is the heir-apparent to succeed Herbert von Karajan as music director of the Berlin Philharmonic. Since it was von Karajan himself who mentioned Bychkov
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