Boston
Singers' Resource News Bulletin, April
28 , 2007
There are few names in Boston’s vocal music scene that are as
widely known as John Oliver’s. Few musicians have been a more consistent
presence and it’s fair to say that none have had a greater impact
on the technical and musical quality of choral singing in Boston and
Greater New England.
As the founder and sole conductor of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus,
John Oliver has been preparing works for performance under the baton
of the conductors of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Boston Pops
Orchestra, as well as numerous other world-class conductors, since 1970.
In addition, he has brought the TFC to international attention and acclaim
with tours in Europe and Asia, including the famous 1994 visit to Hong
Kong and Japan with Seiji Ozawa and the BSO. The chorus has been recorded
for the sound tracks of "Saving Private Ryan", "Close
Encounters of the Third Kind", and "Mystic River" and
the TFC represented the United States at the Opening Ceremonies of the
1998 Winter Olympics when Seiji Ozawa conducted six choruses on five
continents, all linked by satellite, in Beethoven’s "Ode to
Joy". 2007 TFC Concert Schedule
For many years until his (semi-)retirement in 1996, John Oliver was
conductor of the MIT Chamber Chorus and MIT Concert Choir and a senior
lecturer in music at MIT. In 1977 he founded the John Oliver Chorale
which, until it was disbanded in 1996, provided an outlet for his interest
both in new choral works and in important works of the Canon such as
Bach’s ‘B minor Mass’and Beethoven’s ‘Missa
Solemnis.’
These accomplishments, and more, are well-known facts to readers of
the BSO and Tanglewood programs. Internet links to more information
about John Oliver and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus can be found at
the bottom of this article. Links.
When Mr. Oliver graciously offered to talk with BSR, earlier this year,
we asked him about his background and about his thoughts concerning
the work he has been doing for nearly four decades. We were lucky to
catch him during a rare, six-week break between the end of the last
TFC season and the start of a new rehearsal season. He was at his home
in the Berkshires, working in one of his three year-round green-houses
where he grows fruits and vegetables. He likes to say he could live
off the land there.
You might assume that he came from a musical family. But, aside from
an uncle (also John) who played the trombone and his mother, a pianist
of no small accomplishment, his musical gifts stand out within the family.
He began playing the piano at age 7. By the third grade, he had also
achieved a level of competence on the organ so that he was playing the
7:00 AM mass for the community of Dominican nuns near his home in Janesville,
WI. “They were all very-well educated and recognized my talent.
Started me right off playing the Bach Little Preludes and Fugues. It
was a good start.” Along the way he also discovered a gift for
singing.
By the early 1960’s John Oliver was involved with the Berkshire
Music Center at Tanglewood. He had been a part-time student at Tanglewood
in 1963 and 1964 and was invited to go full-time both summers. But he
was unable to attend during the month of July. Luck seemed to favor
him, though. Lorna deVaron invited him as, essentially, a ringer throughout
August of both years. Fortune struck again in 1964 while he was an assistant
at the New England Conservatory. As he tells it, “The phone rang
one day and it was Mary Smith. She wanted to know ‘Does anybody
have a boy choir? We’re recording Wozzeck next week.’ I said,
‘Oh, sure.’ (I was 24 years old.) ‘Sure, I can do it.’
So we whipped Wozzeck together in a week.” The ‘we’ was
Erich Leinsdorf and the BSO, and Wozzeck was Oliver’s first recording
with them. The following year, he held auditions and prepared a boy
choir for a BSO recording of the Mahler Third Symphony. By 1967, the
year he received his Master of Music Degree in Choral Conducting from
The New England Conservatory, John Oliver was asked to be the assistant
in the choral and vocal music program under Leinsdorf.
For the next few years, along with his work for the BSO, Oliver was
the conductor of the Framingham Choral Society. Then, in 1970, he was
asked to create a permanent chorus for the BSO, which, until that time,
had rotated among established local choruses and student groups from
Harvard and New England Conservatory. Oliver even chose the ensemble's
name, “something that would distinguish us, not just 'the Boston
Symphony Orchestra & Chorus.’ "
Since then, twice a year Oliver auditions and hand-picks his chorus
members. (Current members must re-audition every three years.) What
does he look for in these auditions? What gets his attention? His answer
is, at first, diplomatic and evasive. “Auditions are so fascinating,
such a kaleidoscopic look at the human condition, that I don’t
really think of anything I dislike.” But then, on reflection, his
response has significance. “Technique and very accurate readings
of music – loud, soft, tempi – all this is a given. But it
really boils down, essentially, to whether they’re communicating
something. And it isn’t so much that they’re standing there
trying to communicate, it’s that they’re standing there and
the song or aria itself is communicating something to them; and that
it comes through their voice. That’s essentially the most important
thing.”
For some, the variety of voices that can be found in the Tanglewood
Festival Chorus may be puzzling since there is a mix of both the biggest
voices as well as lyric voices. He explains, “I’m not looking
for a certain ‘kind’ of voice. It has to do with looking up
in a performance or an audition and seeing the involvement on the face
of whoever it is. That shines through, always.” Boston Pops conductor,
Keith Lockhart, recently gave support to that claim when he said, "It's
axiomatic at Symphony Hall that if you want the audience to love you,
get the TFC involved."
John Oliver still does a bit of vocal coaching these days and he looks
for the same qualities in his students. “I’m talking about
the shape of the musical phrase, the connection to the lyric. For example;
the dynamics tell us to get louder and softer. But, why do they tell
us to get louder and softer? Does the singer have a sense of ‘Why?’
I think a lot of singers don’t realize this. There’s no way
to fake it and there’s no way to learn it. You either have it or
you don’t and it develops as you get older.”
“The world is full of people with good, reliable technique these
days. At this stage in my life, a singer must have a musical personality
and a relationship to the music. And you can always tell, when somebody
stands up to sing, what their relationship to the music is. Whether
it’s a struggle for them; whether it’s something they’re
just playing with; or whether it’s something they deeply respond
to: You can always tell. For me, that’s the final ticket item.”
The TFC is, famously, a strictly volunteer chorus but, as many BSR subscribers
will confirm, volunteer doesn’t mean amateur. This is a highly
trained ensemble with many demands made on them. They’re supposed
to know the notes and the pitches and be familiar with the language
before walking in the door for the first rehearsal. Nobody teaches notes.
The basic things are all supposed to happen ahead of time. What that
does, Oliver explains, is enable them to start at a very high level
of music making and proceed from there. He says, “Nobody, hopefully,
gets bored. More and more of the people that seek that high level of
challenge come out. Over the years, those people who expect to be eased
through the early rehearsals have disappeared. And the people who want
to start with the knowledge of the music on their own and see how far
we can take it from there, that’s the kind of people that come
now.”
The memorization of difficult musical scores is a ‘given’
for TFC members. We asked Mr. Oliver how he came to the decision to
require the chorus to memorize the scores. He surprised us by his answer:
“I don’t see it as something I’ve demanded. I see it
as something that’s evolved. I see it as something that the better
singers, through the years, have asked for. And gradually they have
won out.” The first time the scores had to be memorized was in
1982, for a performance of ‘Tosca’. The lights were out, so
there was no choice. Other operas came along, then much longer and more
complex works like Honegger’s ‘Jeanne d’Arc au bûcher’
and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. Now 95 percent of what they do
is memorized
.
We asked Mr. Oliver how he prepared for a given work that will ultimately
be conducted by someone else. Did he discuss or prepare a composition
with other choral conductors? No, he doesn’t. “I have no contact
with other choral conductors and I never have. I remember a crucial
moment in my development, one of those moments where a youngster says
to himself, ‘I’ve got to conquer this problem’. I had,
until I was 25 or 26, always relied on the piano to learn scores because
I was a decent pianist. But at some point I realized I wasn’t hearing
the scores in my inner ear from the piano the way they sound. For example;
the woodwind choir, or the strings, don’t sound anything like a
piano. I decided I had to break this habit. I realized that I had to
learn to hear directly from the score.”
“One whole season – it was the first time I was going to have
a large orchestra in front of me – I practically had to chain myself
to my desk to learn the scores, to not go near the piano. I think the
program was the Kodaly ‘Te Deum’, the Brahms ‘Nänie’,
and the Dvorak ‘Te Deum’. I practically had to board up the
music room so I wouldn’t go to the piano. Once that year had passed,
I never went near the piano again.
Still, we thought, it must be a source of frustration when a conductor
makes choices that differ from the way the chorus has been prepared.
“In the 20 years I was on the faculty of the Tanglewood Music Center
(1970-1990), when we attended auditions together, no one really disagreed
about who was talented. It’s the same principle here. The notes,
the information you need, is all on the page. Whether it’s Jimmy
or Colin or Rafael or Klaus, or any great conductor, it usually is no
different. Very few people disagree on the most basic things.”
As an example of this, he gave a small look into his world. “The
week of a performance, there is a piano rehearsal that the conductor
conducts. That’s followed by the orchestra rehearsal. It’s
the conductor’s first meeting with the chorus after I’ve had
the preliminary three or four rehearsals. Jimmy (Levine) usually likes
me to conduct – this is something that I’ve never experienced
in my professional life before – and he sits to the side. This
is partly to help him to assess what is going on. Now, if you think
of the pieces I’ve done with him – the ‘Missa Solemnis’,
‘Moses und Aron’ from beginning to end – that I’ve
conducted in the piano rehearsal; he gives refinements and corrections,
but almost never disagrees with the tempi, for example. That is generally
true.”
We were curious about how repertoire was chosen for the TFC and to what
extent John Oliver influences the choices. He modestly claims not to
have too much effect on such decisions. Rather, there may be discussions
of a general nature with one conductor or another that may bear fruit
in a season or two. But could it be more than coincidence that programming
such as next year’s Dream of Gerontius by Elgar, with Colin Davis
conducting (January 2008), or last season’s, Die Meistersinger
at Tanglewood, with Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, were scheduled following
some late-night dinners with John Oliver?
John Oliver continues to conduct, in performance, regularly. He particularly
enjoys having the chance to present his ‘Prelude’ concerts
each year during the Tanglewood season. “I’m perfectly happy
at this stage in my life to take the 30 to 60 of the best singers of
the TFC, which are about as good as you can get anywhere, and do my
very eclectic prelude concerts once a year. It’s a great reward
and privilege doing it in Ozawa Hall and taking it to Europe when we
go there.” He’s had some experience, too, conducting other
choruses and orchestras outside of the region. “But,” he says,
“why should I bother? The TFC, the BSO, Symphony Hall, are all
so much better.”
After 40 years of conducting and studying scores, what new challenges
does John Oliver face and what would he like to have the chance to work
on? This season’s (July) ‘Don Carlo’ is new, as is Berlioz’
‘Les Troyens’, coming in April, 2008. In fact, there is much
in the realm of opera that he would enjoy tackling. Also new next season
(Feb/Mar 2008) is William Bolcom’s Eight Symphony, a world premiere.
Of the works he’s not yet done, two come to mind. “It may
not be the greatest piece in the world structurally, but the Dvorak
Requiem is extremely beautiful. Also, Bartok’s Cantata Profana
(The Nine Enchanted Stags), is profound; a most important piece.”
The challenge of working with John Oliver brings its own rewards for
many; he has a well-earned reputation for settling for nothing but the
best. “I learned early in my life that the answer to many of the
problems when dealing with groups of people is not to go along with
the medium level, the mediocre, but to raise the bar and let the chips
fall where they may. For the last 37 years I’ve been finding ways
to raise that bar. I wouldn’t say it was a diabolical plan that
I started out with; “This is the way we’re going to evolve
the TFC.” But it had been part of my early training, and also my
instinct about dealing with people, to demand from them. And the more
you demand of people, the more they come up to that level.”
UPCOMING TANGLEWOOD FESTIVAL CHORUS CONCERTS:
BOSTON POPS 2007
Carousel
Keith Lockhart, conductor
Wednesday, June 13, 8:00 PM
Thursday, June 14, 8:00: PM
Friday, June 15, 8:00 PM
Symphony Hall, Boston, MA
Ticket Price(s): $18.00 - $85.00
(concert performance)
TANGLEWOOD 2007
Opening Night at Tanglewood
Mendelssohn: Overture and Incidental Music to A Midsummer Nights
Dream
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4
Women of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus,
John Oliver, conductor
Heidi Grant Murphy, soprano
Kristine Jepson, mezzo-soprano
James Levine, conductor
Koussevitzky Music Shed
Ticket Price(s): $19.00 - $99.00
Friday, July 6, 8:30 PM
Mahler: Symphony No. 3
Stephanie Blythe, mezzo-soprano
Women of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus,
John Oliver, conductor
The American Boychoir, Fernando Malvar-Ruiz, music director
James Levine, conductor
Koussevitzky Music Shed
Ticket Price(s): $19.00 - $99.00
Saturday, July 14, 8:30 PM
Prelude Concert
JOHN OLIVER, conductor
Britten: Five Flower Songs
Brahms: Opus 104 (Funf Gesange) and Opus 109 (Fest-und Gedenkspruche)
Pizzetti: Due Composizione
Poulenc: Sept Chansons
Bach: Singet den Herrn
Schoenberg: Frieda auf Erden
Ives: Psalms 24 and 67
Thompson: Alleluia
Seiji Ozawa Hall
Friday, July 27, 6:00 PM
Verdi: Don Carlo
Tanglewood Festival Chorus,
John Oliver, conductor
Patricia Racette, soprano (Elisabeth of Valois)
Luciana D'Intino, mezzo-soprano (Princess Eboli)
Johan Botha, tenor (Don Carlo, Infante of Spain)
_eljko Lu_i_, baritone (Rodrigo, Marquis of Posa)
James Morris, bass (Philip II, King of Spain)
Paata Burchuladze, bass (The Grand Inquisitor)
David Won, baritone (The Count of Lerma)
Jordan Bisch, bass (A Monk)
Vocal Fellows of the Tanglewood Music Center
Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra
James Levine, conductor
Koussevitzky Music Shed
Ticket Price(s): $18.00 - $89.00
Saturday, July 28, 7:30 PM
Haydn Mass in Time of War
Mozart: Overture to The Marriage of Figaro
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 9 in E-flat, K.271, Jeunehomme
Emanuel Ax, piano
Haydn: Mass in Time of War
Tanglewood Festival Chorus,
John Oliver, conductor
Sally Matthews, soprano
Paula Murrihy, mezzo-soprano
Eric Cutler, tenor
Dietrich Henschel, bass-baritone
Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, conductor
Koussevitzky Music Shed
Ticket Price(s): $18.00 - $89.00
Sunday, August 12, 2:30 PM
Berlioz La Damnation de Faust
Tanglewood Festival Chorus,
John Oliver, conductor
Yvonne Naef, mezzo-soprano (Marguerite)
Marcello Giordani, tenor (Faust)
José van Dam, baritone (Méphistophélès)
Patrick Carfizzi, bass-baritone (Brander)
PALS Children's Chorus, Jennifer Kane, Artistic Director
James Levine, conductor
Koussevitzky Music Shed
Ticket Price(s): $18.00 - $89.00
Saturday, August 18, 8:30 PM
Beethoven Symphony No. 9
Tanglewood Festival Chorus,
John Oliver, conductor
Melanie Diener, soprano
Mary Phillips, mezzo-soprano
Marcus Haddock, tenor
Raymond Aceto, bass
Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, conductor
Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra
Koussevitzky Music Shed
Ticket Price(s): $19.00 - $99.00
Sunday, August 19, 2:30 PM
2007 EUROPEAN TOUR
Lucerne, Switzerland – Kultur und Kongresszentrum Luzern
Tuesday, August 28
Berlioz: Damnation of Faust
Trier, Germany
Wednesday, August 29
Prelude Concert
Essen, Germany – Philharmonie Essen
Friday, August 31
Berlioz: Damnation of Faust
Saturday, September 1
Prelude Concert
Paris, France – Grosse Musikhalle
Tuesday, September 4
Berlioz: Damnation of Faust
London, England – Royal Albert Hall
Thursday, September 6
Berlioz: Damnation of Faust
John Oliver Biography: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pops/background/bios/tanglewood.html
Tanglewood Festival Chorus History: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanglewood_Festival_Chorus
Tanglewood Schedule: http://gonewengland.about.com/library/bltanglewood2007.htm
Boston Symphony Orchestra/Tanglewood: http://www.bso.org