Scheherazade: Magic and Myth

SLSO Concertmaster David Halen joins Assistant Conductor Sam Hollister to explore a program rich in storytelling and virtuosity. Halen reflects on his long tenure with the orchestra, shares insight into the role of the concertmaster, and discusses performing the iconic solo passages of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade. The conversation also touches on the emotional depth of Berg’s Violin Concerto and the unique voice of Halen’s historic Guadagnini violin.

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SPEAKER_00 0:08

Welcome to today's episode of Noted, a podcast that offers a quick look at the personal stories and perspectives behind each SLSO classical program. I'm Sam Hollister, assistant conductor of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. This week's program opens with overture by Polish composer Grożina Bacsewicz, played for the first time at the SLSO. Violinist Leela Josefowitz then joins the orchestra for Albanberg's violin concerto before the concert concludes with the sweeping storytelling of Nikolai Rimski-Korsakov's Scheherazad. Leading the orchestra is conductor Anna Sukovska-Migon, making her SLSO debut. Joining me to talk about this program is SLSO concertmaster David Halen. David, thank you so much for being here. Oh, it's a great pleasure to be with you. So you've been concertmaster of the SLSO since 1995. Are there any particular memories that stand out to you from that time?

SPEAKER_01 1:06

I always tell my students, I say, when you lead a program, you never forget the music that you played. And that actually helps you a lot when it comes to performing pieces when you come back and repeat them again. So the early performances are in a way etched in my memory forever. Probably one of the most important, of course, is when the orchestra went on tour to Europe with Leonard Slacken conducting, and about a week before I got the call that our concertmaster at the time, Nina Bodnar, would be unavailable to perform. And that was a rather life-altering event. So that was a tremendous honor for me and that the institution would put that faith in me at the time. And so that was probably the most memorable. Although I have to say I remembered my first week. I was a finalist for the concertmaster position in 1987. And my guest week with Leonard conducting had Beethoven First Symphony and uh Hindemith Symphonic Metamorphosis. And I'll never forget sitting down with the orchestra the very first time. The very first rehearsal sounded like a great concert. That was how well the orchestra was prepared. And that was a stunning experience for me. And also the sound of the hall in Pell. I grew up, of course, in Missouri, and I had heard the orchestra perform numerous times, even in Kiel, actually, as a r when I was really young, I heard them in Kiel. So when I was offered the position initially, I I didn't hesitate because it it was a lifelong dream of mine growing up.

SPEAKER_00 2:31

Well speaking of your early years, uh, let's go back and I wanted to ask you about just after you completed your bachelor's degree, which am I correct? You were 19 years old when you completed your bachelor's degree. Actually, 18 months. Oh, oh.

SPEAKER_01 2:46

But yeah, it was I was going to a private school affiliated with the university, and they had a high school that they decided to close. So they offered to allow us to go to college early. And so that's what I did. And then at the same time that I did that, they had these tests that you could take to get out of general coursework, and I tested out of everything. So I literally finished college in two years. I mean, in a way for me, it was probably the right thing because I needed to be uprooted from uh the small town Missouri and see the world. And as a musician, you really do need to experience and so in a way it was the right thing, but it was purely by luck, I think.

SPEAKER_00 3:25

Well, that uprooting took you through the Fulbright to study in Germany, and you were the youngest recipient ever at that time. What was that experience like? Did it shape you as a musician?

SPEAKER_01 3:38

As you can imagine, I think, you know, and you being a conductor, you're probably who you've been counseled at times that you should go be in Europe and experience the culture and the architecture, the history, in order to gain a context. And so it changed me completely. You can imagine I I left sort of with the Missouri twang and I came back with kind of a fake English accent or something. I was I was completely changed by the that year and a half that I was there.

SPEAKER_00 4:09

So for our listeners, I'm sure many people are curious, what does a typical day of rehearsal look like for a concertmaster? What are some of the responsibilities that come with the role?

SPEAKER_01 4:19

When I think of that, if I were to ever have to write a job description, I would say to any anyone that you need to be prepared to, in a way, manage in all directions because you really are a liaison with the conductor, and I see it as a big part of the job to be the conductor's in a way spokesperson, advocate, but also a confidant and giving them feedback if needed, because it's generally speaking in in a rehearsal, is the conductor's job to basically indicate the way things are to be done and and there yes, there is exchange, but there's not arguing. That doesn't work professionally very well. So I like to assume that role of being kind of like a first officer on the on a starship or something, you know, kind of kind of that role. And what it'll be like for me is I usually come in early, actually, and uh do a lot of my work early in the morning before the 10 o'clock rehearsal. Of course, you need to prepare and practice your part, but I'm also oftentimes marking Boeings for future concerts or making adjustments to the markings in the concert that we're rehearsing at the time. So usually getting here an hour, two hours early is usually ideal.

SPEAKER_00 5:26

So on this program we have Berg's violin concerto, and it's a memorial to an 18-year-old. It seems to be filled both with grief and transcendence. What's it like to lead and play such a meaningful piece with the soloist right there, only a few feet away? Do you ever get swept up in their performance? Oh, I do.

SPEAKER_01 5:50

And I have to tell you that, you know, I feel like that I have, in a way, studied soloists for many years now, because you are three feet away and you can watch them very carefully, and I try to take what I learned from them to my students when I'm teaching. And so even though I have not performed this concerto, I've probably played it 15 times with different soloists. It is a very moving piece, you know, with it it ends with these quotes from Bach. It's very touching, and I always feel like that in a way this concerto is it it sounds more and more like it's born of romanticism now than something that's what someone might call atonal, because actually it sounds to my ears now more and more tonal and touchingly beautiful and expressive.

SPEAKER_00 6:32

Later on the program you're playing the part of Shaherazad, who tells stories night after night to delay her execution by the Sultan. It's a major concert master solo in the orchestral repertoire, and I imagine that you've played it many times before, is that right? Oh yeah, a lot. So how do you bring the character to life through your playing?

SPEAKER_01 6:56

Well, I find it really fascinating because the similar theme comes back in in sort of slightly different guises through each movement. Each one has a slightly different character to it, and of course that's because I'm thinking about the story and how she keeps him interested and uh waiting for the next version. I also did it in high school, actually, even. But I've changed over the years because I really now I I try to think more imaginatively about it as opposed to just trying to play it well, which is of course your primary responsibility. Rimsi Korsakoff being this great orchestrator, I'm just shocked every time at how magnificent the score is. I think he spent several years in the in the Navy, and you can hear it, and like there's so many sort of references to the sea as part of this story, and you hear it in the writing so magnificently.

SPEAKER_00 7:44

I have one more question for you. You play a historic 1753 Giovanni Battista Guadanini violin. Can you tell us a bit about its history and what makes it unique? Well, that's first of all, great pronunciation. Working on it.

SPEAKER_01 8:00

You know, I play a Guadanini partly because of my predecessors in the St. Louis Symphony, both Shakesvelevich and John Corman, the concertmaster and associate concertmaster of the orchestra when I was growing up. And when they would perform, I actually thought their violins sounded so wonderful. And so I of course asked them about it because I occasionally would play for one or the other. And because of that, I sort of made that my dream. And at that time, it was fairly common that that was a lot of concertmasters would like Joy Silverstein and Boston Symphony played a Guaranini at first, and it was considered a a violin that was useful because it was it has a beautiful sound, but it's um it was not quite as expensive as a Strativarius. And and what does a Strativarius have on top of a Guaranini? Well, it might have a larger color palette, but it's not a better one, and so for what I do for a living, it's perfect. I tell people that if it weren't for the violin and the bow that I have, I don't know that I would be doing what I'm doing now. So I've had I have that to be very thankful for. And I made a tremendous sacrifice when I was young to buy that that equipment, and uh it turned out to be the right decision.

SPEAKER_00 9:14

Well, David, thank you so much for sharing your perspective today and giving us a deeper look into this program.

SPEAKER_01 9:20

Well, it's a great pleasure to play for this wonderful audience here in St. Louis.

SPEAKER_00 9:32

And to our listeners, thank you as always for joining us for this episode of Noted. We'll be back with another episode very soon, so stay tuned, and I'll see you at Powell Hall.