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Articles
The Boston Herald
Saturday, April 17, 1999
Orchestrating her next move
Pro Arte's outgoing conductor is ready for the big
leagues
By Ellen Pfeifer
Gisèle Ben-Dor has a big dream. She is the outgoing
principal conductor of the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra,
music director of the Santa Barbara Symphony, and a
guest conductor for the New York Philharmonic, Boston
Pops, English Chamber Orchestra, Israel Chamber Orchestra
and Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra. But now she looks
forward to the time when she can "play a concert and
go home afterward."
Having helped guide Pro Arte's fortunes for eight years
- she was the first music director engaged after the
death of founder Larry Hill - she is poised for a big
step into the major leagues.
Tomorrow afternoon at Sanders Theatre, she leads the
last of her Pro Arte programs this season. Next year,
she will conduct only one concert with the orchestra,
although her contract technically runs until the end
of the 1999-2000 season. After that, she hints, there
are things on the horizon and "lots of opportunities
within driving distance" of her home in Englewood Cliffs,
N.J.
"The commuting has become harder and harder," Ben-Dor
said during lunch in Cambridge earlier this week. Constant
travel has kept her away from home and family more than
she would like (she and her husband have sons ages 7
and 16).
Indeed, life has been so hectic that she and her husband
have little time to attend to the everyday details of
life. "We bought our first bedroom set three years ago,"
she said with a laugh. "We've been married 19 years
and for 16 of those we slept on a mattress on the floor,
futon-style." Similarly, she recently took her younger
son along to Santa Barbara to attend one of the children's
concerts she conducts there. "I'd conducted children's
concerts for thousands of kids except mine," she said.
Although she admits her career until now may have grown
slowly, she points to several recent accomplishments
that are bringing her more attention and a higher profile.
Most recently, there was her last-minute substitution
at the New York Philharmonic, the second time she has
played pinch hitter for that ensemble.
Called on short notice, she filled in for Daniele Gatti
after Ivan Fischer had rehearsed and conducted the first
performances of the program. She went on without rehearsal
to conduct the Mahler Symphony No. 4 and Beethoven "Coriolan"
Overture. Music Director Kurt Masur was in the audience
and was so impressed with her performance that he signed
her to be his cover during the Philharmonic's month-long
European tour next year.
"Beyond the stunt, it was a fine performance," Ben-Dor
said and James Oestreich of the New York Times agreed.
"I did some things differently from the previous conductor
and the orchestra was with me 100 percent. They were
terrific." Interestingly, Ben-Dor says such last-minute
performances don't frighten her. "I have no fear," she
said. "I can be more afraid about a rehearsed program
when I'm worried I might lose something."
Substituting is an adventure for her that she takes
to like a fish in water.
Another achievement has been the success of her recent
recordings featuring Latin-American composers Alberto
Ginastera and Silvestre Revueltas. The Uruguay-born
Ben-Dor has an affinity for this music as critics have
noted in her Koch International and BMG discs. "The
recordings are very important to me," she said. "They
are repertory that no one else is doing and I oversee
every aspect, from the program notes to the editing,
to the packaging."
As for Pro Arte, Ben-Dor feels she has "achieved some
things and not achieved others." She has found it challenging
to work with a cooperative orchestra where the musicians
decide almost everything, from the choice of music director
to the choice of repertory.
"The orchestra is rich in midlife now," she said. "It
started very young and thinking there were infinite
possibilities. As the players grew older and had families
to support, they became concerned with playing as many
jobs as they could. That has affected many decisions
about the orchestra's life, perhaps most significantly
those involving personnel."
At some concerts she conducted, there were perhaps
only five or six Pro Arte regulars playing and she "had
to make an orchestra out of that" miscellaneous ensemble.
"I couldn't change that. These players had to take other
jobs."
Another source of frustration was her limited say in
what music was performed. "This is not an easy thing
for a music director," she said.
"During the first three years, I didn't understand
the process. Things went from committee to committee.
Finally, I just let it go. There was no reason to create
friction. So I just lived with it and four years passed."
Still, she said, "We got along all these years" and
what's more, she feels it was "a joy and honor to be
associated with those players." Apparently the feeling
is mutual. When she tried to resign two years ago, the
orchestra asked her to stay. She did, but as principal
conductor and not music director. "I think I contributed
some cohesiveness and high artistic standards when I
could call the shots," she said.
Now, she is looking to the future. "Maybe this is the
beginning of the beginning. I feel that I am ready for
anyting."
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