{"id":26986,"date":"2021-11-07T09:00:19","date_gmt":"2021-11-07T17:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/?p=30000022976"},"modified":"2021-11-05T18:47:14","modified_gmt":"2021-11-06T01:47:14","slug":"column-after-canceled-season-maestro-preu-returns-with-the-longe-beach-symphony","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/column-after-canceled-season-maestro-preu-returns-with-the-longe-beach-symphony","title":{"rendered":"Column: After canceled season, Maestro Preu returns with the Long Beach Symphony"},"content":{"rendered":"

I don\u2019t know how much influence I have on Eckart Preu<\/a>, the music director and maestro of the Long Beach Symphony<\/a> since 2017. Probably none. But I wonder if there\u2019ll be a bit of doubt, as he returns to the Terrace Theater podium for the first time in 20 months on Nov. 13 and prepares to launch into John Stafford Smith\u2019s ultra-traditional arrangement of \u201cThe Star-Spangled Banner,\u201d<\/a> that maybe he should have chosen Jimi Hendrix\u2019s Woodstock treatment<\/a> instead, as I\u2019d helpfully suggested. Just to get things off to a screaming and ear-shattering start. Something for us kids in our 60s. Maybe principal cellist C\u00e9cilia Tsan setting her instrument on fire would make the audience sit up and realize that the new season is not going to necessarily be one that you\u2019ll expect.<\/p>\n

But, what he heck. He\u2019s the maestro, and if he wants to start out, as symphony seasons traditionally do, with a rousing Sousaesque treatment of the anthem, that\u2019s how it will begin with Preu (pronounced PROY) kicking of the Long Beach Symphony\u2019s first performance of the season with the cymbal-heavy version of the anthem with which we\u2019re all familiar and invited to sing along with.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are some funky versions of the song in classical music,\u201d says Preu. \u201cBut I don\u2019t think we want to experiment. We just want to play it the way people expect it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although there are some deeper classical cuts later on in the season, for opening night, Preu is conducting the symphony through some comfortably enduring favorites, beginning with Aaron Copland\u2019s \u201cFanfare for the Common Man,\u201d a both somber and uplifting piece written in 1942 at the onset of America\u2019s entry into World War II and inspired by then-vice president Henry A. Wallace\u2019s proclamation of the dawning of the “Century of the Common Man.”<\/p>\n

The piece can be heard in films and in solemn tributes such as the memorial service for the 2001 Tucson shooting<\/a> that killed six people and injured U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, though, says Preu, the fanfare is “a celebration of the resilience of people.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Copland piece will be followed by the African British composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor\u2019s Ballade for Orchestra Op.33. \u201cTaylor\u2019s been sort of buried in terms of recognition,\u201d says Preu, \u201cbut this is a beautiful piece that people will find familiar, maybe not so much as to know it note-for-note, but it evokes feelings that the audience will find familiar.\u201d<\/p>\n

Finally, the evening will close with an audience favorite, Beethoven\u2019s Symphony No. 7, a work that pops up everywhere in popular culture, in movies such as \u201cMr. Holland\u2019s Opus\u201d to \u201cThe King\u2019s Speech.\u201d Too highbrow for you? You\u2019ve also heard it in \u201cX-Men: Apocalypse.\u201d<\/p>\n

The loud and enthusiastic applause that will likely follow the performance of Beethoven\u2019s 7th is what Preu has missed during the COVID-19 hiatus.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re playing to a live audience, the applause is thrilling,\u201d he said. \u201cThe energy, if you have a full house, is amazing, It\u2019s electrical. For us having that zapper really energizes us.\u201d<\/p>\n

And for a successful performance, the conductor is the one who brings it all together to make it happen. Eckart isn\u2019t just standing up there waving a baton around. Rather, he\u2019s coaxing the melodies and volume out of his players, synchronizing and balancing the sound, and if he makes a mistake, the orchestra makes a mistake along with him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can bring this plane crashing down, no problem,\u201d warns Preu, as if he was being threatened with being fired. \u201cThe conductor is like the captain of a ship. The ship knows what it\u2019s doing, but a captain can sink it.\u201d<\/p>\n

During the extended coronavirus-caused down time, which included the cancelation of last year\u2019s symphony season, Preu was a bit hamstrung and stir-crazy. While musicians need to practice daily to keep their chops sharp, a conductor can\u2019t really practice; he doesn\u2019t stand around waving an air-baton.<\/p>\n

\u201cCOVID was not a happy time,\u201d he said. \u201cI went looking for things to do. I started gardening, listening to music, some Bruckner, composers that I like. It was tough. I don\u2019t know how other conductors dealt with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Long Beach Symphony Music Director Eckart Preu, Feb. 2, 2019. Photo by Stephen Carr.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It was, surely, one of the longest stretches of non-conducting Preu has had to suffer through. Born in East Germany in 1969 when it was still behind the Wall, at 10 he became a member, soloist, and assistant conductor of the Dresdner Kreuzchor<\/a>, the prestigious boys choir. He has noted that in that group you had essentially two career paths\u2014as a vocalist or as a conductor.<\/p>\n

A series of stints as understudies and recipients of scholarships in France and elsewhere, he came to the United States in 1996 and, after further studies and performances, his career arc took him from associate conductor of the the American Symphony Orchestra (1997-2004) to Music Director of the Spokane Symphony (2004-2019) as well as performances as guest conductor internationally.<\/p>\n

In addition to leading the Long Beach Symphony, Preu currently serves as music director of the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra and the Portland Symphony Orchestra in Maine.<\/p>\n

Preu\u2019s home is in Spokane; he spends about 10 weeks a year in Long Beach, living in Belmont Heights.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know when you go to a new town, the first way you experience it is when you get off the plane? When I fly into Long Beach, every time I get off the plane I get the feeling that I\u2019m back in a happy place; I\u2019m struck by how kind and welcoming the people are in Long Beach. It\u2019s like coming home. \u201d<\/p>\n

The Terrace Theater is at 300 E. Ocean Blvd. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Concert starts at 8 p.m. For tickets ($32-$112), click here.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

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During the COVID-19 lockdown of public performances, Preu was a bit hamstrung and stir-crazy. While musicians need to practice daily to keep their chops sharp, a conductor can\u2019t really practice; he doesn\u2019t stand around waving an air-baton.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":208,"featured_media":71774,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5322,6],"tags":[285,19,69],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[2792],"class_list":["post-26986","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-culture","category-hi-lo","tag-eckart-preu","tag-long-beach-symphony","tag-tim-grobaty","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26986","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/208"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26986"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26986\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71774"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26986"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=26986"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=26986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}