I don’t know how much influence I have on Eckart Preu, the music director and maestro of the Long Beach Symphony since 2017. Probably none. But I wonder if there’ll 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’s ultra-traditional arrangement of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” that maybe he should have chosen Jimi Hendrix’s Woodstock treatment instead, as I’d helpfully suggested. Just to get things off to a screaming and ear-shattering start. Something for us kids in our 60s. Maybe principal cellist Cécilia 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’ll expect.
But, what he heck. He’s the maestro, and if he wants to start out, as symphony seasons traditionally do, with a rousing Sousaesque treatment of the anthem, that’s how it will begin with Preu (pronounced PROY) kicking of the Long Beach Symphony’s first performance of the season with the cymbal-heavy version of the anthem with which we’re all familiar and invited to sing along with.
“There are some funky versions of the song in classical music,” says Preu. “But I don’t think we want to experiment. We just want to play it the way people expect it.”
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’s “Fanfare for the Common Man,” a both somber and uplifting piece written in 1942 at the onset of America’s entry into World War II and inspired by then-vice president Henry A. Wallace’s proclamation of the dawning of the “Century of the Common Man.”
The piece can be heard in films and in solemn tributes such as the memorial service for the 2001 Tucson shooting that killed six people and injured U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords.
Ultimately, though, says Preu, the fanfare is “a celebration of the resilience of people.”
The Copland piece will be followed by the African British composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Ballade for Orchestra Op.33. “Taylor’s been sort of buried in terms of recognition,” says Preu, “but 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.”
Finally, the evening will close with an audience favorite, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7, a work that pops up everywhere in popular culture, in movies such as “Mr. Holland’s Opus” to “The King’s Speech.” Too highbrow for you? You’ve also heard it in “X-Men: Apocalypse.”
The loud and enthusiastic applause that will likely follow the performance of Beethoven’s 7th is what Preu has missed during the COVID-19 hiatus.
“When you’re playing to a live audience, the applause is thrilling,” he said. “The energy, if you have a full house, is amazing, It’s electrical. For us having that zapper really energizes us.”
And for a successful performance, the conductor is the one who brings it all together to make it happen. Eckart isn’t just standing up there waving a baton around. Rather, he’s 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.
“I can bring this plane crashing down, no problem,” warns Preu, as if he was being threatened with being fired. “The conductor is like the captain of a ship. The ship knows what it’s doing, but a captain can sink it.”
During the extended coronavirus-caused down time, which included the cancelation of last year’s symphony season, Preu was a bit hamstrung and stir-crazy. While musicians need to practice daily to keep their chops sharp, a conductor can’t really practice; he doesn’t stand around waving an air-baton.
“COVID was not a happy time,” he said. “I went looking for things to do. I started gardening, listening to music, some Bruckner, composers that I like. It was tough. I don’t know how other conductors dealt with it.”
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, the prestigious boys choir. He has noted that in that group you had essentially two career paths—as a vocalist or as a conductor.
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.
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.
Preu’s home is in Spokane; he spends about 10 weeks a year in Long Beach, living in Belmont Heights.
“You 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’m back in a happy place; I’m struck by how kind and welcoming the people are in Long Beach. It’s like coming home. ”
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.
