Levi's conducting inspired by world events

By WILLIAM DART

When Yoel Levi conducts the NZSO this weekend, don't be surprised if he keeps a special eye on the violins and the percussion. The Israeli conductor studied both at the Tel Aviv Academy of Music, alongside conducting.

"The turning point came when Zubin Mehta let me conduct Otello with the Israel Philharmonic," he says. "That was the night I decided."

If Mehta provided the initial impetus, the late George Szell also had a part to play, when Levi found himself working with the Cleveland Orchestra in the 1980s.

"The Cleveland Orchestra under Szell had such a distinctive sound, which he got through a certain articulation and style of playing."

Critics said the same of Levi when he joined the Atlanta Symphony in the late 80s, with the intention of putting Atlanta in the top league of American orchestras.

The orchestra ended up with a solid international reputation for its many Telarc recordings but Levi demurs from naming favourites. "All of them," he laughs when I ask for his number one, and then starts listing, "the Mahler Symphonies, wonderful Rossini overtures, Schoenberg, Stravinsky's Rite of Spring ... "

Instead, he acknowledges the special Telarc sound, "trying to capture the music as close as possible to what you hear in concert by using minimal miking.

"Some companies put the mike on every instrument and when you look at the recording stage it's like you're in a field of mikes. Yet they don't get the same homogeneous sound.

"But," he adds with a sigh, "recording is a very difficult art and you need to be patient, especially when you work with a producer and get into clashes."

I suggest that surely some producers know their music very well.

"Some of them try to conduct, too," Levi replies. "That's when the problems start."

Although he relinquished his Atlanta post in 2000, he still lives in the city and holds the position of director emeritus with the orchestra.

He is also principal guest conductor with the Israel Philharmonic, although he explains this as "an official title for an existing relationship, as I have been conducting them for many years".

Does working in Israel bring any special stresses? "I find it stressful to work any place in the world because I don't feel safe anywhere, whether it's Paris, Brussels or London.

"The situation of the world has changed dramatically and, to be honest, I do feel quite safe in Israel."

With all the turmoil in the world, does he feel music could play a reconciliatory role? There is another world-weary sigh from Levi: "It would be very naive to think that music could help because most of the extremists don't care for music."

When Levi took the Israeli Philharmonic on a triumphant United States tour, the programme did not include any contemporary Israeli music, although he admits to programming such works in Israel from time to time.

When we broach the issue of contemporary music Levi mentions admired names such as John Corigliano, John Adams and Michael Torke, whose spectacular Javelin Levi conducted at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996.

"I always say the really great composers are those who created their own language and when you listen to masters like Stravinsky or Sibelius, that language is apparent in their music. This is what is sometimes lacking today."

This weekend, Levi will present two composers with individual voices. There's another Levi sigh when I mention Shostakovich's 11th Symphony, which is on Friday's programme. "This work is a tremendous challenge - a long piece, and a sad one."

He points to a contemporary connection for the 1905 St Petersburg massacre that was one of Shostakovich's inspirations.

"We talk about 9/11 in New York, but there was another 9/11 which took place in Russia in 1905 when the Government massacred more than 2000 people for no particular reason. History just keeps repeating itself in different forms and shapes."

With Schumann's Spring Symphony on Saturday's bill of fare, Levi is bringing his own score, and a set of orchestral parts.

"Schumann was not a great orchestrator, and if you want to bring out the true voices within the music, you have to make your own decisions about many details.

"A conductor must have his own set of parts, otherwise he is not serious about what he is doing.

"I have worked on this for many years and a lot of my ideas come from Cleveland where George Szell created a tremendous Schumann tradition. It has stayed with me."

Performance

* Who: Yoel Levi, with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra

* Where and when: Auckland Town Hall, Friday, 6.30pm; Saturday, 8pm