WGBH Radio; The Callie Crossley Show

I'm Cally Crossley This is the Calla Crossley Show. In 2004 James Levein made his Symphony Hall debut as the VSL is 14th music director the first American born conductor to hold that position is an overall performance was Mahler symphony number 8 followed by a gala dinner for nearly 1000. But the avant era which started amid such promise comes to a close in September. He distinguished himself with his penchant for contemporary music celebrating living composers. He's credited with burnishing the orchestra bringing nuance and clarity to Symphony Hall. Beloved by many for his imaginative programming he's also begrudged by members of the old guard who prefer their Beethoven to Bartok is his departure an end of a golden age or a chance to bring a new sound insensibility to the city. From Love on its own to all things canine with another edition of cup culture. Up next the stuff of maestros and MUDs. First the news. From NPR News in Washington I'm Lakshmi saying. What are the demonstrators chanting We are people let us in demanding entry

into the Wisconsin State Capitol Building which is under lockdown. Wisconsin Public Radio Shawn Johnson tells us police are blocking just about everyone from getting in even though the state assembly is holding a critical vote on a bill that takes away collective bargaining rights for most state workers have been delayed because the building is basically on a lockdown. Not only can people not get in media not get in but state representatives are actually being denied access to the building Wisconsin Public Radio Shawn Johnson. Libya's government forces are pushing back rebels from the key oil port of Roslin knew of sending fighters retreating to areas held by the opposition. NPR's Lourdes Garcia-Navarro reports on heavy bombardment and a lot of casualties. We were at the hospital today and it was a scene of carnage pretty much every few minutes people being wheeled in with various injuries that they'd suffered on the front lines. NPR's Lourdes Garcia-Navarro rebels are appealing for international intervention such as a no fly zone over Libya. A controversial hearing is underway on Capitol Hill on the

radicalization of Muslim-Americans. The chairman Republican Congressman Peter King of New York defends the inquiry as a means to combat a rising threat. Al-Qaida realizes that the measures we have put in place over the past 9 The half years make it very difficult to launch a large scale attack against the homeland from outside the country. Which is why they have alter this strategy and are using people living legally in the United States leaders of several religious faiths including Christianity Judaism and Islam are protesting the hearings this hour in Washington. NPR's Paul Brown reports they say they want to elected officials and citizens to act against all forms of extremism and violence and not to single out Muslims. Richard seismic is president of the new Evan Jellicoe partnership for the common good. He says As a Christian he's as concerned about security as any American. He also says the overwhelming majority of Muslims wants nothing to do with radicalism and Muslims have helped prevent attacks by tipping off police.

So he says his worry is that these hearings will be turned around and used against the very community that is the basis for preventing security threats in the future. Seismic at other religious leaders in the protest event who've spoken with NPR say if the issue is radical behavior investigate that not one group. Paul Brown NPR News Washington. Iraq's prime minister in a rare appearance before parliament today criticizes lawmakers for the government's failures. Nouri al-Maliki says parliament has failed to pass badly needed laws to encourage economic growth. He says the country deserves better government services and less corruption. Maliki is pledging to meet the people's needs he pledged to have the newly elected government make improvements within a hundred days or officials risk losing their jobs. Dow's down one thirty nine. This is NPR. Another top executive is leaving General Motors chief financial officer Chris LaBelle will step down in April as Michigan Radio's Tracy Sam Walton tells us the announcement follows two years of management shake ups at the company. GM is replacing its CFO Chris Liddell after having four CEO

in two years. The stability of GM leadership was a key concern among investors as GM prepared for its initial public offering in November during a conference call. Dell and his boss CEO Dan Akerson stressed their plan for a seamless transition and Akerson is intent to stay for five years. But the change could still trouble investors. Consultant Sheldon Stone is with the restructuring firm Amhurst partners for only being in the job. What will amount to 15 months when he leaves. It is shocking. For whatever reason the bell is being succeeded by GM Treasurer Dan Ammann a former investment banker. For NPR News I'm Tracy Samuelson in Ann Arbor. The U.S. is seeing a bigger trade deficit from January than anticipated the gap widened to more than forty six billion dollars instead of forty one and a half the Commerce Department had projected the growing deficit underscores higher domestic demand but also signals a possible slowdown in production in the first quarter. The trade gap with China meanwhile also widened in January. China is also

posting an unexpected trade deficit for the first time in about a year after exports slowed at last check on Wall Street the Dow is down one hundred forty six points one point two percent down to twelve thousand sixty seven. And Nasdaq was down at one and a third percent of thirty five point twenty seven seventeen. This is NPR. Support for NPR comes from the doors do charitable foundation supporting the performing arts environmental conservation better core research and the prevention of child abuse. Thank you. I'm Kelly Crossley. This is the Calla Crossley Show. We're listening to Mahler symphony number six played by the BSL directed by James Levein. Last week conductor James Levein announced that he would be stepping down as Boston Symphony Orchestra's music director.

Today we look at what he brought to Boston and the BSL and where we go from here. Joining me to talk about the BSL is past present and future are Lloyd Schwartz classical music editor of The Boston Phoenix. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his criticism. Composer and pianist you Hootie Weiner is here. You want to surprise for composition and our arts and culture contributor Alicia and Stead joins us. She's the editor in chief of the performing arts magazine Inside arts and online editor of The Harvard art speak. Welcome to you all. Thank you. Hi Kelly. Before we take the BSL plunge listeners we want to hear from you. Where at 8 7 7 3 0 1 89 70 that's 8 7 7 3 0 1 89 70. What did James Levein do for you. Did he revive the BSL for you. Did his passion for contemporary music turn you off. We are an 8 7 7 3 0 1 89 70 that's 8 7 7 3 0 1 89 70. You can also send us a tweet or send a message to our Facebook page. So let's start where I think a lot of people who maybe are not subscribers to the BSL or for whom classical music is interesting and

pleasant but not a central part of their lives. Asked the question why is this a big deal. Okay so this guy is going to a world class conductor no doubt about that his reputation is he's the best since Leonard Bernstein that's high praise and the BSL is considered a world class institution. But you know beyond our borders here why is this reverberating in the way that it is Lloyd George let me start with you. First of all. Within our borders the BSA is one of our truly major institutions maybe along with the Museum of Fine Arts. It's one of the kind of magnet organizations that people in Boston look to as a kind of high point and that it's one of the few organizations that has a far reaching effect that it certainly the Boston Symphony is regarded as one of the so-called big five orchestras in the country.

When James Divine was brought here he was already conducting at the Metropolitan Opera for more than 30 years another international institution that we have nothing like in Boston. He was conducting the Munich Philharmonic So he was a conductor that who was known far beyond our borders. A recording artist someone who commissioned new operas and he promised to commission new works for the Boston Symphony. Our other distinguished guest this afternoon is is the recipient of one of those commissions and we are all the better for that. And and he is just a musician that is universally regarded as on the highest level. A couple of things I want to let our listeners know who might know that the big five that you referred to that's New York Boston Chicago Philadelphia and Cleveland and that

some dispute whether or not those are still the big five. But you know you might consider San Francisco Los Angeles. Yeah but you know that's that's where the moniker comes from Definitely. And that was my guest Lloyd Schwartz who is the classical music editor of The Boston Phoenix and let me turn to you you Hootie Weiner who composer people are surprised when he won. Explain to our listeners why it's a big deal that what Levein brought and what we have lost in his going. Well first of all to follow on what Lloyd just said a symphony orchestra in a city a major symphony orchestra stands as a kind of icon and a beacon of civilization. It's a measure by which the quality of intellectual and emotional life is is recorded and judged. And for that reason even though it it it applies or it's attractive to only a fairly small minority of people. I mean it isn't a huge crowd that shows up of it's not the same

as the Boston Red Sox or this. What I can but I tease my grandchildren as the Celtic's. The Boston Celtics. I mean it's not that kind of a mass appeal but nevertheless it's that kind of a moniker and a kind of identification. Yeah. Boston really is a classy city. What did a live on line bring First of all a Vine is as Lloyd has reviewed a conductor of of great reputation and experience. As with most of the greatest conductors his major focus was opera. Almost all the great conductors came through opera. I'm talking now about Toscanini and Zell and line store and and many many others. That was their experience they often began as a company and then worked as what they call repeated tours in the opera house. So Le Vine came from the deepest sources of classical music. He's a

marvelous pianist and an overall musician of extraordinary gifts and certainly not second to Leonard Bernstein in terms of his ability to to interpret music and to absorb it. The amount of absorption the amount that a man like this has really has digested and retains is universal. It's like a compendium of the music of classical music canon. I'll talk more about all these things but I think you wanted to say so. Yes I want to remind our guest that you are you who are the whiner and you are a composer. And if you look surprised when he won at that and I want to also give them our number 8 7 7 3 0 1 89 70 8 7 7 3 0 1 89 70. If you want to join us in a conversation about life beyond James love and also his legacy turning to my arts and culture contributor Alicia and stead for a comment about it in English I put it this way if you never go into Symphony

Hall is it worth it to have the kind of institution in the way that you do. Weiner has described the importance of the B.S. So it's absolutely worth it Cali and I'd like to pick up on something that you he said in saying it's not quite like the Red Sox and it's not quite like the Celtics. And yet in terms of our global pride out in the world not just locally but out in the world. The BSA has just as much reach this is a world class orchestra. It's in the top 20 orchestras of the world and that gives it a unique place not just in local pride but national pride that makes it an organization that exchanges cultural information cultural knowledge reaches across all sorts of borders which music does of course. And I would put it on a par not only with the Boston Museum of Fine Arts but with the Boston Public Library system in creating an important place for our city not only here but beyond our

town lines. That's my guest Alicia and Stedman arts and culture contributor Lloyd you just mentioned just to add to that b.s. so performances are not only live performances at Symphony Hall. There are recordings including some recent Grammy winning recording. That certainly are accessible and available to people who aren't anywhere near Boston and probably never will be. And. So the outreach is huge and the outreach is huge. And then in fact one of the triggers for this recent crisis is that the Boston Symphony Orchestra does go on tour outside of Boston. And there were scheduled performances which are taking place but without the maestro at Carnegie Hall at the Kennedy Center

and several other places in the northeast corridor. So the oar and the orchestra has certainly been to Europe. They've traveled to Europe they've traveled to Japan people who could never come to boston do get rid of their but occasional opportunities to actually hear the orchestra live as well as on recording. So we've discussed. James Lavon and his gifts and his legacy and what the BSL means not here but also internationally and nationally. And I want to take a look at you know what is the impact now as we try to figure out how we move forward. You know what is the Chinese symbol for crisis being an opportunity some are saying. So this is an opportunity to sort of I don't know turn on a dime Loyd you Alicia or to stay the course what I'm surprised to hear the word crisis being used as much as it is Anthony Thomasine said the same thing in the New York Times that that that James the vine has left the orchestra in a crisis. And actually it may be because

I have so much faith in the world that we're in in terms of where arts organizations are going and how they're adapting that with all due respect to the difficulties that the orchestra administration is facing right now in filling in these gaps and that the orchestra members themselves are facing and morale and what all the implications of that are. Are and also what Levein himself is experiencing just medically That's all very difficult. What's exciting is that the BSA is actually in such a great position to embrace a whole new world. They have a robust online presence with it with music that's recorded there you can learn so much about orchestras just from being on their website if you never will ever hear the b.s. so you can have a full and rich BSL experience just spending four or five days on their website you will come away an expert. The BSA is well positioned. It's one of the strongest

orchestras in the country if not one with the biggest budget. Do you know Lloyd. I believe that's right. The biggest budget the biggest endowment the greatest number of contributors. Also crisis I think is maybe not quite the right word because I meant yes because partly maybe even mostly because live fine. When he came here really transformed the orchestra and I mean I've lived in Boston since 1962. I've been going to the B S O since 1962. I don't think it is ever been in this good shape since I've been here. I mean they're been wonderful guest conductors. But in terms of the music directors and in terms of the just the basic

level of the orchestra of the accomplishment of the orchestra. I don't think it's ever been at a higher level in my experience in my personal experience. Well there's much more to talk about and we will on the other side of this break. I'm Kalee Crossley and we're going to go to break a listening to some of the work from I guess you who the Weiners has his composition a piano concerto a mano. It means keys in hand. Take us this piece of beautiful music into the break we're talking about the legacy of James Levein and the future of the Boston Symphony Orchestra with Lloyd Schwartz of the Boston Phoenix. Composer and pianist Hootie Wiener and our arts and culture contributor Alicia and stick we want to hear from you. How would you write the BSL. What would it take to get you in the door of Symphony Hall. Even though Lloyd's been going since 1962 and who would you nominate to be his successor. We're 8 7 7 3 0 1 89 70 8 7 7 3 0 1 89 7. Back after this

break. Stay tuned. And I point seven. Support for WGBH comes from you. And from Fuller craft museum. New England's home for contemporary craft. Presenting furniture divas recent work by a dozen women studio furniture artists. On view now. Information at Fuller craft dot org. The Danish film in a better world won this year's Oscar and Golden Globe for best foreign film on the next FRESH AIR we talk with the director Suzanne a beer about why she's interested in stories of war and revenge and about why she signed the dogma manifesto before making one of her films. Join us. This afternoon at two on eighty nine point seven the BGB 8. Hi I'm Brian O'Donovan host of a Celtic sojourn on WGBH and I hope you can

join me for this year's presentation of a St. Patrick's Day Catholic sojourn. The concert features Ireland's dynamic fight his band The iconic vocals and accordion work of famous Begley and the Irish-American singer songwriter Carla Newman reserve your tickets for March 18th at Sandhurst Theatre in Cambridge or Saturday the 19th at the XY Tyrian Theater in New Bedford visit WGBH dot org slash Celtic. Brian O'Donovan Come join me every Saturday at 3 for a good old fashioned session on a Celtic sojourn on a 9.7 WGBH. No I know what. Good afternoon I'd go with Rossley this is the Cali costly show. If you're just tuning in we're talking about the legacy of James love and the

future of the D.S.O.. We're listening to the late Lorraine Hunt Lieberman singing the rudest songs with the B.S. Oh and James Levein. Joining me to discuss the life after live and are Lloyd Schwartz classical music editor of The Boston Phoenix. Composer and pianist you hoody Weiner. And our arts and culture contributor Alicia and Stitt listeners were taking calls at 8 7 7 3 0 1 89 70 8 7 7 3 0 1 8 0 9 7 8. We're dying to know your relationship with the BSL and did it change under leavens tenure. And who would you like to see as his successor. We're at 8 7 7 3 0 1 89 70 8 7 7 3 0 1 89 70 you can send us a tweet or send a message to our Facebook page and we have a caller Heather from Cambridge Go ahead please you're an eighty nine point seven. WGBH Yeah. Hi thanks for having a conversation. The speakers are just the right ones to be there for it. I just quickly wanted to mention Tanglewood you were talking about all the resources of the BSA so that may not be confined to city

limits and Tanglewood suggests a huge factor for so many people who never even come this far. But I just wanted to comment on some possible candidates. Sure replace the being who you know he was the perfect choice at the time and now we have this unexpected but wonderful opportunity to make another perfect choice and adjust along the lines of what Los Angeles and done and so forth about going to really wonderful talent from a different generation and I just wanted to hear a comment about Nelson who. Doctor of the city of Birmingham orchestra and whether he isn't the right kind of candidate for the position we're in now I'm going to ask our guest to respond but Heather I do have to tell you he has a contract with the Birmingham Symphony through 2014. So right away he would have to be someone that would look at it a couple of years but thank you very much for the question. Got a little tight.

Yes I got you as a type guy also not to forget the Boston Symphony waited for two years while Jimi was allowed to ferment with this other with his other contract. You do you think that that's a good suggestion. I defer to Lloyd because I don't know his work. OK City of Birmingham of course is where Simon Rattle began his great great career he's in Berlin now. That's another. Another person who I'm sure will whose name will come up. But Lloyd would you say something about Birmingham. Well to to pick up Heather's comment as a sort of type of conductor. I mean we I've never heard. Mr Nelson's he will be heard in New York conducting the VSO stepping in at the very last minute to conduct an extremely difficult programme of the Mahler Ninth Symphony in New York. He conducts at the Met. He has this wonderful

orchestra that has become an international force. Will you be one of your choices. Well I've never heard him. OK what would be one of your choices. Oh who would be one of my choices there. You know there are a lot of good conductors out there. People have mentioned it. The people you know like you I'd say would be your job. Well give me a name. Yeah well I mean it would probably be impossible to lure Simon Rattle back. Frank Berlin. All right there is an Italian Franco Italian conductor Riccardo Shah e is a wonderful conductor but I don't think he's ever conducted the BSA. OK. You who do you know would be your choice. I know you didn't hear Nielsen before but if you had to choose. Well I'm not going to bite. I do not know. Oh come on. No look I didn't want to say something about the first. What Lisa said about the Boston Symphony is an organization is is entirely

true it's an enormously organized and high level overall organization it has the endowment it has the fundraising it has the backing of many many different different constituencies. So it's very powerful. The aspect of Tanglewood is a very powerful one and also not to forget that the Boston Symphony spawns a lot of satellite or ancillary activities the Boston Pops. It doesn't exist without the Boston Symphony in of in a very important way. But not to you have to understand we have to understand the excellence of the management at the Boston Symphony. We have majestic. A majestic overall leader like Mark Volpe a not just experienced but selfless and visionary. We have a first class musical mind whose judgment and and knowledge of the field. As to Anthony Tony Fogg these people are first class in the field and they certainly have

not been sitting on their whatever yes sit on it for a long time not thinking about the future and who the people are. You know there's so many factors we think of composite conductors from the outside. We hear a performance we're stunned right. How does it feel to be a member of the orchestra. How does it feel to be a librarian who's facing the person coming in making demands or persuading or or asking. I mean they loved working with Jimmy Levein for example in the library because He first of all he was so well he was so knowledgeable. It was going on and also his curiosity was indeed just in extinguish ible it was just wonderful. And I just one other thing I'm sorry Kelly but how do the how does the conductor rate in the in the image that he projects for raising funds. How does he relate to the press. How does he even look at the cover of a brochure. The factors are innumerable. It's not just the waving of the arm

and the knowledge of the music. There's magic of the kind which we cannot even begin to him to to imagine I think you raise very good points us my guest you Hootie Weiner who is a composer and work with James love and Alicia I know you want to get in on this I just want to do a couple of things. There was a piece written by J by Justin Davidson for New York magazine talking about the talent of James Levine and I just wanted to give people a little bit of that he wrote. He can nudge a crescendo gradually from a barely detectable rumble into a seismic event. He slows certain Wagner passages down to the brink of collapse but keeps them unbearably taunt and always he gets orchestral musicians to phrase like singers with suppleness and breath. So we are talking about rising to the level of that talent. Alicia I'm going to let you speak. We're at 8 7 7 3 0 1 8 9 7 8 7 7 3 0 1 8 9 7 8.

KELLEY That comment that you just read underscores the single most important quality the new conductor a music director will have to have which is artistic excellence. There's no way around that from artistic excellence may follow all these other qualities that we're talking about but without that that's the vision that's the heart that's the soul that's the intellect that has to be in place in order for all of these other things to to take place too. In terms of what a conductor might look like I would shift you Hoodie's pr. just a little bit and say maybe she would face out there of the music. All right well we agree Austin this is the person who is our it is the face of Music in Boston and this is a vibrant arts town. But in particular a vibrant music town the number of conservatories and music students we have here what would happen if we had someone like Alondra Della para a 31 year old Mexican American conductor in New York City who is

just jazzed when she's up on the stage and who is very talented. What would happen if someone like a dude a male who's 30 took took the stage is here and began to make immense cultural connections with our young people as well as with our senior population. This is a this is a mighty task but it has to happen you know. Let me jump in for a second and follow that Alicia. I believe that the future of classical music lies with women. It's not become the most viable profession to pursue for young men. And it used to be thought that young women didn't have the the right kind of DNA to play Beethoven who was very so-called masculine or bahu so sober and so stable and one thing in another all the stupid characteristic characterizations. But women are the largest

constituency in our music schools and women have becoming the majority of players in an orchestra. How much longer are they going to stand for the hegemony of a male leader. I mean it's. Well I mean my wife is a conductor so I see it from that point of view but we know so many gifted We've had students who are gifted as composers powerful pianists and now conductors. It's inevitable and a good thing. And just to add if I were going to add a third person to my list the VSO has recently had a phenomenally good guest conductor. In the person of Susana Maki who is a Finnish conductor and the I don't know about the people who resent the taste in contemporary music she's the conductor of the ensemble and second temple which is the great maybe the world's greatest Chamber Orchestra for contemporary music.

Well you let me just where I want to go it's just discussion about James love and moving the orchestra into new music and getting the BSL audience accustomed to that and and thinking about how we go forward and that any of these people that you all have named would likely do the same. You know when I thought about celebrity conductor of course I'm very enamored of Gustavo Dudamel and I'm thinking that get me at the Symphony Hall if he were there but I know that he's interested in this new music. Now we should say Lloyd Schwartz when we say new music we're not talking about 2011 composition. I mean it's. It's ridiculous. You know I tell you you know I hear you know people who don't like quote unquote new music are still complaining about Stravinsky and bar talk who's 100 years ago more than a hundred years ago even in some cases so contemporary music 20th century music

early 21st century music. We hope that it's whoever becomes the next music director is going to have a kind of broad taste and certainly and has to have some sort of we've got to go there right after he goes to the heart of the world right. OK. The other part of that too is not I mean the music is at the heart of everything but but this has to be a person who understands that the audience is no longer a sit still audience that there are technology driven that they're immigrants that they have new concepts of time and space you know maybe an 8 o'clock concert isn't going to work for this crowd. You know maybe they could open it up to new audiences. My understanding it's a digit not that they don't understand this but that the digital world is with us to stay. And how do we address you know the people whose careers are not 9:00 to 5:00 anymore. Excellent. And who are by the way making music a part of their lives by using some of this

technology on a daily basis. And to your point your earlier point Lloyd Schwartz the orchestra has already made its mark with the recordings and reaching out in that way so there's a you know we've laid some groundwork here. I note that Mr. Levi himself in an interview with Scott Simon in 2005 talked about this resistance to quote unquote new music. He says there there are always some people who treat learning about or digesting new art as though it was something very akin to World War Three. And this amazes me because I keep thinking Surely most people have the Spirit to be interested to give it a chance based on the fact that it can't be absorbed in one hearing. Very little music that any good can be. I'm always urging audience members to hear the piece again because if you go a day later or a month later and hear the piece certain things strike you that you literally didn't hear the first time it's possibly true very likely true but on the other hand people who didn't like it the first time realize that they're sentenced.

In a concert hall to sit through a half hour of what they feel will be torture whether it's not whether starch or not. And you know repeated listenings don't always bring results bring bring a kind of absorption of the material not always the thing that came about it. James Levein really was not an unprecedented leader in proposing and programming new music I mean Koussevitzky was a pretty conservative guy except in his larger vision I mean Tanglewood and so on he commissioned many pieces he espoused for example the early work of Aaron Copeland who was regarded as a young Turk from Brooklyn. And he commissioned things like Stravinsky's Stravinsky's pieces and bar talk pieces. And I was just reading that he commissioned What was it something else. But I mean he has a long history of wonderful commissioning on the part o Hindemith. He espoused the music of end of it which is not terribly much in fashion even though we've just had a wonderful

performance of performances of his intimates old opera from 1026 but the Koussevitzky did that and almost all the great music directors have sooner or later come to a commissioning programme of adventurous new pieces. One of the things about music is that one doesn't have to go through the evolution of step by step learning. In other words a new audience could respond to something written yesterday if that piece has something in the air that appeals to people and it may make a jump or a chronological jump which could be very appealing. The problem it seems to me that came up with Jimi as far as audience was concerned that he immediately jumped into something that had not been easily prepared and organically prepared by the Boston Symphony in the previous years. That is a certain kind of very radical sometimes theoretical music that Jimmy is very partial to and some of that may be very great. And you

cannot make a straight forward rule about that because between the music of a of a great composer American composer like Milton Babbitt or Charles Warren or Elliott Carter who occupy a kind of intellectual high and theoretical high road you also have very appealing music which has a lot of populist elements like the music of John Harbison and that was also a spouse by James Levein. So one can't accuse him of mere narrowness. Moreover he balanced programs. There was lots of music that was not new. I just the other day that Lloyd wanted safely just the other day I was at the third performance of fourth performance of a piece by Harrison Birtwistle a great English composer who's not very well known in this country and my wife and I were sitting in the balcony and when it was over we were absolutely absorbed in every moment of the piece and back it was booed. Quite a lot of Billy. Wow. I don't often hear that in symphony and I kind of like the idea that people

express themselves but I wanted to hit the guy anyway. That's all I have. Well I know it's more complicated than it seems. Well I was going to say that for me the absolute high point Vine's tenure here was the year he did on joining. Beethoven and Shern Berg on the same programs so that you know well on the one hand you know you knew that some of the music was going to appeal to a larger audience and some people were going to resent having to sit through something they thought they didn't want to hear. And yet those concerts were so illuminating because you could hear Shern Berg taking off from where Beethoven left off. And then you could hear. You listen to Beethoven and think oh yeah you know I could hear some

of that insurance too and that was a brilliant idea and it may be some of the BSA regulars resented that. But on the other hand there was a whole new audience of both. On the one hand younger people who were really curious about this juxtaposition and they were also enjoyed it and enjoyed it. And there were also people from the university music departments who had stopped going to the Boston Symphony because they were so bored with the programming. And suddenly filling the seats because there was an there was no actual programming idea that they were interested in. So I don't know what the balance is in terms of numbers but there were certainly new waves of audiences coming in just in the last few years.

Let's do it. Yeah it's ok I just have a few seconds I want you right wrap it up. It's also OK to go to a concert and not like it. Yeah it's really. Oh OK. That I'm not so you know I don't mind the booze either but I you know I think that you have to be open. And that's the key. You have to be open to being disappointed look the Red Sox lose. You go home disappointed. You know you don't like the piece. It's ok not to like it. What's not OK is to shut down on all music because one piece doesn't appeal to you. Some of the art that has affected me the most in my life that I carry with me in everything I do is work that has really angered me or that that made me made me want to say you know just steam out of the theater. But it's with me and it's informed how I see other art and really how I see the world. So I'm OK with not liking a piece of new music. I'm not ok with shutting down. But Alicia. What if Europe temperament First of all you're obviously so intelligent and vital and open. What if you just want your talk. You just want a little

entertainment you want to just hear milksop music and stuff that is totally familiar then what. Plenty of ways to do that. OK many of ways. Oh yeah. All right well we're going to have to leave it there. I appreciate this very rich conversation and maybe we'll have you all back after down the road when some decisions have been made with regard to how the b.s. so goes forward. We're going out on William ball comes a symphony for chorus and orchestra. This is the BSL and James we've been talking about the legacy of James divine the music director for the Boston Symphony Orchestra. I've been joined by Lord Schwartz Lloyd Schwartz classical music editor of The Boston Phoenix. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his work in 1994. Hugh Weiner is a composer and pianist. In 2006 he won a Pulitzer Prize for composition and arts and culture contributor. The all powerful Alicia and Stead She's the editor in chief of the performing arts magazine Inside arts and online editor of The Harvard Arts be. Up next it's another edition of pop culture with a ask Dog Lady Monica Collins. She's taking

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A. Guest today and I've got time for another edition of pop culture. I'm joined by Queen canine princes of pooches mutt maven doyen of dogs Monica Collins. She writes the syndicated column Ask dog lady and she's taking your calls 8 7 7 3 0 1 89 70 8 7 7 3 0 1 89 70 Monica Collins welcome. Thank you Kelly. This is your chance to get advice listeners if you have questions about your dog. Give us a call at 8 7 7 3 0 1 89 70 8 7 7 3 0 1 89 70. Now Monica I want to start with a letter that you got the last time you were here right. And then one of the listeners actually responded to something you said. So let me just bring our listeners up to date. And she writes Hello regarding the question you received about the dog who would not settle down in the car. It was a Labrador retriever. Yes two and a half hour ride. You indicated

that you had a similar problem with your own dog. May I suggest that this is not a behavioral problem that needs correcting with a combination of treats and ignoring the behavior. It is very possible that the dogs are carsick. We saw similar behavior in our dog and sense whining and panting is a sign of distress with our dog. We now make an effort to keep the car very cool regardless of the season. AC and summer very little heat in winter. I haven't seen any recurrence. You do the same thing for kids who get carsick besides making sure they can see the horizon which you can't do with dogs if carsick is the issue. The vet might be able to recommend a dramamine like product as well. I hope you pass this on. I was very grateful for this because as I drove away the last time we did pub culture as I drove away from the station I was thinking about the show. I thought that was probably an organic problem. That is a problem for a vet and you know I'm not a vet nor do I play one on the Internet. You were in the studios of GBH but that is a case where you really should probably go to your

vet and ask for something or ask for advice first of all. If your dog is really having anxiety and troubles in the car. I understand that. Do you think this would work with you or do your own dog. I think it would work with surety. I'm reluctant to put shorty on medication but it could get to the point like I've noticed that he started hanging his head in the car and I start singing the song hang down your head Tom Dooley because I don't know why he's doing that but it does occur to me that a vet is where I should start. Very good well we have a caller leaser of Groton Go ahead please you're on eighty nine point seven. Hi Lisa. Hi. I'm interesting getting a dog for a family because the first time dog and I'm wondering if you had any tips about what to do with getting one. Any tips. You know when I bring it home and that type of thing.

Oh getting a dog. Yeah. Do you want to get a puppy or do you want to rescue a dog. Probably a puppy or a puppy. Well let me just tell you give you a tip and I'm going to give all the listeners this tip that the M.S. PCA is offering nine puppies for adoption if you're interested you go to SPCA dot org slash puppies. You know different types of puppies nine different types of honeybees that they rescued here in Massachusetts they were in route somewhere there are renegade puppies from the Midwest probably a puppy mill situation. Anyway they're all puppies now with a puppy. The problem and the glory of getting a puppy at like eight to 10 weeks or eight to six months eight weeks to six months or not get a puppy younger than eight weeks do not. OK. But if you're getting a puppy over eight weeks the first thing you have to do is crate train it. I would get a crate

a crate is the politically correct term for cage. OK OK. And really it's they love their crates they really learn to love their crates and then you have to crate train the puppy and what that means is you keep the puppy in the crate and the puppy doesn't soil its nest. That's what it's learned from its mother and that's why adopting a puppy older than eight weeks because at 8 weeks it's learn pretty much everything it needs to know to go out into the world and the one thing it learns is not to soil its nest. The crate so then you keep the puppy in the crate and then you can house train the dog very easily by taking the puppy out of the crate and bring it outside. And that is kind of the number one rule you have to learn. Lisa let me just give a number out again and because I have another question for you 2 8 7 7 3 0 1 89 78 7 7 3 0 1 89 70 we're on with the dawn of dogs s Dog Lady Monica Collins. Call in.

So is there a kind of dog she should look for specifically or just whomever she believes we need to make that choice do you want a really big dog first of all every puppy looks adorable and they're a little puppy age. Well I would leaning toward is Bernie's about and I know Michael what you are doing. Thank goodness you're going to have a little horse in your head. But if you know that and you've done the research on that that is fine. Perfect I mean that's what you want. We like that style and the coloring the beautiful on it. They are beautiful Rhapsody in Black and Tan as do gelling well the reason I ask that as a non dog owner and dog lady is because I look at the Portuguese water dog with the Obamas. That's way too much activity for me. So if I were picking a dog you know I want to make sure that the personality was that a chilled vibe is what I'm looking for children. You are a researcher. You know how to do your research. I assume if you're getting a dog you would look up Portuguese water dog and see what they're

like eventually. Exactly. MIDDLE-AGED Senator Ted Kennedy had two Portuguese water dogs and they were quite active were always by his side. So I'm really I raise it to say that whomever should make sure that the dog's activity level is matches her own family's activity lab Salut Lee. And she should also know that this is a dog that needs certain amounts of activity the likes the winter better than the summer that she may have to buy a mountain retreat in Austria for this. OK well thank you. Very much Lisa for you. Good luck with your info. Thank you. Right now from Newton Go ahead please you're on with Ask dog lady on the Kelly Crossley Show. Hi how are you. Good thing ave we have a new puppy. Oh a lucky girl. Yeah really. Being winter and trying to get in. He's now house trained to snow so the snow is melting he's looking for Scott and it's sort of like what do we think it's really interesting you've got a reverse problem there.

But yes there are. But my main problem with him is that he is just so full of life people thief. Yeah and he turns on and he is very nippy and very into puppy mode and biting. I was thinking about getting a short leash to try in you know just kind of you know keep the least on him and go any damn thing just to step on it. Then they go jumping or something like what's the best way to deal with a very active and I'm walking him all the time. Yeah just so you know without activity he but he wants this is his way of socializing. Yes you're you're very right. OK one way to deal with it is always have your pockets full of distractions. Always have your pockets full. May I recommend something called bully sticks and do you have.

Well I've got also a few toys but those are the extra. Hard animals are not. Yes they are. Yes. Sorry but no dog is a vegetarian unfortunately. Oh I thought that actually the No no no belly sticks are more portable you can get you know small and braided. OK so that you can really. I find them then you know Distraction is the mother of all invention for dogs ok and that you know really have to distract distract distract. OK when the nipping starts distract when the jumping starts distract you also have to let the dog know that no is no. You know I mean you can't be become a no machine. As I say you can become Dr No you don't have to let the dog know that it's no no you have to let the dog know that you're nipping me that's not good. You're jumping on me. That's not good you have to do that kind of training and distraction is all of it.

All right. Thanks so much. Thank you very much for your call. All right all right we're going to squeeze Neal in here from Bedford Go ahead please you're on with Ask dog lady Hi Neal. Hi how are you. Good thanks. I have a most delightful F1 being Goldendoodle who will be one years old on March 7th and the name would be Sally Sally very cute very very friendly. Yeah but he like he's a very serious balk. Yeah. Very serious. Yeah and whenever someone approaches or whenever he sees something like outside yeah barking constantly. So I'm wondering is there a way how do you get him to stop now. Quite a man I mean he go outside if he's outside or if he's with me he comes. The work we saw was in my car. OK so you know no box no box. You'll be defiant you know. But that only works so long that only work out along you know no no no I said as I

just said you can't become Doctor No you know you can let the dog know that you don't like the behavior but then you just can't say no no no all the time you have to provide other kinds of activity. You really do when you know it is barking out the window or borrow the window of your car you know I have to give them a distraction. You really do you have to like call them from the window and try to give them a distraction. OK and do you what kind of distractions do you give your dog. Oh train rawhide. He loves you loves to shred things. Oh I have a model in the car because the seat belt. Well OK well then seat belts are a distraction in the car. I would give you the same advice I just gave the previous caller really sticks. If you want to know what they are go to Billy Stix dot com.

Oh I know what they are. OK I think you called it here a couple of days a week which is helpful. Also a barking dog is a bored dog and a lot I don't know that I think so I think that you walk walk walk walk walk the dog to get out that barking. You want your dog tired. You don't want to do anything bad money when he's tired. I saw a bumper sticker with a happy dog at the party. There you go there you go it's hard for you I know Neal it's hard it is hard to walk that but you gotta sometimes to redirect dog's bad behavior. All right Neil thank you very much for your call. Thank you. By my We're at 8 7 7 3 1 8 9 7 8 7 7 3 0 1 89 70 if one last quick call can squeeze in. It's interesting because you had a letter here from someone who asked Why do dogs how. And I thought so I guess it's different barking. And she wanted to know she's my dog gals sometimes and I

wonder what causes him to do this. I think Dog's hell for IATA reasons and I savor the howl because it means my dog is an animal and I sometimes need to be reminded that he's different he's different and I've got to treat him differently. Yes he's a member of the family but when your dog house in pain that's a problem that's just a general howling is just a general howling they can be happy they can be contacting their brother and out in the field they can find you out because I want to get from Maine in here really quick. OK go ahead please. You might try as a treat. She loves string cheese thanks. And lamb long o lamb lungs. OK I know exactly what you're talking about. Oh yeah Munson string cheese dinner on the menu tonight. Oh my God I guess this would be distraction for you if you're if you're doing that I tell you that I have

to ask where one gets a lamb. Oh many dog stories. OK. OK very good so these are these are things that are easy to find I know you're easy to find in fact if you go to the smaller pet stores they tend to have there's a great one in the South End called Puppy Dog bakery and they have barrels of lamb lungs and billy sticks and you know it's just it's just it's wild to go in there. But if you're a dog you're in heaven. Not that we want to tell all of sureties business but what is his favorite. Your dog my dog my dog. Right now I'm having him on real bones. Oh OK because he's need needs to clean his teeth. OK. And he won't let me in there with a tooth brush. Let me tell you. Wow thanks for all of your advice. Dog Lady We always enjoy it. Monica Collins or Collins writes the syndicated column Ask dog lady. You can like the ass dog Lady Fan Page on Facebook where you can ask a question. I'll post a picture of your dog and you can keep on top of the Kelly Crossley Show at WGBH dot org

slash Calla Crossley follow us on Twitter or become a fan of the Kelly Crossley Show on Facebook. Thanks dog lady. Thank you. Today Show was engineered by Alan Mathis and produced by Chelsea Mirza will Rosalynn and Abby Ruzicka their production of WGBH radio Boston NPR station for news and culture.