Hogue: How did your involvement with the symphony begin? How did they get you here? Tell us about the recruitment process and what appealed to you about the job?
Stanger: Yes, very good. First of all, I’m 81 years old, and you’re asking me to comment on events that took place some 40 years ago. And you know from today, which is 2006 March. As you know, I’m the conductor laureate of the symphony, now. I don’t know about the recruitment process, all I know is that there was a tremendous amount of applicants, and I was asked to become the music director of the Norfolk Symphony because of my record as the Assistant Conductor of the New York Philharmonic under Leonard Bernstein and my record with the Minneapolis, Minnesota Orchestra, which is a great orchestra by the way. I believe that if that orchestra were in New York, they’d give the New York some real…
Hogue: Competition?
Stanger: Competition is the word, yes.
Hogue: Absolutely.
Stanger: But several on the board had seen me conduct in New York City and Minneapolis. They made it their business to see that, you know, one of my concerts. Also, they interviewed me when the Minneapolis Symphony visited Norfolk on one of its many USA tours. They were known as the orchestra on wheels. We toured a great deal, then. I took the job when the selection committee told me that they wanted me to build a better orchestra. With great orchestras, I was assistant conductor, now, finally I had the chance to be my own maestro and plan everything. It was very exciting to me.
Hogue: It sounds like it.
Stanger: And put my dreams to work and build. I told them that I was not going to stay if I could not get their support. It needs a much bigger budget, I told them. Musicians needed much better pay because they were playing over their heads, anyway, and really it was a product of love. And as the saying- -the signing of the contract a pay raise was to go into effect. So, I made that very important; that was priority one. And, I’m known as an orchestral builder and later Byron [?]
[2]
with Knight Ridder, wire services, put that tag on me at the Kennedy Center concert and said Stanger is an orchestra builder. I was so grateful to feel … that people who have felt the orchestra improved. I remind you, I had already had a career with my Boston little orchestra comprised of 21 members of the great Boston Symphony Orchestra. We were called America’s spearhead in the realm of world string orchestras by Miles Kastendieck in the New York Journal of [sic] America. So, I had wonderful training. Conductors, you know, we live for the orchestras that we conduct. I was very fortunate because I was conducting very- -quite young in my career, very important orchestras. And I played the violin and viola. And so, it was a very exciting part of my life and period, and you know, so many people when they play an instrument they, they . . . especially when they become a conductor they forget all the problems involved. Anyway, I had been with the New York Philharmonic and served for two years as I’ve already said with the Minneapolis Symphony. So I rolled up my sleeves here and got to work and that was an exciting thing. Members were excited, they had a pay raise, you know, morale was high and so forth. And my slogan was, “The bigger the budget, the better the orchestra.” It’s that simple. And if you want a better orchestra, get a bigger budget.
Hogue: Exactly.
Stanger: You know, one member of our board that was bragging, he said, you know, he said, “Everyone from this orchestra is from Norfolk.” And my heart sank, because that’s like saying I want a great hockey team or a great baseball team but we’ve only chosen the people from this area. You know, so, the board needed, some of them needed opening up and Ludwig was on the board, and so forth. But anyway, I brought the whole matter of integration. Now, I noticed you had that on your question.
Hogue: Yes, in fact we’re going to be moving- -do you want to move on to that question?
Stanger: Yes, yes.
Hogue: Okay. Integration of musicians within the orchestra did not begin until your tenure as conductor. So, could you tell us how you helped in that integration?
Stanger: Yes, that’s right. Well, I brought the whole matter of integration. It’s not just a white men’s orchestra; it’s everyone’s orchestra. And I said . . . there were no problems for I had complete control of the personnel. And I just announced open auditions. And one member of the orchestra’s hierarchy said, “Well, the day you do that I’ll resign.” I said, “Well, I accept your resignation right now, because they’re open, that’s the only way. It’s everyone’s orchestra.” And of course, we opened it up and Norfolk State and all these other ensembles and people got interested and became- -enlarged our base, right away. So, open
[3]
auditions to all groups and it was exciting and it was the right thing to do--the right thing to do.
Hogue: What were some of the hardships in recruiting musicians during this time?
Stanger: Money, it’s that simple dear--money. And, you know, they were playing way above their heads, and with such love and giving up things for it and when I think of the dear people that have past, you know, and past on and so forth who were pillars in the community and real pillars on the musical side of things, who were in that. They just gave their whole heart and soul. It was a wonderful thing. Those were wonderful days. So, and the area, of course at that time was more split up then it is now. This whole area if they had it, started again would be called something like Hampton Roads or something like that. They had their own fire departments; their own police departments; their own water departments; their own dukedoms, it’s like each king’s got his little thing in the area. They had that so much that it- -they had the Peninsula Symphony, they had all these the- -all these other orchestras around but my idea was to unite them all and it took a long time to do that but that’s a luxury that this present orchestra has, and Falletta has. So anyway, that was what I was faced with and we did the best with what we got. So, the area was too fabricated [sic] and split up. And so, money attracts the good musicians, so we immediately started going ahead.
Hogue: Were there any other benefits that you can remember besides the money that they offered during that time period?
Stanger: Well, benefits, what do you mean?
Hogue: Well, now days sometimes we think of benefits such as. . .
Stanger: Hospitalization?
Hogue: Right.
Stanger: No, none of that.
Hogue: So, it was just looking at the money issue.
Stanger: Yes, a person was getting like $1,000 dollars for a whole year’s work, you know, well that- -you know a waiter doesn’t receive that even in tips, you know. We had- -I was going around trying to get jobs for these people. One very wonderful cellist player – Chinese came and he ended up drawing blood, which he hated to do. You know, one of the physicians gave him a job at the hospital, and so forth. But you know, I never forgot the first graduating class at the hospital down here. What is it, the. . .
[4]
Hogue: Are you speaking of Sentara?
Stanger: Sentara, I couldn’t think of the word. One hospital – the first graduating class; one of the leading physicians, a wonderful doctor, came and said that we would love to have you play for graduation. I said, “That’s great!” I said, “Let my manager know that, Matt Werth, and we’ll do it.” He said, “Well, you’re doing it for free, aren’t you?” I said, “Oh no.” I said,” You wouldn’t- -you know- -I said, “Everyone thinks because someone plays an instrument they’re going to do it free of charge.”
Hogue: I get that myself.
Stanger: His face fell, his face fell, you know. But I said, “We’ll do a wonderful concert for you and so forth but you’ve got to pay. You’ve got to pay the musicians. I said, “If you want to give a check for free or an appendectomy or a free this or that . . . [Laughs]
Hogue: You wanted to put it into perspective.
Stanger: Absolutely. It was a teaching process, you know. Everyone realized the value of music but it was harder to get. Some of them you’d ask for money and they’d give a $20 dollar bill and think that was enough, you know. It was the thinking of the group that had to change.
Hogue: And the musicians were part time, is that right?
Stanger: Absolutely, absolutely. Everyone was part time.
Hogue: During this time?
Stanger: Yea.
Hogue: Yea.
Stanger: The only people who were . . . were the staff, the secretaries and myself, and the manager and myself.
Hogue: What types of programming did you introduce to the community and how was this different from the past?
Stanger: Since I didn’t know what the orchestra had played prior to my arriving, I did the same type of programs I did in New York, Boston, and Minneapolis and other world centers.
Hogue: That makes sense.
[5]
Stanger: A nice mixture. I programmed the traditional and many first performances at the concerts, standard and neglected works. I did the world premier for instance of Diehn’s- -Diehn and Tom Rice and I did several of my world premieres. But we also had first performances in this year- -in their area. I scheduled never performed works in the area such as Darius Milhaud’s “The Creation of the World,” a marvelous work, and Igor Stravinsky’s, “Fireworks” also his “Firebird Suite”. I don’t know whether that had been done before, I don’t think it had been. But these are works that are part of the regular repertoire, but they hadn’t been done here only because they didn’t have many concerts. And mind you, they had only six subscription concerts then, but we had a healthy blend of old with the new. For instance, we did Gutche’s Epimetheus USA at the first performance his Bongo Divertimento. It’s a wonderful work, and his Hsiang Fei, which was a tone poem. We did Shostakovich’s First, Fifth, Six, Ninth and Tenth Symphonies. I don’t think they had been performed before. But you know, they were first performances. We did my Childhood Images, I sat down and wrote pieces for the kids, I even wrote a rock opus, and played it at the gym at ODU – Old Dominion University, the gym was packed with kids. I had the Rondelles, the rock group, you know. We did Prokofiev’s Fifth Piano Concerto, The Love of [sic] Three Oranges, The Second Violin Concerto, with Itzhak Perlman. And we see- -I had a career before I came here, so that when I came here, I just brought my New York friends. Itzhak . . . and it was nice. And they came, they listened and they liked working with the orchestra and myself. So, we had no trouble bringing first-rate people. Bartók, we did the two piano concertos and the Contiguglia brothers, they were a pair of twins, wonderful players. And they played it so well, you know. De Falla Nights in the Garden [sic] of Spain, first performance, Christian’s [Johann Christian Bach] Viola Concerto first performance, these are all first performances in this area. Mahler, Symphony one-two, Jennie Tourel played- -sang on April 9th in ’73, wonderful thing. Barber, Knoxville, Summer of 1915, Phyllis Curtin’s first performance. Strauss, Ein Heldenleben, Death and Transfiguration, all first performances. Holst’s The Planet’s, I mean this is like reading a who’s who, you know. Brahms’ Alto Rhapsody, first performance. Betty Allen, mezzo-soprano, she was a sketch, she was lovely to work with, you know. And.. De Falla, El Amor Brujo, Johan Franco, a composer in this area in Virginia Beach, his Concerto Lirico, first performance. We did Charles Ives, Symphony No.2, first performance, Gershwin’s Concerto in F Piano and Orchestra. I believe that was a first performance. We did several of Copland’s work- -Aaron Copland. We brought Aaron Copland down here, we brought Aaron down here and we worked- -he stayed a whole week. Kabalevsky, Overture [to] Colas Breugnon, first performance. Quincy Porter, his Poem and Dance, first performance. Khachaturian, Violin Concerto, brought Wanda Wollenska- -Wiłkomirska, wonderful Polish violinist, first performance. Prokofiev, Alexander Nevsky, the great cantata of Prokofiev; we combined the Norfolk State chorus, the ODU concert choir, and the Virginia Wesleyan College choir. So, you see all these. . .
Hogue: That’s very impressive.
[6]
Stanger: Yea, and then we did F. Ludwig Diehn’s Third Symphony, also his Outburst of Spring Triumphant, which was a world premiere, and he dedicated that to the symphony and myself. And then we did Tom Rice also a Virginia Beach composer. He lived by the ocean, so he wrote apiece called The Tempest. It had everything but [unintelligible] kitchen sink in it.
Hogue: O my goodness.
Stanger: It was really a world premiere. So, thus it goes and. . .
Hogue: On your list you actually went on to our next question, which was about the performing artists that you helped introduce. So, you named quite a few in that list, you have more, great!
Stanger: We had guest artists who I had worked – Zino Francescatti, he’s a violinist. Isaac Stern, Yehudi Menuhin, Ruggiero Ricci, Itzhak Perlman, Igor Oistrakh, all these first rate- -Wanda Wiłkomirska, Kyung-Wha Chung, Eugene Fodor and so forth. Cellists: Rostopovitch, Yo Yo Ma, Leonard Rose, Christine Walevska, James Kreger, Bernard Greenhouse. Bassists: Dennis Masuzzo he was a bassist in our orchestra; I gave him a chance to play a solo for the group. They loved it, that really helped the morale of the orchestra, you know. Pianists: Claudio Arrau, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Alicia de Larrocha, Leon Fleischer, Andre-Michel Shub, Jorge Bolet, Gary Graffman, George [John (?)] Browning, Lili Kraus, Horacio Gutierrez, Jerome Lowenthal. All of these ones, Shura Cherkassky, he did the program with me up in Washington where they said the orchestra improved so much and so worth. Jean Casadesus, Rudolf Firkušný, Leonard Pennario, Byron Janis, Murray Perahia, Pascal Roge, Oscar Jagoblinksa (?), Jean-Philippe Collard, and Richard and John Contiguglia, Maria Luisa Faini, Peter Takács, John Hendrickson. Harpsichordists: Igor Kipnis. And singers, now this is what you like because you’re a singer.
Hogue: Absolutely.
Stanger: Jan Pierce, when he got back, he asked me for an autograph. That was the first time I was asked by an artist for an autograph. So, I sent him one framed and autographed.
Hogue: That’s marvelous.
Stanger: He collect.. He loved to have…collect. He liked to have…Jan Pierce, you know was Toscanini’s wonderful, wonderful . . . singer.
Hogue: Discovery.
[7]
Stanger: Yes, Yes. Seth McCoy- -William Warfield, who sang “Ol’ Man River” and had that wonderful bass- -wonderful voice, Eileen Farrell, Maureen Forrester. Of course, I worked with Lois Marshall and Martina Arroyo but that was in Europe and so forth. Linda Zoghby, Yu (?) Queneau (?), a wonderful tenor, oh, he was wonderful, did Bach beautifully. Donald Graham, Joan Sutherland, I contributed to Joan’s- -her, her- -she was programmed second performance in the United States with members of the Chicago Symphony but I didn’t do that here. I don’t want to confuse the issue.
Hogue: Okay, that’s fine.
Stanger: Jennie Tourel, she did- -Lenny’s favorite singer- -she did the Mahler, and Shirley Verrett, Betty Allen, Anna Moffo, Patricia Neway, Eunice Alberts; Eunice Alberts sang with me in Europe. Mary Costa, Phyllis Curtin, Louise Russell, you know, all these wonderful singers.
Hogue: Well, you mentioned too, bringing in these artists helped the morale of the orchestra, as well.
Stanger: Yea.
Hogue: That’s a very good point I think to bring out.
Stanger: You know they’re real important because we must be good because they’re playing with us, singing with us.
Hogue: That’s right. So what was the audience reaction to all this? Were they ecstatic?
Stanger: They loved it. The audience, you know, it was really nice. You know, they wanted to come back.
Hogue: Your subscription rate must have just skyrocketed?
Stanger: Yes, yes, yes, sure. Ella Fitzgerald, the pop artists I work with. Ella Fitzgerald, Ethel Merman, again Billy Warfield, Doc Severinsen, Ravi Shankar, he was wonderful, Carlos Montoya, a wonderful guitar player. The thing that I appreciated- -I worked with Carlos Montoya, especially with the Minneapolis Symphony, and I learned quickly working with Spanish players, the orchestra chugs along and then they play around, you know, and started teasing him, getting around . . .
Hogue: Exactly.
Stanger: And the more I tried to stay with them the more they teased. [Laughs] So, I got a little upset, I said he’s not listening to the orchestra. Then I suddenly
[8]
realized that was the point of the whole thing. So, for the concert, I said I’m going to keep a steady tempo and I kept a steady tempo and he flipped all around, he flipped- -he said I hardly ever had such a nice accompaniment. See, I was just not going to go.
Hogue: You weren’t listening to him, basically. Right, exactly.
Stanger: Absolutely. Yea, yea, yea. So, it was very interesting. Where are we in this?
Hogue: Well, we can go on to talk about actually the rehearsals and what they were like?
Stanger: The what?
Hogue: The rehearsals with the members of the musicians and the orchestra. You know, where did you hold these rehearsals during this time? And what would be a typical rehearsal day? What would that be like?
Stanger: Well, you know, I had time in between these things to guest conduct at other places. But, you know, in those days, I had to get written permission to do it.
Hogue: Interesting.
Stanger: And, they wanted to hold me here and I you know. . .
Hogue: Like your hours, you can’t [Laughs]
Stanger: So, I said uh, uh, my New York Management I said, so I don’t have to write a letter if I’m going to guest conduct someplace. There were two weeks in between anything if you know what I mean. So, I got that straightened out. You know, we had one member of the board every time I blew my nose they wanted me to write a letter, you know.
Hogue: Now, that becomes frustrating.
Stanger: It does, especially if you want to blow your nose. [Laughs]
Hogue: Absolutely. [Laughs] Well, you need to be able to grow.
Stanger: Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely. And what was the question, again?
Hogue: Well, it was about the rehearsals. What was a typical day like- -where do you hold them, first of all?
[9]
Stanger: We held them in a grammar school that my wife when she was young. Went.. right after kindergarten she went there. I don’t know the name of the school but then we would then rehearse off and do concerts at the armory and inside the theatre. Each time we did it, they built the stage out. It had collapsible things where they could mount the stage, and we’d proceed over the pit, you know. The acoustics, they were wonderful there. We’ll get into the acoustics at Chrysler Hall.
Hogue: Yes, we will.
Stanger: So, but anyway. . . it was quite a….
Hogue: Well, what would a typical day be like when you rehearsed? How did you gather together and so forth with the musicians?
Stanger: You. . .
Hogue: You have a set schedule that you usually tell them ahead of time, for instance in what you were going to do?
Stanger: Oh yes. That was very well. . .
Hogue: Organized?
Stanger: Organized, yes. They knew what we were going to rehearse.
Hogue: Did you have someone helping you in that regard, so that the musicians knew?
Stanger: Oh yes.
Hogue: So you didn’t have to be responsible for all those day-to-day…
Stanger: I would say next rehearsal we’re going to concentrate on so and so, you know.
Hogue: Give them a heads up.
Stanger: Yea. It was very interesting.
Hogue: It sounds like it. Now, I would like to start talking a little about the Choral Association, which in my chronology seemed to have gone through various different incarnations from being called the Civic Chorus, I believe, and then called the Tidewater Choral Association.
Stanger: When I first came here it was the Norfolk Symphony and Choral Association. But I found that the chorus wasn’t good at all. So, I divorced it
[10]
because I didn’t think that- - the best thing to do was to concentrate on the symphony because people all over the world prefer symphony music to choral music because they get enough of it in church. When you play- -when it’s with the- -like the Mahler’s Second or something that’s the Chichester Psalms of Bernstein or Episode 76 like I wrote, then you have chorus, then you have orchestra and so forth, it’s very nice, it’s very nice but chorus all the way through- -Great Britain is fond of choruses and they have all sorts of choruses and choral symphonies and so forth. But, I found that a good balanced program needs a chorus, and I used one. And I used combined choruses. For instance, audiences in New York City, Boston; they attend symphony concerts to hear mainly orchestral works. They don’t completely fancy choruses with works like as I said ago- -just a moment ago, Mahler’s Second Symphony Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms and Prokofiev’s Alexander Nevsky and even in The Nutcracker he has some lady’s chorus, that’s good, and my Episode 76 it’s refreshing to hear them.
Hogue: Absolutely, I agree.
Stanger: Especially, Mahler’s Second Symphony when they come in- -the men come in so quiet, so beautiful. And when choruses were used I combined the various choruses of the Tidewater area. Mahler’s Second Symphony that I talked about, I keep talking about it that’s because it’s such a mammoth work. And at a part- -I was- -bemoaning the fact, Jennie Tourel- -we went back to New York for the morning. She said, “You’re better than what you think,” and she said, “The point is you tried it here and that’s wonderful.” She had a wonderful. . .
Hogue: Attitude?
Stanger: Attitude. She and Lilli Kraus; Lilli Kraus was also a wonderful person. We were doing- -I’m going off on a little tangent but. . .
Hogue: That’s okay.
Stanger: But I was doing- -doing a Mozart concerto and she said, “You,” she said, “It’s your redemption.” I said, “You want the redemption piano or forte, loud or soft- -soft or loud?” [Laughs] She and I clicked very well. She called me Doctor (Knabe?), godchild, you know. And she told how when she was in the war, and she was captured by the Japanese. She was put into a hole, dug in a hole, and she would have gone insane but she- -she fingered all the Mozart concertos in her mind and played them mentally.
Hogue: That’s interesting.
Stanger: What a strong resolve, such a wonderful, wonderful, inspiring story.
[11]
Hogue: The music can get you through it, absolutely.
Stanger: Yes. Then also getting back to your question, the Bach aria group. We had an evening of Bach aria groups of both J.C. and J.S. Bach. But we also, had symphonias and I did Mozart’s 40th Symphony there and it fit beautifully. You know, but they liked it, you know. So anyway . . .
Hogue: So, some of the major oratorios that you here today weren’t one of the items that you brought in right away?
Stanger: Right, right.
Hogue: Because of the chorus not being strong enough.
Stanger: Yes, and they had good choruses in the churches’ groups, and they worked hard. But, I was trying to develop an orchestra, here.
Hogue: It makes sense. It makes perfect sense.
Stanger: Yes, yea.
Hogue: And to develop the audience to come to the symphony, as well.
Stanger: Yes.
Hogue: Well the . . . next time period I’m looking at is around 1972 when we’re looking at the Norfolk Musicians Union?
Stanger: Yea.
Hogue: When they went on strike for the first time, and they were out for a month.
Stanger: You know when Eugene Ormandy told me whenever they had a strike with the Philadelphia and I think during his reign, which was a long time. He and Doctor Serge Koussevitzky of the Boston Symphony, they had the longest time with their symphonies. I had 14 years with this symphony. It became from the Virginia to the Virginia Philharmonic- -Norfolk Symphony- -from the Norfolk Symphony to the Virginia Philharmonic and from the Virginia Philharmonic to the Virginia Symphony. During all those times. . . what were we talking about? I’m sorry.
Hogue: About the musicians’ unions strike.
Stanger: In all that time, Ormandy, going back to Ormandy, He said he left town. He left town when they had a strike because it was up to the musicians union, the musicians themselves, the board of directors to take care of it.
[12]
Hogue: Right.
Stanger: They want more money, okay, you know. Ormandy was there to make music and it made great sense to me.
Hogue: So that was your philosophy?
Stanger: So, I stayed out of it but secretly I- -I wanted the musicians, you know. But I didn’t stand on a box and say do this. I said, “If they want a good symphony here, they’re going to have to pay for it.”
Hogue: Exactly. This still must have been difficult, though because you couldn’t . . .
Stanger: Yes. You ought to get Lindberg the president of the union, here, to talk about the symphony. He’d be very good. John Lindberg, a very good friend of mine, a timpanist with the symphony.
Hogue: Oh yes, we have him on our list. We need to get him.
Stanger: He’s on the list! He’s on the list!
Hogue: He’s on the list! [Laughs] The important list.
Stanger: Can I list the achievements of the Norfolk Symphony?
Hogue: Oh absolutely.
Stanger: Because I don’t want to get in your way from asking questions. But we. . .in 1966, I was appointed music director of the symphony orchestra. And during my first season, this is taken from the notes in the program book of the opening of Chrysler Hall. We were the first to play in Chrysler Hall, the symphony. And we’ll talk about that a little later but in 1966 I was appointed music director of the symphony. And during my first season in ’66 and ’67, the orchestra’s concert schedule was tripled. That’s what I did; I tripled them. I got them more pay and tripled, and gifted artists came to work under my baton and with the Norfolk Symphony Orchestra and it grew to an outstanding- -85-piece ensemble. So, it started really right from the time …. we going. And I remember the newspaper article, “New High for Norfolk Music” in the Virginian Pilot. It was wonderful. That helped the morale tremendously and so forth.
Hogue: I didn’t ask anything about the critics’ remarks but if you want to say anything along the line of what the critics say that helped things out or didn’t help things out. Sometimes that can happen as well.
[13]
Stanger: Yea, yea, well. That’s worth an interview in and of itself. [Laughs] So many times they felt they want to know why they didn’t sound like the New York Philharmonic. Well, if you want to contribute your pay to the symphony budget, then you can ask it again.
Hogue: I agree. [Laughs] Sounds good to me.
Stanger: And their quote that I read was from the opening night souvenir program on April 18, 1972. So, I’m gratefully known as an orchestral builder and someone who opened the orchestra to all groups, all types of people.
Hogue: Yes, the integration.
Stanger: Thank you, yes. But the achievements of the Norfolk Symphony under my tenure were the establishment of a series of young people’s concerts throughout the region, and the establishment of two flourishing Tidewater youth orchestras, junior and senior groups, also established his own summer orchestral workshop at Virginia Wesleyan College, 1970 through ’80 as its music director. Also, in 1972 we moved to the new home, Chrysler Hall, part of the 33 million dollar art, sports, and convention center complex in downtown Norfolk. Then, the establishment of tours and rent out concerts plus series concerts in the surrounding areas. We gave concerts in Franklin, Suffolk, and Smithfield. The introduction of regular FM broadcasts of the orchestra’s subscription concert over at WHRO. They suddenly said, “Hey, we got something here, you know.” I always said this was a sleeping giant.
Hogue: It awoken the interest.
Stanger: Absolutely dear, absolutely. So, the introduction of orchestra to T.V. audiences, including the CBN networks inaugural broadcast of their new studios. The establishment of the first Virginia Beach Dome Festival concerts with the symphony. Virginia Tyler, William Warfield, Carlos Montoya; they all played, they were the guest artists. The establishment in 1978 of a Summer Baroque festival of 13 free public concerts over a ten-day period attended by more than 10,000 people in downtown Norfolk, in the St. Paul’s Church. Graveyards, people were sitting among the graveyards and you know, so forth.
Hogue: Interesting. [Laughs] They enjoyed that.
Stanger: They did.
Hogue: You played appropriate mood music.
Stanger: We played in an open space but also they had. . . a few chairs near some graves, you know. And the general over-all increase in summer activity with full orchestra, including participation in the downtown Harbor Fest in Norfolk,
[14]
on the waterfront, attracting audiences from 60-70,000 people. And it was wonderful, and in one case, the generator went out and so the orchestra sat in silence. It was much better attended than it was now because it was the only attraction in town, you know.
Hogue: It was the one to go to.
Stanger: Absolutely, and so some of the orchestra starting horsing around and they played- -some nice country fiddlers and they played some group- -some bluegrass music. So when the lights did come on, it was wonderful. And I have a little story on that, the lights went out and the city manager came back and said, “What can I do?” I said, “Well, what about getting a generator from the fire department?” “You know, they have generators, electric generators, we can hook up to that.” He said, “Great idea.” So he went down with my manager to a public telephone near the audience and called the fire chief- -called the fire department, and he said, “Bring down a generator.” The man said, “I’ll have to get permission from the fire chief.” He said, “You’ve got the permission, I hired the fire chief.” [Laughter] “I’m the city manager, do it.” So it was done the day before yesterday. I never saw anything done quicker in my life. So, if you want your job, you’ll going to get that generator down. We were doing the 1812 Overture, too. So, when the cannon was banging away I couldn’t help but think. So, that’s one of stories I get- -that I love to tell.
Hogue: That’s funny.
Stanger: Yea, and then the merger of the Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Peninsula and Newport News symphonies in to the Virginia orchestra group. That started the ball even more rolling, and the initiation of a pops series. Falleta is very fortunate because she arrived with a good orchestra, here. But those building processes were very cleansing for me and very, very important, very important for me and my development, too, you know. Then the following- -forming of a chamber little orchestra of the first chair players of the orchestra, and the first Virginia statewide tour of the little orchestra. That got people. We were then still the Norfolk Symphony. I said, “We should call this- -touring and doing the rest, so lets call ourselves the Virginia Philharmonic.” That’s how that came. So, the board ate it up, they looked in the charter, there was no Virginia Philharmonic, so we took it.
Hogue: Well, I think they liked the name New York Philharmonic, so there was something correlating with it.
Stanger: And then the first tour outside the state of Virginia to Kennedy Center in Washington was a highly acclaimed historic concert; that was great. So, we’re about the time of the Chrysler Hall opening.
Hogue: Yes.
[15]
Stanger: Give me a little rest and we’ll talk about it some more.
Hogue: Absolutely. We’ll take a pause.
END OF INTERVIEW
Top
[Part 2: February 21, 2008] |
