photo: Gil Rose

FIVE QUESTIONS WITH GIL ROSE

Gil Rose has received deserved acclaim for his remarkable accomplishments as conductor and Artistic Director of The Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP), which typically performs at Boston's Jordan Hall and Symphony Hall. What makes the company, founded by him in 1996, particularly special is that it exclusively performs music of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. An equally noteworthy achievement is the company's BMOP/sound label, which will soon issue its 100th release twenty-five years after the appearance of its inaugural recording, John Harbison's ballet Ulysses. The label has issued works by a who's who of contemporary composers, with recordings of material by David Del Tredici, Louis Andriessen, Joan Tower, Samuel Barber, Anthony Davis, Lisa Bielawa, John Harbison, and many others gracing the BMOP discography. The label has been recognized with multiple Grammy nominations, won in 2020 in the opera category for the BMOP's terrific rendition of Tobias Picker's Fantastic Mr. Fox, and recently received a nomination for its presentation of John Corigliano's opera The Lord of Cries. In his curatorial role, Rose often selects works that are underappreciated and in some cases in danger of vanishing altogether.

Under Rose's sterling stewardship, BMOP has won seventeen ASCAP Awards for Adventurous Programming, been chosen as Musical America's Ensemble of the Year in 2016, and in 2021 was recognized with a Gramophone Magazine Special Achievement Award for its extraordinary service in support of modern American music. As if these accomplishments weren't impressive enough, Rose has also appeared as a guest conductor in the United States and in Holland, Japan, and other parts of the globe, and in 2013 founded Odyssey Opera. Its in-house label has released five recordings, most recently a complete version of Camille Saint-Saëns's Henry VIII. Rose's future plans include the BMOP's debut performance at Carnegie Hall and a co-production between BMOP and Odyssey Opera of Nkeiru Okoye's Harriet Tubman: When I Crossed That Line to Freedom. Rose has earned the trailblazer and innovator labels regularly applied to him and recently gave time to textura to talk about the BMOP catalogue, his incredible work ethic, and other matters.

photo: Rose and BMOP at Jordan Hall, Boston

1. I have this image in my mind of you pitching the idea of the BMOP in 1995 to a group of board members and imagining the looks on their faces when you said the plan was to perform nothing but twentieth- and twenty-first-century material and make no concessions to the customary tastes of the classical audience. How did you manage to sell such an “idea,” and are you at all surprised that it's become the success that it is?

The idea for BMOP was more complex and nuanced than just pitching a certain repertoire. It was envisioned more as a structural/organizational model than as an advocate for any one type of music. “Selling” was, and still is, difficult. It is a complex idea that can't be sold in an “elevator pitch.” It's about the causal relationship between an orchestra's economic model, repertoire choices. and engagement with audiences. I'm still not sure most people are sure they understand the reason for this mission. They either get it, or they don't. There is our daily work.

photo: Gil Rose

2. Given that reaching 100 album releases is a milestone deserving of celebration, what made you decide on John Alden Carpenter's Complete Ballets for number 100?

I wanted the 100th album to be a flashy symphonic statement. I wanted something that showed off the orchestra's “chops” and sense of style. I also wanted the title to show BMOP's commitment to rediscovering lost repertoire, and lastly, since BMOP is so known for performing new orchestra music, I wanted this title to show commitment to repertoire from the early 20th century. Sometimes people forget that our mission is to play orchestra music written in the last 100 years. All three of the Carpenter ballets on this disc are presented for the first time in their complete and original form. Krazy Kat: A Jazz Pantomime (1922) and Skyscrapers (1926) have appeared on disc but in versions with large cuts. This will be the first time the complete versions are available and the very first time The Birthday of the Infanta (1919, rev. 1940) will appear on any commercial recording.

3. For obvious reasons, I won't ask you to name your two or three favourite releases from the hundred. However, I think it is fair to ask which two or three of your releases has proved most pivotal to the BMOP's success and the public's awareness and appreciation of the orchestra?

I don't have any problem naming my favourite discs. Those discs tend to be ones that I think rescue works from potential obscurity, the kind of works that are important to symphonic and American musical development. Some of those discs include: Leon Kirchner's complete orchestra music, Leon Kirchner: Music for Orchestra (#1060); Wayne Peterson's disc, Wayne Peterson: Transformations (#1053), which features his Pulitzer Prize-winning work; Lukas Foss: Complete Symphonies (#1043), and other releases of that ilk. Those discs have created a lot of public awareness, but I think some of the newer compositions have proved to be pivotal in getting the word out about what we are doing—Andrew Norman: Play (#1040), Lei Liang: A Thousand Mountains, A Million Streams (#1061), and Mason Bates: Mothership (#1045) come to mind in that category. When I think through the discography, each disc holds a special place for me because they all remind me of people and moments, concerts and sessions, and all the work of the last twenty-five years.

4. You've upheld an exhausting performance and release schedule since BMOP's 1996 founding. How have you managed to maintain such a pace, especially when many of the works you're presenting, be it live or on disc, are often extremely challenging?

I try to pace myself, but it is hard to learn and conduct and record that many pieces all based on just one performance and sometimes based on no performance. Sometimes I wonder if I hold the record for having conducted more pieces just the one time. Learning that many scores you have to develop a system and a methodology. It has served me well through all those concerts and sessions.

photo: Kevin Condon

5. Are there works that were selected for performance and/or recording that proved to be particularly challenging?

They have all had their unique challenges; there have been very few easy layups in this discography. Usually the operas require more time, more patience, and more skill in the editing and mixing room, but I think the most challenging disc to make work was George Antheil: Ballet Mechanique (#1033). The sheer volume of eight pianos and all that percussion along with bells, sirens, and airplane propellers…it took a lot of voodoo to make the sound work. It's difficult to make a wall of sound interesting, but I'm pretty happy with the result in the end.

Bonus question: What would you say are the accomplishments of which you are most proud?

I think my greatest sense of pride comes not from any one disc or any one piece but the cumulative picture that's created by the diversity of styles, languages, and composers that this 100-disc catalog represents. I set out to create a nuanced and complete picture of American orchestral music of the last 100 years and think we did a pretty good job. I look forward to fine-tuning that picture going forward as there are so many composers and works I still hope to perform and record.

website: GIL ROSE

December 2023