Coda: Michael Tilson Thomas Conducts His Final Concerts at the New World Symphony
"A 'coda' is a musical element at the end of a composition that brings the whole piece to a conclusion...My life’s coda is generous and rich." - Michael Tilson Thomas
MIAMI BEACH, FL - It feels like a big deal when a well-known musician announces their retirement. In rock, a band will often put on a farewell tour, culminating in a final concert that is more often than not captured for posterity. In opera, a star singer's departure is usually met with deep mourning and accelerated ticket prices. Same goes for popular singers such as Johnny Mathis, who just announced he'll be playing his final show next month out in Englewood, NJ.
In orchestral music, where conductors tend to persist well into their 80's and beyond, the end isn't usually revealed in advance. When Leonard Bernstein conducted what turned out to be his final concert at Tanglewood in 1990, he hadn't yet announced his retirement, despite his obvious poor health. Only the ominous thunderstorms that day - almost unheard of when Lenny was at Tanglewood - offered any indication that this might be his last appearance.
In the case of Bernstein's one-time mentee, Michael Tilson Thomas, we've known for some time that his conducting days were numbered, having been diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer back in 2022. For awhile, it seemed as if MTT would defy the dire odds, continuing to conduct orchestras across the U.S. and Europe with poise and finesse, including this season's opening night with the NY Phil where he seemed, "alert and ardent, even hopping a few inches into the air at one full-hearted moment" (NY Times). I last saw him conduct Beethoven's 9th at Tanglewood in 2022, and he seemed fully engaged, if perhaps a bit less energetic than in the past.
Then, in February, MTT published a note revealing that the brain tumor had returned and thus would be winding down his public appearances. But, not before honoring two final engagements with the orchestras that mean the most to him. On April 26, he'll lead his own 80th birthday concert in his adopted home of San Francisco with the SF Symphony and Chorus and a host of big-name singers.
As festive as I'm sure that event will be, I was more interested in Michael's concerts this past weekend with the New World Symphony, the post-conservatory orchestra he co-founded in Miami Beach in 1987 and led for 35 years, right up until his diagnosis. I got to spend several days with MTT and the talented New World fellows back in 2018, and came away deeply impressed not just by the high level of musicianship, but by the direct influence MTT has had on almost all aspects of New World's operations: from the curriculum, to the high-tech classrooms with remote learning capabilities, to the Frank Gehry-designed New World Center and its "Michael Tilson Thomas Performance Hall." Indeed, it's difficult to imagine a New World Symphony without him.
On its website and in the concert program, New World shared John Adams' tribute to MTT, reflecting on his wide-ranging impact as a conductor, composer, interlocutor and educator. Adams, who conducted one of the first concerts at the New World Center back in 2011, reminded us what a leap of faith it was to bring classical music to Miami Beach 38 years ago, long before the days of Art Basel, Polo, and food festivals.
"It would be typically Michael to envision an orchestra of brilliant twenty-somethings playing Stravinsky and Mozart and Berlioz in a Frank Gehry-designed concert hall while outside a thousand sunscreen-slathered tourists stroll the streets and head for the beach in flip flops and tank tops. But what else would you expect from the original American Maverick?"
Other testimonials were shared during Saturday night's concert, projected on the curved sails above the stage and outside the hall, where I and a thousand-or-so others were able to watch the performance for free, courtesy of New World's WALLCAST® technology. The vice-mayor of Miami Beach, Tanya Katzoff Bhatt, credited "MTT's vision of the future of classical music with sparking Miami Beach’s cultural revival."
"What sticks out the most in my memory," said Marc Demoulakis, Principal Percussionist for The Cleveland Orchestra (NWS 2003) "is Michael's ability to personalize it for all of us, to mentor us into a realization or a belief that it was about something bigger.” And New York-based violinist Philip Payton (NWS 2002) said he sees MTT's influence in "the absolute commitment to sharing this music in a heartfelt, emotional manner. I take it with me to every gig that I have, every moment that I teach...I'm still learning from him - it's endless." For all of the excitement surrounding these concerts, there was some doubt as to whether MTT would actually follow through with them. First, he cancelled a planned second week of concerts. Then, it was announced that Alasdair Neale, New World's former Principal Guest Conductor, would be taking over the first half of this program. At the same time, Yefim Bronfman, who was to have played the Schumann Piano Concerto, cancelled due to "unforeseen scheduling conflicts." Perhaps Fima knew something we didn't?
As they say: the show must go on. After the fellows all took the stage en masse Vienna Phil-style (why don't any other American orchestras do this?), Neale came out to lead a crisp, effervescent performance of Mozart's Don Giovanni overture. Despite the thumping bass coming from the oceanfront hotels a couple of blocks away - it also happened to be Miami Music Week - the bleed was completely canceled out by the state-of-the-art Meyer sound bars surrounding the lawn. And, I'd forgotten how mesmerizing the WALLCAST video production is, filled with split-screens, cross-fades, even overhead shots. Bet you won't be seeing those on the NY Phil's Hauser Digital Wall anytime soon.
Next up was Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 14, with the intrepid Jeremy Denk stepping in for Fima. I and most others presumed Neale would remain on the podium, so there was an audible gasp when, after a long pause, Michael walked out on Jeremy's arm, in one of the most dramatic entrances I've ever witnessed in a concert hall. Wearing a loose-fitting black shirt and his trademark bright blue glasses, Michael acknowledged the emotional standing ovation, smiling wildly. Then, unlike some other ailing conductors, he took the podium standing and unaided, though with some hesitancy.
"I have to be a little bit cautious these days," he said, to awkward laughter. "I haven't fallen over yet, but anything's possible!" Jeremy played the Mozart with his usual blend of precision and abandon, emotive without ever being flashy. And, while MTT was more restricted in his movements than I'd ever seen him, he was more than able to get his point across, just like ol' Fritz. (There's always been an inverse relationship between a conductor's gesticulations and the orchestra's intensity.) The fellows - whose ranks were supplemented by a half-dozen full time professionals, including Payton - played as if their lives depended on it.
For an encore, Jeremy dedicated "The Alcotts" movement from Charles Ives' "Concord" Sonata to Michael and their shared love of Ives. But not before MTT, ever the interlocutor, could share a few words: even at this late stage, he just couldn't help himself.
“This is the gentlest, most charming music which Ives was capable of writing,” Michael began. "This sprawling sonata has some very tender moments, as you're about to hear, and - even to this day - some confrontational, confounding moments which stretch our ears and...every other part. There are not that many people who could contend with the diversity, not to mention virtuosity that are demanded of this sonata, and we are very fortunate to have one of the best with us right now."
Starting gently and melodically, the music soon veers into dissonance, exploding with violent anger - at one point, the opening four-note motif from Beethoven's 5th is heard - before returning home in a mood of quiet contemplation. While Jeremy played, Michael sat in the concertmaster's chair with his head down, listening intently. What a brilliant, provocative gift for Michael - and for all of us.
Speaking of Beethoven’s Fifth, that was the music Michael with which chose to end the program, fitting given that it was also the closing work on New World's debut concert in February 1988. Written in 1808 when Beethoven was confronting his increasing deafness, it was described on the WALLCAST as "one of the great artistic testaments to the resiliency of the human spirit." Can't get much more appropriate than that.
I also couldn't help but think of the parallels with Bernstein, who performed Beethoven's 7th on his final concert at Tanglewood. Unlike that performance, which Lenny took at a slow, foreboding tempo, Michael let the 5th rip, its iconic four-note opening soaring out into the Miami night, more forceful and terrifying than anything some poolside DJ could muster. In the majestic Andante, the brass was penetratingly clear, the strings played with deep emotion. The Scherzo was thrilling, the basses digging in while the winds danced around flawlessly. The crescendo into the triumphant finale was pure joy, with smiles in the orchestra and tingles on the back of my neck as the trio of trombones patiently perched on the top tier finally had their chance to shine. The whole thing was note-perfect, and even Michael seemed taken away by it as his gestures grew more and more emphatic towards the end.
After taking in the long, ecstatic ovation from the podium, Michael announced an encore: Grieg's "The Last Spring" (1880), a short, tender work for string orchestra which MTT included in his 2014 album of Miniatures with the SF Symphony. Talk about on the nose: if the Beethoven was a victory lap, this was a catharsis, an opportunity to embrace the strange blend of elation and wistfulness we all felt in this moment. I'm sure that more than a few tears had fallen by the final bars.
Afterward, Michael's husband and longtime manager Joshua Robison walked out on stage, handing MTT a single long-stemmed rose while embracing him on the podium. Joshua then handed Michael the microphone so he could thank New World's supporters and everyone involved in "this wonderful conspiracy."
"It’s been a thrill to build this and share this with you," he continued. "And, in spite of the title of this last piece, this is not the last spring." Cue the uproarious applause.
For the following afternoon's matinee, I had a seat inside the New World Center for MTT's final concert. While the program was the same, Michael spoke a bit more from the podium, addressing the impact New World has had not only in Miami, but across America and around the world. After 37 years, he's lived long enough to see many of New World's 1,300 alumni reach the pinnacle of their profession, whether it's performing with an orchestra or behind the scenes as an administrator or educator.
"Every city I go to," he remarked, "there are New World players. I'm so proud of that."
Throughout these two concerts, I was struck by how Michael wasn't in the least bit emotional, which would be completely understandable given everything he's invested in New World over the past four decades and having to say goodbye earlier than he expected, through no fault of his own. Instead, MTT seemed happy to go out with a bit of levity. He joked on Sunday that he's started to receive so many lifetime achievement awards, he knew it was time to hang it up. "What more do they want from me?!" he pleaded, half-jokingly.
Still, as things drew to a close, Michael seemed a bit reluctant to leave - and most of us were perfectly willing to linger with him. After performing "The Last Spring", he had the fellows play it through a second time. That was followed by not one, not two, but three curtain calls, after which Joshua finally waved goodbye and walked off with Michael on his arm. Outside, in what can only be called a case of cosmic synchronicity, the skies had opened into a torrential downpour. Even mother nature couldn't hold it in.
Unlike most conductors, who probably clutch onto their batons a bit too long, MTT has gifted us with a proper goodbye, a chance to put a pin in what has arguably been the most remarkable American conducting career since Bernstein's. For which I and everyone else in Miami Beach this past weekend will be forever grateful. Thanks for everything, Michael - it won't be the same without you.
For those who weren't there, you can watch the archived WALLCAST video here. More pics and video on Instagram.