CLASSICAL MUSIC EVENT OF THE YEAR 1971 IN
NEW JERSEY
Having been President of the Jaycees in New Jersey, I had worked closely with Governor Bill Cahill on a number of statewide projects and at 29 years old was on a first named basis with him, so it would be nice to see him in a non-work environment .
The evening was black tie optional, but, with attending a pre- concert reception with the Governors, I felt it was mandated. My wife, at that time, got an incredible soft pink raw silk floor length gown. It was a straight gown with a high neck and two inches of jewels covering the entire neck and double that width down the back to the floor. And if the weather was cool a floor length white satin evening coat. We were ready for a grand gala evening.
The program for the night was to be an all Tchaikovsky evening ! Internationally known conductor Henry Lewis and husband of opera great, Marilyn Horne, was conducting The New Jersey Symphony orchestra in the Swan Lake Ballet Suite, Op 20 and the always anticipated and popular 1812 Overture. Closing the evening would be my friend Van Cliburn playing the Piano Concerto No.1 in B-flat Minor and I was sure a few encores !
A little history on the New Jersey Arts Center now known as the
PCN Bank Arts Center . It was designed by Edward Durrell Stone
and opened one June 12, 1968 with Van and the Philadelphia
Orchestra conducted by Eugene Ormandy . It was scheduled to be a wonderful night , BUT shortly after the beginning notes were heard the skies opened up and since the Arts Center is basically alfresco there were some big problems. The amphitheater has a 200' roof held up by 8 large columns . There were 5,000 seats under the roof and room for 5,000 more on the grass outside the roof. The grassy areas had recently been sodded and the mud flowed down into the theater proper. Our black shoes ended up brown with mud and so did the bottoms of all the ladies gowns !
I left work early and got home about 3:00 enough time to relax, shower and get dressed and driver the 40 minutes to Homdel. I had talked to Van earlier in the day and he said to come to The Victorian house on the property of the Arts Center when we arrived. Now, The Victorian House was the original small farm house on the property that the guest artist and family used, if they wanted to before and after the concert . There was a quaint front porch, comfortable living room, quite a cozy dining room, fantastic
Gourmet kitchen and a full bath on the first floor. The second floor
had three bedrooms and two baths.
The pre concert reception started at 6:30 and we met Van and his mom Rildia Bee at the house about 5:45. It was a great visit since we hadn't seen them in a while. It was about 6:15 and Governor Bill Cahill stopped in to say hello to Van and was surprised to see me ! He slapped me on the back and said well this is a pleasant surprise ! You must really know each other, Van laughed and said you must really know each other ! He asked where we were sitting, I pulled out my tickets and told him, he said that my box! He laughed. I knew that, he said. When I saw your name on the special guest list, I asked that you sit with us. Van suggested we leave our car there at the house and he would have the chauffeur take us to the venue about half a mile away. Come backstage after the show and we'll all go back together after the meet and greet. I have a dinner planed when we get back just for the four of us so we can catch up on our lives.
The limo deposited us almost at the beginning of the reception line for "VIP" guests. It was hysterical to see people's faces as these 2
twenty somethings climbed out and were greeted by the Governor. He took us over and introduced us to the former Governors that served as his co-chairs for the evening. I really got a kick out of the faces of the movers and shakers and the captains of industry in New Jersey , wondering who these two were that jumped to the front of the line ! After we met the Governors we were offered a glass of champagne and shown to the tables with an incredible display of food! There were tables devoted to cheese, seafood, beef, poultry, desserts and many others ! The reception was a veritable feast for the eyes and, of course, the stomach ! A meal fit for those VIP guests! The reception line took about 45 minutes, during that time people came up and said hello and introduced themselves . I was the Assistant Director of the Plainfield-Central Jersey Chamber of Commerce definitely not a Captain of Industry, but I had been President of the Jaycees in my home state so I did add that to the conversation and was a close friend of Van Cliburn. About 7:45 we met up with the Gov who said he had some people he wanted us to meet.
By this time the rest of the General Admission audience was arriving and was taking pictures of the VIP party. Those that had lawn seating were setting up their blankets and beach chairs. The party area was directly in front of the center of the interior of the amphitheater and was cordoned off by brass stanchions and red velvet roping.
The Governor walked over to two couples chatting with each other, each had a glass of champagne . Cahill introduced us to the CEO of Johnson and Johnson and Mr. and Mrs. Malcolm Forbes ! I mentioned to the Governor that I had met the Forbes three years earlier. Mr. Forbes didn't remember so I reminded him about Van's concert in Stanhope, NJ in 1968 . There were 12 of us that had a formal dinner on the lawn at an al fresco concert of Van's. He and his wife and the Henry Fords came up to talk to us. ( For full details on this concert, please see my post about Van's concert in Stanhope, NJ in 1971.) Little did I know, 21 years later in 1992 my partner, Chris, would show me a green Aston Martin Lagonda on a used car lot that we took for a test drive. When we took it back, the dealer told us it had belonged to Malcom Forbes ! I really did consider buying it, it was absolutely gorgeous and was only $50,000. In fact many times we would see his green "Capitalist Tool" 727 parked at the Palm Beach International Airport sometimes next to the Trump !
Well, back to my story. The Governor told them that we were good friends of Vans and that we were sharing his box that evening ! They asked how I knew Van, I told them the story about sitting next to him at the opera gala in 1964 . I'm sure they thought this kids is so out of our league, but they were very nice and see sincerely interested in the story . The servers offered us some more champagne and we walked over to the food tables to grab something else to eat before the concert started. The 30 minute warning was sounded and we all shook hands and slowly headed to our seats .
The Governor and his wife joined us shortly and in a few minutes the lights dimmed and the stage lights came up and the curtain rose on the New Jersey Symphony in their places and then Henry Lewis walked out on stage to conduct the beautiful and very familiar Swan Lake Ballet Suite ! The music was beautiful and just floated in the air. There is nothing like listening to classical music outdoors. The folks sitting on the grassy slopes could lay back and look at the stars, my favorite way to experience such incredible music. Stone's design provided outstanding acoustics both under-roof and outside on the lawn just beyond the floating ceiling.
The second part of the first half of the concert was the majestic 1812 Overture. This would be the first time I had heard it live ! I pretty much knew every note, it had always been one of my all time favorite pieces of music. The orchestra was augmented by the 78th Army Band from Fort Dix, NJ, and eight canons placed on the grassy slopes.
I digress here for a bit to lay some interesting background on The 1812. Tchaikovsky was commissioned in 1880 by Nikolai Rubinstein, founder of the Moscow Conservatory, a pianist and composer in his own right, to write a symphonic piece to commemorate the 25th Anniversary of the Coronation of Alexander II and to celebrate the grand opening of Cathedral of Christ the Savior. The cathedral was commissioned to celebrate the Russian victory over the French. The cathedral was nearing completion on the banks of the Moskva River in central Moscow. Rubinstein requested that the piece be filled with national themes. He also requested that the composition be one that could be played at various patriotic occasions.
Tchaikovsky started his composition with a beloved Orthodox hymn, played by 4 violins and 8 cellos, a very ethereal beginning. He then begins to portray the horrible impact of the French invasion, a Russian folk dance, At My Door with trumpets showing national pride. Then that pride is torn apart with a mocking version of The Marseillaise, then God Save the Tzar, a musical war between the two. The French retreat is symbolized with the overpowering of the Russian cannons and church bells all over the victorious version of God Save the Tzar. All this took only six weeks to write! In 1881 the Emperor was assassinated and his heroic symphony was deemed inappropriate to play . Two years later it made its debut.
Upon hearing, it Tchaikovsky hated it! He wrote about his masterpiece, "it is very loud and noisy and completely without artistic merit, obviously written without warmth or love." The popularity of it truly frustrated him.
With all this being said, The 1812 Overture this night was amazing ! The added brass from the Army Marching Band added so much as did the cannons aimed down into the amphitheater was absolutely amazing and brought the 10,000 to their feet immediately for minutes !
Thus ended the first half of the concert.
INTERMISSION
Time to stretch and think about what we really came for ! Van's performance of the great Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No 1, B Flat minor !
I don't need to say anything other than that IT WAS REMARKABLE !
For those of you who know it through recordings there is nothing like experiencing it live, this was the second time I had had that incredible opportunity with Van.
Curtain calls continued for many minutes and the orchestra left the stage and Van returned for a solo curtain call and then took his seat at the piano bench, turned and got up and walked to the edge of the stage and said he would play two encores and that they were for two very special friends in the audience. I somehow knew he would do this. When we were in the audience he always played the Chopin Polonaise for my ex-wife and Chopin's Winter Winds for me. Governor Cahill seemed quite impressed that the encores were for us.
As soon as the concert was over there was an usher at our box to take the 4 of us backstage to meet Van. When we arrived backstage a line of about 100 people had already formed and his dressing room door was closed. I knocked on the door and told his mom it was us and the Governor. The door opened and I was greeted Rildia Bee and Van. The four of us chatted for a while and the Governor congratulated Van on and incredible performance. He and his wife bowed out to be with the other Governors and a party he was hosting at a nearby restaurant. The dressing room was large and comfortable with a small kitchenette and table a sofa and a couple chairs. Van had to see everyone on line and sign autographs something I never asked him for except once when I had him sign a biography about him. A couple times at parties he grabbed my program and wrote a note on it. While we sat and chatted with his mom he talked to everyone on line and signed programs. This took about an hour . He finally finished and we left the venue and all climbed in the limo and headed over to the Victorian House for what we thought would be a light meal or snacks. I should have realized that Van was always hungry after a performance. Hahaha! Well we got back to the house and I took my tie off and opened my shirt and actually took off my shoes and got comfy on the sofa . Van did the same. A server came out and asked if we would like some champagne and told us dinner would be ready shortly. In my mind I guessed that it would be Prime Ribs medium rare, his favorite after concert feast. I was not wrong !
The time was now well after midnight and I was hungry and I was sure Van was too since he never ate much before a concert. The four of us were called into the dinning room which was set with crisp white linens and and beautiful silver and fresh flowers. The appetizer was a great shrimp cocktail followed by a salad and a main course of inch thick bone in Prime Rib and perfectly cooked to a beautiful medium rare, twice baked potatoes and fresh spinach. We were even offered seconds of everything if we wanted it. Van and I split another slice of meat . Dessert was a decadent piece of chocolate cake with champagne. It was a wonderful meal and we had an incredible conversation, catching up on both our lives since we hadn't seen each other in over 6 months. It was now approaching 2am and we had a 40 minute drive back home to Plainfield. We thanked Van for an incredible evening and exchanged hugs and headed home and Van and his mom headed to their apartments in Manhattan.
Another great evening with my friend, Van Cliburn !
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