June 17, 2025 • 37 mins
Anthony Parnther is a conductor, bassoonist, and music educator prominently known for his work conducting and playing for critically acclaimed film scores. In 2019 he was appointed music director and conductor of the San Bernardino Symphony Orchestra and concurrently serves as the music director of the Southeast Symphony in Los Angeles, California, a position he has held since 2010. His notable film and TV work includes the scoring sessions for critically acclaimed films and TV shows such as “Avatar: The Way of Water”, “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”, “The Mandalorian”, Grammy Award-winning film “Encanto”, and Oscar winning film “Oppenheimer”. Notably, Panther led the scoring session for “Oppenheimer” which won Best Original Score in addition to Best Picture at the Academy Awards in 2024.
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
This is Alec Baldwin and you're listening to Here's the
Thing from iHeart Radio. My guest today is the first
person I ever thought I could possibly lose my job
to thanks to his magnificent speaking voice. Anthony Parthur is
a multifaceted conductor, bassoonist, and music director. Parthur is the
(00:23):
music director and conductor of the San Bernardino Symphony Orchestra.
He's also the music director of the Southeast Symphony in
Los Angeles. Known for his work on major film scores,
Parth has led the scoring sessions of critically acclaimed movies
and television series such as Avatar, The Way of Water,
Black Panther, Waconda, Forever, The Mandalorian, and the Grammy Award
(00:47):
winning film and Canto. Parthr also led the scoring session
for Oppenheimer, which won an Oscar for Best Picture and
Original Score. Of all the instruments Anthony Parthur could have
select to play, I wondered why he chose the bassoon.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
There is quite a story behind that. You know. Where
I grew up in Central Virginia, I think banned and
orchestra starts in the fourth or fifth grade. I started
around the eighth or ninth grade, and I'll tell you
why I desperately wanted to go to the theme park.
The local theme park in Richmond, Virginia is called King's Dominion,
(01:31):
and growing up, all you would see on television is
these happy families enjoying roller coasters. And I wanted to
be a happy family going to King's Dominion. And my parents,
who are both immigrants born in the twenties and thirties,
did not even understand the concept of a theme park.
And I'm sitting in math class one day and over
the intercom, the lady says, with all the students in
(01:51):
the Linkhorn Middle School band report to the buses for
their trip to King's Dominion, and lo and behold, you know,
most of the class stands up, grabs all of these
strange looking instrument cases, and bounds out the door, leaving
me behind. And that was pretty traumatizing. So my joining
(02:11):
ban and getting involved in music was a scam because
I knew my parents would let me go to King's
Dominion if it was a school trip, because they were
very you know, into the academics and things along those lines.
So I picked up a dictionary I saw in the
a section the accordion, and it reminded me of watching
(02:31):
The Lawrence Walk Show with my parents, which I hated
that show growing up, but they loved what hoping that.
I think it was like Arthur Duncan. Was that his
name the tap dancer. They waited every single episode to
see Arthur Duncan tap dance on The Lawrence walk Show,
which he only appeared, you know, every once in a while.
But I thought that the accordion seemed nerdy, so I
(02:53):
wanted an instrument that would accord me the respect of
my peers. So I turned to the B section of
the dictionary and there was the bassoon, and I was like,
you know what, this is my ticket to King's Dominion.
So I literally took my little Webster's Dictionary to the
middle school band director and I announced my name. I said,
my name is Anthony Parther, and I want to play
the bassoon, and he looked at me like I had
(03:16):
seven heads, thank God, and someone a dusted one off
in the corner that I don't think had been played
since Lyndon B. Johnson was president. And I took the
thing home and learned to play it. And they did
not go to King's Dominion. The next year, then here
I am.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
Now in an orchestra. How many bassoons were on stage
with a full orchestra? Two or four?
Speaker 2 (03:36):
It depends on the piece, usually two oft in three
and then in some cases four or five. You know,
you get into like a Moler symphony or the Right
of Spring Stravinsky, and you'll have four or five bassoons
quite commonly, but usually it's two or three.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
So you start by playing the bassoon, and you obviously
go to schools. But do you go to these schools?
Do you any of the schools you attend, especially as
you go up the ladder? I know this sounds weird.
I'm assuming any professional performer, any artist in the classical repertoire,
you know, you deep in your relationship with that instrument
(04:15):
and you learn more and more about how to play
it and varieties to play it. Is that true with
any instrument? Or are there instruments where you're sitting there
going God, you know, I'd like to switch over to
the piano or the violin or something else. You marry
that instrument, correct.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
Yeah, it was pretty much a marriage, deeply fraught marriage,
but a marriage nonetheless. Oftentimes to assume you know, battered
me into submission. But yeah, I spent most of my
undergraduate years really trying to learn to wrestle with and
master this instrument and hopes that I could get a job,
(04:50):
you know, playing the thing right.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
Well, one thing I read about you and your work
that I found interesting was the LA Times hailed you
as the quintessential LA musician of our day. What does
an LA musician mean? Do you believe there is such
thing as an LA musician? What is that?
Speaker 3 (05:09):
Well?
Speaker 2 (05:09):
I think in Los Angeles, the big thing here that
we have that maybe other American cities don't have so
much of, is the recording studios. So I've spent almost
the last nearly twenty years working as a session musician
and session conductor on a variety of TV shows and
(05:30):
movies and video game scores. But you know, when I'm
not doing that, I'm also music director of a regional orchestra.
I'm also a freelance basooners, so you'll often see me,
you know, playing on various series, you know, usually new
music series throughout the city. So like every single day
is a different adventure. Sometimes I'm a bassooner, sometimes I'm
(05:50):
an orchestrator. Sometimes, you know, I'm conducting, So I'm doing
something different usually every single day of the week here
in town.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
You're at Sam bernard Do you know, No.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
Yeah, the San Bernardino Symphony. This is my sixth year
as music director there.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
Now I'm assuming that everybody who ascends to the biggest
ensembles in the country of the world, they got to
start somewhere. How does your appointment in sam Bernardino happen?
Are they like all symphony orchestras, they're constantly gauging and
monitoring who's out there and where they are and the
length of their contract and so forth. Do you know
(06:26):
they're coming after you? Where were you conducting before Sam Bernardino?
Speaker 2 (06:30):
Before the San Bernardino Symphony, I was leading two other
smaller orchestras, the Southeast Symphony, which has been in LA
for almost eighty years now. It's the oldest predominantly black
orchestra in the country. It was founded in the nineteen
forties by school teacher by the name of Mabel massingill Gun.
(06:51):
So I was doing that, and I was also doing
this really small orchestra out into Mecula, which is, you know,
sort of south of Orange County but north of San
Diego and doing quite a bit of guest conducting, and
I was also teaching this program at the University of California, Berkeley,
so I was doing a bunch of little things. But
I guess they had seen some of the things that
(07:12):
we'd done with the Southeast Symphony. They'd seen, you know,
footage of our Karmena Burana Moller Second Symphony and some
of these large scale concerts that we were putting on
that were gaining some notoriety. But I was invited to
be one of the candidates. I believe they had ten
finalist candidates from all over the world actually, and the
(07:34):
five conductors a year led a program. I was the
first of the ten to go over this two year
you know, music director search that they were having, and
I was like, surely they would have forgotten about me
by now, but apparently they had not, and they appointed
me music director and as soon as I started my
first season, we get in a few months in COVID began.
(07:56):
It was really challenging first year. I think are so
port system out in San Bernardino is good and getting
better by by the month. San Bernardino is a city
that is seventy five percent Latino and black. It's not
your typical city. It's very diverse. Now, I will tell
(08:17):
you that when I first saw the San Bernardino Symphony perform,
actually subbed in the San Bernardino Symphony, I think ten
years before I became the music director, or five years
or however many years before. The audience. The first time
that I went, the average age of the audience, I
want to say, was eighty and white. Now I went back,
(08:37):
you know, the first year as music director, maybe five
years after that, the average age of the audience was
eighty five and white. But it's diversified. I mean, you'll
go and you'll see people of all ages, all skin colors,
all backgrounds there. It's become very diverse and not very
many empty seeds anymore. You had a good board, We've
(08:58):
got a great we have a savvy and devoted board.
They're very serious about they're all proud of San Bernardino
and they really want the best for that region. And
the San Bernardino Symphony is really seen as one of
the few unifying sort of elements of that region, you know,
(09:19):
and it's the one place where you see so many
diverse corners of the community come together especially our big
summer concert. We have many thousands of people at this
concert that we've developed a couple of years ago, and
you see everybody there, and so it's growing, it's growing rapidly.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
I would say, what's the name of the hall there
in San Bernis.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
It's the California Theater, which is it's a ninety five
year old movie palace that they've converted into you know,
a multipurpose stage of sorts. It's about eighteen hundred Yeah,
it's not small, not huge either, but it's the perfect
size for us.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
I find that people are so attached. You know, the
people that I've spoken to in Cleveland, they love Sefernce Hall.
Oh it's the best, so exactly. They're so proud of
Seffernce Hall. And the debate over what to do with
the Philharmonica with Avery Fisher here and going into the
David Geffen face it with something people just agonized over.
They really wanted a great hall. You've guests conducted. I've
(10:18):
seen here and I can't even believe all the places
I've seen you've gets conducted. I had no idea New York, Chicago, Cleveland, Philly, Cincinnati,
La Atlanta, San Francisco, Detroit, Baltimore, Washington, Rochester, Calgary, La Opera,
Houston Symphony, Pittsburgh, Saint Louis, Indianapolis, San Diego, Vancouver, Buffalo.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
I mean, my god, it's still surreal to me to
step on some of these podiums. You know. It was
like here I am conducting the Cleveland Orchestra at Blossom.
It's like George Zell once stood on this podium, and
you know, here I am like, how dare I wave
a batonat this you know, group of story musicians anywhere
in this room? Yeah, exactly exactly. It was like I
(11:01):
should be the case. It's like, man, would you like
your rot or oils? I can take care of that
for you. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (11:08):
What's the place you performed? Is there a hole you
went to that suited you? You said, I could hang
out here for a while. I could become the maestro
of this facility. You just really really was fun. It
sounded the way you wanted it to sound.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
You know, there's been several of those. It was, you know,
and of course I think as a conductor, you always fantasize, Man,
what would it be like if I was the music
director here? You know, I must say a recent experience
that I had. I had conducted the orchestra a number
of times outdoors, but they finally let me indoors a
few months ago. But it was the Philadelphia Orchestra. And
(11:44):
you want to talk about ideal, you know, I think
the first time or the last time I remember being
intimidated by stepping in front of a group was the
first time, probably I stepped up to conduct the Hollywood
Studio Symphony or or what we call the Hollywood Studio Symphony,
the body of musicians that record all of these you know,
(12:05):
soundtracks that we've enjoyed for the last, you know, almost
one hundred years. I think the first time I had
a major session for that, I was like, oh my goodness.
I've been listening to many of these musicians since I
was a child. But I think if you can survive
in that room, and I think that's a tough room,
I think that working with even our great American orchestras
(12:27):
and orchestras abroad is a bit of a cinch in comparison.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
But when you talk about you bring up the Hollywood
community there and recording scores and things in that community
of people, you know, beyond Bernard Herman, beyond all the
classic stuff. Where do they come from? Do they live
there and there's a steady stream of work doing that
and perhaps other things they can supplement their income. But
(12:51):
does the Hollywood orchestral community live in LA and come
from La? Is that their home or they come from everywhere?
Speaker 2 (12:59):
For most recording sessions, the community of players are local.
So you know, when you're looking down the violin section,
you'll see quite a number of concertmasters of various California
orchestras and opera companies. You'll see well known and well
respected chamber musicians and soloists, so you'll see people from
(13:21):
the La Philharmonic, the Pacific Symphony, the La Opera, the
La Chamber Orchestra, as far away as the San Diego Symphony.
So it's an amalgamation of all of these extraordinary musicians
in the same room. You look into the cello section
and you'll see, you know, a bunch of really highly
regarded cellists or soloists or principal musicians in the various
(13:44):
Southern California orchestras all in one place. It's a remarkable
collection of talent.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
Does that collection of talent do those individuals who come
into recording studios, at movie studios and so forth, do
they how are they different different any way from the
normal core of people who play in the repertoire.
Speaker 2 (14:05):
I think in the studios perhaps in a way that
a tenured orchestra may not. There's no tenure or audition
to get into the Hollywood studios, so to speak. You're
usually invited into this core. There's quite a lot of
mystery about well, how does one become a player on
these soundtracks and scores and so forth. But there's also
(14:29):
this joke that you're a whole note from being kicked out,
you know, so you know, one bad session and people
start whispering, and that's the last thing that you want.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
Why do you think that is?
Speaker 2 (14:42):
It's because you know, a lot of money is being
spent to make sure that and as condensed the time
as possible, that this product is out and perfect, and
it's going to be out there forever. It's you know,
what you're playing is going to be in that movie forever.
Another little that I used to make is that you know, well,
(15:03):
the vorjak is just tonight, it rings in the hall
and it's over. But you know, you're working on a
Disney film and people will be hearing you play for
the next fifty sixty, seventy or more years, So it
has to be right, and it needs to be right
the first time, you know, because one thing that a
lot of people might not realize about what we do
as studio musicians is that we are site reading just
about everything that we play, and most of the things
(15:25):
that you hear, like in a Star Wars or Indiana
Jones movie or any of these television shows, is the
second or third time through or read through it the
first time, make some adjustments, and it very well, maybe
you know, the second or third read through. On some
shows that I work on, like you know American Dad,
for instance, a animated series, a lot of times what
(15:48):
you hear is us the first time, and that's it.
We move on to the next queue. So it moves
very quickly, so there's really no time for dawdling around
or fixing intonation or rhythmic errors. That just isn't put
up with in that room at all.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
I used to go early on when I was in
Los Angeles, I'd see John Mocherry at the Hollywood Brob.
I mean, he was basically considered the father of the
live to picture clip pieces. Godfather, what have you on?
John Williams. When I was on the board and working
with the programming department there at the Philharmonic, we proposed
to the meistro them was Alan Gilbert, and we proposed
(16:23):
to him doing live to picture and just to get
your feet wet, we'd pick like a real, you know,
the real basic one, which is of course two thousand
and one a Space Odyssey. And he wasn't very excited.
Quite frankly, he was like, ah, well, you know, but
we get him to do it. We do two thousand
and one Live to picture and he comes off the
stage He's like, that was fun. He really liked it,
and thus birthed this thing art of the score that
we do with the Philharmonic, which is also then turned
(16:45):
into kind of a cash cow for them by showing
new films. Are you doing much live to picture or no?
Speaker 2 (16:50):
I am doing some live to picture. Last time I
conducted the New York Philharmonic, I was actually conducting John
Williams's score. It's a job. Yeah, that was a I
think in September of twenty twenty four, and do.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
You know all that gang there, I do, yes, are
you doing more of that in the coming months years?
Speaker 2 (17:09):
I am. I just returned from the Seattle Symphony where
I was doing Black Panther, which was composed by my
dear friend Ludvig Gorens, and he won an Oscar for that.
I do have some more of that coming up, and
it's always a blast.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
What about composers, Who's someone do you favor? Who named
three or four of that? You sit there and go, oh.
Speaker 2 (17:29):
Yes, I really composers. For me as a conductor, coming
back to the music of Schumann and Beethoven has not
been matched by any other composer really, end of story.
You know. I went through a period where I want
to conduct all the large scale you know, the things
that call for one hundred and twenty people, you know.
But I think my motivation there was not necessarily musical.
(17:49):
I think I just want to see a bunch of
people on stage. But coming back to a Beethoven symphony,
even if it's for a tenth time, it has not
gotten more exhilarating than that. For me. I got to
conduct Beethoven's Fourth Symphony, which is I think my favorite
of all of the nine. At the proms two years ago,
(18:10):
which was terrifying, but it's one of the few times
where I'm actually smiling because I'm enjoying the process of it. Also,
I've conducted I think last year I conducted the Rhinish Symphony,
the Third Symphony of Schumann three times, and I think
some of that music is better than our ability to
perform it. Like I think there, you know, I think
(18:33):
with certain composers, I think if you achieve all of
the directions that have been given to you, you get
pretty close. But that's not the case with certain composers
like Beethoven and Schumann. I think it is a constant
search to dig in. There's an absoluteness about the music,
but there's also a flexibility where you can do so
much or say so much, or express so much with
(18:55):
Beethoven and Schumann that you maybe you can't with other artists.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
Conductor and bassoonist Anthony part If you enjoy conversations with
the giants of the classical repertoire, check out my interview
with pianist Long Long.
Speaker 3 (19:14):
One thing good about competition is that it kind of
pushes you to play better than you normally does because
you try to play without wrong notes. You try to
be one hundred percent concentrate on what you do. But
also in the same time, if you are too serious
about competition, you lose your soul. You know me that
(19:36):
you are afraid to do something wrong. And as you
know in art, sometimes when you really do something unique,
you are actually not really on the page. You are
actually doing something. But that is a really great moment.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
To hear. My conversation with Long Long go to Here's
the Thing dot org. After the break, Anthony Parther shares
the most unprofessional but hilarious incident he's ever experienced on
the podium. I'm ALC. Baldwin and this is Here's the Thing.
(20:19):
As a musician and conductor, Anthony Parther has worked on
iconic film franchises such as Star Wars, Rogue One, and
Indiana Jones in The Dial of Destiny. Growing up, he
honed his craft by practicing John Williams' scores on his bassoon.
He credits Williams for inciting his early interest in music.
(20:39):
I was curious how classical music came to inspire him
as a child.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
I remember my Christmas present that year was a tape player,
and of all places we were at a grocery store
chain called food Lion. I had just enough money to
buy this tape of Betsos's fifth Symphony. And I must
have listened to that tape and I and I'm really
(21:05):
not exaggerating, probably a thousand times in such a way
it was. It was kind of bad for me at first,
because I don't I can't think of Beethoven five any
other way. But the way that it goes and that tape,
it's that the interpretation is cemented, you know, in my court, No,
it has to be young Tantanta, you know, at this
particular moment. And then for some reason, the Food Lion
(21:26):
had a new tape like every month. So I went
back and I bought Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony, and then I
bought Mozart's Basoon. Concerned. I don't know who was stalking
the classical music tape section, but it was just like,
you know, right when you go to the check out,
was this little I have the Food Lion tape collection
of classical music. I have to have everything. I'm gonna
(21:49):
looked at.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
My ex wife's family was from Athens, Georgia, and we
go on vacation and they called it food line, food line,
now no line, and I go she goes no line
like roar line.
Speaker 2 (22:03):
I am a Southerner, so you know, I have a
little bit of a Southern accent myself. But this reminds
me of a very funny and entertaining story. The first
time I ever conducted an opera, the first time ever
conducted an opera, I was somehow enlisted to lead. I
had done a little bit of opera singing way back
in the day. I came to soprano, lyric soprano. But
(22:24):
I was enlisted to conduct Jean Carlo Monatti's A Mall
in the Night Visit.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
That when I was in eighth grade. Yeah, the telephone, the.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
Medium exactly a Mall and the Night Visitors. And something
had happened where Balthazar, the Nubian king, had to be
replaced at the last moment, and the powers that be decided.
The woman who sort of had the most influenced decided, well,
my husband will be singing in the row of Balthazard,
(22:57):
and that's just the way it's going to be. So
we're here at the sitzprobe and this person has done
no blocking and so forth, and there's this one scene
where Bathosar says, thank you good friends for your dances
and your gifts. But now I must bid you good night.
And it's a dramatic little moment, and so forth, and
we get to the little bring. And now there were
(23:18):
two problems with this particular individual. Bathazar is the Nubian king,
and you know, typically opera is sung by opera singers.
This person was not Nubian. Minor problem, but the more
major problem is that they were not an opera singer.
They were a country singer. So we get but bring,
(23:40):
and it goes, thank you good friends for your dances,
your dances, for your dances and your gifts. But nya
two syllables on now but Nia, I must bid you
good night. Now that was not what anybody was expecting
(24:01):
to hear. But some viola player snorted very loudly, and
the orchestra descended into utter chaos. It was one of
the most unprofessional moments in my career. But I am
conducting and laughing in this man's face, and I will
never forget the next night. Are you ready for this?
This story gets worse. The concert master, who's bouffont I
(24:23):
will never forget it. This very act of Bouffont when
she played the violin. She comes to my dressing room
she says, I cannot believe that they have this guy
playing the role of Balthazar. But what she didn't realize
that in full costume and black face.
Speaker 1 (24:43):
But I'm sorry I.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
Missed this was at mastro. Do you have a problem
with my execution of the role? And so, I mean,
so this person got caught gossiping about the you know,
person playing the role of Balthazar. But anyways, what an adventure.
So that was my foray to preducting opera. I will
never forget that.
Speaker 1 (25:04):
That's very funny. Pat Riley was the coach of the
New York Next for years Lakers Miami. Pat Riley's in
New York and I became a little bit friendly with
him and his wife Chris. To go to his home
and we have lunch, and I say to him, what's
the job? What do you do? What do you do
for a living? He said, these guys have been playing
at a championship role. They've been the greatest players in
their league since they were eight years old. Then they
(25:27):
go to high school, then they go to college, then
they get into the pros. They get paid millions of dollars,
and my job is to make them care one more time,
because when they care, they're unstoppable. Oh yeah, but by
the way, he said, but I gotta get into care.
Is that the same for you? What is your job
when you're up there on that podium?
Speaker 2 (25:42):
That is a tough question. I have always felt as
a player, all of the conductors that I've really admired
working for created an environment that made you want to
play at your utmost. And I'm not sure that that
is explainable. I'm not sure if there's a formula for that.
(26:05):
Sometimes your job when you step into an orchestra is
to not get in the way of the music making,
and that could be the atmosphere as well. But then
sometimes you also have to drag the orchestra along a
little bit, if you know, because the room is different
every time you go into it. Sometimes the musicians are
just not in the mood, and sometimes the musicians are
(26:26):
very passionate about what you're doing. You just want to
step back and let the bus move forward in a
particular way. But what you have to do is figure
out what it is that they need at any given
moment and give it to them. One thing you should
always be as a conductor is clear. That is the
main thing that musicians that the highest echelon want from
(26:48):
a conductor is clarity. They can take care of most
of the rest of it, but you should be very clear.
I think a lot of musicians have worked with conductors
who have the hand gestures of an eel. I mean,
you have no idea but escaping octopus. Yeah, but it's interesting.
I watched people.
Speaker 1 (27:08):
Well, one thing I got hooked on was my own
sense of what I liked in the music I was downloading.
I started becoming kind of nutty about timings. So I
have nine mallar ninths in my phone. I have seven
mallar fourths, an eight mallar six and you know, and
and a high tink pastes it up and a mozelle
(27:29):
with the neuor film adds five or six minutes to
the final movement of the mallar nine. The guy adds
five minutes. How the hell do you add five minutes
to the symp But you slow, you squeeze every drop
out of that lemon rind, you know what I mean?
And I love that. I love slow down as slow
as you can go you know what I mean. I
love it in that sense. Do you tend to put
(27:51):
yourself in a category, or you like a paste or
you like to squeeze it.
Speaker 2 (27:55):
It depends, It really depends. I think it just depends
on where you are in your life, because the music
may just have different meaning to you. I just conducted Eroika,
and I had not conducted aroika before that. I did
it with the Eastman Philharmonia, the top orchestra at the
Eastman School of Music. They had me in as a
guest conductor, and we did a bunch of moler on
(28:16):
the first half, and on the second half was the eroika,
and it just felt right for the march to be
a bit more pronouncedly slower than I had done it previously,
and I felt for some of the other stuff to
be a little bit more exaggerated. So it really changes.
I can't speak for other conductors, but I remark my
score every single time. There are some people who have
(28:38):
their markings, you know, from nineteen seventy three, and that
is the score that they use for the rest of
their career. But I actually go back and remark it
every single time, and I find that I find something
completely different every time I go back to it.
Speaker 1 (28:52):
Now, I'm told that you don't like to take vacations.
You're like a workaholic and you don't take vacations. Is
that true.
Speaker 2 (28:59):
I tried to take five days off in Big Bear,
and I came back the second day.
Speaker 1 (29:05):
Why.
Speaker 2 (29:06):
I just I you know, it was like so quiet
and peaceful and relaxing, and I couldn't stand it, right,
I just strength to be. I think for those who
are not accustomed to relaxation, it has to be practiced.
I just feel that. I you know, I was on
the road forty one weeks last year with I think
fifty orchestras, and then when I'm not doing that, I'm
(29:29):
here in the studios in La and you know, five
six weeks with my orchestra in San Bernardino and playing
my bassoon on very you know, so I every hour
of the day I'm consumed with doing something. Maybe I
also have some guilt about like not working. Both of
my parents were super hard workers. You know, they really
instilled my father. You know, he was born in nineteen
twenty nine and he came to America nineteen forty nine
(29:49):
and fought in Korea. You know, you'd always I swam
through shark infested waters for you to have a good life.
So you've got to get out there and work. And
just imagine the tears when I came down his face.
And now, what is it, my son, that I am
so proud of? What will you contribute to this country
that I had fought for? Well, I want to play
the bassoons that didn't go over so well. Yeah, but
(30:12):
you know, I think I've done. Okay.
Speaker 1 (30:16):
Conductor and bassoonist Anthony Parther, If you're enjoying this conversation,
tell a friend and be sure to follow Here's the
Thing on the iHeartRadio app, Spotify or wherever you get
your podcasts. When we come back, Anthony Parther shares why
without hesitation, he considers et to be one of the
(30:37):
greatest film scores of all time. I'm Alec Baldwin and
this is Here's the thing. In addition to his robust
career as a conductor and bassoonist, Anthony Parnther also plays
(31:01):
the contra bassoon, baritone saxophone, and contra bass clarinet. He
also refers to himself as a semi retired opera singer.
I was curious about his aforementioned opera career and whether
or not he still performs as a singer.
Speaker 2 (31:18):
I am not singing opera any more, but I have
been called upon to sing on a few scores, you know,
but as part of a choir and as a party trick.
I sang you know, the Grinch song last year with
my orchestra as the soloist. So you know, I wouldn't
touch you with a thirty nine and a half foot pole,
you know. So I pulled that out of the bag
(31:39):
and the lights turned grain and that was a real
gas for the audience and the orchestra. I was actually
very nervous to do that.
Speaker 1 (31:47):
Now, pronounce it me, Ludvig Gorenson. Yes, won the Oscar
last year for the Oppenheimer's score that you conducted, and
he thanked you from the stage. What does it feel
like to be so deeply involved in a score like
that and see it recognized with the highest of honors?
I mean, the Oppenheimer juggernaut was kind of thrilling, actually,
and then you're a part of it.
Speaker 2 (32:08):
I had just finished conducting the Saint Louis Symphony and
Stefan de Nev actually came to the concert and I
didn't know that I felt there was a rabbit knock
at the door, and I'm like, who is knocking? You know,
Stephan de nev is standing there. And after the concert
I had gone out for ice cream. I always asked
where's the best ice cream? I never asked where the
best salad is in any of these cities that I conducted.
(32:30):
I was like, where's the best ice cream in Saint Louis?
And everybody said that you have to go to whatever
this place was. And I'm literally sitting there staring at
the wall, and my phone explodes with texts and calls
and this that and the other and so forth. And
it wasn't a surprise to me that Oppenheimer had won
(32:51):
the Oscar. I mean, Ludwig wrote an incredible score, but
I was shocked that he actually mentioned my name in
his Oscar speech and so forth. So, you know, for
the next week, I had like an iPad around my
neck on a necklace that showed the speech, told repeat it, Yes,
that is me that he was talking about. That was
(33:13):
a challenging score to put together. We were really it was.
It was pretty stressful. There's this one particular queue where
the tempo continues to ratchet higher and higher and higher,
and we approached it. I remember we recorded for five
days at Warner Brothers at the Eastwood scoring stage. Over
at Warner Brothers, thank god, because Warner Brothers is like
(33:34):
five minutes for my house. And I think that's the
reason that Ludwig records there, like he could go to
find this money, but it's around the corner from his house.
So we're recording that for five and we had to.
It took five days of recording it from different angles
because there are parts of the score that are almost
unplayable except for with virtuosa players. But it was it
(33:56):
was really gratifying to see it be as successful as
it was now. I we'll say, my agent as soon
as that movie came out started getting calls, you know,
do you think Anthony and Ludwig will will bring this
as a live to picture event? And I was like,
absolutely not. That score is ridiculously hard, and it's you know,
the movie's like seven hours long, and Ludvig calls me
(34:16):
up three hours later and literally it's like, Anthony, let's
do this thing live. And so we actually did do
it live.
Speaker 1 (34:24):
Name one, and I know it's impossible to name one.
But among your favorites, what's a score you think is
among the greatest in terms of how it fits into
the film? Et Et.
Speaker 2 (34:35):
I have seen Et without the music, like that opening
sort of like forest scene is as dry as one
could imagine, But there's something about when you insert John
Williams's score into that, it just becomes a religious experience.
I heard a story about Et now, of course, like
(34:55):
one of the most iconic moments in all of cinema
is when Et lips off off in that bicycle. But
I heard a story that that scene almost didn't have
hardly any score in it. You know, when you get
to the dubbed stage, you know, everybody's you know, balancing,
you know, the sound effects, the dialogue and the score.
And John Williams normal music editor, was not working on this.
(35:18):
I think that the the music editor working on this
was Jerry Goldsmith's music editor. Kenny Hall was the music
editor on that. And they get to that scene when
you know, when elliottlefts off of the bike and John
Williams has written this very Straussian dom, bad bomb and
so forth. But when they get there, all you can
hear is the bike spokes and the crunch of a
(35:42):
leaf under the bike, and the hoot of an owl
and the subtle wind going through you know, his his
hoodie or whatever. And what I heard is that Kenny
was said this to the dub score mixer. He said,
what the hell is this and he said, that's the
mix of the score. Here the music is getting in
the way of the sound effects. And from the accounts
that I've heard, he actually pushes, physically pushes the mixer
(36:06):
out of the way. Jack's the score up to ten.
Spielberg walks into the room and it is so loud
in that moment that like everybody's hair is moving back.
And that's the mix that you now have the movie,
and he said, this is perfect, and I mean it
was like to the point of distortion and so forth.
But if you watch the movie during that very moment,
(36:27):
you will notice that the music rushes in at that
very moment. And again, yeah, you'll have to have to
watch that. But I think EAT is one of the
greatest examples of how a score elevates a film way
beyond what it would have been without.
Speaker 1 (36:43):
Well done. So thank you very much. I hope I
get to see you out there. When I do see you,
you are going to record my outgoing voicemail. Okay done perfect,
My very best to you and thank you sir, thank you.
Speaker 2 (36:53):
Thank you, take care.
Speaker 1 (36:59):
My thanks to conductor and bassoonist Anthony part We're produced
by Kathleen Russo, Zach MacNeice and Victoria de Martin. Our
engineer is Frank Imperial. Our social media manager is Danielle Gingrich.
I'm Alec Baldwin. Here's the thing. Is brought to you
by iHeart Radio
This is Alec Baldwin and you're listening to Here's the
Thing from iHeart Radio. My guest today is the first
person I ever thought I could possibly lose my job
to thanks to his magnificent speaking voice. Anthony Parthur is
a multifaceted conductor, bassoonist, and music director. Parthur is the
(00:23):
music director and conductor of the San Bernardino Symphony Orchestra.
He's also the music director of the Southeast Symphony in
Los Angeles. Known for his work on major film scores,
Parth has led the scoring sessions of critically acclaimed movies
and television series such as Avatar, The Way of Water,
Black Panther, Waconda, Forever, The Mandalorian, and the Grammy Award
(00:47):
winning film and Canto. Parthr also led the scoring session
for Oppenheimer, which won an Oscar for Best Picture and
Original Score. Of all the instruments Anthony Parthur could have
select to play, I wondered why he chose the bassoon.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
There is quite a story behind that. You know. Where
I grew up in Central Virginia, I think banned and
orchestra starts in the fourth or fifth grade. I started
around the eighth or ninth grade, and I'll tell you
why I desperately wanted to go to the theme park.
The local theme park in Richmond, Virginia is called King's Dominion,
(01:31):
and growing up, all you would see on television is
these happy families enjoying roller coasters. And I wanted to
be a happy family going to King's Dominion. And my parents,
who are both immigrants born in the twenties and thirties,
did not even understand the concept of a theme park.
And I'm sitting in math class one day and over
the intercom, the lady says, with all the students in
(01:51):
the Linkhorn Middle School band report to the buses for
their trip to King's Dominion, and lo and behold, you know,
most of the class stands up, grabs all of these
strange looking instrument cases, and bounds out the door, leaving
me behind. And that was pretty traumatizing. So my joining
(02:11):
ban and getting involved in music was a scam because
I knew my parents would let me go to King's
Dominion if it was a school trip, because they were
very you know, into the academics and things along those lines.
So I picked up a dictionary I saw in the
a section the accordion, and it reminded me of watching
(02:31):
The Lawrence Walk Show with my parents, which I hated
that show growing up, but they loved what hoping that.
I think it was like Arthur Duncan. Was that his
name the tap dancer. They waited every single episode to
see Arthur Duncan tap dance on The Lawrence walk Show,
which he only appeared, you know, every once in a while.
But I thought that the accordion seemed nerdy, so I
(02:53):
wanted an instrument that would accord me the respect of
my peers. So I turned to the B section of
the dictionary and there was the bassoon, and I was like,
you know what, this is my ticket to King's Dominion.
So I literally took my little Webster's Dictionary to the
middle school band director and I announced my name. I said,
my name is Anthony Parther, and I want to play
the bassoon, and he looked at me like I had
(03:16):
seven heads, thank God, and someone a dusted one off
in the corner that I don't think had been played
since Lyndon B. Johnson was president. And I took the
thing home and learned to play it. And they did
not go to King's Dominion. The next year, then here
I am.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
Now in an orchestra. How many bassoons were on stage
with a full orchestra? Two or four?
Speaker 2 (03:36):
It depends on the piece, usually two oft in three
and then in some cases four or five. You know,
you get into like a Moler symphony or the Right
of Spring Stravinsky, and you'll have four or five bassoons
quite commonly, but usually it's two or three.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
So you start by playing the bassoon, and you obviously
go to schools. But do you go to these schools?
Do you any of the schools you attend, especially as
you go up the ladder? I know this sounds weird.
I'm assuming any professional performer, any artist in the classical repertoire,
you know, you deep in your relationship with that instrument
(04:15):
and you learn more and more about how to play
it and varieties to play it. Is that true with
any instrument? Or are there instruments where you're sitting there
going God, you know, I'd like to switch over to
the piano or the violin or something else. You marry
that instrument, correct.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
Yeah, it was pretty much a marriage, deeply fraught marriage,
but a marriage nonetheless. Oftentimes to assume you know, battered
me into submission. But yeah, I spent most of my
undergraduate years really trying to learn to wrestle with and
master this instrument and hopes that I could get a job,
(04:50):
you know, playing the thing right.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
Well, one thing I read about you and your work
that I found interesting was the LA Times hailed you
as the quintessential LA musician of our day. What does
an LA musician mean? Do you believe there is such
thing as an LA musician? What is that?
Speaker 3 (05:09):
Well?
Speaker 2 (05:09):
I think in Los Angeles, the big thing here that
we have that maybe other American cities don't have so
much of, is the recording studios. So I've spent almost
the last nearly twenty years working as a session musician
and session conductor on a variety of TV shows and
(05:30):
movies and video game scores. But you know, when I'm
not doing that, I'm also music director of a regional orchestra.
I'm also a freelance basooners, so you'll often see me,
you know, playing on various series, you know, usually new
music series throughout the city. So like every single day
is a different adventure. Sometimes I'm a bassooner, sometimes I'm
(05:50):
an orchestrator. Sometimes, you know, I'm conducting, So I'm doing
something different usually every single day of the week here
in town.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
You're at Sam bernard Do you know, No.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
Yeah, the San Bernardino Symphony. This is my sixth year
as music director there.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
Now I'm assuming that everybody who ascends to the biggest
ensembles in the country of the world, they got to
start somewhere. How does your appointment in sam Bernardino happen?
Are they like all symphony orchestras, they're constantly gauging and
monitoring who's out there and where they are and the
length of their contract and so forth. Do you know
(06:26):
they're coming after you? Where were you conducting before Sam Bernardino?
Speaker 2 (06:30):
Before the San Bernardino Symphony, I was leading two other
smaller orchestras, the Southeast Symphony, which has been in LA
for almost eighty years now. It's the oldest predominantly black
orchestra in the country. It was founded in the nineteen
forties by school teacher by the name of Mabel massingill Gun.
(06:51):
So I was doing that, and I was also doing
this really small orchestra out into Mecula, which is, you know,
sort of south of Orange County but north of San
Diego and doing quite a bit of guest conducting, and
I was also teaching this program at the University of California, Berkeley,
so I was doing a bunch of little things. But
I guess they had seen some of the things that
(07:12):
we'd done with the Southeast Symphony. They'd seen, you know,
footage of our Karmena Burana Moller Second Symphony and some
of these large scale concerts that we were putting on
that were gaining some notoriety. But I was invited to
be one of the candidates. I believe they had ten
finalist candidates from all over the world actually, and the
(07:34):
five conductors a year led a program. I was the
first of the ten to go over this two year
you know, music director search that they were having, and
I was like, surely they would have forgotten about me
by now, but apparently they had not, and they appointed
me music director and as soon as I started my
first season, we get in a few months in COVID began.
(07:56):
It was really challenging first year. I think are so
port system out in San Bernardino is good and getting
better by by the month. San Bernardino is a city
that is seventy five percent Latino and black. It's not
your typical city. It's very diverse. Now, I will tell
(08:17):
you that when I first saw the San Bernardino Symphony perform,
actually subbed in the San Bernardino Symphony, I think ten
years before I became the music director, or five years
or however many years before. The audience. The first time
that I went, the average age of the audience, I
want to say, was eighty and white. Now I went back,
(08:37):
you know, the first year as music director, maybe five
years after that, the average age of the audience was
eighty five and white. But it's diversified. I mean, you'll
go and you'll see people of all ages, all skin colors,
all backgrounds there. It's become very diverse and not very
many empty seeds anymore. You had a good board, We've
(08:58):
got a great we have a savvy and devoted board.
They're very serious about they're all proud of San Bernardino
and they really want the best for that region. And
the San Bernardino Symphony is really seen as one of
the few unifying sort of elements of that region, you know,
(09:19):
and it's the one place where you see so many
diverse corners of the community come together especially our big
summer concert. We have many thousands of people at this
concert that we've developed a couple of years ago, and
you see everybody there, and so it's growing, it's growing rapidly.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
I would say, what's the name of the hall there
in San Bernis.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
It's the California Theater, which is it's a ninety five
year old movie palace that they've converted into you know,
a multipurpose stage of sorts. It's about eighteen hundred Yeah,
it's not small, not huge either, but it's the perfect
size for us.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
I find that people are so attached. You know, the
people that I've spoken to in Cleveland, they love Sefernce Hall.
Oh it's the best, so exactly. They're so proud of
Seffernce Hall. And the debate over what to do with
the Philharmonica with Avery Fisher here and going into the
David Geffen face it with something people just agonized over.
They really wanted a great hall. You've guests conducted. I've
(10:18):
seen here and I can't even believe all the places
I've seen you've gets conducted. I had no idea New York, Chicago, Cleveland, Philly, Cincinnati,
La Atlanta, San Francisco, Detroit, Baltimore, Washington, Rochester, Calgary, La Opera,
Houston Symphony, Pittsburgh, Saint Louis, Indianapolis, San Diego, Vancouver, Buffalo.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
I mean, my god, it's still surreal to me to
step on some of these podiums. You know. It was
like here I am conducting the Cleveland Orchestra at Blossom.
It's like George Zell once stood on this podium, and
you know, here I am like, how dare I wave
a batonat this you know, group of story musicians anywhere
in this room? Yeah, exactly exactly. It was like I
(11:01):
should be the case. It's like, man, would you like
your rot or oils? I can take care of that
for you. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (11:08):
What's the place you performed? Is there a hole you
went to that suited you? You said, I could hang
out here for a while. I could become the maestro
of this facility. You just really really was fun. It
sounded the way you wanted it to sound.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
You know, there's been several of those. It was, you know,
and of course I think as a conductor, you always fantasize, Man,
what would it be like if I was the music
director here? You know, I must say a recent experience
that I had. I had conducted the orchestra a number
of times outdoors, but they finally let me indoors a
few months ago. But it was the Philadelphia Orchestra. And
(11:44):
you want to talk about ideal, you know, I think
the first time or the last time I remember being
intimidated by stepping in front of a group was the
first time, probably I stepped up to conduct the Hollywood
Studio Symphony or or what we call the Hollywood Studio Symphony,
the body of musicians that record all of these you know,
(12:05):
soundtracks that we've enjoyed for the last, you know, almost
one hundred years. I think the first time I had
a major session for that, I was like, oh my goodness.
I've been listening to many of these musicians since I
was a child. But I think if you can survive
in that room, and I think that's a tough room,
I think that working with even our great American orchestras
(12:27):
and orchestras abroad is a bit of a cinch in comparison.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
But when you talk about you bring up the Hollywood
community there and recording scores and things in that community
of people, you know, beyond Bernard Herman, beyond all the
classic stuff. Where do they come from? Do they live
there and there's a steady stream of work doing that
and perhaps other things they can supplement their income. But
(12:51):
does the Hollywood orchestral community live in LA and come
from La? Is that their home or they come from everywhere?
Speaker 2 (12:59):
For most recording sessions, the community of players are local.
So you know, when you're looking down the violin section,
you'll see quite a number of concertmasters of various California
orchestras and opera companies. You'll see well known and well
respected chamber musicians and soloists, so you'll see people from
(13:21):
the La Philharmonic, the Pacific Symphony, the La Opera, the
La Chamber Orchestra, as far away as the San Diego Symphony.
So it's an amalgamation of all of these extraordinary musicians
in the same room. You look into the cello section
and you'll see, you know, a bunch of really highly
regarded cellists or soloists or principal musicians in the various
(13:44):
Southern California orchestras all in one place. It's a remarkable
collection of talent.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
Does that collection of talent do those individuals who come
into recording studios, at movie studios and so forth, do
they how are they different different any way from the
normal core of people who play in the repertoire.
Speaker 2 (14:05):
I think in the studios perhaps in a way that
a tenured orchestra may not. There's no tenure or audition
to get into the Hollywood studios, so to speak. You're
usually invited into this core. There's quite a lot of
mystery about well, how does one become a player on
these soundtracks and scores and so forth. But there's also
(14:29):
this joke that you're a whole note from being kicked out,
you know, so you know, one bad session and people
start whispering, and that's the last thing that you want.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
Why do you think that is?
Speaker 2 (14:42):
It's because you know, a lot of money is being
spent to make sure that and as condensed the time
as possible, that this product is out and perfect, and
it's going to be out there forever. It's you know,
what you're playing is going to be in that movie forever.
Another little that I used to make is that you know, well,
(15:03):
the vorjak is just tonight, it rings in the hall
and it's over. But you know, you're working on a
Disney film and people will be hearing you play for
the next fifty sixty, seventy or more years, So it
has to be right, and it needs to be right
the first time, you know, because one thing that a
lot of people might not realize about what we do
as studio musicians is that we are site reading just
about everything that we play, and most of the things
(15:25):
that you hear, like in a Star Wars or Indiana
Jones movie or any of these television shows, is the
second or third time through or read through it the
first time, make some adjustments, and it very well, maybe
you know, the second or third read through. On some
shows that I work on, like you know American Dad,
for instance, a animated series, a lot of times what
(15:48):
you hear is us the first time, and that's it.
We move on to the next queue. So it moves
very quickly, so there's really no time for dawdling around
or fixing intonation or rhythmic errors. That just isn't put
up with in that room at all.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
I used to go early on when I was in
Los Angeles, I'd see John Mocherry at the Hollywood Brob.
I mean, he was basically considered the father of the
live to picture clip pieces. Godfather, what have you on?
John Williams. When I was on the board and working
with the programming department there at the Philharmonic, we proposed
to the meistro them was Alan Gilbert, and we proposed
(16:23):
to him doing live to picture and just to get
your feet wet, we'd pick like a real, you know,
the real basic one, which is of course two thousand
and one a Space Odyssey. And he wasn't very excited.
Quite frankly, he was like, ah, well, you know, but
we get him to do it. We do two thousand
and one Live to picture and he comes off the
stage He's like, that was fun. He really liked it,
and thus birthed this thing art of the score that
we do with the Philharmonic, which is also then turned
(16:45):
into kind of a cash cow for them by showing
new films. Are you doing much live to picture or no?
Speaker 2 (16:50):
I am doing some live to picture. Last time I
conducted the New York Philharmonic, I was actually conducting John
Williams's score. It's a job. Yeah, that was a I
think in September of twenty twenty four, and do.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
You know all that gang there, I do, yes, are
you doing more of that in the coming months years?
Speaker 2 (17:09):
I am. I just returned from the Seattle Symphony where
I was doing Black Panther, which was composed by my
dear friend Ludvig Gorens, and he won an Oscar for that.
I do have some more of that coming up, and
it's always a blast.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
What about composers, Who's someone do you favor? Who named
three or four of that? You sit there and go, oh.
Speaker 2 (17:29):
Yes, I really composers. For me as a conductor, coming
back to the music of Schumann and Beethoven has not
been matched by any other composer really, end of story.
You know. I went through a period where I want
to conduct all the large scale you know, the things
that call for one hundred and twenty people, you know.
But I think my motivation there was not necessarily musical.
(17:49):
I think I just want to see a bunch of
people on stage. But coming back to a Beethoven symphony,
even if it's for a tenth time, it has not
gotten more exhilarating than that. For me. I got to
conduct Beethoven's Fourth Symphony, which is I think my favorite
of all of the nine. At the proms two years ago,
(18:10):
which was terrifying, but it's one of the few times
where I'm actually smiling because I'm enjoying the process of it. Also,
I've conducted I think last year I conducted the Rhinish Symphony,
the Third Symphony of Schumann three times, and I think
some of that music is better than our ability to
perform it. Like I think there, you know, I think
(18:33):
with certain composers, I think if you achieve all of
the directions that have been given to you, you get
pretty close. But that's not the case with certain composers
like Beethoven and Schumann. I think it is a constant
search to dig in. There's an absoluteness about the music,
but there's also a flexibility where you can do so
much or say so much, or express so much with
(18:55):
Beethoven and Schumann that you maybe you can't with other artists.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
Conductor and bassoonist Anthony part If you enjoy conversations with
the giants of the classical repertoire, check out my interview
with pianist Long Long.
Speaker 3 (19:14):
One thing good about competition is that it kind of
pushes you to play better than you normally does because
you try to play without wrong notes. You try to
be one hundred percent concentrate on what you do. But
also in the same time, if you are too serious
about competition, you lose your soul. You know me that
(19:36):
you are afraid to do something wrong. And as you
know in art, sometimes when you really do something unique,
you are actually not really on the page. You are
actually doing something. But that is a really great moment.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
To hear. My conversation with Long Long go to Here's
the Thing dot org. After the break, Anthony Parther shares
the most unprofessional but hilarious incident he's ever experienced on
the podium. I'm ALC. Baldwin and this is Here's the Thing.
(20:19):
As a musician and conductor, Anthony Parther has worked on
iconic film franchises such as Star Wars, Rogue One, and
Indiana Jones in The Dial of Destiny. Growing up, he
honed his craft by practicing John Williams' scores on his bassoon.
He credits Williams for inciting his early interest in music.
(20:39):
I was curious how classical music came to inspire him
as a child.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
I remember my Christmas present that year was a tape player,
and of all places we were at a grocery store
chain called food Lion. I had just enough money to
buy this tape of Betsos's fifth Symphony. And I must
have listened to that tape and I and I'm really
(21:05):
not exaggerating, probably a thousand times in such a way
it was. It was kind of bad for me at first,
because I don't I can't think of Beethoven five any
other way. But the way that it goes and that tape,
it's that the interpretation is cemented, you know, in my court, No,
it has to be young Tantanta, you know, at this
particular moment. And then for some reason, the Food Lion
(21:26):
had a new tape like every month. So I went
back and I bought Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony, and then I
bought Mozart's Basoon. Concerned. I don't know who was stalking
the classical music tape section, but it was just like,
you know, right when you go to the check out,
was this little I have the Food Lion tape collection
of classical music. I have to have everything. I'm gonna
(21:49):
looked at.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
My ex wife's family was from Athens, Georgia, and we
go on vacation and they called it food line, food line,
now no line, and I go she goes no line
like roar line.
Speaker 2 (22:03):
I am a Southerner, so you know, I have a
little bit of a Southern accent myself. But this reminds
me of a very funny and entertaining story. The first
time I ever conducted an opera, the first time ever
conducted an opera, I was somehow enlisted to lead. I
had done a little bit of opera singing way back
in the day. I came to soprano, lyric soprano. But
(22:24):
I was enlisted to conduct Jean Carlo Monatti's A Mall
in the Night Visit.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
That when I was in eighth grade. Yeah, the telephone, the.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
Medium exactly a Mall and the Night Visitors. And something
had happened where Balthazar, the Nubian king, had to be
replaced at the last moment, and the powers that be decided.
The woman who sort of had the most influenced decided, well,
my husband will be singing in the row of Balthazard,
(22:57):
and that's just the way it's going to be. So
we're here at the sitzprobe and this person has done
no blocking and so forth, and there's this one scene
where Bathosar says, thank you good friends for your dances
and your gifts. But now I must bid you good night.
And it's a dramatic little moment, and so forth, and
we get to the little bring. And now there were
(23:18):
two problems with this particular individual. Bathazar is the Nubian king,
and you know, typically opera is sung by opera singers.
This person was not Nubian. Minor problem, but the more
major problem is that they were not an opera singer.
They were a country singer. So we get but bring,
(23:40):
and it goes, thank you good friends for your dances,
your dances, for your dances and your gifts. But nya
two syllables on now but Nia, I must bid you
good night. Now that was not what anybody was expecting
(24:01):
to hear. But some viola player snorted very loudly, and
the orchestra descended into utter chaos. It was one of
the most unprofessional moments in my career. But I am
conducting and laughing in this man's face, and I will
never forget the next night. Are you ready for this?
This story gets worse. The concert master, who's bouffont I
(24:23):
will never forget it. This very act of Bouffont when
she played the violin. She comes to my dressing room
she says, I cannot believe that they have this guy
playing the role of Balthazar. But what she didn't realize
that in full costume and black face.
Speaker 1 (24:43):
But I'm sorry I.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
Missed this was at mastro. Do you have a problem
with my execution of the role? And so, I mean,
so this person got caught gossiping about the you know,
person playing the role of Balthazar. But anyways, what an adventure.
So that was my foray to preducting opera. I will
never forget that.
Speaker 1 (25:04):
That's very funny. Pat Riley was the coach of the
New York Next for years Lakers Miami. Pat Riley's in
New York and I became a little bit friendly with
him and his wife Chris. To go to his home
and we have lunch, and I say to him, what's
the job? What do you do? What do you do
for a living? He said, these guys have been playing
at a championship role. They've been the greatest players in
their league since they were eight years old. Then they
(25:27):
go to high school, then they go to college, then
they get into the pros. They get paid millions of dollars,
and my job is to make them care one more time,
because when they care, they're unstoppable. Oh yeah, but by
the way, he said, but I gotta get into care.
Is that the same for you? What is your job
when you're up there on that podium?
Speaker 2 (25:42):
That is a tough question. I have always felt as
a player, all of the conductors that I've really admired
working for created an environment that made you want to
play at your utmost. And I'm not sure that that
is explainable. I'm not sure if there's a formula for that.
(26:05):
Sometimes your job when you step into an orchestra is
to not get in the way of the music making,
and that could be the atmosphere as well. But then
sometimes you also have to drag the orchestra along a
little bit, if you know, because the room is different
every time you go into it. Sometimes the musicians are
just not in the mood, and sometimes the musicians are
(26:26):
very passionate about what you're doing. You just want to
step back and let the bus move forward in a
particular way. But what you have to do is figure
out what it is that they need at any given
moment and give it to them. One thing you should
always be as a conductor is clear. That is the
main thing that musicians that the highest echelon want from
(26:48):
a conductor is clarity. They can take care of most
of the rest of it, but you should be very clear.
I think a lot of musicians have worked with conductors
who have the hand gestures of an eel. I mean,
you have no idea but escaping octopus. Yeah, but it's interesting.
I watched people.
Speaker 1 (27:08):
Well, one thing I got hooked on was my own
sense of what I liked in the music I was downloading.
I started becoming kind of nutty about timings. So I
have nine mallar ninths in my phone. I have seven
mallar fourths, an eight mallar six and you know, and
and a high tink pastes it up and a mozelle
(27:29):
with the neuor film adds five or six minutes to
the final movement of the mallar nine. The guy adds
five minutes. How the hell do you add five minutes
to the symp But you slow, you squeeze every drop
out of that lemon rind, you know what I mean?
And I love that. I love slow down as slow
as you can go you know what I mean. I
love it in that sense. Do you tend to put
(27:51):
yourself in a category, or you like a paste or
you like to squeeze it.
Speaker 2 (27:55):
It depends, It really depends. I think it just depends
on where you are in your life, because the music
may just have different meaning to you. I just conducted Eroika,
and I had not conducted aroika before that. I did
it with the Eastman Philharmonia, the top orchestra at the
Eastman School of Music. They had me in as a
guest conductor, and we did a bunch of moler on
(28:16):
the first half, and on the second half was the eroika,
and it just felt right for the march to be
a bit more pronouncedly slower than I had done it previously,
and I felt for some of the other stuff to
be a little bit more exaggerated. So it really changes.
I can't speak for other conductors, but I remark my
score every single time. There are some people who have
(28:38):
their markings, you know, from nineteen seventy three, and that
is the score that they use for the rest of
their career. But I actually go back and remark it
every single time, and I find that I find something
completely different every time I go back to it.
Speaker 1 (28:52):
Now, I'm told that you don't like to take vacations.
You're like a workaholic and you don't take vacations. Is
that true.
Speaker 2 (28:59):
I tried to take five days off in Big Bear,
and I came back the second day.
Speaker 1 (29:05):
Why.
Speaker 2 (29:06):
I just I you know, it was like so quiet
and peaceful and relaxing, and I couldn't stand it, right,
I just strength to be. I think for those who
are not accustomed to relaxation, it has to be practiced.
I just feel that. I you know, I was on
the road forty one weeks last year with I think
fifty orchestras, and then when I'm not doing that, I'm
(29:29):
here in the studios in La and you know, five
six weeks with my orchestra in San Bernardino and playing
my bassoon on very you know, so I every hour
of the day I'm consumed with doing something. Maybe I
also have some guilt about like not working. Both of
my parents were super hard workers. You know, they really
instilled my father. You know, he was born in nineteen
twenty nine and he came to America nineteen forty nine
(29:49):
and fought in Korea. You know, you'd always I swam
through shark infested waters for you to have a good life.
So you've got to get out there and work. And
just imagine the tears when I came down his face.
And now, what is it, my son, that I am
so proud of? What will you contribute to this country
that I had fought for? Well, I want to play
the bassoons that didn't go over so well. Yeah, but
(30:12):
you know, I think I've done. Okay.
Speaker 1 (30:16):
Conductor and bassoonist Anthony Parther, If you're enjoying this conversation,
tell a friend and be sure to follow Here's the
Thing on the iHeartRadio app, Spotify or wherever you get
your podcasts. When we come back, Anthony Parther shares why
without hesitation, he considers et to be one of the
(30:37):
greatest film scores of all time. I'm Alec Baldwin and
this is Here's the thing. In addition to his robust
career as a conductor and bassoonist, Anthony Parnther also plays
(31:01):
the contra bassoon, baritone saxophone, and contra bass clarinet. He
also refers to himself as a semi retired opera singer.
I was curious about his aforementioned opera career and whether
or not he still performs as a singer.
Speaker 2 (31:18):
I am not singing opera any more, but I have
been called upon to sing on a few scores, you know,
but as part of a choir and as a party trick.
I sang you know, the Grinch song last year with
my orchestra as the soloist. So you know, I wouldn't
touch you with a thirty nine and a half foot pole,
you know. So I pulled that out of the bag
(31:39):
and the lights turned grain and that was a real
gas for the audience and the orchestra. I was actually
very nervous to do that.
Speaker 1 (31:47):
Now, pronounce it me, Ludvig Gorenson. Yes, won the Oscar
last year for the Oppenheimer's score that you conducted, and
he thanked you from the stage. What does it feel
like to be so deeply involved in a score like
that and see it recognized with the highest of honors?
I mean, the Oppenheimer juggernaut was kind of thrilling, actually,
and then you're a part of it.
Speaker 2 (32:08):
I had just finished conducting the Saint Louis Symphony and
Stefan de Nev actually came to the concert and I
didn't know that I felt there was a rabbit knock
at the door, and I'm like, who is knocking? You know,
Stephan de nev is standing there. And after the concert
I had gone out for ice cream. I always asked
where's the best ice cream? I never asked where the
best salad is in any of these cities that I conducted.
(32:30):
I was like, where's the best ice cream in Saint Louis?
And everybody said that you have to go to whatever
this place was. And I'm literally sitting there staring at
the wall, and my phone explodes with texts and calls
and this that and the other and so forth. And
it wasn't a surprise to me that Oppenheimer had won
(32:51):
the Oscar. I mean, Ludwig wrote an incredible score, but
I was shocked that he actually mentioned my name in
his Oscar speech and so forth. So, you know, for
the next week, I had like an iPad around my
neck on a necklace that showed the speech, told repeat it, Yes,
that is me that he was talking about. That was
(33:13):
a challenging score to put together. We were really it was.
It was pretty stressful. There's this one particular queue where
the tempo continues to ratchet higher and higher and higher,
and we approached it. I remember we recorded for five
days at Warner Brothers at the Eastwood scoring stage. Over
at Warner Brothers, thank god, because Warner Brothers is like
(33:34):
five minutes for my house. And I think that's the
reason that Ludwig records there, like he could go to
find this money, but it's around the corner from his house.
So we're recording that for five and we had to.
It took five days of recording it from different angles
because there are parts of the score that are almost
unplayable except for with virtuosa players. But it was it
(33:56):
was really gratifying to see it be as successful as
it was now. I we'll say, my agent as soon
as that movie came out started getting calls, you know,
do you think Anthony and Ludwig will will bring this
as a live to picture event? And I was like,
absolutely not. That score is ridiculously hard, and it's you know,
the movie's like seven hours long, and Ludvig calls me
(34:16):
up three hours later and literally it's like, Anthony, let's
do this thing live. And so we actually did do
it live.
Speaker 1 (34:24):
Name one, and I know it's impossible to name one.
But among your favorites, what's a score you think is
among the greatest in terms of how it fits into
the film? Et Et.
Speaker 2 (34:35):
I have seen Et without the music, like that opening
sort of like forest scene is as dry as one
could imagine, But there's something about when you insert John
Williams's score into that, it just becomes a religious experience.
I heard a story about Et now, of course, like
(34:55):
one of the most iconic moments in all of cinema
is when Et lips off off in that bicycle. But
I heard a story that that scene almost didn't have
hardly any score in it. You know, when you get
to the dubbed stage, you know, everybody's you know, balancing,
you know, the sound effects, the dialogue and the score.
And John Williams normal music editor, was not working on this.
(35:18):
I think that the the music editor working on this
was Jerry Goldsmith's music editor. Kenny Hall was the music
editor on that. And they get to that scene when
you know, when elliottlefts off of the bike and John
Williams has written this very Straussian dom, bad bomb and
so forth. But when they get there, all you can
hear is the bike spokes and the crunch of a
(35:42):
leaf under the bike, and the hoot of an owl
and the subtle wind going through you know, his his
hoodie or whatever. And what I heard is that Kenny
was said this to the dub score mixer. He said,
what the hell is this and he said, that's the
mix of the score. Here the music is getting in
the way of the sound effects. And from the accounts
that I've heard, he actually pushes, physically pushes the mixer
(36:06):
out of the way. Jack's the score up to ten.
Spielberg walks into the room and it is so loud
in that moment that like everybody's hair is moving back.
And that's the mix that you now have the movie,
and he said, this is perfect, and I mean it
was like to the point of distortion and so forth.
But if you watch the movie during that very moment,
(36:27):
you will notice that the music rushes in at that
very moment. And again, yeah, you'll have to have to
watch that. But I think EAT is one of the
greatest examples of how a score elevates a film way
beyond what it would have been without.
Speaker 1 (36:43):
Well done. So thank you very much. I hope I
get to see you out there. When I do see you,
you are going to record my outgoing voicemail. Okay done perfect,
My very best to you and thank you sir, thank you.
Speaker 2 (36:53):
Thank you, take care.
Speaker 1 (36:59):
My thanks to conductor and bassoonist Anthony part We're produced
by Kathleen Russo, Zach MacNeice and Victoria de Martin. Our
engineer is Frank Imperial. Our social media manager is Danielle Gingrich.
I'm Alec Baldwin. Here's the thing. Is brought to you
by iHeart Radio
Host
Alec Baldwin
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