Ferden, Diva Caballe to Offer ‘Greatest Hits’

How does the man who once conducted the premiere of a Philip Glass opera feel about leading a traditional opera “greatest hits” program?

No problem, says conductor Bruce Ferden, who will appear with diva Montserrat Caballe on Thursday at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa. Ferden will conduct the Pacific Symphony and Pacific Chorale in a program of arias and choruses by Bellini, Donizetti, Rossini, Verdi and Puccini.

“I personally love doing them,” Ferden said in a recent phone interview from New York. “Audiences love them whether they’re a biggest hits or not-so-biggest hits program. What I’ve tried to do is give it some continuity.

“We’ll do the ‘Casta diva,’ but surround it with the Overture to ‘Norma’ and some other Bellini. . . . It’s a varied program, but, hopefully, it won’t be one piece and then another without some relationship. There is built-in continuity.”

Ferden, 38, music director of the Spokane Symphony and the Nebraska Chamber Orchestra, was making his name prominent long before he conducted the world premiere of Philip Glass’ “Satyagraha” at the Netherlands Opera in 1980. His guest conducting with the St. Louis, San Francisco, Dallas and Pasadena symphonies had garnered critical and popular praise.

But certainly that event lent him some extra cachet.

“I’ve always been associated with a lot of new music,” he said, but added that his affiliation with Glass came about by chance when he was called to substitute for an indisposed conductor at the premiere of “Satyagraha.”

Subsequently, Ferden led the New York premiere of the “Rome” portion of Robert Wilson’s “the CIVIL warS”, for which Glass composed the music. Ferden is looking forward to conducting the first West Coast performance of another Glass work, “The Light,” commissioned by the Cleveland Orchestra, in Spokane next year.

“Every place they’ve played this piece, there have been a number of people booing in the audience,” Ferden said. “There have been a whole series of letters to the editor, and critics have written articles about the appropriateness of booing or not booing.

“Personally, I find that all very exciting and healthy. I think it’s wonderful that people can get so excited about a musical performance. In our couch-potato age, we get so complacent about accepting everything, I’m gratified by the controversy. When we do it, I hope it rouses something.”

Indeed, his commitment to Glass’ work will lead him back to Washington state this summer, which meant turning down concerts with Marilyn Horne and Caballe in Spain and Italy.

“I’m really sick about it,” he said. “But I will be in Seattle doing the West Coast premiere of ‘Satyagraha.’ That’s (the Seattle Opera’s) summer offering this year. Next year, they’re going back to (Wagner’s) ‘Ring.’ ”

Ferden has never worked with Caballe but added: “It’s like a dream of a lifetime to work with (her). I am on cloud nine. . . . I’m so excited, I don’t have words.”

Ferden said that Glass’ operas are no more fixed in staging than any traditional work that has been subjected to--some would say abused by--the vision of contemporary stage directors.

“Opera really does depend on the stage director,” he said. “From the world premiere (of ‘Satyagraha’) in Rotterdam to the production in Stuttgart, there have been just miles of changes. . . . It was a totally different production, a totally different concept.

“It’s fascinating to see the wide range of (stage) interpretations and insights available and also musically: Christopher Keene, Dennis Russell Davies, me--we all have our own viewpoints.

“Philip encourages that. He’s so open. He says: ‘Do it how you feel, in a way that convinces you. The only way I learn is to hear how conductors interpret my music.’ ”

“I think music is music,” he added. “You can phrase it different, color it different, take it at different tempos or change the dynamics. . . . You expect deviations from the work’s first production.”

Ferden’s career has covered substantial ground since he completed graduate studies at the University of Southern California and the Juilliard School of Music, but he has not yet conducted at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

“I would love to be at the Met, but they haven’t asked me,” he laughed.

Montserrat Caballe will perform works by Bellini, Donizetti, Rossini, Verdi, Puccini and Boito on Thursday at 8 p.m. at the Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. Presented by the Orange County Philharmonic Society. $12 to $35. (714) 556-2787.