Los Angeles Times - 02.08.2019

E2 FRIDAY, AUGUST 2, 2019 LATIMES.COM/CALENDAR

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The Budapest Festival
Orchestra, which began a
three-concert stint Tuesday
at the Hollywood Bowl, fill-
ing in for the touring Los An-
geles Philharmonic, has had
a regular place on the global
best-orchestra lists pretty
much since Iván Fischer
helped found it in 1983. Still
heading the orchestra, the
Hungarian conductor, him-
self, has steadily grown over
those 36 years, into one of
the world’s most respected.
Together, maestro and
his hand-picked musicians
from Budapest’s best,
brightest and least compla-
cent take everything they do
with utmost seriousness,
and their Bowl debut was no
exception. Beethoven’s “Eg-
mont” Overture was searing.
Brahms’ First Symphony
was majestic. Bruch’s syr-
upy Violin Concerto No. 1
was treated with rare nobil-
ity by the orchestra and its
refined soloist, Nicola Bene-
detti. Depth was the order of
an admirable evening of mu-
sic making in which every-
thing was of the highest or-
der.
But let’s peer around the
corner, what came before
and after the program,
where the situation gets
more interesting and less ex-
plicable. Our national an-

them, a Bowl tradition for

orchestral concerts, was

played with gracious fervor

and some curious added

brass business that sounded

like a celebratory flourish

from Tchaikovsky’s “1812”

Overture. But there was no

Hungarian anthem to follow.

Then there was the en-

core. Fischer addressed the

audience, reminding us that

what the world needs is for

everyone to sing. Parents

should sing to their children,

and children should sing in

choruses. To set an endear-

ing example, he then had the

players put down their in-

struments, stand and sing,

leading them in an a cap-

pella folk song by Dvorák, a

wonderful encore unlike any

orchestra has done before.

Fischer has always

meant for his BFO and its

members to stand for some-

thing. They are meant to be

complete musicians. The or-

chestra gives inventive con-

certs. It takes political posi-

tions, Fischer being an out-

spoken opponent of Hunga-

ry’s authoritarian Fidesz

ruling party, its anti-immi-

gration policies and restric-

tions on the press. For a re-

cent program titled “Danc-

ing in the Square,” Fischer

invited a mix of Roma and

non-Roma children to dance

to Beethoven’s Seventh

Symphony at an outdoor

concert in front of Bu-

dapest’s basilica.

At last summer’s Proms

in London, Fischer included

a program of Hungarian folk

music, and in New York in

April, he introduced a per-

formance of Bartok’s opera,

“Bluebeard’s Castle,” with

the composer’s folk-song ar-

rangements. Fischer has

composed an opera, “The

Red Heifer,” that specifically

addresses institutionalized

Hungarian anti-Semitism.

He also regularly tours with

the orchestra performing his

own highlyacclaimed semi-

staged productions of

Mozart operas. His Mahler,

Bartók and Dvorák record-

ings with the orchestra are

among the best.

But little of this is repre-

sented in the three Bowl pro-

grams, which tellingly don’t

include a note of Hungarian

music — Haydn’s 88th Sym-

phony, Thursday, was writ-

ten for the Hungarian court

orchestra of Esterháza, but

that doesn’t really count —

and couldn’t be more con-

ventional, full of music we

hear here all the time. The

big work Thursday was

Dvorák’s “New World” Sym-

phony. Next week, it’s

Mozart’s “Jupiter” Sym-

phony and his Requiem.

There was surely, though,

a political statement at the

beginning of Tuesday’s pro-

gram. Beethoven’s overture

to Goethe’s “Egmont” com-

pellingly condenses the

drama of overthrowing to-

talitarian rule. Any perform-

ance that doesn’t make that

apparent is irresponsible.

The Budapesters were grip-

ping from the first chords on,

as though this were person-

al. It is a physical orchestra,

and the intensity in the dug-

in string playing seemed to

represent the essence of re-

pression. The forceful wind

players seen on the Bowl’s vi-

deo screens offered powerful

theater all by themselves.

The brass rang the call for

freedom in a way to fill the

streets with triumph.

The Brahms symphony

was less exciting. Missing

was the playfulness that

helps enliven the central

movements. There was no

lack of granitic intensity in

the outer movements. De-

tails were lovingly if soberly

revealed, Brahms placed

high on a pedestal.

That might have been

more effective had Bruch

not been placed on this same

pedestal. His chestnut con-

certo needs no advocates.

Even a sourpuss like Heifetz

let his hair down madly

dashing through the finale

like a child’s first moments

at Disneyland. Benedetti

brought a surfeit of beauty

and elegance to Bruch, but

there was no hint of the kind

of swinging Wynton Marsalis

has lately brought out in her.

It’s hard to argue with great

playing, and the Budapest

band — even accompanying

Bruch — remained at its

best. But just think what

they and Benedetti might

have brought to Bartók.

MUSIC REVIEW

Stellar fill-in at the Bowl

Budapest Orchestra

and music director

Iván Fischer sub for

the touring L.A. Phil.

Budapest

Festival

Orchestra

What:Mozart’s “Jupiter”

Symphony and Requiem

Where:Hollywood Bowl,

2301 N. Highland Ave.

When:8 p.m. Tuesday

Cost:$8-$162

Info:hollywoodbowl.com

NEW YORK — Edward
Snowden, a former National
Security Agency contractor
whose leaks of classified
documents transformed the
debate about government
surveillance, is ready to tell
his story.
Metropolitan Books, an
imprint of Macmillan Pub-
lishers, announced Thurs-
day that Snowden’s “Perma-
nent Record” will be re-

leased Sept. 17 in more than

20 countries.

According to Metropoli-

tan, Snowden will describe

his role in the accumulation

of metadata and the “crisis

of conscience” that led him

to steal a trove of files in 2013

and share them with report-

ers. Metropolitan spokes-

woman Pat Eisemann de-

clined to offer additional de-

tails.

Snowden noted in a tweet

Thursday that the book

would be released on Consti-

tution Day.Snowden, who

faces U.S. charges that could

land him in prison, is cur-

rently living in exile in Mos-

cow, and promotion else-

where will likely be re-

stricted to interviews done

remotely.

He has been widely con-

demned by intelligence offi-

cials, who allege Snowden

has caused lasting damage

to national security, and de-

fended by civil libertarians

and other privacy advocates

who praise Snowden for re-

vealing the extent of infor-

mation the government was

gathering.

Notable revelations in-

cluded a massive program

collecting metadata on mil-

lions of domestic phone

calls.

“Edward Snowden de-

cided at the age of 29 to give

up his entire future for the

good of his country,” John

Sargent, CEO of Macmillan,

said in a statement. “He dis-

played enormous courage in

doing so, and like him or not,

his is an incredible Ameri-

can story. There is no doubt

that the world is a better and

more private place for his ac-

tions. Macmillan is enor-

mously proud to publish

‘Permanent Record.’ ”

Financial details were

not disclosed for a book that

was itself a covert project,

quietly acquired a year ago

by Macmillan and identified

under code names in inter-

nal documents. Snowden’s

primary contact with the

publisher was his principal

legal adviser, Ben Wizner, di-

rector of the American Civil

Liberties Union’s Speech,

Privacy, and Technology

Project.

Snowden is set to tell his story

Metropolitan Books

will publish the NSA

leaker’s memoir,

‘Permanent Record.’

associated press

Two weeks after allega-

tions of domestic assault,

Mike Fleiss, the executive

producer of ABC’s “The

Bachelor,” and his wife have

divorced.

Laura Kaeppeler Fleiss, a

former Miss America from

Wisconsin, received a $10-

million settlement, accord-

ing to a person familiar with

the matter but not author-

ized to speak publicly. The

couple will share custody of

their 4-year-old son.

She withdrew her allega-

tions of assault stemming

from an alleged altercation

earlier this month at one of

the couple’s homes in

Hawaii. Her representative

did not immediately re-

spond to a request for com-

ment on Wednesday.

The dispute flared when

the pair were arguing about

a recent pregnancy. Mike

Fleiss, in court documents,

alleged that his wife of five

years deceived him because

he was under the impression

that she was taking birth

control. He said he grabbed

her cellphone and strode

from the house, a scene that

was captured by security vi-

deo.

ABC and Warner Bros.

Television, which produces

“The Bachelor,” declined to

comment Wednesday. Pro-

duction of the show was not

interrupted by the allega-

tions, a Warner Bros. execu-

tive said.

Fleiss, 55, filed for divorce

on July 10; it was his second,

following a split from his

high school sweetheart in

2012. In court documents, he
      denied that he assaulted his
      wife, whom he met in 2012
      when he was a judge for the
      Miss America pageant.
      The dispute between
      Fleiss and his wife stood out
      because the producer be-
      came famous by peddling
      televised romance.
      In a court declaration,
      Laura Fleiss, 31, claimed
      that a recent pregnancy —

she now is apparently about

12 weeks along with the cou-

ple’s second child — was the

cause of strife in the mar-

riage, leading her husband

to file for divorce. Laura

Fleiss claimed that when

they got married, her hus-

band agreed to have only one

child. When he learned she

was pregnant for a second

time, she claimed in her legal

filing, he “demanded” she

get an abortion.

On July 4, she claimed, he

threatened to divorce her

and cut her off financially if

she did not terminate her

pregnancy, and she said he

told her: “Next time I see

you, I don’t want to see your

stomach.”

“I have not hurt, attacked

or attempted to physically

harm Laura or our child,”

Fleiss said in a declaration

filed earlier this month. He

also submitted text ex-

changes with his wife and of-

fered to supply video footage

of the incident for the court

to review.

A security-camera image

captured what appeared to

be a scuffle, but in court

documents, Fleiss relayed

his version of the encounter.

He said that he took her cell-

phone because “I wanted to

be sure she was not having

an affair and that the baby

she was carrying was mine.

She would not give the

phone to me, so I took it out

of her hand.”

The news comes on the

heels of a successful season

of “The Bachelorette,” which

concluded Tuesday evening

with an average of 7.4 million

viewers, up roughly 10% from

the 2018 edition’s finale rat-

ings.

‘Bachelor’

creator settles

his divorce

The Fleisses have

settled their divorce

for $10 million; Laura

Fleiss withdraws her

assault allegations.

By Meg James and

Amy Kaufman

PRODUCERMike

Fleiss, creator of ABC’s

“The Bachelor,” at 2014’s

Tribeca Film Festival.

Desiree Navarro

CULTURE COMPANY TOWN

MARK SWED
MUSIC CRITIC