Late yesterday came word that James Arkatov, the founder of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, passed away at the age of 98. I had the privilege of interviewing Mr. Arkatov last year in advance of the 50th anniversary of LACO.
He moved slowly, spoke slowly, but was fully passionate about several things: the LACO, his photography, the art in his home and his lovely wife, Salome. He was excited about the upcoming 50th anniversary concert.
When I asked him who his favorite composers were, he surprised me not by his choices, but how he explained them.
I enjoy good music and I enjoy the great composers: Bach, Beethoven, Schubert and they all wrote masterpieces that I enjoy playing and hearing.
It was that he still enjoyed playing that music that both surprised and impressed me. His passion never waned.
Without that passion it is quite possible we wouldn’t have the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. So as we say goodbye to Mr. Arkatov we have to also say thank you.
Here is my column from last year with James Arkatov. The interview was originally published on April 10, 2018:
As we all know, F. Scott Fitzgerald famously wrote in his notes for The Last Tycoon, “There are no second acts in American lives.” Had he met cellist James Arkatov, he might never have written those words. And rarely has a city so benefitted from that second act. In 1968, at the age of 48, Arkatov was one of the founders of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. On Saturday night, LACO will be celebrating their 50thanniversary with a performance and gala at the Music Center.
Born in the Ukraine in 1920, Arkatov’s family moved to San Francisco. He began playing the cello at age 9 and gave his first concert at the age of 13. His interest in chamber music started around that time when he met a fellow young musician who played the violin and they formed a string quartet. That’s how he met his lifelong friend Isaac Stern.
When he moved to Los Angeles Arkatov found himself playing on sessions for film scores and popular music. He worked with such film composing legends as Bernard Herrmann, Miklós Rózsa and Elmer Bernstein. His cello playing can also be heard on such recordings in the pop world as Ella Fitzgerald’s Ella Fitzgerald Sings The George and Ira Gershwin Song Books, Frank Sinatra’s In the Wee Small Hours and Prince’s Parade (which was the soundtrack for his film Under the Cherry Moon.)
I spoke with Arkatov in his beautiful home in Bel-Air which is filled with spectacular art and many of the photos he took throughout his life. Oh yes, he’s also had two books of his photography published. As we talked, his wife, Salome, listened to stories she’s no doubt heard countless times. And she was beaming with pride the whole time.
When you looked at the cultural landscape of Los Angeles in 1968, what was missing that prompted you, Richard Colburn and Joseph Troy to launch the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra?
The chamber orchestra had a particular type of compositions written for it, which were not exploited to the fullest extent by whatever group we had in town. We were able to perform the chamber work which also extended into the symphonic range. We thought there was a demand for the type of music we wanted that did not conflict with other groups that were around.
Why did the three of you feel it was important to give back to the city of Los Angeles by starting this orchestra?
I don’t know except that we wanted to do it. I had a string quartet that used to meet every Saturday and Colburn was in the quartet. So was Si Ramo the industrialist. Si named the quartet the Procon Quartet because it was the cons that conned the pros into playing with them. When I first had this idea about a chamber orchestra, I approached Richard and he was very generous and gave the first donations to the foundation of the orchestra. With Joe Troy, I had an attorney I had asked to put together the foundation of the orchestra and he was unable to do it. But he recommended Joe . He did a lot of the important work of setting up the foundation for the orchestra and in many other areas he was very involved. [Simon “Si” Ramo was, amongst other things, a major participant in the development of intercontinental ballistic missiles]
Do you remember the first concert? How did you feel?
I was delighted, of course. We had a fond response from the audience and they appreciated the conductor [Sir Neville Marriner of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields] and the program. And so we grew from there. We started out at the Mark Taper Forum because I felt that would be an intimate auditorium for the people who could enjoy the music on an intimate basis.
Note: On the program at LACO’s first concert was: Vivaldi’s Concerto Grosso in D Minor; Bach’s Harpsichord Concerto No. 6 in F major, Mozart’s Divertimento in D Major, K. 136, Handel’s Harpsichord Concerto in B flat Major, Op. 4, No. 6 and Roussel’s Sinfonietta, Op. 52.
What do you think the key to LACO’s success has been over these 50 years.
I think that’s fairly simple. We are a quality organization and they have good people running it. The programs they give are outstanding and the public seems to be very happy with the programs they get. So the organization has grown in quality and numbers.
This year’s season is the first without a music director. It must speak to the strength of the organization that it can go a full season without a music director and still thrive.
We were very careful when our current director retired [Jeffrey Kahane] because we have had a distinguished history of music directors. So we had a series of guest conductors and we finally chose one that we feel will carry forth the best tradition of the chamber orchestra. [Previous music directors were Marriner, Gerard Schwartz, Iona Brown, Christof Perick and Kahane. Jaime Martín is the new music director.]
Beyond your interest in chamber music is your work with artists like Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald. Your work will live on forever on these classic recordings. What were those sessions like?
I always admired Sinatra as an outstanding artist. He was a great musician as well as an artist. I admired his work. I did a lot of recording with him. Ella was special. She was an unusual personality and her voice and her personality combined to give us a unique approach to music.
There’s no way you could have predicted that the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra would still be going after fifty years. How does that feel?
It feels very good. I’m very proud of all that they have accomplished in their first 50 years. I wish them a long and adventurous future.
And will you be attending the concert and the gala on Saturday?
You bet. Wouldn’t miss it.
Except as noted, all photos courtesy of Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra
Update: The new portion of this column has been updated to refer to James Arkatov as “founder” instead of “one of the founders.” This distinction was made at the request of the family.