A spectacular highlight was his open-air concert on July 31st in front of the Colosseum in Rome. Admission to the joint concert with Canadian rock star Bryan Adams was free, attracting around half a million fans, according to official estimates. “Rome at The Feet of Uncle Billy”, was the headline in the newspaper Il Messaggero.
Just like the legendary King Midas, it seemed as if, once again, everything Billy Joel touched turned to gold. Based on the calculations of Billboard magazine, the singer was one of the top earners in terms of concert ticket sales in the first half of 2006: Billy Joel was in the top ten along with aging British rockers the Rolling Stones, Irish rock band U2, U.S. rock band Bon Jovi and ex-Beatle Paul McCartney. In the crisis-ridden music industry, it has long been live performances, rather than records, that make up the main source of income for many musicians.
According to the Recording Industry Association of America, Billy Joel stands at number six in the list of the most successful pop stars of all time – below the Beatles and Elvis Presley, but ahead of Elton John and Barbra Streisand.
The Fledermaus Effect
Alexander Joel has long since made a name for himself internationally as a conductor. But he still gets a little annoyed when he is referred to in the media as “Billy Joel’s little brother”. His pride and artistic self-esteem keep him from cashing in on the family name. Instead, he has opted for the slow and bumpy road to success. “The name Joel is almost like a curse on me”, says Alexander, who greatly admires his brother. “I have always worried that I wouldn’t be taken seriously as an artist. Having a connection to pop music is seen to be a cardinal sin in the classical industry.” That’s why he tries to avoid musical crossover projects and collaboration with his brother, though not for lack of requests. What bothers him most is the fact that Billy can’t help him at all, even if he wanted to. Too different are the demands and laws in the pop industry and in classical music, even though ever more classical stars are being marketed like pop stars, from Lang Lang to Anna Netrebko, for example.
The conductor had to endure derisive criticism and malicious insinuations, especially during his early years in Vienna. It was a painful experience for him: “The music industry in Vienna is known for its intrigues. Concert promoters, bookers and music critics are often closely connected. But I have always made it on my own and faced up to the competition”, Alexander stresses confidently. He kept his family history to himself as best he could. “The sleepy press office in Düsseldorf that completely ignored the fact that I had a famous brother was the best thing that could have possibly happened to me. It allowed me to work in peace and develop artistically. Nobody was interested in my relatives there.”
Alexander Joel at the Klassik Open Air concert, Nuremberg, 2007 · © Horst Linke
At the age of 36, he became Chief Musical Director at the Braunschweig State Theater, chosen personally by the orchestra, by which point he had a stellar career to draw upon. Strauss’s Die Fledermaus [The Bat] played an important role for him here: this Viennese operetta had marked his official debut as a conductor in Nuremberg in 1995. He also chose the Fledermaus overture as his conducting audition piece which got him his first job in Baden in 1997. Alexander conducted Die Fledermaus for his application for the conductor’s post in Düsseldorf, too – and was met with approval across the board: 97% of the orchestra were in favor of Joel – a record result. And it was ultimately Die Fledermaus once again that marked his debut at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich in 2004 and that he also conducted at the New Year’s Eve performance that same year. “When I walked into the conductor’s room back then, Carlos Kleiber’s locker was still there – one of the best conductors that has ever lived. It was all quite overwhelming and humbling.” In early 2009, Joel was also a guest conductor in a new production of Die Fledermaus at the National Opera in Tokyo.
It’s no wonder (and no joke) then, that Alexander Joel saw it as a good omen when he was welcomed into his new post in Braunschweig in 2007 by a real-life ‘Fledermaus’ – a bat that had managed to get into his new apartment.
Viennese classical music and Italian opera are the specialties of the passionate conductor, who learned his trade from scratch and is not to be labeled too hastily as a neoconservative. The young Chief Musical Director goes down just as well with the public as he does with the musicians and critics. During his first year in the post, visitor numbers for musical theater and the concert series increased significantly.
“People had been talking about attracting a new audience to the opera houses for a long time”, says Alex Joel. “Innovative production concepts were seen to be the best way of doing this. But there was something important here that people were forgetting: the quality of the singers. If the singers aren’t good enough, it simply is not possible to achieve an exciting production concept. That’s why I focused particular attention on the selection of the singers: the audience comes to the opera mainly to hear the beautiful voices.” For Joel, who is skeptical of modern director’s theater, beauty and sensuality aren’t taboo words. “Singing is like a miracle to me – I love and admire singers. Voices have a direct and immediate effect on listeners that an instrumentalist would struggle to match.”
It is no coincidence, therefore, that Alexander Joel chose Puccini’s La Bohème (directed by Wolfgang Gropper) for his debut as Chief Musical Director at the Braunschweig State Theater – an opera that he is particularly fond of. “I am fascinated by Puccini’s combination of melodies, music and the materials that he chose. His female figures all have that special something. I admire his sense of drama and effects, the colors that he picks out, and the atmosphere that he manages to create. As a dramatist, Puccini was unbeatable.” He fiercely defends Puccini against the still widespread accusation that his music is too sweet or even corny. The conductor delivered resounding proof that this is not the case, with his highly motivated orchestra, the Braunschweig State Theater, and an elegant, passionate interpretation. “I am a firm believer that any person can feel the impact of opera. You just need a little preparation.”126 Even though he also enjoys conducting concerts, Alexander Joel’s true passion is opera – especially Italian opera.
For him Mozart is the greatest, and Wagner a challenge. In May 2008 in Braunschweig, he conducted Lohengrin, his second Wagner opera after The Flying Dutchman in Düsseldorf. The audience’s response was positive, and one critic wrote in the Viennese opera magazine Der Neue Merker: “The orchestra sounds rich and sublime, the difficult horn entries come out exceptionally well – which is certainly due partly to the charismatic leadership of the new Chief Musical Director Alexander Joel. He conducts his first Wagner opera with spirit, wonderful tempo shifts and yet with an insightful consideration for the singers that is a real joy to watch.”
“Mozart is enchanting, Wagner is exhilarating. That’s the real difference for me”, admits Alexander Joel. “I’m not a religious man, but when I’m conducting Mozart, I sometimes think there has got to be a God. All the German chauvinism surrounding Wagner really gets on my nerves. As Rossini once said, Wagner has wonderful moments, and dreadful quarters of an hour. The recitative in particular needs to be arranged very precisely to create tension.”
For the season debut of the orchestra’s symphony concert series in 2008, Alexander conducted Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 5. The Braunschweiger Zeitung wrote, under the headline, “An elegant shattering of the harmony of the world”: “It is certainly possible to conduct this symphony more roughly, more precariously than Joel does – but it doesn’t get much more elegant than this. He spectacularly savors the cohesion more than the breaks, giving the Funeral March an almost lilting feel at times.”
Martin Weller, Orchestra Director in Braunschweig, is confident of Joel’s extraordinary gift: “He conducts from the heart, and he understands and mediates music on a very emotional level rather than analytically. That makes him very popular amongst the musicians.”
Weller managed to
get Joel interested in an extraordinarily ambitious musical project for the 70th anniversary of the Crystal Night: On November 9, 2008, Braunschweig State Theater held a memorial concert under the Helmstedter Strasse railway bridge. Weller deliberately chose both the location and the program for the concert. The performance consisted of pieces by Jewish composers who had been victims of anti-Semitic persecution in various ways.
Gustav Mahler (1860–1911) had been forced to give up his post as director of the Vienna State Opera due to anti-Semitic pressure in 1907 – long before National Socialist rule. Performing his music was forbidden in the Third Reich.
Erwin Wolfgang Korngold’s (1897–1957) music was also ostracized, forcing the composer, who managed to migrate to the USA with his family, to earn a living through film music. After the end of the Third Reich he was no longer able to resume his work in Europe.
The Czech composer Erwin Schulhoff (1894–1942) died of malnutrition and exhaustion in the Weissenburg concentration camp in Bavaria. According to Weller, he represents the Holocaust’s senseless destruction of artistic creativity.
The uncomfortable, cold venue created tension amongst both orchestra and audience: During the Nazi era, trains thundered over the mighty railway bridge – part of the most important west-to-east connection – to concentration camps in the East. Leon and Johanna Joel were almost certainly also taken by train over this bridge from Drancy to Auschwitz in September 1942.
On a cold November day in 2008, their great-nephew conducted Mahler’s unfinished Symphony No. 10, sections from Korngold’s opera Die tote Stadt [The Dead City], as well as the Serenade for Orchestra by Schulhoff. Whenever a train clattered over the bridge, the music became inaudible – creating an inhibiting and alienating effect. The fact that the road under the railway bridge had to be closed to through-traffic during the concert was another completely intentional disruption in the public life of the town.
As a conductor, Alexander Joel is constantly traveling between Vienna, Düsseldorf and Paris. He is a regular guest conductor at the Deutsche Opera Berlin, the Dresden State Opera, the Hamburg State Opera, as well as major opera houses in Vienna, Helsinki, Paris and Tokyo.
Another important step in Alexander’s career was his invitation to the prestigious Dresden State Opera where, in June 2010, he conducted the opening night of Faust, the opera masterpiece by French composer Charles François Gounod based on Goethe‘s literary work.
All the work-related obligations and travel make it difficult for the restless Joel to keep in touch with friends and family. The workaholic has been pushing himself to the limit for years anyway – without any thought for his health. Music is his whole life – there’s very little time (or space) for anything else. Billy Joel, who loves to tease his little brother, mocks him about the stress of success: “At the beginning he got on everybody’s nerves because he couldn’t get a job; and now he keeps complaining that he has too much work. He’s a great guy, but typical Viennese in that you can never please him.”
Alexander Joel, a keen follower of politics, speaks fluent German (with a slight Viennese accent), English and French. He combines Viennese charm with British wit and a German work ethic. And even though he works mainly in Germany, he feels most at home in the music capital of Austria. The city holds a special place in his heart thanks to his childhood memories as well as his early years there as a conductor. This is where his parents and his best friends live. Alexander has an apartment in the loft of a stylish old building in the center of Vienna – within sight of his parents’ apartment block.
Whenever the busy conductor has any free time, which is not very often, he loves to cook for his friends, especially simple Italian dishes. His passion for Italian cuisine is shared by his family on both sides of the Atlantic.
Audrey Joel, who values old European virtues such as education and good manners, is glad that her son has ended up being successful in a serious profession. And that he has both feet firmly on the ground. Her relationship with her husband’s American-raised son from his first marriage has always been complicated. But she has also never understood why Helmut tried to keep the family on either side of the Atlantic away from each other. After all, she states, it is one family, despite all the problems.
And so Alexander, who gets on excellently with Billy and Alexa, has ended up in a sort of mediator role. He tries to settle differences wherever he can, and keeps in close contact with all family members.
Taking a Stand
In the past, Billy Joel has often written songs for people who were close to him: “Vienna” for his father Helmut, who lived in Vienna; “Rosalinda’s Eyes” for his mother Rosalind; “Lullabye” for his daughter Alexa. And not forgetting his wives: “Just The Way You Are” was dedicated to Elizabeth Weber; “Uptown Girl” to Christie Brinkley; and his third wife, too, inspired him to write a song – the first after a long pause: “All My Life”, a 50s-style love song, was a present for Katie for their second wedding anniversary. This song, which was originally to be sung by Tony Bennett, was produced by Phil Ramone and Billy Joel in 2006.
A year later, Joel surprised his fans with a new, completely different song: “Christmas in Fallujah” about a U.S. soldier in the Iraq War. But this time it was not Joel himself singing, but Cass Dillon, a young singer whom Joel chose because he considered him better suited to the role of soldier in terms of age. It was the human tragedy that interested him more than the history or the political aspect.
In July 2008 Billy Joel hit the headlines once again in New York with his farewell shows at the famous Shea Stadium. The Beatles were the first to play a pop concert in the sports arena in the Queens district in 1965; the stadium was demolished in 2009. The 55,000 tickets for each of Joel’s two concerts sold out within 45 minutes.
Reactions from both public and critics to the thrilling concert in the baseball stadium were euphoric. Joel’s band had extra strings and brass, with guest appearances from stars such as Don Henley and Tony Bennett. In the second and final show, none other than Paul McCartney was flown in as a last-minute surprise guest, singing the old Beatles songs “I Saw Her Standing There” and “Let It Be” with Billy Joel. And so the concerts in Shea Stadium had come full circle.
Just before these concerts, Billy Joel’s second ex-wife had hit the headlines again: The dirty tactics in the divorce proceedings between Christie Brinkley and her fourth husband Peter Cook had reached their climax. They had played right into hands of the American media, which pounced gleefully on the breakdown of the celebrity marriage. There was a great deal of money involved – and scandalous sex tales. Peter Cook had been caught having an affair with an 18-year-old who worked for his architecture firm. In the end he emerged as the loser: The supermodel won custody of their children, whilst he received just a fraction of her fortune.
Steffen Radlmaier and Billy Joel at the Hard Rock Café in New York, 2008 · © Steffen Radlmaier
In October 2008, as more and more bad news came in from Wall Street and the American financial crisis developed into a global economic crisis, the presidential election was reaching its climax. George W Bush’s time in office had long since hit rock bottom, due to the part he had played in starting the Iraq war and bringing the global reputation of the USA to a new low. America was on the brink. The charismatic Democratic candidate Barack Obama was seen as a bringer of new hope during these difficult times – indeed, shortly afterwards he was elected as the first African-American President of the USA.
Many well-known performers, writers, actors and pop stars had supported Obama during the election. Even Billy Joel, who usually steered clear of politics, played several concerts to bring in money for Obama’s campaign. “The Bush era meant eight lost years in which a lot of crap happened.” Just like all Americans, he knew it was high time for political change and wanted to do his bit in making this happen. The most spectacular moment was his joint performance with Bruce Springsteen, his rock collea
gue from New Jersey who was equally passionate about Obama: “He speaks for the America that I’ve been envisaging in my songs for the last 35 years.” The tickets for the concert on October 16th in the New York Hammerstein Ballroom cost between $500 and $10,000. The two superstars took it in turns to perform songs from their repertoires and a few joint numbers, with Joel singing his rendition of “Glory Days” and Springsteen returning the favor with “Allentown”. The presidential candidate was delighted: “What a magical evening!”
At another concert for Obama, Alexa Ray Joel made a surprise guest appearance, sitting down at the piano with her proud father to sing the ballad “Baby Grand”, originally a duet by Billy Joel and Ray Charles.
Shortly afterwards, Billy Joel held another exclusive benefit concert: On October 27th, he and his guests at his “Evening of Questions, Answers and a Little Music” in the New York Hard Rock Cafe celebrated the 30th anniversary of his “Charity Begins At Home” foundation. The majority of the 400 guests had bid for the sought-after entry tickets at auction, with another mini auction held in aid of the foundation.
Billy and the Joels--The American rock star and his German family story Page 22