Ron Della Chiesa: A man for all seasons
September 23, 2020
by Marilyn Brooks
BOLLI’s fall 2020 Distinguished Speakers Series opened on September 11 with an outstanding choice — Boston favorite Ron Della Chiesa. Ron’s radio career is legendary — as host of Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) performances, BSO summer concerts from Tanglewood, Music America from the mid ‘70s to the early ‘80s, and his Sunday night Strictly Sinatra program on WPLM.
A native of Quincy and a graduate of Quincy High School and Boston University, Ron credits his late father for instilling in him a love of symphonic music and opera via the phonograph, radio, and many visits to Symphony Hall. He says he will never forget his first visit. Ron and his father were seated in the rear of the second balcony, and the final piece was Hector Berlioz’s March to the Scaffold from the Symphonie Fantastique. “I was hooked right away,” he told BOLLI’s virtual audience. He considers his role as BSO announcer “the highlight of my career.”
Ron’s knowledge of many types of music, not only classical but opera and jazz as well, is encyclopedic. He is an admirer of Richard Wagner, in particular The Ring Cycle, and said that there is not a European composer who does not owe a huge debt of gratitude to him. When commenting on the Cycle’s relevance today, he noted that with its sixteen hours of corruption, theft, and death, “if it isn’t timely, I don’t know what is.”
During his storied career Ron had the good fortune to meet many of the celebrities he admired. He spoke of the first time he heard Luciano Pavarotti. Ron was driving and became so overwhelmed by the beauty of the tenor’s voice singing Una Furtiva Lagrima that he had to pull over to listen. He later added Pavarotti to the list of classical and operatic stars he interviewed, including two of Boston’s own: Sarah Caldwell, “a genius,” and Arthur Fiedler, who he believes did more than anyone else to introduce classical music to a wider audience.
Jazz is another genre that delights Ron. He mentioned several meetings with the great pianist Teddy Wilson, taking him to Symphony Hall once to hear Vladimir Horowitz. “Sitting next to Teddy and listening to Horowitz, how lucky can a guy get?” Dizzy Gillespie, one of the first exponents of be-bop (with Charlie Parker), was a friend who appeared many times on Music America. Ron said that another frequent guest, Tony Bennett, was described by Frank Sinatra as “the best singer in the business,” and that Bennett has given his life to the Great American Songbook.
In response to a question from the Zoom audience, Ron said that his idea of the perfect concert would be Arturo Toscanini conducting “La Boheme” with the NBC Orchestra.
Ron told the audience that to get through this difficult time he watches Turner Classic Movies, enjoying the Golden Age of Cinema, and walks two to three miles a day while listening to classical music – talking with people he meets along the way, always socially-distanced, of course.
BOLLI was fortunate to have Ron Della Chiesa, truly a man for all seasons, on hand to kick off our fall semester.