Conductors Play Musical Chairs

Conductors Play Musical Chairs
▪ 2004

      In recent years conductors have increasingly become the musical equivalents of professional athletes, parlaying their high-profile public personas and singular skills in a market that is driven by professional excellence and name value. Given that, 2003 was a particularly busy year for conductors, many of whom played their own version of musical chairs at orchestras across the world.

      One of the most prominent conductors, Mariss Jansons (see Biographies (Jansons, Mariss )), made his debut as the new music director of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra at a concert in Munich (Ger.) in October. Jansons, who planned to leave the Pittsburgh (Pa.) Symphony at the end of the 2003–04 season after having taken that orchestra to new critical heights, was also named principal conductor of Amsterdam's Concertgebouw, where he would take over in 2004.

      Among those making debuts at the helm of their new orchestras in 2003 were Yakov Kreizberg with the Vienna Symphony, Osmo Vänskä with the Minnesota Orchestra, and Leon Botstein with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra. Composer-songwriter Marvin Hamlisch debuted as the principal pops conductor of the Buffalo (N.Y.) Philharmonic Orchestra during the summer, and Claudio Abbado led a new version of the Lucerne (Switz.) Festival Orchestra in August. Abbado re-created the orchestra, which had been founded by the legendary Arturo Toscanini in 1938 and disbanded in 1993.

      Other conductors signed contracts during the year that called for them to assume their new posts in 2004. Those included Marek Janowski, who was to take over as the music director of the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande; Andrey Boreyko, who was to become the principal conductor of the Hamburg (Ger.) Symphony; and Edo de Waart, who would take the helm at the Hong Kong Philharmonic. Also in 2004, Christian Thielemann would succeed James Levine as chief conductor of the Munich Philharmonic when the latter left to become the music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

      As the year closed, so too did the tenure of Simone Young at Opera Australia. Young's contract was not extended following an acrimonious dispute during which both sides finally agreed that the company could not afford her artistic vision. She was subsequently named the next director of the Hamburg State Opera. Young would be succeeded by British conductor Richard Hickox, who was also the principal conductor of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and music director of the City of London Sinfonia.

      Other agreements concluded in 2003 would also yield results on the horizon. Riccardo Chailly was slated to become the music director of the Leipzig (Ger.) Gewandhaus Orchestra and Leipzig Opera in 2005; and that same year, Ingo Metzmacher would take over as chief conductor of the Netherlands Opera. Kent Nagano, who had become a mainstay of Berlin's music scene as chief conductor and artistic director of the city's Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester, was set to become the general music director of Germany's Bavarian State Opera in 2006.

Harry Sumrall

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • performing arts — arts or skills that require public performance, as acting, singing, or dancing. [1945 50] * * * ▪ 2009 Introduction Music Classical.       The last vestiges of the Cold War seemed to thaw for a moment on Feb. 26, 2008, when the unfamiliar strains …   Universalium

  • David Campbell (composer) — David Campbell Background information Birth name David Richard Campbell Born February 7, 1948 ( …   Wikipedia

  • CULTURAL LIFE — Introduction The movement for the return to Zion which emerged as a force at the end of the 19th century was based on a variety of motivations, including the political – the demand for an independent homeland where the Jews could forge their own… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • UNITED STATES OF AMERICA — UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, country in N. America. This article is arranged according to the following outline: introduction Colonial Era, 1654–1776 Early National Period, 1776–1820 German Jewish Period, 1820–1880 East European Jewish Period,… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • New York Philharmonic — Origin New York, New York, United States Genres Classical Occupations Symphony orchestra Years active 1842 present …   Wikipedia

  • NEW YORK CITY — NEW YORK CITY, foremost city of the Western Hemisphere and largest urban Jewish community in history; pop. 7,771,730 (1970), est. Jewish pop. 1,836,000 (1968); metropolitan area 11,448,480 (1970), metropolitan area Jewish (1968), 2,381,000… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Edinburgh — For other uses, see Edinburgh (disambiguation). City of Edinburgh Scottish Gaelic: Dùn Èideann Scots: Edinburgh   Unitary Authority City   City of Edinburgh …   Wikipedia

  • GERMANY — GERMANY, country in north central Europe. The Talmud and the Midrash use Germania (or Germamia ) as a designation for northern European countries, and also refer to the military prowess of these peoples and to the threat they posed to the Roman… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras — The Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras, formerly known as the Greater Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras, changed its name in March 2007. The Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras (BYSO) is an organization comprising four orchestras, a chamber music… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”