Is no one sorry to see maestros go?
mainThree music directors are working out their long farewells.
Valery Gergiev is in his final months with the London Symphony Orchestra. When he announced his switch to the Munich Philharmonic, the public reaction was one of mild irritation, no more. Gergiev has been an absentee landlord in London.
In 2013 Simon Rattle gave the Berlin Philharmonic five years’ notice to find a successor. His wind-down era is acquiring a roseate glow, but no-one then or since has begged him to reconsider.
Alan Gilbert called time on the New York Philharmonic last weekend. Again, barely a twitch of regret from musicians or public.
Russell Platt in the New Yorker reflects soberly on the new short-termism.
And others are starting to wonder: Do maestros really matter so little?
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