Maestro’s reluctant move: Germans tell US music director he can go

Maestro’s reluctant move: Germans tell US music director he can go

main

norman lebrecht

May 07, 2017

The city of Aachen has told music director Kazim Abdullah he can leave in July.

Abdullah, 38, is just two years into a five-year contract.

He says he is ‘bitterly disappointed’.

But 18 months ago he told the orchestra he didn’t want to stay beyond July 2017.

So there appear to be two parallel narratives.

A bit like the EU and Theresa May.

Comments

  • Alexander says:

    “So there appear to be two parallel narratives” …. cultural diversity in action 😉

  • Chris says:

    That is actually not correct. His 5 year contract simply ends this year and they did not offer him to stay longer although he wanted to. It’s not that he got fired earlier. 18 month ago it was just said that he leaves on his own wish. Just now came out that this version of the story was not true. The city of Aachen told him that they won’t prolong his contract and to “protect him” they recommended to officially claim that he leaves on his own wish. Interestingly the reasons for not renewing the contract were not his numbers, bad reviews or musical capabilities which was all very good also according to the orchestra and others who were responsible for not renewing his contract. Apparently the orchestra complained about communication problems….”the conductor does not communicate with them enough outside the rehearsals and performances”……..interesting that it’s not enough to do the job good that someone has hired you for. In addition you also need to be a friend of everybody in these organizations. The question remains what is more important about being a MUSIC director?

  • Frank Jaeger says:

    Thanks Chris for your clarification, which I can wholly confirm from what I know about the matter. Oddly enough my post as of May 8th never made it through the “moderation”, because I not only pointed out the obvious error in the text but also critiziced the inappropriate headline “Germans tell US music director he can go”. It is so lurid and also plays with stereotypes I despise…

    Truth is, that Kazem Abdullah was a very warmly received, highly respected and most successful GMD in his five years in Aachen.I am looking forward to attend his farewell production of “Ariadne auf Naxos”.

  • MOST READ TODAY: