As we reported at the weekend, Tugan Sokhiev has accepted the poisoned chalice. He will sooner or later have to give up one of his other jobs, in Toulouse or Berlin.

Sokhiev, 36, is a gifted musician who became music director at Welsh National Opera too soon, at 24, and has spent time recovering from that precocious mismatch. He is one of those who divides opinion in orchestras between passionate admirers and stony-faced sceptics.

The Bolshoi is desperately in need of clear-sighted musical leadership.

His agent’s press release follows:

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We are pleased to announce that Russian conductor Tugan Sokhiev has been appointed the new Music Director and Chief Conductor of the Bolshoi Theatre with immediate effect for an initial term of four years. The announcement was made this morning by Mr Vladimir Urin, General Director of the Bolshoi Theatre, at a press conference in Moscow. Mr Sokhiev, 36, succeeds Vassily Sinaisky and will also continue as Music Director of both Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse (ONCT) and Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester (DSO) Berlin.
“I have had the opportunity to hear Maestro Sokhiev on numerous occasions,” said Mr Urin, “… conducting opera at the Mariinsky Theatre and in symphonic programmes both with ONCT and the Philharmonia Orchestra. To my mind he is a highly gifted musician […] I was also struck by his willingness and passion to build a Musical Theatre according to his belief of what should it be today. As a result of our intensive discussions, I was delighted to conclude that despite our considerable age gap we share a similar vision. All of this was instrumental in guiding my decision to invite Maestro Tugan Sokhiev to take the position of Musical Director and Chief Conductor of the Bolshoi Theatre–and we are thrilled to welcome him.”
Mr Sokhiev commented: “I am delighted to become Music Director and Chief Conductor of the Bolshoi Theatre–one of the highest honours for any conductor. The Bolshoi has such a rich heritage and is one of the most prestigious Theatres in the world. Together with my ongoing plans with my orchestras in Toulouse and Berlin, I look forward to working with my new colleagues in Moscow and to many wonderful music experiences in the years to come.”
Alongside his new commitments at the Bolshoi, forthcoming highlights include his debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Boris Godunov in concert at Salle Pleyel in Paris with ONCT and concerts with DSO Berlin at the Musikverein, as well as returning to both the Berliner Philharmoniker and Philharmonia Orchestra.

 

Shortly before Christmas, Claudio Abbado returned home to die. After being given months to live with a stomach cancer diagnosis 15 years ago, he had outlasted all medical predictions ma y times over and enjoyed a golden autumn of indelible performances with the musicians he loved most, chiefly at the Lucerne Festival where he obtained the rehearsal conditions and affection he had longed for all his life.

In his final months he was named a Life Senator of the Italian Parliament. Typically, he gave away the salary to music education.

The loss of Abbado is irreparable.

He achieved the highest summit of music in Europe – artistic director of La Scala, the Vienna State Opera, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Berlin Phlharmonic – and stamped each of them with a facet of his principled personality. he was known for leaving jobs early on a point of musical principle. He was, in fact, the first music director of the Berlin Philharmonic to leave the post alive.

Much can and will be said about the quality of his music making.

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At this moment, I want to remember Abbado the man: stubborn, inspirational, shy and with a smile that could melt glaciers. He was a maestro of the one-liner. Once, we were sitting in his favourite Italian restaurant in London and he saw on the menu gnocchi (potato pasta) with nettles. His face lit up and he began recalling his life in hiding during the Second World War. His mother would send him out with heavy gloves to pick nettles which she cooked with the gnocchi.

‘And we would eat it as a delicacy,’ he confided. ‘Sometimes,’ he added, ‘with a little cat.’

 

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And then he collapsed in giggles at our mortification. He loved to laugh at his own jokes.