Conductor cancels three weeks. Player power takes over.
mainThomas Zehetmair is tired. His doctor says the German violinist and conductor is suffering from ‘exhaustion and fatigue’ and has forbidden him to travel until he recovers.
That leaves St Paul, Minnesota, in a hole. Zehetmair was meant to be conducting and performing three weekends of Britten and Haydn with the SP Chamber Orchestra. Versatile replacements don’t grow on trees in the Midwest, especially at short notice.
So the players too matters in hand. Members of the orchestra will soliloquize and direct the performances. Read here.
Who needs maestros, anyway?
Ahem. Calling Zehetmair a conductor is a tide overstretched. As far as ‘exhaustion and fatigue’ is concerned, there is a rather plausible explanation: the continuous strain of taking on projects that require the talent you actually don’t have inevitably leads to stress and if you so wish -exhaustion.
Who needs Zehetmair anyway?
I definitely need his wonderful recordings as a violinist.