Gergiev ends LSO Australia tour, takes other orch to China
mainThe London Symphony Orchestra ended an Australian tour with Valery Gergiev yesterday.
Tomorrow, he’s conducting the Mariinsky orchestra for three nights in Taiwan, followed by two more in Beijing.
Then a weeklong Russian tour and on to Italy. He does not get a night off until December 16.
What kind of music can those audiences expect?
Two hours of work per day, lovely dinner with friends after, maybe a sound check or three, limos, Putin’s jet…yeah, tough life.
What to expect? Performances on autopilot.
The 2015 schedule is even crazier. How and when would he rehearse the Tristan starting 2-March after the Met, Mariinsky and Berlin Phil performances ?
Others (unseen) will do most of the prep, as always, and brand “Gergiev” will take the credit. Sadly most people won’t notice.
This shallow way of working has been going on for years.
How is Gergiev’s grasp of counterpoint?
I’ve seen Gergiev conduct a number of times over the past decade – in Washington, Moscow, Yerevan, and Astana – and most of the concerts (as well as Walkure and Tristan) were exceptional. The only dud was the on in Astana (new hall is just too big). He has an incredible work rate, and usually delivers good value. And I’m saying that as someone truly disturbed by his embrace of Putin.
While he was away, his “home” city did not waste any operatic time in glorifying the Great Savior:
http://www.depo.ua/rus/life/vzryv-mozga-v-pitere-postavili-operu-o-kryme-s-putinym-12072014204500
I have seen him in concert a few times, and the performances were anything but “on autopilot” – quite the contrary, despite the obvious lack of rehearsal time, he never “played it safe”, the performances generally had a improvisatory character, with him not just standing there and beating time, but actively leading the orchestra, taking risks, and the results were generally surprisingly good – certainly not dull, and certainly not on autopilot.
I remember seeing him twice on consecutive nights doing Картинки с выставки with the LA Phil, and both performances were quite different. I talked to a friend in the orchestra and told him how impressed I was how by how closely the orchestra followed him, how much they paid attention to his conducting – and he said “you have to, you never know what he does next…”.