Maestro woes: Timpanist takes over from two sick conductors
mainThe Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France should have been conducted this week by French whizzkid Lionel Bringuier, music director at Zurich’s Tonhalle. But he fell sick. So incoming music director Mikko Franck offered to step in.
Then he fell sick.
Step up orchestra timpanist Adrien Perruchon. He has been studying quietly with Esa-Pekka Salonen, François-Xavier Roth and Alain Altinoglu.
This exemplifies the simple fact that wizzkids make not necessarily better conductors than an average orchestra musician. One needs to bring something more to musical performance in order to be called a conductor.
Did this article say that whizzkids make better conductors? It didn’t say a word about the quality of Mr. Perruchon’s conducting.
A tympanist is not an average orchestral musician.
Adrien is a professional musician, and fully grown man!
Having worked with him, I can confirm he’s is a fabulous musician, and lovely human being, for whom percussion is only “one” of his instruments, and clearly only one of his talents!
It doesn’t surprise me at all that he can conduct, and given his teachers, has had excellent teaching.
I would expect he would be excellent, after all its not the sort of thing you get up and do in front of your colleagues unless you actually can!
His percussion section colleagues must be wondering where he’s got to…
LOL. Well played, viola girl.