Maestro performs 3 times in 24 hours (beat that, Gergiev)
mainHe thought Zurich was going to be an easy gig.
The French conductor Alain Altinoglu was booked to conduct a contemporary opera by Christian Jost at the Zurich Opera on Saturday night. With a fairly relaxed schedule, he thought nothing of adding a little chamber music recital on Sunday morning with a few friends from the opera orchestra.
In mid-recital, he was asked to step in for Mahler 6th on Sunday night as Mikko Franck had fallen sick.
No time for rest, reflection or rehearsal. Just a quick run-through of the tricky bits in the afternoon.
At 7.30pm, unnanounced on the website, Alain was back on the podium, driving Mahler 6 without Satnav. It went pretty well, we hear.
‘La vie est cool,’ he messaged this morning.
Wonder what he’s doing tonight.
UPDATE: Oops… Gergiev just beat him.
Congrats! However, you should remember that Gergiev is 61 and, yes, he could beat this 39 year old.
Well, it’s actually not 3, but 4 performances that Alain Altinoglu performed over the 3 last days : two chamber music concerts, one opera and Mahler 6;-)