Dresden reject is ‘in line’ for BBC Proms
mainWe’ve had a tip-off from Lyon that Serge Dorny has been shortlisted for the vacancy of BBC Proms chief.
The Belgian, who was sacked last year by the Semper Oper in Dresden before he could take up the job, has a history of talking up his chances for posts across the music world, so we need to take this tip with a chunk of salt. It may be no more than self-puffery.
However, Dorny has form in the UK as a past head of the London Philharmonic Orchestra. He may have a few locals who are pushing his name for the Proms. He is unsettled at Lyon Opera and has chameleon qualities that may play well with the present characterless administration at the BBC.
On the other hand, the BBC job will pay less than half of his Lyon salary.
No date has been set for announcing a new Proms boss. The job has been vacant since Roger Wright left last June.
UPDATE: Dorny, in London this week, has denied being in the running for the BBC Proms job. The pay is too poor.
It should be Ed Blakeman who was Wright’s second-in-command and therefore knows the job from the inside out.
It is not exactly a career step upward, to move from an all year directorship of a big opera house to directorship of a popular summer concert festival, is it?
Meanwhile the Sunday Times is reporting that Marin Alsop will be in charge of this year’s last night again. Which invites the questions – why is Oramo not doing it, as BBCSO chief. If not him, why Marin again (2013) when there are lots of other conductors of both sexes to choose from. Or, if the BBC is now practising some perverse crowd leasing political agenda of having a woman, why not one of several other talented possibilities?
Quite right. There is definitely a political agenda.
Was the same question asked about those male conductors who appeared more than once at the Last Night including:-
Colin Davis
Norman del Mar
Charles Groves
James Loughran
Andrew Davies
Jiri Belohlavek
or do we have a different set of criteria for female conductors?
Could it just be that she was an outstanding success on the Last Night in 2013 and the BBC thought it might be nice to invite her back.
I concur that it would have perhaps been nice to invite another woman to participate and it would have been very interesting to see what someone like Susanna Malkki made of the evening.
The last night has been conducted by someone other than the chief conductor of the BBCSO, in the last 20 years, in 1993, 2000, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2011 & 2013. All of these were single invitations, not repeated. Of course some were elsewhere in the season too, but I’m writing specifically about the last night.
Therefore I stand by my original question. With so many conductors to choose from, why is Alsop doing it again. Her re-invitation to the last night would appear to go against recent ‘form’. So yes, the question is perfectly valid even if she was not a woman, but the added component is, because she is a woman, the question of the BBC playing politics having made so much of a fuss of her appointment to the 2013 concert.
Speaking of women conductors, I personally would rather like seeing a baroque flavored Last Night under Emmanuelle Haïm for example.
I read lots about Alondra de la Parra, is she ready to take on the role after Marin Alsop?
Without commenting on Mrs. Alsop’s merits, I will say that Colin Davis, Norman del Mar, Charles Groves, James Loughran, Andrew Davis and Jiří Bělohlávek were chief conductors of one of the BBC’s orchestras. Mrs. Alsop thus far has not been.
Meant as a reply to the comment posted by “Ellingtonia”.
Marin Alsop did it too recently. I have no problem with her whatsoever; she’s a very decent musician, but I would rather see her back in two or three years. I’d personally like to see V Jurowski do it. He’s been at the centre of British classical music for more than a decade, and is a real talent.
Unlike Alsop
Maybe because she’s a great all-rounder, and thats important for the last night? Someone who has popular appeal and is a good speaker?
Dorny would be an interesting choice for the proms job, perhaps even a good one.