Breaking: Chailly quits Leipzig early

Riccardo Chailly is fining two jobs at La Scala and Lucerne as much as he can handle. So he has asked the city of Leipzig to let him go next summer, a couple of years ahead of schedule. Diplomatic press release follows.

The End of an Era

Riccardo Chailly, the Gewandhauskapellmeister for the past ten years, will end his work with the orchestra in the 2015/2016 season. He will direct his last concerts as the Gewandhauskapellmeister in mid June 2016.

In recognition of the exceptional accomplishments of Riccardo Chailly in furthering the artistic and international reputation of the Gewandhausorchester, Leipzig’s Mayo Burkhard Jung has conceded to the wish of the Gewandhauskapellmeister to end his obligation to the orchestra in June 2016.

Burkhard Jung, Mayor of the City of Leipzig: “The enormous international appeal Riccardo Chailly has developed with the Gewandhausorchester is precious and priceless for the city of Leipzig. I thank Riccardo Chailly for his musical passion he harnessed to lift the orchestra to astounding heights of artistic accomplishment, which has made him an exceptional ambassador for the city of Leipzig.”

During his era, Riccardo Chailly devoted himself to the core repertoire of the Gewandhausorchester and brought the orchestra to new interpretations garnering world-wide attention. In this context he gave the symphonies of Gustav Mahler a special place again in the repertoire of the Gewandhausorchester. Above all, his meticulous study of the sources brought forth interesting new discoveries even with seemingly well-known compositions. Above and beyond this, he led premiere performances of important commissioned compositions for the Gewandhausorchester.

The symphony cycles of Beethoven, Schumann, Brahms, and Mahler as well as the three great oratorios of Johann Sebastian Bach were performed in Germany and abroad and met with great success; these were also released as CD and DVD editions which captured numerous international prizes.

“Riccardo Chailly is always primarily concerned with paying tribute to the thoughts and feelings of the composer and thereby making these accessible for us today. We treasure his exemplary seriousness in the formulation, in the precision of the shape and form, and in his unmistakable intuition for the deeper relationships in the music,” as Tobias Haupt, Chair of the Orchestra Board, states.

During Chailly’s tenure, cooperative ventures in guest performances were founded with the Vienna Musikverein, the Barbican Centre London, and the Cité de la musique Paris (Philharmonie or Salle Pleyel); these performances present music cycles comprising several days of concerts in these three cities.

Gewandhausdirektor Professor Andreas Schulz: “Last but not least, we are indebted to the ten year era of the Gewandhauskapellmeister Riccardo Chailly for confirming andsolidifying the Gewandhausorchester’s top ranking among the world-class orchestras, for impressively expanding the orchestra’s international reputation, and for regaining the orchestra’s reputation as an ensemble for world premiere performances. I am very thankful for these ten years of intensive artistic cooperation.”