Where’s Runnicles? Staying put

Where’s Runnicles? Staying put

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norman lebrecht

December 07, 2016

The Scottish conductor Donald Runnicles has renewed his contract as Generalmusikdirektor of the Deutsche Oper Berlin for six more years, taking him to 2022. He’ll be 68 by then.

runnicles

Runnicles retired this year as chief conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.

Comments

  • Olassus says:

    Overrated.

    Lots of better (younger) talents are around, if only the Intendants were doing their jobs — but most are lazy and ignorant and find it easier to keep the status quo.

  • Pedro says:

    He is a very good Strauss and Wagner conductor, judging from performances of Rosenkavalier and Tristan I attended in NY and Berlin.p

  • Peter Phillips says:

    …….and a splendid orchestral conductor. He did a tremendous Mahler 9 at the Proms a couple of years ago. There is also an amazing Elgar 1 on the Berlin Phil website.

  • RW2013 says:

    Schade.
    Would have been a good time to move on…

    • Patrick John Gordon Shaw says:

      If you were working for such an outstandingly innovative, outstretching company as the Deutsche Oper, as I have done, you might understand his decision to continue in Berlin!

      • RW2013 says:

        Your opinion. If you consider the recent Entführung (speak to the singers!), scandalously bad studio productions (Gianni!), too many performances conducted by inexperienced assistants, playing Salome to practically empty houses, the plague of first-time opera directors etc. “innovative” then bitte schön.
        The DOB is long since off the radar of many Berliners.

        • Stefan Treddel says:

          Innovative? There is nothing innovative going on at Deutsche Oper. And getting a conductor who cares and would bring the orchestra to a consistently high level would have been the right move. But instead they settle for mediocre… Shame!

  • Karl says:

    An outstanding conductor who holds his own in Berlin among the likes of Barenboim, Rattle, Fischer, Janowski. Better young talents around ? Easier claimed than found. It is great to see that not only the audiences and orchestra, but also the DOB managment appreciates him.

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