Thomas Dausgaard was given three more years today as chief conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, keeping him there to the middle of 2022.

Dausgard is, in addition, Chief Conductor of the Swedish Chamber Orchestra, Music Director (from next year) and Principal Guest Conductor of the Seattle Symphony, Honorary Conductor of the Orchestra della Toscana (ORT), and Honorary Conductor of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra.

 

Our string quartet diarist Anthea Kreston covers Berlin wall to Wall:

As with all of our intense rehearsal periods, our final rehearsals are bursting with last-minute requests. Thoughts which have come to one or another of us while asleep, during our busy days, in snippets of remembered lessons with our teachers during our formative years, or simply by divine (or earthly) intervention. The pressure of gigantic venues, and presenting this somewhat radical program – two of Mozart’s late “Haydn” quartets (590 and Dissonance) surrounding the brooding and second Viennese-ey Bartók 2 – in venues from Paris to Vienna to London, and then on to Asia and the US – add a sense of urgency, of responsibility to our forefathers and our expectant audience. We don’t simply play for the moment – we play for the past, the present, and the future.

The challenge – to somehow contain and tame the tangle of ideas, emotions and desires – to bring together under one roof all the experiences of these four road-wearied and hardened artists – this is exhilarating – and because it is nearly impossible, the results are electric, at least from my place from within this undulating, swirling, miniature universe.

I leave home early in the mornings – the lunches are packed, gloves and hats on – the girls dropped at school, my canning-jar of hot tea wrapped and put in my bag, and here I am, on my way to Potsdamer Platz. From there I normally bypass the next connection, preferring to get a brisk walk on my way to the Musical Kindergarten – nestled in a modern high-rise in the bustling center of East Berlin.

This is Daniel Barenboim’s idea, spontaneously proposed on tour several years ago – and what has grown from this idea is magic. He has offered us a wonderful rehearsal space in this place – begun as a way to offer “education by and with music” to the children of his musicians in the Staatskapelle. His enthusiasm and vision brought this place into realization – a public school for ages 1-6 – where dedicated teachers and staff have designed an environment to create what he calls “a revolution from below” – building educational bridges through music which tie together the rich history of our musical past and future.

Regular visits by Barenboim and other top-flight musicians enrich this environment, and there are often small groups of children of varied ages sitting on mats, listening to our rehearsals. During snack time, the door to the eating area is left open, and we can hear the clink of miniature spoons and cups as we continue to search for our Quartet truth, working in detail as tiny attentive ears observe us.

Our rehearsal times are split between this space and our office at the University of the Arts in the heart of West Berlin – just off the sparkle and ritz of Kurfürstendamm – the 5th Avenue of West Berlin. Here we have the opportunity to mix with our colleagues and our college students. Between these two environments, between East and West, children and experience, my world is constantly shifting. These are the things that create balance, keep me in reality.

My battery is running low now, my hands nearly frozen as I finish typing with thumbs on my iPhone – I see the Kindergarten up ahead, in the morning fog. To my left is Checkpoint Charlie, and up ahead is the glorious Gendarmenmarkt, and behind is Potsdamer Platz and the home of the Berlin Philharmonic. And my home is behind us, too – our cosy home nestled in the woods, just outside of the city limits, within sight of the remnants of the Wall.

 

Read Anthea every Friday on Slipped Disc.

The family of Pierre Pincemaille have announced his death today.

Pincemaille was organist at St Denis and a professor at the Conservatoire national de Paris. A formidable improviser, he recorded the complete works of Duruflé and Franck and the 10 symphonies of Widor.

The struggling London orchestra was the last in the world this week to cut its ties with Charles Dutoit after the Swiss conductor was accused of multiple acts of sexual misconduct, which he denies.

The reason the RPO was behind the beat is because it desperately needs a flagship conductor with international name recognition, and they are getting harder and harder to find.

Without Dutoit, the RPO will find it harder to book the world tours it needs to stay alive.

So what will it do next?

Probably offer the post to Pinchas Zukerman, its principal guest conductor who’s coming free in Ottawa.

Failing that, the rest of its season features the Israeli Ilan Volkov and the Venezuelan Rafael Payaré (pictured with wife Alisa Weilerstein). Both have experience with UK orchestras. And that’s about it for headline acts.

The one sound the RPO cannot afford to make at this stage is that of a barrel being scraped.

 

The gentlest, least political of conductors will reach an age he never expected to see this weekend.

Mariss’s father, Arvid, died at 70 of a heart attack while conducting in Britain.

Mariss suffered a near-death experience of the same disease in Oslo in 1996, when he was 53.

Since then, he has gone on to direct the Pittsburgh Symphony, Concertgebouw and Bavarian Radio.

He is the supreme master of the perfect encore.

Alone among conductors, he hasn’t an enemy in the world.

Happy birthday, dear Mariss.

 

And an incredible Mahlerian.


No, it’s not a post-Brexit lifeboat for desperate RPO players.

It’s just a very jolly orchestra that plays in Bad Homburg.

Brainchild of conductor Marius Beckmann, das BGPO describes itself as ‘ein selbständiges Ensemble nach englischem Vorbild!’

Be that as it Theresa May, the opening concert is quite a charmer.

George Dyson! When did we last hear the likes of that?

See you down the Tabard Inn.

 

The Swiss conductor has issued a statement overnight contesting an Associated Press report in which he was accused by six women of sexual aggression and by one of them of rape.

Dutoit, 81, said: ‘I am shaken to the core by this bewildering and baseless charge. To this, I submit my categorical and complete denial.’

He added that he was ‘appalled and sickened’ to be accused ‘of the heinous crime of rape.’

Alex Klein was a Grammy-winning oboe player when he was diagnosed with focal dystonia, a neurological condition that affects the finger muscles.

After struggling on for four years, he resigned from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 2004, crashed out on his parents’ couch and slowly, slowly began to rebuild his life.

In 2016, he won his Chicago seat back as principal oboe. It seemed to be a triumph of mind over malady.

A year later, he was refused tenure.

Here, for the first time on screen, Alex explains how he coped with disaster, triumph and identity crisis. ‘I was only sleeping two hours a night…. It’s like part of me really did die.’

It’s a harrowing story, with a powerful message for us all.

Watch.

The young Czech conductor Jiří Rožeň has been signed by HarrisonParrott.

Rožeň, 26, is assistant to Thomas Dausgaard and Donald Runnicles at the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.