Shaken arts centre turns to Jesus

Shaken arts centre turns to Jesus

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norman lebrecht

July 30, 2018

The next director of Spain’s Palau de Les Arts de Valencia is to be Jesús Iglesias Noriega, head of the artists department of Dutch National Opera and Ballet. We wish him luck.

The Palau is a hive of political meddling that cannot keep its head forn very long. The last to walk out, in December, was the capable Italian Davide Livermore.

If Jesus cannot save it, the Palau is surely doomed.

 

Comments

  • Carlos says:

    Not a very good headline, Norman. Jesús is a common first name in Spanish-speaking countries. It is not very nice to make jokes with it.

    • Carmen says:

      Yes, it’s exactly how I knew, skimming articles quickly, that this would be about a Spanish orchestra. The name isn’t used as much in other Spanish speaking countries. It’s used overwhelmingly in Spain, esp. for men in a certain age range.

      So for me Norman’s title saved me a lot of time. I’d been waiting to hear about the Valencia appointment and this headline was a good clue.

      I don’t think it’s especially disrespectful, it’s simply a double entendre.

  • Carmen says:

    I think this is a good step forward for Les Artes.

    Valencians (Les Artes is located in the Valencia region of Spain) are extremely insular. I’m sure that they wanted this appointment (and every job opening) to go to a Valencian, even if it meant hiring someone unqualified.

    They did a public “convocatoria” for this position, in the spirit of transparency, since Les Artes is funded by public money.

    I, for one, am pleased to see that the person who won is not a Valencian at all. This Jesus Iglesias Noriega is from the north of Spain, Oviedo, studied in Madrid and has impressive international experience. Maybe, as a Spaniard outside of the Valencian “mafia” he can bring some sensibility to the ignorant and clannish politicians there who wreaked so much destruction on Helga Schmidt.

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