The two largest London agencies are hoovering up women conductors.

Askonas Holt today signed Corinna Niemeyer, assistant conductor of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra.

A protégée of Francois-Xavier Roth, she has been conductor of the University of Strasbourg orchestra and was appointed six months ago assistant to Lahav Shani in Rotterdam.

Not many assistant conductors get snapped up this fast.

Joshua Weilerstein, artisti director of the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, lives in London and can see the changes that Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party has permitted in its attitude to one particular minority. Here’s his impression:

I’ve lived in the UK now for one year. A year in which the occurrence of Anti-Semitic hate crimes rose by 16%. Not entirely coincidentally, it was a year where the leader of one of the two major political parties refused again and again to condemn openly anti-Semitic statements from within his own party.

Don’t forget that the Jewish people in your life are a minority as well. Don’t forget that we live with our own traumas, having been chased around the world for 2000 years and nearly annihilated just 75 years ago. It often starts with tropes and stereotypes about Jews and money.

I have no love for the Israeli government and I’m hoping against hope that the election this April will end the reign of Netanyahu. The Israeli government, AIPAC, and the cynical use of Israel by the religious right in the US is all open for criticism, but please notice when that criticism slips into anti-semitism, whether intentional or not.

Over the last few years, a remarkable transformation has taken place where the voices of minorities are being heard in a way that they haven’t in decades. Everyone has been challenged to listen, to learn, and to understand the perspectives and traumas that minority groups live with every day. Don’t forget that Jewish people live with traumas as well, and please listen if they tell you that anti-Semitism is anti-Semitism.

Obviously Jews don’t speak as a bloc – and I bet there will be many disagreements with specific instances where anti-Semitism has been alleged. And too often, ANY criticism of the Israeli government is immediately accused of being anti-Semitic, which is obviously not the case. But language matters, and if anti-Semitic dogwhistles and tropes are mainstreamed, then we are in big trouble, with no chance of moving forward and finding solutions together.

The Lucerne Festival Strings have received on loan the c.1680 ‘Sellière’ Stradivarius, played by the Austrian virtuosos Wolfgang Schneiderhan from about 1934 until 1979. The instrument has not been heard in public for 40 years.

Schneiderhan, concertmaster of the Vienna Philharmonic from 1937 to 1951, was a prolific soloist on Deutsche Grammophon, recording the 10 Beethoven sonatas with his friend Wilhelm Kempff. He was also a founder of Lucerne Festival Strings.

 

We hear that Birmingham’s Lithuanian conductor Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla has turned down an offer to succeed Kent Nagano at the Montreal Symphony Orchestra.

That leaves two Francophones in the main frame: Alain Altinoglu and Francois Xavier Roth.

Also on the shortlist are Vasily Petrenko and Rafael Payare.

 

Jonas Kaufmann in a concert of arias with Kate Aldrich and conductor Jochen Rieder at the Alte Oper, Frankfurt, this weekend (photo: Pro Arte)

She’s saying,

(a) are you wearing torn pants again?

(b)  wtf’s your excuse?

(c) all I want is to hold hands…. is that too much to ask?

And his response?

Your call…

Ferocious criticisms of the hall’s acoustics, after audience members protested that they could not hear Jonas Kaufmann, have drawn a bunker-mentality response from embattled Intendant Christoph Lieben-Seutter:

‘The arguments are well-known and do not change the fact that in the Elbphilharmonie excellent concerts take place that leave no wish unfulfilled. A serious examination of the subject would indicate that the auditory impression on backstage venues in any hall in the world is compromised when a singer sings in front of a large orchestra. Why so many halls are built in this layout is worth considering. Remote diagnostics and reports which refer to the opening concerts about 800 concerts later are unfortunately just as irrelevant as the opinion of the experts Müller and Stephenson.

‘As for the opinions of conductors, we recommend names like Valery Gergiev, Mariss Jansons, Andris Nelson, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Paavo Järvi and many others. The Great Hall of the Elbphilharmonie is a unique, fascinating space that thrills audiences and artists alike. It comes with an exceptional acoustic, which takes getting used to for some musicians. For this he rewards his “conquest” with fantastic, intense concert experiences. We are happy with the hall as it is.’

Die Argumente sind altbekannt und ändern nichts an der Tatsache, dass in der Elbphilharmonie am laufenden Band ausgezeichnete Konzerte stattfinden, die akustisch keinen Wunsch offen lassen. Eine seriöse Auseinandersetzung mit dem Thema würde darauf hinweisen, dass der Höreindruck auf Plätzen hinter der Bühne in jedem Saal der Welt beeinträchtigt ist, wenn ein Sänger vor einem großem Orchester singt. Warum trotzdem so viele Säle in diesem Layout gebaut werden, wäre dann eine Betrachtung wert. Ferndiagnosen und Berichte, die sich rund 800 Konzerte später immer noch ausschließlich auf die Eröffnungskonzerte beziehen, sind leider ebenso wenig relevant wie die Meinung der Experten Müller und Stephenson, die sich seit zwölf Jahren an der Elbphilharmonie abarbeiten und sich für befangen erklären müssten.

‘Und was die Meinungen von Dirigenten betrifft, empfehlen wir Namen wie Valery Gergiev, Mariss Jansons, Andris Nelsons, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Paavo Järvi und viele andere. Der Große Saal der Elbphilharmonie ist ein einzigartiger, faszinierender Raum, der Publikum wie Künstler begeistert. Er kommt mit einer außergewöhnlichen Akustik, die für manche Musiker gewöhnungsbedürftig ist. Dafür belohnt er seine „Eroberung“ mit phantastischen, intensiven Konzerterlebnissen. Wir sind mit dem Saal glücklich, so wie er ist.’

See also: Kaufmann: I may not sing there again

Terry Teachout has dug out this wonderful Peter Brook conversation with Sir Thomas.

Watch at 08.30