The international conducting competition at Besancon, a once-important event that has fallen off the radar, has a Frenchman in the last three:
Victor Jacob, 28
Haoran Li, 33 (China)
Nodoka Okisawa, 32 (Japan)
The final is on Saturday.
Jacob is assistant conductor at Chorégies d’Orange.
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Ben Glassberg, the last winner, is extremely impressive.
No objection from me to this event “falling off the radar.” Any “conducting competition” is an inherently silly and unwarranted endeavor.
I would be very happy with all music competitions dissapeared. I think it was Bartok who said “competitions are for horses, not for artists”. There.
But what other system would you devise so that comparatively unknown musicians can be seen by those who hire soloists or conductors?
Prestigious jury (not).
Not sure how any player can follow him when he’s standing behind those sunglasses.
Fantastic!
All the 3 finalists are very skilled, young conductors. I knew about each of them before, and it’s no surprise to me they are the finalists.
I predict Mr.Li will be the winner.
Also, I’m suprised Norman didn’t point this out, the Japanese contestant is a woman.
The picture of Jacob in sunglasses was taken at an outdoor, day-time concert in the midst of summer.
Also I strongly disagree with ‘Anson’ that conducting competitions are a silly endeavour. They are no less silly than any instrumental competition.