Leading UK conductor becomes Swedish on Brexit day

Leading UK conductor becomes Swedish on Brexit day

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norman lebrecht

January 31, 2020

Andrew Manze has told a Hamburg newspaper that he has taken Swedish citizenship today in order to stay in the EU. He says his trust in democracy has been shaken.

Manze, 54, has his main home in Stockholm.

He’s a contender for the music director vacancy in Liverpool.

 

Comments

  • pageturrner says:

    This is one conductor I want to hear more from, both on and off the podium.

    • Ingeborg Baumann says:

      yes, he is really good and exciting. Just checked, he will stay with the NDR Radiophilharmonie until 2023. Very glad about that.

    • jsot1988 says:

      Try any of his recordings playing baroque violin in Harmonia Mundi. 😉 He’s one of the must go to!

  • Well done! Life in Stockholm is sweeter

  • Save the MET says:

    Well as long as you like your Summer days really long and your Winter days really short.

  • Gustavo says:

    He can go out with Alan Gilbert to celebrate life in Europe.

  • Mathias Broucek says:

    While there are good arguments against Brexit (I voted Remain myself), it’s not clear why his faith in democracy should have been shaken just because the majority voted a different way. Does he think there’s a superior alternative to democracy?

    Excellent musician, however….

  • Harold Clarkson says:

    Norman,that’s a Hannover newspaper,not Hamburg

  • Adrienne says:

    ‘He says his trust in democracy has been shaken.’

    Yes, isn’t it irritating when little people don’t do as they’re told?

    • Larry D says:

      It’s even more irritating when little people are uninformed bigots.

      • Ellingtonia says:

        And you of course, are a knowledgeable, informed tosser who has no understanding of the word “democracy” or the fact that many of us “little people” are professionals, who have worked for over 50 years and have some knowledge / experience of the real world. We are not racist, xenophobes or bigots, we are just ordinary working class people exercising our democratic rights………..now explain to me which part of that you don’t like or agree with. And remember, just because I disagree with you, doesn’t mean that I am wrong!

  • Pianofortissimo says:

    Is he paying taxes in Sweden?

    • Max Grimm says:

      Ostensibly yes, as he and his Swedish wife (she’s a concertmaster of the Royal Swedish Orchestra) have lived there for the last 14+ years.

  • IC225 says:

    Presumably he’s taken dual nationality. His wife is Swedish. He’s been living in Stockholm for years, something that I can imagine might be affordable if you’re making maestro money.

  • Sue Sonata Form says:

    It’s his democratic right; surely he now needs to respect the same democratic right exercised by millions of others.

  • Mustafa Kandan says:

    Australia is the only country that I know where democracy always produces prudent results. Perhaps it is the compulsory voting system that makes this possible.The populists & radicals of any persuasion do not stand a chance here.

  • How does the tax situation work out in a case like this?

  • paul says:

    Good on you, sir!

  • Schwalde says:

    “He says his trust in democracy has been shaken.”

    I know. How can you trust in democracy when something as antidemocratic as a referendum is respected.

    • Ellingtonia says:

      “He says his trust in democracy has been shaken.”…….the interpretation of this is “the vote didn’t go the way I wanted it to, so I am going to sulk and throw my toys out of the pram”. I think its what very young children do when they can’t get their own way!

  • christopher storey says:

    I can understand his practical reasons for doing so . However, faith in democracy shaken ? What an utter pillock

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