The US conductor John Axelrod has switched his general management to Interartists Amsterdam.
Axelrod, 53, previously had an assortment of managements in different territories.
He is the former music director in Seville.
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He can switch agencies all he likes, but he’ll always remain a pretentious mediocrity detested by most orchestras.
Understatement…
Concertmaster? Really? And which orchestras? This seems to just be a provocation. Maybe you and a few others are the ones with the problem. I recall a concertmaster who was so bad that he could only blame conductors for his own mistakes and is the one detested by his colleagues. Maybe that is you? I’ve played with Axelrod many times and it is always a delight to make music with him. My orchestra loves him. Im sure this will invite the predictable slippedisc slander in response, but I would beg to differ.
Which orchestras detest him: Lucerne, Sevilla, every orchestra in France, every orchestra in Italy (just to name a few)
Apparently Rob you’ve been an avid follower since you know where he’s conducted and maybe he just didn’t give you an autograph….
Concertmaster? More like last chair second violin…
I can verify that everything concertmaster writes is true. No orchestras like this charlatan. All of his music directorships have ended in disaster.
People need to calm down. Is Axelrod a genius? no. Is he an extremely talented musician? Probably not. Can he lead a performance of a Beethoven symphony without it falling apart? Usually. Does he dress, talk and act like a buffoon? Absolutely. In short, he’s a conductor of modest ability like most of the others mentioned on this site, Mirga included!
Lenny,
Everything you say is true except for the fact that he is not a nice person. Period. Musicians will tolerate a lot of garbage from bad conductors if they at least are nice. If they are not nice and not good, well…a lot of good will evaporates.
Awww, did he refuse your friend request? Who is Hayne anyway? Do you even know him? Doubtful. You have no credibility because you don’t know whether is nice or not. I know him and he is absolutely charming. And I’m happy to keep defending him on this feed.. Most musicians I know feel the same way. He’s as nice as they come. Sadly some musicians who adore him try to use him and don’t get what they want and they turn vicious. I’ve seen that happen to many conductors . If you know him, prove it. What did he do that was not so nice? Or are you simply another email user for the same person trying to prove an unprovable opinion just to get a reaction? Well, you got one. Seems you’re not the nice person. Period.
Is this your opinion? Do you have a poll from all orchestras proving this? Or just typical blah blah from a frustrated player. I know many of the musicians in Seville and France and Italy. The majority I know love working with Axelrod. He is regularly working in Italy so I think what you wrote is only a personal bias. Why do people give their opinions on this site without any proof? So here is some proof: I’m playing with him this week as he once again is invited to the Teatro la Fenice in Venice where he has conducted regularly since over 10 years. Most of us are grateful and love working with him. And I’ve played with him in Milano where he was a Principal Guest Conductor for many years and still returns. And the musicians in Kyoto love him as I know quite a few. I also know most musicians in Seville who if asked would say the orchestra never sounded better under his baton. Just ask their concertmaster. Only a few politically minded and arrogant musicians might argue differently but that happens everywhere. Their opinion cannot be trusted.
So that follows that neither can yours. And in France, according to the people I know there, including the administration, he was loved until he got fed up with the mentality of some of the lazy players. Not the other way around. Let it go oboe…..
This sounds like a message from a PR firm trying to rehabilitate their conductor’s image. As a contrabassoonist with no axe to grind, from what I’ve heard, he’s fine — as a pops conductor.