Gone Dutch: Van Zweden’s out

Gone Dutch: Van Zweden’s out

News

norman lebrecht

October 12, 2021

Music director Jaap Van Zweden has withdrawn from this week’s New York concerts due to a family medical emergency.

The Costa Rican Giancarlo Guerrero, music director in Nashville, jumps in for his Philharmonic debut. The pianist Alessio Bax is also on debut.

Comments

  • Fenway says:

    Lucky for the NYP!

  • Monsoon says:

    Probably not a big enough name to be considered for the MD post, but Guerrero deserves a shot. Over the last decade he’s made a quite a few exciting recordings of contemporary music with Nashville (a lot of it by American composers) — it’s the type of programming that NYP should be doing.

    • Gary says:

      Uhhhh… no.

    • Not only Maestro Giancarlo Guerrero is a great conductor, well deserving this opportunity to show his amazing talent, but also his career is much larger and important than what he’s been given credit by this respectful blog. His brilliant tenure with the Cleveland Orchestra as Associate Conductor is just one example of many, in the US; and the long list of great European orchestras he has conducted over the years is the undoubtful proof of a great career.

      Wether he’s in the list of potential music directors to succeed Maestro von Zweden is not usually a decision based only on musical talent but in many other factors; particularly so in this case where the NY Phil has persistently made the wrong choices…!

  • Larry says:

    I worked with him 20 years ago. He is terrific. BTW, he was born in Nicaragua.

  • Bigfoot says:

    Guerrero did a fine job this past weekend leading the Seattle Symphony, filling in for Thomas Dausgaard who has been unable to get into the US due to visa issues. On the program was a terrific new violin concerto by the Mexican composer Arturo Marquez, played by Anne Akiko Meyers. She replaced the originally scheduled Patricia Kopatchinskaja. Artistic planners at US orchestras are certainly earning their money these days. Regardless of the shuffling, it is such a pleasure to hear live music again.

    • PNWFiddler says:

      I think most of the musicians would disagree about GG. It IS great to have live music back despite his shortcomings on the podium.

  • amazonian says:

    Guerrero has been a guest conductor with the São Paulo Symphony (OSESP) quite often in the last ten years or so, down here in Brazil.
    Fine guy, OSESP musicians seem to like him very much.
    I remember a wonderful Beethoven Violin Concerto with Isabelle Faust, along with many great Saturday afternoons at Sala São Paulo.

  • Paul Sekhri says:

    Might I also add that Alessio Bax is a stellar pianist. So thrilled to see him making his long overdue NYPhil debut.

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