A different conductor turns 70
NewsThe American conductor Kent Nagano, whose career has taken him on an M line from Manchester to Munich to Montreal, reaches three score and ten today.
He is presently GMD in Hamburg.
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Kent Nagano celebrates his 70th birthday: memories and reflections of a great conductor (DW Classical Music)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZq0Y49-eaA
Don’t forget the Berkeley (CA) Symphony
I’m still trying to forget his unimpressive tenure at LA Opera. He spent very little time rehearsing with the orchestra and it showed.
Uffa! I played in that orchestra then … I still have PTSD from the experience. Kent doesn’t do rubatos.
He still has great hair at age 70. Amazing!
And as we all know, great hair is the thing that makes a good conductor.
Cheekbones also help (and he has those as well)…
I love his recordings of French repertoire, much better than Dutoit.
Congratulations to the orchestra – excellent technical playing, however not much personality , or Brahms style. The orchestra was built and trained by Dutoit, not by Nagano. With Dutoit, they had personality and their French repertoire recordings were excellent.
Back to Nagano :
– why are you looking so much at the score? At the age of 70 you should know this piece?
– beginning – while the orchestra is perfect , he is waving his hands irrespective of the music. Be useful , not a poseur!
-0:30 – big turn to the violas – why ? there was no musical reason
-0:47 – idem, the important stuff happens in the winds – the ones in front of you , a little bit up!
-1:07 – what and why was that ?
There is more, but anyone with a score can get it.
Except for one glance from the first oboe ( who sounds like he could give him a few lessons), the orchestra does not look at him and has the excellent technique, knowledge of the work and ensemble cohesion which would make the performance possible without a conductor. They should definitely receive a big percentage of his salary.
PS. Yes, the hair is still good.
… and we have a maestro conducting from the peanut gallery …
For what it’s worth, I follow conductors with my peripheral vision. Almost always, if I look straight at a conductor I can no longer decipher the beat; they’re like impressionist paintings viewed from too close.
You don’t have to be gazing directly at the conductor to follow everything they do.
Nagano is obviously intelligent, but not a conductor. The Bavarian State Opera ran him out of town, after some of the worst most un-musical Mozart I’ve ever heard. I’ve heard he’s not very nice to young conductors either. Maybe he’s got something to hide?
Happy birthday to a great man. I had the opportunity to work with kent way back in his Berkeley days.. I have watched your career grow. Congratulations