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Dausgaard’s other orchestra hasn’t seen him in 20 months

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norman lebrecht

January 15, 2022

Before his Seattle position came crashing down, we reported that Thomas Dausgaard had cancelled concerts with his other orchestra, the BBC Scottish Symphony.

Again.

Ken Walton writes in the Scotsman:

Enforced cancellations early on also affected Dausgaard’s BBC SSO commitments, where he hasn’t been seen for 20 months. Even with travel restrictions eased in the early 2021-22 season – as evidenced in numerous appearances by fellow Dane Thomas Søndergård with the RSNO – call-offs continued.

The latest was last week, affecting the first concert in his last major project as chief conductor, a series featuring all of Carl Nielsen’s six symphonies. In a BBC press release, Dausgaard said: “Unfortunately it is clear the world in 2022 is not yet as stable as we might have hoped, and with the continuing health risks and responsibilities we must all face, travelling at this moment in the pandemic is sadly not an option for me.”

Who knows whether he will feel more inclined to travel for his next scheduled appearance in March, or the three concerts in May that will complete the Nielsen Cycle? The SSO had to replace him last week with the young English conductor Geoffrey Paterson….