Vienna Philharmonic desperately flies two conductors to Florida
NewsThe sacking of Valery Gergiev has left the touring orchestra low on options and late on decisions.
It has just been anounced that Yannick Nézet-Séguin will conduct the orchestra at Naples tomorrow and David Robertson o Wednesday.
This will be the veteran Robertson’s first appearance with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.
Y N-S may soon burn out, stretched thin as he already is. For instance, he is conducting the French version of Don Carlos, no small feat, tonight at the Metropolitan. How in the world will he manage another gig elsewhere the next day? Or do we have a new Valery Gergiev (without the toxic political affiliations)?
Ridiculous comments. YNS stepped in to help out the VPO and to allow the music lovers with tickets (many of whom had travelled) to hear the orchestra. Reviews in the NYT and NY Classical review indicate he did a fantastic job on about 40 minutes of rehearsal time for the first concert. These folks are all pros. There was a risk to this, reviewers would have been only too happy to pronounce on a “less than” performance. It didn’t happen. He can catch up on sleep next week.
Interesting. I saw David Robertson conduct the best Mahler 5 I’ve heard heard in concert (St. Louis S.O. in Berkeley, Ca), since the Bernstein/Vienna Phil. one in Davies Hall in 1987. It was terrific.
Robertson excellent. He gave a great concert with the Julliard Orchestra at Carnegie last week.
3 thumbs down. Really? Were you people at that concert? I was.
I bet my bottom dollar the three guys giving your comment a thumbs down were not at the Julliard concert Mr.Robinson conducted. Nor at any other of his.
Agreed, as is demonstrated so frequently on SD, the “classical music world” is full of negative people who suck, who you would definitely NOT want to have a beer with – even if they were paying.
Spot on.
David Robertson is a wonderful conductor.
Happy to see that someone thought of him for this opportunity.
Seeing what he’s done in the past, David Robertson’s debut with the VPO should be quite an event.
David Robertson is a fine conductor.
What a cock-up.
By who?
Welser-Möst, Gergiev, Nézet-Séguin, Robertson…. at this rate, there soon won’t be any conductors left who haven’t done these pieces with the VPO!
They could play without a conductor!!
YNS is hopping around between just completed three CH concerts, FL and the MET like a cat on a hot tin roof.
The use of the word “desperately” is a little unfair to all the performers involved, and ungenerous (to put it politely) in the circumstances. Perhaps you would have preferred it if the orchestra had stuck with the conductor originally billed? As for “late on decisions”, we are talking about hours – a day or so at most – not weeks or months. Damned if they do and damned if they don’t, apparently.
This is a news sheet, after all, and news sells on sensationalism, don’t you know?
David Robertson is a brilliant and kind musician. He should’ve conducted them long ago, but better late than never!
That great group could conduct itself. The concert master (Willi Boskovsy) once did.
Not with Scherazade,or Prokofiev Romeo and Juliet…LOL!!!!!
How many Americans have conducted the Vienna Phil, other than Leonard Bernstein and Bobby McFerrin?
Michael Tilson Thomas for one.
John Williams
James Levine
Lorin Maazel
Gustavo Dudamel
Georg Szell
Eugene Ormandy
Erich Leinsdorf
Also Andre Previn and Leopold Stokowski, but US citizenship was probably not the idea in the mind of Kyle W. Only the first 3 on your list were Americans from birth (and I think Maazel was born in France to US parents).
How could I forget Andrew Preview!
Only three on your list were native born.
Yes!
Not all these are Americans.
John Williams
Robertson will be a godsend to that orchestra. Thank goodness he is getting his break!!!!
Inspiring to see the civilized world push back against this puny Stalin wannabe.
Yannick is no slaggard.Carnegie Hall Friday,Saturday &Sunday. A 4.5 hr Don Carlo at the Met on Monday and Vienna Philharmonicin Naples, Fl on Tuesday.
Wait until beam me up, Scotty. Conductors will do five or six concerts in one day or else.
What do you expect them to do? Find a local conductor in Naples, USA, at short notice? Good luck with that. Different concert programmes, different conductors.
They don’t need a conductor!
When a door closes, many other ones seem to open. 😉
I don’t know if Karitta Mattila us still living un Naples, but a song program with her would be a lovely concert, with Konzertmeister Honeck ( the brother of ….) conducting. Four last Songs, Wesendonck and Rückert…
The Vienna Philharmonic plays in NYC and… Naples, FL. Curious that Naples is a destination for touring orchestras – Chicago, Cleveland, and now Vienna in the last couple years. Wealthy retirees, I guess?
Gergiev is sacked virtually everywhere with good reason. Symon Byshkow, Kirill Petrenko and others have come out forcefully against Putins aggression. Haven’t heard from T. Currentzis, who became a Russian citizen some years ago!
More than anything you have to be ready on a dime! Regardless. Being a Master means being a Master! There are capable Black Conductors. Not encouraging that non were considered. Typical. But not encouraging!
David Robertson is someone we need to see more of! YNS…not so much…
When Levine had to cancel BSO’s concert in Chicago, Robertson picked up the baton. It was the first time I heard Lieberson’s Neruda Songs (sung by Lorraine Hunt Lieberson) and it was profoundly moving.
The Beethoven #7 in the second half was one of the best I have ever heard (in a concert, on par with Masur and Muti with the CSO).
In rehearsal, Robertson demonstrated the best ears I’ve ever been witness to. Plus, he was genuinely kind and self-effacing.
Robertson conducted the best Tchaikovsky 6th that I’ve heard live in STL. Good for him.