Just in: Finns sign another Brit
NewsWhatever the state of UK-EU relations, there’s a lively baton trade going on between Finland and Britain.
This morning, the Tampere Philharmonic appointed Matthew Halls to succeed Santtu-Matias Rouvali as chief conductor. Halls, who made his name mostly in Bach, blew the Finns away with a Haydn symphony. He recently signed with London agency AskonasHolt.
He is the third British music director in Finland, joining Nicholas Collon at Finnish Radio and Rumon Gamba with the Oulu SO.
In the other direction, Rouvali is head of the Philharmonia Orchestra in London and Sakari Oramo is chief of the BBC Symphony with Dalia Stasevska as his deputy.
Will the long-term effects of Brexit weaken the Nordic countries and the Netherlands orientation toward the English-speaking world and move them back to their more Germanic roots?
“Blew the Finns away with a Haydn symphony” – that’s supposedly 30% of the orchestra’s vote only…
There’s a S.O. in Oulu?
Of course there is.
I guess you haven’t heard anything about the Lapland Chamber Orchestra either ?
Quite aside from anything else, a baton doesn’t attract as much bureaucracy as the CITES, import/export license and carnet forms that need filling in for musical instruments.
Conductors have agents to field the expensive leg work of of permits and visas; their fees easily cover that.
Musos can stay at home and play more Elgar.