Carnegie Hall drops Janine Jansen

Carnegie Hall drops Janine Jansen

News

norman lebrecht

October 04, 2022

The Dutch violinist has cancelled next Wednesday’s limelight recital with Dennis Kozhukhin, ‘due to illness’.

The hall is giving refunds. It says: ‘This performance will not be rescheduled this season.’

That’s harsh.

Comments

  • Nik says:

    How do you know it was the venue’s decision not to reschedule rather than the artist’s?

    • Alviano says:

      You’re right, but the statement is harsh no matter whose decision it was.

      • M2N2K says:

        And you are right as well, but Nik’s question was not about the harshness of the announcement, but was instead prompted by the headline which seems to be putting the entirety of the blame without any explicit justification on the venue only.

      • Bill says:

        What is harsh about it? Tells you exactly what you need to know: the concert is off, you can get a refund, and there won’t be a replacement performance this season.

        • Eduardo Hernandez says:

          Yes but the issue from slippeddisc is that the statement is misleading, SHE canceled due to illness NOT Carnegie dropped her… in this climate when you say Carnegie drops an artist makes you think because they support the war in Ukraine like they did to Gergiev,

      • David K. Nelson says:

        Doesn’t the phrase “this season” suggest that this is not the expression of a fit of pique but rather a simple statement of fact for ticket holders who need to know what to do about their tickets.

    • Entertainment Promoter says:

      There is no mention of “venue decision”.
      Maybe Janine Jansen’s schedule is full.
      Please stop making speculative comments.

  • Anon says:

    It has happened several times where I purchased tickets months earlier to an event in Carnegie, for where there is a sudden last minute cancellation or artist change.

  • Sam says:

    In sports, athletes will announce that they have a strained hamstring or sore arm; in classical music you just get “due to illness.” Why the secrecy? People had paid money to hear you. A little more transparency seems in order.

    • Nik says:

      Each to their own. I’ve no interest in the intimate details of other people’s afflictions. If the concert is cancelled there is nothing you can do about it one way or another, so what difference does it make if the precise nature of the ailment is disclosed.

    • Bean says:

      Because classical music is not sports and musicians are not obliged to share their health status with the world?

      Would you prefer “we’re sorry to announce that X has cancelled their upcoming recital due to explosive diarrhoea”?

    • Minnesota says:

      In sports there is always a betting market that requires more detailed information or else all sorts of rumors will pop up. American professional sports leagues require detailed injury reports weekly. There are no betting markets in the classical music world. On the other hand, maybe gambling could be part of a new classical audience development initiative 😉 Calling Peter Schickele!

    • Tim says:

      The transparency is more important in the sports context because there are a limited number of roster spots and teams are permitted to protect their rights to injured players. If the protected players aren’t actually injured, the roster limits could be circumvented to a team’s competitive advantage.

    • Mike says:

      Back in the 60s the Royal Festival Hall announced the cancellation of a recital by Sviatoslav Richter ‘owing to an indisposition’ – no further details were offered. Perhaps Richter had lost his plastic lobster, and with it his mojo…..

    • CRogers says:

      You’re right. That’s absolutely to the point. A little more information would stop most of the gossip and speculation. I say most because some people will what to gossip no matter what. If the venue had said something like: ‘We regret due to illness that JJ is unable to play. Unfortunately, we cannot reschedule due to the incompatabilty of dates. We hope to invite her back at some future date.’ Maybe that would put it to bed……

  • Rob says:

    I guess the replacement will be a three year old playing three blind mice on the glockenspiel.

  • Gutless anonymous user says:

    If she has explosive diarrhea, I hope she stays hydrated.

  • Stephen Owades says:

    Janine Jansen bowed out of her appearances later this week with the Boston Symphony (reported here with the odd headline “Janine Jansen lucks out”). It’s not at all surprising that she would have to cancel a Carnegie Hall recital a few days later. Why is everything painted in so conspiratorial a tone here? As for the refund–no–reschedule policy, that seems unexceptionable to me. A recital is not like a guest appearance with an orchestra, and canceling/refunding seems the best policy in this case.

  • Tim says:

    Maybe blunt, but this is New York we’re talking about, so I’d expect nothing less.

  • Jan Kaznowski says:

    Haitink once cancelled a London appearance “..because of exhaustion”. He was always a frank person, and yes he had been working insanely hard.

  • Centennial10 says:

    It’s rather harsh to say that they’ve “dropped “ so and so… Why would Carnegie say something like that? If she’s ill, she’s ill. She might have long COVID or something else. It really doesn’t matter what the illness is-it’s the way Carnegie said the concert was cancelled.

  • Ilio says:

    Why is it harsh? Venue scheduling for places like Carnegie are tight and the soloists schedule may not match the few open nights.

  • Clive says:

    I’m sure she’s very busy and the hall is very busy for the rest of this season. Nothing harsh.
    Artists and events of this calibre are booked years ahead.

  • Debbie says:

    This was the announcement sent to subscribers

    Customer Service Announcement
    Janine Jansen and Denis Kozhukhin
    We are writing to inform that due to illness, violinist Janine Jansen must regrettably cancel her recital with pianist Denis Kozhukhin, originally scheduled for Wednesday, October 12 at 8 PM in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage. Concertgoers who purchased tickets by credit card will receive automatic refunds. Those who purchased tickets with cash should return their tickets to the Box Office at 57th Street and Seventh Avenue.

  • MacroV says:

    Why is that harsh? Maybe neither party has an available date.

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