After Barenboim, Berlin weighs two options

Earlier this season, when Daniel Barenboim withdrew from a Staatsoper Ring and a Staatskapelle Asia tour, he appealed to christian Thielemann to replace him. The German obliged with all due sympathy and efficiency.

Thielemann, 63, has been regarded ever since as Barenboim’s heir apparent.

But the path is not as smooth as it appears. The choice is in the hands of two opera chiefs, the outgoing Matthias Schulz and the incoming  Elisabeth Sobotka, who arrives from the relative backwater of the Bregenz Festival. She has met Thielemann only once, and briefly. But they have spoken on the phone after news of his departure in 2024 from the Dresden Staatskapelle made Thielemann once more a free agent.

Thielemann has emphasized that he talked to Barenboim every day during the Ring preparations and they remain in close touch. He is the clear favourite to succeed, but there are complications. Thielemann is now in global demand. Chicago want him to head their symphony orchestra and there have been further overtures from the US. He knows Berlin well, too well, having led the Deutsche Oper on the west side of the city. Familiarity can be an impediment.

There is also a rival. Barenboim has made no secret of his esteem for Thomas Guggeis, his junior conductor. Guggeis, 29, is now heading to Frankfurt Oper, but that move could still be derailed. Some see Thielemann as a blast from the past, Guggeis as the light of the future.

Watch this space.