Has Philly gone insane with love?
OrchestrasThese are the events for Yannick Day, this Friday:
On Friday, February 10, Yannick Nézet-Séguin will join in the “Philly Loves Yannick Week” citywide celebration with multiple events throughout the city. The celebration commemorates his recently announced contract extension as music and artistic director of The Philadelphia Orchestra through 2030.
Yannick will begin his day with a run up the “Rocky steps” at the Philadelphia Museum of Art with musicians of the Orchestra. He will later engage in a music-making event with students at the High School for Creative and Performing Arts, which will include a performance of “Fly, Eagles, Fly” in advance of the Eagles’s Super Bowl game. Next, he will visit the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, where he will thank healthcare workers for their support during the COVID-19 pandemic before returning to Commonwealth Plaza at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts to engage with fans and hand out special Yannick-themed donuts from the new Garces Trading Company @ Kimmel café. In addition, Mayor Kenney will present Yannick with a “Philly Loves Yannick Week” proclamation in the Plaza.
To conclude the day, Nézet-Séguin will participate in “Philadelphia Orchestra Night” at the Sixers game as they take on the New York Knicks. Musicians of The Philadelphia Orchestra, along with students from the School District of Philadelphia’s All-City Orchestra, will perform the National Anthem at the start of the game, and students from the Orchestra’s partner school, KIPP West Philadelphia Preparatory School, will perform in the Wells Fargo Center Concourse during halftime.
Media coverage throughout the day is encouraged.
It all sounds over-the-top but benign. Can one hope that the event at the High School for Creative and Performing Arts will not be a one-off?
How did the City of Brotherly Love show its affection to that most loyal of conductors, Eugene Ormandy?
Ormandy settled for the Presidential Medal of Freedom, given to him by Nixon in the Academy of Music following a concert that he attended.
I don’t know, but I’d be shocked if he didn’t receive multiple special honors from the city during his four decades as music director. There was a large photo of him conducting on a wall in one of the major subway stations until a few years ago.
Eugene Ormandy was born in Budapest, so I would only expect Philly Cheesesteak to cancel him.
Oh, joy.
There are great artists with good taste one deeply admires:
“ELLY AMELING, 90 TODAY
The unassuming Dutch soprano, an unforgettable lieder singer over four decades, has reached a milestone today.”
The publicity stunts of Yannick and Philly remind me of a review by the late Roger Ebert:
“Deuce Bigalow” is aggressively bad, as if it wants to cause suffering to the audience.
“Does this sound like a movie you want to see? It sounds to me like a movie that Columbia Pictures and the film’s producers should be discussing in long, sad conversations with their inner child.”
Well this is some massive cult of personality.
And for everyone who hated Tar and said it was inaccurate, the film was all about the cult of personality of conductors (and celebrities). However, “Philly Loves Yannick Week” seems to be a greater level of parody than anything Todd Field could think up for Tar.
Indeed, and all it would take is one little email scandal, some leaked Grindr photos, or a few equally PR-savvy accusers, and they’d be painting over that grotesque mural by the end of next week.
Best be very careful and not rely on the protection of a cult of personality…or whatever passes for personality these days.
Are the doughnuts vegan and will there be coloured sprinkles to honour Philadelphia’s cultural/ethnic heritages?
By the way: I remember Decca issuing a 12” single of Solti/CSO performing “Bear Down, Chicago Bears”.
It’s very American, somewhat over-the-top, but it’s still worth noting an orchestra conductor will be recognised at an NBA basketball game. That’s not terrible for exposure.
You can smell the cheese all the way to Manhattan.
But he’s not conducting the Friday matinee concert that day, go figure.
Was this Yannick Day orgy written into his contract? All this attention on one individual sounds rather cheesy and vulgar.
Obviously it’s the persona he prefers. It doesn’t wear well…particularly for a man approaching 50. Manchild.
Reminds me of Seattle’s “Frasier Crane Day”. Only difference: that was a sitcom parody. This seems to be real…
This is what now passes for culture in Philadelphia. Few of these celebratory events have anything to do with music , a lot to do with PR .
Media BS hype worthy of a Joe Biden campaign.