Kirill Petrenko’s assistant makes his Berlin debut tonight
OrchestrasThe exceptionally well-educated Christian Blex, first assistant to Kirill Petrenko, makes his debut tonight with the Karajan-Akademie orchestra. He will conduct Mahler’s fourth symphony with works by Bernd-Alois Zimmermann.
Blex, 29, studied politics at Warwick and economics at Cambridge; he is presently completing a PhD at the Alan Turing Institute.
On the muical front, he has studied in Oslo, Zurich and Weimar before winning the coveted slot in Berlin.
British opergoers will know his work at Nevill Holt Opera.
He is almost over-qualified.
K. Petrenko didn’t choose him as an assistant though.
And then there is that arrogant, pathetic Finish 22 year old air pump. Your choice.
Pathettic,arrogant GDR bull….
Missed you already! And don‘t forget to check your spelling, grandpa 🙂
Toi toi toi.
There are some great precedents of overeducated musicians who have performed at a superior level: Ian Bostrige, Jeffrey Tate, Giuseppe Sinopoli (well, if we judged him by his best work)… Karl Böhm had a doctorate in law.
Also Andrew Manze.
Bostridge (sic). You have to be kidding. I generally need to see my chiropractor after one of his concerts.
Why?
And there’s Paul Wee, a barrister (Essex Court Chambers) who “plays the piano from time to time”: a prodigiously gifted musician.
Indeed. I remember the posters outside the Musikverein in the 70s: Herbert von Karajan, Leonard Bernstein…but ‘Dr’ Karl Bohm. As though he might soon tire of this conducting malarkey and return to legal practice in Graz.
and Ernest Ansermet, a math professor
Yondani Butt, a doctor
Daniel Harding, airline pilot.
It must really irk those people who went to the conservatory to be conductors only to be topped by non-music majors.
Quite an impressive gent and I had not heard of him. Thanks.
“He is almost over-qualified.”
At first he wanted to be rocket scientist, then thought, “why torture myself. Lets do something easier.” So between comparative basket weaving studies or conducting…
You can never be too learned. I suppose you can be under-
experienced in front of an orchestra; but Mr Blex is surely not that, or he wouldn’t be the assistant of Kirill Petrenko.
Great, he can succeed Petrenko as chief conductor, Zietschmann as orchestra manager and Lederer as senator for culture in Berlin. If he passes a pilot license like Harding, he can fly the tour plane as well.
When will he pass his Airbus A380 license to fly with Daniel Harding?