NY Philharmonic musicians: We were unanimous about Dudamel

NY Philharmonic musicians: We were unanimous about Dudamel

News

norman lebrecht

February 21, 2023

Interesting comment from the players’ search committee, whose views were taken while a secret deal was done to make gustavo Dudamel the next music director.

‘I don’t know how many of you know this, but to get an entire orchestra of musicians to feel unanimous about anything is basically impossible,’ joked principal trumpet Christopher Martin, who co-chaired the music director search committee. ‘But in this case, our orchestra was unanimous that Gustavo Dudamel should be — had to be — our next music director.’

‘Our musicians made it clear there was only one candidate to pursue,’ said Oscar Tang, NY Philharmonic co-chairman.

Read on here.

Comments

  • Ed says:

    Good luck to all of you.

  • William Gross says:

    I wonder what the response to van Zuweden was?

    • Ari Bocian says:

      I can’t speak for anyone at the NY Phil, of course, but Van Zweden’s appointment struck me as somewhat of a “desperate times, desperate measures” selection, especially given that their actual top preference at the time (Salonen) had turned them down.

      I think it’s better to wait for a candidate that everyone (or at least most) can agree on, even if that means leaving the position unfilled for slightly longer than planned. Otherwise, you end up with less than desirable results. Philadelphia got stuck with Eschenbach after their top choices (Rattle and Levine) turned them down, and, well, that didn’t work out, to put it mildly.

      • Steven Rogers says:

        Is there a summary of what happened? He was well liked in Houston. They just not get along?

        • Simon Jones says:

          Jaap is very much liked and appreciated in Hong Kong: the orchestra have significantly improved under his leadership and the audience is very enthusiastic. His recent Brahms symphony cycle here was very good indeed – a fine musician

        • J Barcelo says:

          Wasn’t he in Dallas?

        • guest says:

          Who do you mean at Houston? Orozco-Estrada?

        • Ari Bocian says:

          Mainly a lack of chemistry, yes, but also a number of problematic rehearsals where he went overtime because he wasn’t organized/prepared, and concerts where the orchestra wasn’t together and got a number of negative reviews as a result. Plus there were complaints within the orchestra (and from the critics) about his tempi/interpretations/gestures. With regards to the latter, I saw him conduct a disastrous Bruckner 6 in NY about 10 years ago; quite frankly, I’m amazed that anyone can follow his beat.

        • PG Vienna says:

          He was great in Hong Kong, just the snobs from Berlin to New York don’t like him. The New York Phil is anyway not particularly better than Dallas and Hong Kong .

      • Anon says:

        Salonen did not turn the NYP down. He was never offered the position.

  • A.L. says:

    Eventually they may figure out that unanimity now may mean little then.

  • Jasper says:

    Off-topic. Has attendance been robust this season at the newly-renovated David Geffen Hall?

  • Samach says:

    An astute reader wrote that the only question is when will, not if, the NY critics turn against Dudamel, and it looks like the New Yorker’s Alex Ross already has, or at least the backlash has already begun:

    https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/the-gustavo-dudamel-show-goes-east

    Bernstein’s arch-nemesis in NY was Harold Schonberg at the NYT who never took to the showboating Bernstein. It’ll be interesting what relationship Zachary Woolfe, the current chief critic, wants with Dudamel.

    The same question can be posed, when will, not if, the NY Philharmonic turn against Dudamel?

    • Michel Lemieux says:

      Alex Ross has been living in LA for the last few years and has become one of LA Phil’s main cheerleaders.

    • Scott says:

      Alex Ross has become a Woke critic, who values identity over the music. https://www.city-journal.org/moving-on-from-alex-ross

      “It was one more (albeit small) manifestation of a phenomenon I have observed several times over the last few years: that taste in American classical music is a signaling cascade, and that the man upstream of everyone else is Alex Ross.”

      “That’s an unlucky thing for the rest of us because, over the last five years, Ross’s writing has become so deeply steeped in the political orthodoxies of social justice that it is no longer possible to accept his criticism at face value.”

      “It was in this arena that the new woke Alex Ross first caught my attention. In February 2018, Ross penned a column on the work of Florence Price, a then relatively unknown early-twentieth-century black female composer from Arkansas. “The Rediscovery of Florence Price,” Ross’s apologia for Price’s charming but musically undistinguished output, would set the agenda for a Price revival across the American classical music landscape—one that continues to this day.”

      “But suffice it to say, his article unleashed an avalanche of Price puffery riffing on all the themes enumerated above—in outlets from the Washington Post to the Financial Times to the San Francisco Chronicle to Bachtrack.”

      “One distinct attribute of the Price boom has been its relative disinterest in the content of her music relative to her political significance. This trope originated with Ross; in his Price paean, he made do with facile comparisons of her work with better-known repertoire. But this practice is observable in other writings of his as well. When Ross stumps for underrepresented composers, both the quantity and quality of his actual music criticism usually declines. A particularly vivid example would come three years later, in 2021, when he attempted a similar puff piece for Julius Eastman (1940–1990), a black and gay minimalist composer whose troubled life bears some comparison with the ingenious New Orleans pianist James Booker.”

      “In September 2020, Ross nailed a Black Lives Matter mezuzah to his doorframe when he published an article called “Black Scholars Confront White Supremacy in Classical Music.” The scholar at the center of the piece was Philip Ewell, a music theorist from Hunter College, whose scholarly interests seem to lie less in the analysis of music than in the application of critical-theory principles to our understanding of music historical figures.”

      “Ross’s focus on Ewell—at the time little known outside the insular field of music theory—was meant not to challenge him, but to build on his arguments: “The whiteness of classical music is,” Ross wrote, “above all, an American problem. The racial and ethnic makeup of the canon is hardly surprising, given European demographics before the twentieth century. But, when that tradition was transplanted to the multicultural United States, it blended into the racial hierarchy that had governed the country from its founding. The white majority tended to adopt European music as a badge of its supremacy.”

      “Hearing America’s leading music critic tell American concert audiences that they like the music they like not for its entertainment, intellectual, or spiritual value, but because it helps them exert power over minorities, lands us squarely in Invasion of the Body Snatchers territory. It was reading this passage a few years ago that first convinced me that the music world might have lost Alex Ross for good.”

      “Citing Ewell, Ross advocated for musicians to jettison the “sacralized canon” of classical music.”

    • Robert Holmén says:

      Schonberg never took to Bernstein? And how did that ever inconvenience Bernstein?

      I suspect critics’ opinions will matter even less going forward. The NYT barely covers classical now.

  • Karden says:

    “Otherwise, you end up with less than desirable results. Philadelphia got stuck with Eschenbach after their top choices (Rattle and Levine) turned them down… ”

    I wonder who the LA Phil will get to follow Dudamel? Some have mentioned Susanna Malkki, who was theorized as a politically good choice for the NY Phil. But they instead grabbed the brass ring. A younger, more dynamic version of her, Mirga Grazinyte-Tyla, would be preferable, but she currently favors being a stay-at-home mother.

    If the LA Phil ends up with a Malkki, no way will that not come off as their getting the short end of the stick. Or a letdown. Although if the musicians of the LA band like her, she’s more likely to be picked—assuming the increasing crime-homeless publicity of LA doesn’t turn off folks like her. But lots of ticket buyers will probably yawn.

    I notice that the tenures of most conductors of the NY Phil have been rather short. Some big names have lasted only a few years. Post-LA-Phil Mehta, however, stuck around in NY for quite awhile.

    Salonen returning to the LA Phil probably would be the only outcome (if only for “old times sakes”) that will make a post-Dudamel era not droop as much. A Lorenzo Viotti, a surfer with showbiz looks, might not come off as too much of a letdown or sloppy seconds. However, the musicality of such people might be more flash than substance, but ticket buyers probably will be more interested.

    .

    • Wannaplayguitar says:

      Ah yes the ongoing Californication of classical music. Is there nowhere left on this planet that the unlovely can find a corner of solace? These days only the ripped and tanned, glossy haired bouncing vegan gods need apply in order to interest even the most conservative concert hall subscriber… O cruel world

    • Simon Jones says:

      Did LA audiences really see Dudamel as more substance than flash?

      • anon says:

        LA audiences rightfully see Dudamel as someone with both substance and flash, unlike some of his colleagues, who have neither.

    • anon says:

      LA will end up with the guy who somehow already has Eleven Gates, Spira, Sustain, and Vista in his repertoire, despite never having conducted them once.

    • Michel Lemieux says:

      The rumors I’m hearing are that Mirga is their #1 choice, with Malkki as #2.

      • anon says:

        Mirga has not appeared with the orchestra for many years, and Mälkki’s contract as principal guest does not seem to have been renewed. Why do people keep bringing these two up? Because some useless critics like to harp on about identities and identities alone? Contrary to their belief, LA Phil did well despite them, not because of them.

        • Michel Lemieux says:

          Anon,

          The LA Phil is all about diversity and representing the community. They are not going to do a U-Turn and bring in a white male conductor. A boycott would ensue.

          Not saying that it’s right or wrong. That is the current political environment in LA.

        • Michel Lemieux says:

          What do you think of Paolo Bortolameolli’s prospects? He is young, attractive, has a proven record with youth orchestras, and is a fantastic speaker. With a top-notch PR firm, LA Phil could really hype him up.

    • Michel Lemieux says:

      The LA Phil players do not want Salonen back. The playing of the orchestra was considerably improved under Dudamel. Dudamel also managed to get rid of a few less-than-stellar players although he wasn’t able to get rid of Martin Chalifour, the not-so-great concertmaster who was brought in by Salonen.

  • Michel Lemieux says:

    The honeymoon will not last long.

  • Peter says:

    Thats a good thing. Right ?
    If they all agree then thats the best way to start off. Sure, there may be bumps along the way. But lets be positive.

  • Cantantelirico says:

    He will certainly remain for duration of his contract.

  • David A. Boxwell says:

    Still, this will end in tears, inevitably.

  • Sue Sonata Form says:

    Of course The Dude is a great choice!! Looking forward to hearing all about their successes.

  • Reality Sux says:

    And we are unanimous that Dudamel is the NY Phil’s last chance to start playing consistently like they care, with emotion and, gasp, involvement. Sure, Gilbert was boring, van Zweden was oversold, but the Phil continues to be snooze-o-rama, year after year, decade after decade, an occasional moment of high energy notwithstanding. Even the two concerts I’d attended since the Geffen renovation were hardly any better. Sad!

    • Paul Sekhri says:

      Snooze-o-rama? Not sure which Phil you were watching, but it certainly wasn’t the same one I’ve been listening to for decades!

    • Tiredofitall says:

      I attended the first full concert in the new hall back in October. Having attended the NYP for over 40 years, I was taken aback by how dispirited the orchestra looked, despite the audience excitement for the successfully renovated hall. van Zweden looked like he was auditioning for Lurch.

      • Ari Bocian says:

        My guess is that has more to do with Van Zweden than anything else (especially given that he didn’t seem like he was the NY Phil’s top choice). I only saw him do Mahler 5 at the beginning of his tenure, and it was so rushed and passionless that I didn’t feel inclined to watch him again. Dudamel, on the other hand, is a superb Mahler conductor, and I imagine he’ll be considered a breath of fresh air by comparison.

  • MacroV says:

    I’m glad they’ve all bought in on it. I have never seen Dudamel as a great interpreter, but I don’t have a good sense of the day-to-day in LA. The fact that he’s regularly booked in Berlin and Vienna and welcome everywhere else tells me he’s got the chops. Maybe he and his friend YNS can foster some Philharmonic-MET collaborations; I’ve long thought it would be cool to have the Philharmonic and the MET Orchestra trade places for a week or two, if the logistics could be worked out.

  • High-Note says:

    Hey, the NY Phil wasn’t exactly cracking open the champagne bottles when Van Zuweden and Alan Gilbert were appointed as their Music Director – because, thanks to that lousy Hall, beggars couldn’t be choosey. OK, so the Hall problem has now been fixed, giving the NYPO the pick of the litter! They bagged the biggest young star in the business, so there’s happiness all around and hope for the future. Dudamel is mature & successful enough to assume the post, and still young enough that he can stay and grow with the NYPO for many years, building an artistic profile and an identifiable, unique sound that will distinguish this orchestra from all others. There an opportunity to build a kind of Bernstein/Ormandy/Szell era – which the NYPO sorely needs. For the first time in years, there is this hope!!!

  • perturbo says:

    The only negative comment in the media about the musicians’ opinion of Dudamel was from a wise-acre here on slippedisc.

    • Lo dudo says:

      Well, the “only media” left in classical music is the NYT, so whatever the cabal at the NYT classical music desk decides to ‘like” or “unlike” pretty much sets the tone in the US, and in that sense you are right, the NYT has absolutely been breathless in its fanboy coverage of Dudamel, especially with its Latino reporter, who’s basically covering the story like an overdue Latino second coming.

      • Michel Lemieux says:

        Zachary Woolfe, the NYT critic, has been ambivalent about Dudamel. I present you a direct quote:

        “And Dudamel’s conducting can be uneven. His cycle of Schumann symphonies with the Philharmonic last season was spirited and unpretentious, naturally unfolding and fresh, more than deep or intense. Dvorak’s “New World” Symphony, in 2020, was full of underlinings and italicizations, the work of a young man intent on making his presence known in a standard.”

  • Karden says:

    “…the NY critics turn against Dudamel, and it looks like the New Yorker’s Alex Ross already has, or at least the backlash has already begun…”

    I don’t think that critic is necessarily a “NY critic” as much as he’s just a critic, period. Whether Dudamel is conducting in NYC or Kansas City, I doubt that Ross will change his tune. However, there is something about the vibes of NYC that affect a percentage of folks living or visiting there, both positively (“exciting”) and negatively (gloomy, cynicism).

    I’ve read that Dudamel’s main residence is in Barcelona (although I’ve also read it’s Madrid—his wife is a native of Spain), and weather does affect the mood of a variety of people.

    • Ludwig's Van says:

      The New York critics trashed Bernstein regularly – apparently without much success. And does anyone remember those critics names?

      • Michel Lemieux says:

        Bernstein was a superb communicator. Dudamel does not do any real public speaking in English. At the LA Phil he often relies on his assistant to translate.

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