UK orchestra loses its maestro
OrchestrasThe Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra has rolled out its next season, the last with Kirill Karabits who is ending 15 years as music director.
Karabits, who performed modern Ukrainian music long before it was politically fashionable to do so, will open with a little-known ballet by the Ukraine-born composer Thomas de Hartmann, followed by a Voices from the East cycle which includes Glière’s Harp Concerto, Vasks’s Violin Concerto Distant Light, Chary Nurymov’s ballet, The Fate of Sukhovey, Ivan Karabits’s Concerto for Orchestra No. 3 and Giya Kancheli’s Styx (1 May). Really impressive for an orchestra that covers unserved cities in the south and west of England.
That last line is totally unworthy of being written for one of the most historic orchestras in the UK.
I suppose Lebrecht’s tacit assumption is that “unserved cities” are less likely to be interested in obscure and modern repertoire. The validity of such an assumption is indeed contentious; some have argued that orchestras outside London are less subject to market pressures when it comes to assembling programmes, on the basis that they are more likely to have something approaching a monopoly in their ‘catchment area’. But of course, this argument relies on a tacit assumption that, in the absence of competition, audiences will go to the only orchestral concert on offer in a locality regardless of the programme. Ultimately, neither of the two aforementioned tacit assumptions is entirely true: people go to concerts for various reasons, and it is very difficult to make any truly reliable generalisations. An orchestra with an outstanding reputation may well be able to rely on a loyal following that will trust it to assemble interesting and engaging programmes (in the same way that a recital featuring a big name may sell-out even if advertised as “programme to be announced”).
How can it cover an unserved city? Truly oxymoronic.
Perhaps he meant “underserved”. Autocorrect can be annoying.
Presumably, “unserved city” is to be understood as “a city that does not have one or more resident professional orchestras giving concerts throughout the year”. Of course, this in turn raises questions of how to define “resident”, “professional”, “orchestra”, and “throughout the year”.
Indeed. “Otherwise unserved” would have been better; you’d struggle to find any other professional orchestras visiting the venues – Portsmouth, Exeter, Poole/Bournemouth – that the BSO regularly visits, and that’s before we start talking about others in the region more poorly served, such as Plymouth, Winchester, Southampton and Salisbury – mind you, good luck selling a gig in Smallsbury if it’s not Classic FM fare…
You don’t “lose” a conductor after 15 years. A conductor’s term comes to a natural conclusion after what has been – by anyone’s standard – a tenure of respectable length.
We have not been told why he is leaving or whither he is bound. But is souns as if he has been a noble, adventurous type and, as one who is horrified by Gergiev’s self-serving association with the mass-murderer Putin, I am sorry to see him leaving these shores. Let’s hope he will continue to be a great ambassador for Ukraine, its culture and musicians in some civilised European city at this troubled time.
I hope Karabits and the BSO continue their “Voices from the East” series for Chandos – the releases so far have been fascinating.
Should not be trusted. He was regularly in Russia after 2014, when Russia invaded Donbas and annexed Crimea. He was very connected with Moscow musicians until February 24