Berlin auditions successors to Barenboim
NewsThe State Opera needs to nominate a music director by the end of the year.
In the coming weeks it will present:
Edward Gardner (London Philharmonic)
Oksana Lyniv (Bologna Opera)
Jorg Widmann
Daniele Rustioni (Lyon Opera)
and Francois-Xavier Roth. (Cologne Opera)
All are considered prime candidates.
I will be surprised if it will not be Christian Thielemann: He lives in Berlin, He ends his Dresden tenure next summer, his repertoire is very similar to that of Barenboim.
Be prepared to be surprised then! Thielemann is not the right fit for Berlin. Widmann and Xavier Roth are both amazing musicians who would bring a fresh approach.The others on the list are pretty damn good as well.
I don’t necessarily think Thielemann is the best candidate- I just think he is an easy choice
Donna: You gotta be kidding.
This is an embarrasing list!
Eine Schande für die Kunstform!
What Kunstform? This business is controlled by the Kunstform of ‘which cash cow shits the most cash for its agency’.
What happened to Christian Thielemann? A few months ago, he was a shoo-in…
My vote goes to Daniele Rustioni.
Rustioni cancelled Don Carlo at Covent Garden (or rather, was “released from his contract” as reported by SD – https://slippedisc.com/2023/02/covent-garden-releases-conductor-to-replace-barenboim-in-berlin/) to jump in for the same opera in Berlin – he most likely wouldn’t have done that if he didn’t think he had a real shot.
Absolutely! He should start with Wagner’s Ring. It should be…well….interesting and a lot of fun.
Well, having just come back from Rustioni’s Don Carlo, let’s hope that if/when he comes back to the Staatsoper he learns to familiarize himself with its acoustics. A 1300 hemicycle theatre is much more intimate than the 2200 seats of the ROH or the 3800 of the Met. The orchestra was way, way too loud, buried the singers from the start (and the singers were loud voices, not their fault), and simply was out of step with the stage. And miraculously in Act 4 (of the 4-act version), he had evidently rehearsed Elisabetta’s big scene with Aleksandra Kurzak, as suddenly there was balance! Which also, of course, meant that the big climaxes of that act were a whole order of dynamics below the banal appearance of the Monk in Act 1 or the trio of Act 2.
So if this was his audition, he got a rock star ovation, I’m sure the orchestra liked him (as to why the Staatskapelle which plays there every night wasn’t able to self-correct the dynamic range, I do not know), but musically a mixed result.
Oksana Lyniv’s Médée, meanwhile, was outstanding. The orchestra was thrilling and nervous (in a good way), balance was great, she managed to highlight individual elements of the score while maintaining coherence, and it made for a thrilling performance (Yoncheva was equally excellent – Charles Castronovo, less so).
Oh for heavens sake – We need Thielemann in Berlin.
It’s about time.
Having both Thielemann and Petrenko in the same city is a promise for musical fireworks!
Thielemann has more to lose than to gain at the Berlin Staatsoper. The Staatskapelle Berlin is inferior to the Staatskapelle Dresden and the acoustics of the Berlin Staatsoper are mediocre.
How about the guy on the right? With the exception of Gardner, all of the other candidates are still trying to conduct their way out of a paper bag.
None are candidates.
How is Lyniv’s Flying Dutchman going in Bayreuth? I’ve heard accounts and none are favourable.
I’m not sure what “accounts” you are referring to, but the festival doesn’t start for another three weeks and the first performance of Der Fliegender Holländer isn’t until August.
I have no view on Lyniv as a conductor, but it’s really not clear what you’re on about.
I’m talking about previous years. Conductors usually do the entire five seasons of a production and Lyniv seems not to be an exception with the current Der Fliegende Holländer. What I’ve heard from those who have worked on the show so far is not encouraging. Do you understand, now?
But weren’t you working there when it was being prepared?
I heard Lyniv’s Holländer at Bayreuth last year. It was gripping, high-definition conducting, almost febrile at times. She reminded me of Sinopoli, who caught fire more often in the opera house than the concert hall. Her conducting was well-matched to Tcherniakov’s film-noir-style rethinking of the piece. It wasn’t Der Fliegende Holländer but it was a thrilling evening in the theatre. I’m very tempted to go back this year now that the wonderful Michael Volle will be singing the Dutchman.
Michael Volle in the title role is a guarantee of success.
Unless I’m missing something, Jörg Widmann is playing his own compositions at the Pierre-Boulez-Saal – the chamber music hall of the Staatsoper – not conducting an opera. I don’t recall him conducting an opera other than his own. Besides, he’s composer-in-residence at the Philharmonie in 2023-24 – I don’t think he’s a serious candidate.
Just because Barenboim was Spiritus Rector of both Staatsoper and Pierre-Boulez-Saal (just around the corner) doesn’t make the PBS the “chamber music hall of the Staatsoper”. That would be the Apollosaal. PBS is it’s own entity and both an independent concert hall as well as the auditorium maximum of the Barenboim-Said-Academy.
yes, every time I see Widmann performing or conducting, it seems to involve at least one of his own compsitions. compositions that no one else seems particularly interested in picking up.
Rustioni is one of the most brilliant young opera conductors I’ve ever worked with. They will be lucky to have him
Jörg Widmann is a composing clarinetist.
I would say he’s the classic Streichkandidat.
The only outstanding conductor on the list is Franz-Xaver Roth.
Roth has good results with Les Siecles. However, he failed to move the Gurzenich Orchestra forward. None of his recordings with this orchestra hit the nail. His Beethoven is worse than average, Bruckner mediocre. Still, he is very welcomed in the city and the orchestra because he is a nice guy. His performances with BRSO and Berlin Philharmonic are average to say the best. However, his Wagner at the Staatsoper in Munich was excellent.
“Outstanding” is exaggerated. “Competent” would be more appropriate.
Lyniv is disgusting, not only in Berlin (sorry to say!), just to be a woman should not be the qualification!!!!
Rustioni has nothing to say… (stay in London, better choice)
Roth has already a new contract at SWR Stuttgart, luckily
Widmann – hahahaha
Gardner, can be interesting.
But c‘mon!!! None of them is in the league of Barenboim, Thielemann and those conductors…
Finally someone saying some truth here!!!
“Disgusting” is exaggerated. “Ridiculous” would be more appropriate.
I doubt whether Ed Gardner is a candidate, or whether he would wish to be. Let’s hope not, the LPO plays superbly for him.
Thielemann is not interested .
That’s simply wrong.
How about Sebastian Weigle the ex-assistant of Barenboim for years, had been very successful in Frankfurt and might be interested to take over in Berlin as a GMD.
Not a bad idea.
An elegant organiser.
Exactly.,an organizer. That´s pretty much it.
I am surprised not to read the name of the young conductor Yoel Gamzou among the candidates. He has conducted in Berlin, and is a far better professional than some of the more “fashionable” names being thrown around.
Why does the classical music community always stick to such narrow selections, usually set by the media? Where is the independent thinking here? In an ideal musical world, Barenboim himself should have hand-picked Gamzou.
Gamzou was highly disliked by the musicians in Munich and Vienna, and is not in the same league as those who ought to be considered by Berlin. He belongs to a certain powerful agency, and is learning the hard way that getting thrust in front of orchestras you’re not ready to conduct is not a recipe for longterm success.
Roth,Pappano or Gardner…All three are music directors of the 21th century….Wide rep,also contemporary stuff,fantastic musicians, great social skills too…Thielemann lives in the first half of the 20th century…Great for German rep, the rest is not so great, his rep stops at Strauss…And another of those autocratic demi gods in black and white like Barenboim simply not fitting into the 21st century anymore….From my personal experiences with Rustioni and Lyniv as a player, i would say rather not.
What ever happened to Guggeis? And Pappano in the photo but not on the list is that a hint or what?
Rustioni being a possible successor of Barenboim is just insulting