Verbier: Orchestra players walk out on Domingo
NewsA correspondent tells Slippedisc:
Verbier Festival: first half was wonderful to hear Maria João Pires (in the Beethoven C minor concerto with the Verbier Festival Orchestra).
Second half was Tchaikovsky Symphony No 5 conducted by Domingo. When it finished the audience mostly applauded, some booed. Domingo tried to maintain composure at first. But then the first violin led players walking off the stage while Domingo looked befuddled,spreading his hands…
The incident was screened on medici.tv and should be visible there.
Players have told us that the former tenor spent the symphony with his head in the score, not having learned it beforehand.
UPDATE: Whether or not the players walked out – and there are conflicting reports – it is clear that they found Domingo’s conducting unsatisfactory. Why a non-conductor should be hired for Tchaikovsky at a leading summer festival is beyond comprehension – unless we conclude that its artistic direction is living off past favours, as so many do in the classical establishment.
If Verbier was a blog, its users would justly call Domingo’s presence clickbait.
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