Where’s Yannick?

Andrew Powell says:

He’s a spoiled brat. He has nothing to tell us, only enthusiasm to share. He works passage by passage; every passage is vital. There is no sight of the whole work, whether it’s the long Rach 2 (heard Friday) or the compact Berlioz Corsaire. So nothing adds up despite strong rhythms, good dynamic control, a fine sense of legato and an easy rapport with other musicians. These he salutes on stage generously, but you grasp where the praise is heading even if the glitter on his heels hasn’t signaled fully during the music. He’s a Sam Bankman-Fried: pampered, bright, thieving, never meaning harm. Where is he? By tonight he will have led eight concerts with three orchestras in five months in Baden-Baden, the rich spa town, and will pull off a similar boondoggle there involving a different pliant orchestra set before August. He enjoys the bubbles. And yes, the Philadelphians, like the Met Orchestra, sound marvelous at present.