Say Sir to Vladimir Jurowski
NewsThe Russian-German conductor has been appointed Honorary Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, on the advice of the UK Foreign Secretary.
He put in the hard yars as music director of Glyndebourne and the London Philharmonic.
These days he’s in charge at Bavarian State Opera in Munich.
… and the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin.
Richly deserved. Standards of performance lifted significantly post Masur and the LPO remain in magnificent form to this day.
Not so, sir.
Wikipedia:
“Honorary knighthoods are appointed to citizens of nations where the monarch is not head of state, and may permit use of post-nominal letters but *not* the title of Sir or Dame.”
A great conductor (I especially enjoyed his Frau ohne Schatten at the Met in 2013) and one of the exceedingly few Russian musicians with a moral conscience – explicitly denouncing Putin’s war.
He seems less ambitious than a lot of other conductors, and I mean that as a compliment. He appeared to be – based on various reports – under strong consideration for the Philly job when Yannick got it. The difference-maker may have been that YNS was ready to start as soon as Dutoit’s contract ended, while Jurowski said he wouldn’t be able to start until his LPO contract ended, which would have left the Philadelphia without a MD for several years. They were in a bad business situation and needed someone marketable right away. I’d have thought he’d have landed a job with one of the top orchestras by now, but he doesn’t seem to have the type of ego that demands he have one.
Vladimir Jurowski is Generalmusikdirektor of the Bayerische Staatsoper in München and, thus, also Chef of the Bayerisches Staatsorchester, voted ‘Orchester des Jahres’ for the eighth year in a row as well as being awarded opera production of year awards in successive years under his musical direction. How much more ‘top’ do you require?
Very well deserved. Both a musician with integrity and as a human being. Bravo!