Cinc’y says it has almost found a music director
OrchestrasThere are 18 guest conductors in Cincinnati’s next season, announced today. The favourite to succeed is probably the first-nighter (see below, and picture), but they are taking their time about picking a name out of the hat.
September 27 & 28, 2024: CSO Season Opener: Mahler’s Symphony No. 1, Titan, led by guest conductor Dalia Stasevska.
October 4 & 5, 2024: Florence Price’s Symphony No. 3 led by guest conductor Thomas Wilkins.
October 26 & 27, 2024: Jean Sibelius’s Symphony No. 1 led by guest conductor Ramón Tebar.
November 8 & 9, 2024: Anton Bruckner’s Symphony No. 9, led by guest conductor Marek Janowski.
November 16 & 17, 2024: Marin Alsop conducts Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 7, Leningrad
November 22 & 23, 2024: Manuel de Falla’s Three-Cornered Hat, with mezzo-soprano Catalina Cuervo, led by guest conductor Carlos Miguel Prieto.
December 6 & 7, 2024: Handel’s Messiah orchestrated and led by Sir Andrew Davis.
January 11 & 12, 2025: Copland’s Symphony No. 3 led by CSO Creative Partner Matthias Pintscher.
January 24 & 25, 2025: Camille Saint-Saëns’ Cello Concerto No. 1, led by guest conductor Christian Reif,.
January 31 & February 1, 2025: Richard Strauss’ Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks and Horn Concerto No. 1, led by guest conductor Jun Märkl.
February 8 & 9, 2025: Antonín Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 led by guest conductor Cristian Măcelaru.
February 14 & 15, 2025: Johannes Brahms’ Symphony No. 4 led by guest conductor John Storgårds.
March 8 & 9, 2025: Ottorino Respighi’s Fountains of Rome and Pines of Rome led by guest conductor Giancarlo Guerrero.
March 28 & 29, 2025: Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s Sheherazade led by former CSO Associate Conductor Keitaro Harada in his CSO subscription debut.
April 5 & 6, 2025: Richard Strauss’ An Alpine Symphony led by guest conductor Sir Donald Runnicles.
April 18 & 19, 2025: Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3, Eroica, led by guest conductor Case Scaglione.
April 25 & 26, 2025: Mahler’s Symphony No. 6, Tragic, led by guest conductor Jaap van Zweden.
May 9 & 10, 2025: Edvard Grieg’s Piano Concerto featuring pianist led by Pops Principal Guest Conductor Damon Gupton in his CSO debut.
Why is Nope in the line up?
The obvious choices are Marek Janowski and Jaap van Zweden. 🙂
Janowski, van Zweden, Alsop, Davis, and Runnicles are probably not seriously in the running. They would likely command big bucks. They’re all guesting next season– though some have done so at the CSO previously– because there’s budgetary flexibility, now that they won’t be paying a MD after this spring.
Yes. Precisely why I put on the smile: because this was a joke with a little bit of sarcasm thrown on.
Not Zweden. Everything is fast and loud with zero flexibility. Cincy has a much greater range of color and expression than NY Phil under Zweden.
Mo Janowski is well into his 80s me Mo van Zweden just signed to Orchestre de Paris from 2026, alongside his new Seoul Phil duties and his planned planned role as seasonally returning guest in NY, so much more likely Ma Stasevska or current Composer in Residence, Matthias Pintcher.
He just took over KC.
I live an hour away and hope to see at least half the season. Can’t wait!
Keitaro Harada is freaking wonderful. He’s like CK reincarnated.
I don’t know who they’ll pick, but that is a very nice concert season.
Pintscher and Markl are now off the domestic (U.S.) conductor market due to their recent signings with other orchestras (Kansas City and Indianapolis, respectively), so that cuts the “field” to 16 right off the bat.
Why would Dalia be the front runner necessarily? I think she’s only been there one other time. Some of the other guests have been there multiple times. Do you have inside information?
How much is she paying for promotion on this website?
Isn’t Ryan Bancroft also making his debut this season? Surely he’s a contender.
I have been a season ticket holder for a little while now and Christian Reif has been a guest a few times already and I know that he has been somewhat of a fan favorite among the audience. I have not seen many of these conductors and I am looking forward to speculating on who will be the next as I watch and listen.
I’m just here for the wonky formatting.
SIR ANDREW DAVIS, visits Cincinnati to conduct Messiah?????
My vote is for Prieto. They did so well with Lopez-Cobos, and he has plenty of experience.
You likely already know that Carlos Miguel Prieto was appointed music director of the North Carolina Symphony in February 2022. Although it is a relatively small major US orchestra (about 66 full-time musicians, with a budget in the 16 million dollar range as of a few years ago), it is prominent enough that Prieto’s position there almost certainly takes him out of the running for music director of the Cincinnati Symphony.
Hopefully Prieto will be able to have the North Carolina Symphony start to make some commercial recordings for release on the Naxos Classics record label; the orchestra has made a few recordings for the Steinway & Sons label in recent years, and made two for the BIS label about 15 years ago.
Dalia will definitely become the next director. She is a GREAT conductor.
It is better to be more circumspect about Dalia Stasevska’s conducting abilities: she can at times be an excellent conductor. I would suspect that she is in the running to be the next music director of the Cincinnati Symphony (she has already led the orchestra in two programs with two performances, in late 2022 and late 2023); her connection with the BIS record label can only help her position in the competition.
With all of the down votes for this comment, I guess those viewers either think Dalia Stasevska is a “great” conductor, or something less auspicious. Down votes for comments on articles on this website follow very strange patterns sometimes. It would be far more interesting if a down vote would be accompanied by at least a brief comment.
she’s hopeless.
Orchestras are not looking for the best candidate. They are looking for a candidate who will get significant positive press coverage. Dalia is a two for one on the PR front – She is a woman, and she’s Ukrainian.
Most of the world is board with Ukrainian war. Maybe that would still count at the MET.
I bet you meant “bored”, which shows you are really a Russian troll.
Alas, however, you are right for the wrong reason. Ukrainians have earned the right to look with contempt on the West for its hypocrisy.
It’s a good-looking lineup of conductors, but a lot of them – due to age or other commitments – probably aren’t contenders. It would be nice to see a little more novelty in the programs.
In any case, Cincinnati is a great orchestra, overshadowed as it may be in its own state by that other orchestra.
Good for Cincinnati: this is a great American orchestra with a distinguished history. This is an enviable program and roster and the orchestra deserves great credit for the artistic decisions and for the logistical challenges of putting together what looks to be a great season. Good time to be in Cinc’i.
Long-ago Cincinnati resident here, still miss our CSO subscription, still go back to the city for an occasional visit and nearly always try to coordinate it with Symphony or Pops concerts. Will be curious to see who becomes the next music director, but now live too far away to attend more than a fraction of the coming season’s many guest conductor appearances.
It is indeed a great orchestra, which doesn’t need to take a back seat to any other in this country. I long ago became tired of all “the Big Five” nonsense, which reminds me of the definition of “celebrity” as “someone famous for being famous” and may allow orchestras with internal troubles, and their own share of “phone-it-in” performances, to coast on reputation.
Cincinnati Music Hall, built in the late 1870s and most recently renovated in 2017, is also one of my favorite performing arts places in the world: beautiful to the eye and with a spacious airy sound for the ear–a sound which, in my view and disappointment, Telarc’s Cincinnati recording techniques only occasionally conveyed. Multiple photos here:
https://akustiks.com/project/cincinnati-music-hall/
No Storgårds fans here? I’ve seen him in all my favorite places – Ottawa, Montreal and Boston.