Concertgebouw parades its new chief in America
OrchestrasThe orchestra announced its 2024-25 season this morning.
Its ‘future chief conductor’ will play a central role. The orchestra will tour extensively throughout the United States, taking its first intercontinental trip with future chief conductor Klaus Mäkelä. It omits to mention that Mäkelä (pictured) is also chief conductor of the Oslo Philharmonic and the Orchestre de Paris, and is about to be announced as music director in Chicago.
The furtive workings of the music industry have seldom been stretched so thin.
In other C’bouw attractions,
Arnold Schoenberg’s birthday 150 years ago will be commemorated with a stunning triptych: François-Xavier Roth will conduct three of Schoenberg’s most important works, including Erwartung with soprano Barbara Hannigan, in a stunning mise en espace developed by creative partner Pierre Audi.
Conductors making their debut with the orchestra this season are Karina Canellakis, Han-Na Chang, Yu Lu, Riccardo Minasi, Vasily Petrenko and Simone Young.
It seems that François-Xavier Roth has a very good relationship with the orchestra. A good thing to see again Rouvali. it seems that Mäkelä don’t see him as a rival.
Roth’s Ein Heldenleben with the orchestra was one of the finest live performances I have ever heard. One of the finest Strauss conductors with one of the world’s best Strauss orchestras.
And one of the least tolerable pieces of sheer tripe. A perfect match.
For me he was a big outsider for the MD post.
Roth did Heldenleben in Montreal too and it was awesome. I had never liked the work that much until I heard him conduct it. Unfortunately half the seats weer empty.
You know, I do not know why but I do not see it ending well for KM and the RCO
For the moment it’s going well the probelm is that they didn’t do records.
Ach so (or should I say O ja in Dutch, or Ai niin in Finnish), that would explain why Chicago was invited to the Concertgebouw’s 2025 Mahler Festival.
Remember there was much discussion on this site as to why the more historically associated orchestras of NY or Vienna were not invited but Chicago was.
Well, the answer is simply Mäkelä inviting both his orchestras to play in his house.
Strangely though, there is no reciprocation, the Concertgebouw has no date in Chicago as part of its “extensive” tour of the US. (Hmmmmm….. rather gives credence to my above post about Salonen (or is it Muti?) banning them from his town, doesn’t it? ; ) ha ha ha)
That’s not actually how any of this works.
No orchestra in their right mind would hire a Music Director with more than one other post. Someone always gets short shrift and you never know if he/she is concentrating on your orchestra.
With four orchestras, he’s not concentrating on any of them. Their boards are clearly incompetent.
The question of whether the CSO board is competent or incompetent has been settled a long time ago. I don’t intend to criticize anyone (Heavens forbid), but you can answer the question yourself by looking at the growth (or loss) of audience, the presence (or lack) of consequential recordings, the arrivals (or departures) of world class principals, and the relevance (or irrelevance) of the orchestra on the US and global scene.
As a separate point, sometimes Boards just get lucky or well endowed (such as in this case). But they had to settle for a star conductor who will not really dedicate himself to the city or the orchestra. He will just stop by to collect, and in that sense it will be more of the same. But all in all, this is a massive improvement.
Depends on “post.” A lot are in the summer or something. Full-time season, yes of course.
Mariss Jansons was in the 2000’s musical director of the RCO and the Rundfunk at the same moment and for many it was the best years of the RCO… I remember also that he was sometimes in Vienna the 1st of January…The thing sure is that 3 it’s too much. Maybe you think about Szell in the 60’s as reference but when he was not in Cleveland he was in London or Amsterdam…
I don’t believe the CSO will hire Makela; they are just not the kind of organization that hires the young hotshot, no matter how great he’s expected to become. The CSO is the place for Makela when he’s 50, not 30.
But if I’m wrong and they do, Makela’s other job will be the Concertgebouw; his time in both Paris and Oslo will both come to an end in 2027.
Normally I suppose he will leave Oslo and after Paris. Paris made an agreement for keeping him more. And Paris Philarmonie is probably the place outside of NL where the RCO make more concerts. Every year there are coming.
I agree with you about his youth. The CSO deserves a music director with the type of experience that comes only with age.
I feel so bad for Chicago. They don’t deserve this.
I am sure Chicago and Makela have an understanding that Makela will drop Oslo by the time he picks up Chicago.
Look at Nezet-Seguin, he runs an opera house and 2 orchestras, it’s doable when you are young enough.
They don’t deserve what? Do you know something the rest of us don’t?
Please amplify your remarks—> i smell a good “rhubarb” coming, and as Snoopy says, “i love a good rhubarb…!”
I wouldn’t have thought that Music Director of a major symphony orchestra was a part-time job. To be in that position with four orchestras on two continents seems farcical. Is the talent pool really that shallow?
Arguably the star-conductor pool is indeed that shallow. The talent pool is another matter.
As for Chicago, we don’t yet officially know who will be their next conductor. I am surprised at the number of commentators who treat a rumor as fact.
I’m disappointed Elim Chan isn’t on the list.
Why would the RCO’s press release discuss Mäkelä’s other current or possible future positions? The orchestra is in the business of promoting its own artistic ambitions, not the petty fodder of this blog.
Given the wealth of gifted conductors nowadays, old and young and youngish, and the limitations of available positions, it is not a good idea to have one conductor all over the place. It reeks of marketing desire, to milk ‘young & gifted’ as much as possible and to hype the fact ‘that he is asked everywhere’. Expectations will be raised to the stars and of course Mäkelä will be found wanting, and then everybody gets disappointed and will look elsewhere for another ‘young star’.
These dynamics damage the art form severily – and merely feed the egotrippery all around, on the expense of the ‘content of the product’: the MUSIC.
Karina Canellakis is the one to watch. She deserves a major orchestra or orchestras.
She has already one: the Dutch national radio orchestra.
I think she means a REAL major orchestra. The Dutch national radio orchestra is a starter orchestra. The great conductors like Haitink start there and then move on to places like Amsterdam, Dresden, and London.
He’s enthusiastic and a good conductor but not that good that he could be hired by 3 or 4 orchestras together, complete nonsense… good pick for Paris but as with Barenboim, just looking like it was just a way to get better …
I didn’t know there was a shortage of conductors, so that one person has to lead 4 orchestras. I’m sure money is not involved. Cough, cough.
I thought cso would hire conductors like thielemann…
Pray to the skies above: NO
Indeed, historically they’ve been appointing seasoned conductors, not rising stars.
His latest recording has been universally panned, like everything else decca has released from him.
Why should we feel bad for Chicago? That a Tier 3 orchestra does not deserve the world’s top conductor young superstar is true. But now they can finally rebuild, and maybe in 30 years they’ll be close to what they were before the Muti dark ages. I am hopeful. If anything, I feel bad for Makela.
I used to feel that way about the Muti era but now I’m reversed somewhat: he did increase the standard of playing for the staid old world, and promoted some underplayed masterpieces. I appreciate wheat he did more now that he has gone
Will he be principal conductor or music director? You’ve said it both ways in different posts. Principal conductor could just be a bridge until a new music director is chosen. While I love Makela, I hope the CSO will chose someone with more decades of specialization, impact, and maturity for the music director position (such as Mälkki or Hrusa who brought out the very best in them the last few weeks)