Marie Jacquot is French conductor of the year
OrchestrasThe Victoires de la musique classique 2024 produced the usual introspective set of French winners. The standout this year was Marie Jacquot as conductor revelation of the year.
Here’s the full list of winners:
Soliste Instrumental : Alexandre Kantorow, piano
Artiste Lyrique : Benjamin Bernheim, ténor
Révélation, artiste lyrique : Juliette Mey, mezzo-soprano
Révélation, soliste instrumental : Salomé Gasselin, viole de gambe
Révélation, chef d’orchestre : Marie Jacquot
Compositeur : Florentine Mulsant.
Marie is incoming chief conductor of the Royal Danish Theatre in Copenhagen and of WDR Sinfonieorchester in Cologne.
Révélation means “Young” or “Rising” conductor – eligibility is only for French conductors 35 and under.
slim pickings
Salomé Gasselin is a stand-out for me. I love the viol da gamba, and from what I hear on YT she is brilliant. Juliette Mey is also one to look out for – the next Cecilia Bartoli?
This competition seems to be for French musicians, so ‘introverted’ is a bit unfair.
The French are always late at recognising their own talents and usually just simply ignore them, mercilessly criticise them and/or marginalise them until most of them quit music all together or leave the country, with many finding recognition and success far easier outside of France than within the country.
In their parochial list for 2024 the ‘Victoires de la musique classique’ name as ‘Conductor of the Year’, Marie Jacquot, who has long ago been recognised outside of France, as she was named as chief conductor in Copenhagen and Cologne. Already in 2016-2018, she was actively conducting all over Germany and Austria and other places in Europe, but no major engagements with any major or minor French orchestras can be found on her bios. Knowing how things work in France, it will probably remain like that, in spite of this “award”.
Alexandre Kantorow won First Prize (Gold Medal) in the Tchaikovsky Piano Competition in 2019, FIVE YEARS AGO! It’s good that this news finally reached France and the ‘Victoires de la musique classique’ in 2024! Perhaps that’s how long it took their sclerotic and outdated bureaucratic system to translate the media release into French that he was the winner in 2019!
Often, when seeing these French awards and opinions, it is better to laugh than to cry, as France continues to live in an isolated state of existence, disconnected from the bigger world, still unable to find its place in the 21st century and still refusing to master or be curious to learn foreign languages, with most French people still, in 2024, speaking appalling levels of English due to a very poor education system and living in its own closed universe. Some see that as charming. More and more professionals in an ever more international and globalised world see it as pathetic and provincial.
we need more French belcanto singers now that Natalie Dessay has retired.
The last great French conductor I heard in person was Pierre Boulez (in Ojai and Los Angeles).
I see they pretty much pick all women.
But no women of color. As a liberal, I am deeply, deeply offended.
Kantorow and Berheim are men- and international stars. Unless you mean that they’ve always picked women for the young conductor award.