Brit baton gets German extension
OrchestrasAlpesh Chauhan, music director of the imperiled Birmingham Opera Company, has received a three-year extension on his principal guest contract with the Dusseldorf Symphony, taking him to 2027.
Chauhan, 31, is also associate conductor of BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.
Excellent conductor and a huge asset to Birmingham Opera Company I’m looking forward to seeing New Year in July
What is a Düssel, anyway?
I was at the concert in Düsseldorf with Stephen Hough last Friday when his extension was announced. He pulled out Walton 1 after the interval, but the slightly squiffy acoustic of the Tonhalle obscured some of the work being put in. I suppose it was obvious why Walton isn’t played often. Still a rewarding evening and I hope he stays in place to build a following and an audience. Düsseldorf has the population and the venue but can’t hold a candle to the rich programming in Köln.
This is sad because there were some first rate conductors that have lead the orchestra, most notable Jean Martinon and Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, and now Adam Fischer is principal conductor.
The playing seemed good, but as I say I’m not sure of the acoustic in the Tonhalle, felt a bit muddy to me, but I didn’t have a great seat. What I was pushing for in my comment was: they should simply play more concerts, take May for example, there are only two symphonic concert programmes (albeit repeated a few times). They do double duty as the orchestra of the Oper am Rhein too though.
“Alpesh” अल्पेश seems to be a modern coinage – perhaps a translation of Arundhati Roy’s “God of Small Things”?