Editorial: Chicago got a raw deal
OrchestrasOn paper, it looks like the Chicago Symphony landed one of the hottest maestros on the circuit. He’s late 20s, English speaking, presentable, credible with top orchestras and sought after by several competitors.
But you don’t have to get as far as the small print to see that Klaus Mäkelä is presently music director in Oslo and Paris, and that he’s also music director in waiting at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, all of which he will continue to conduct in the next three years before taking full charge of Chicago.
This is a car crash in the making.
Mäkelä, 28, has a limited repertoire. Although he’s learning fast, the results are not always convincing. Recent recordings for Decca fell way short of the advance hype. He is by no means the finished article, and Chicago players will see quickly through the cracks.
He is also inexperienced at the twists and turns of music management. A few months ago when he was in a relationship with the pianist Yuja Wang he signed her up for concerts together over the next four years. Now she’s pulling out and he can’t handle it. Instead of finding someone he knew to play Bartok’s second concerto instead of Yuja this week, he replaced the piano with a cello concerto. Not a good look.
Chicago is a high-powered orchestra that plays to win. It will not tolerate a jet-lagged youngster who learned a Copland symphony on the drive in from O’Hare. Mäkelä will have to be on time and on top form, all of the time.
That’s a lot to ask of a sensitive Finn with little knowledge of the world beyond northern Europe. By the time he arrives as full-blown music director in 2027, he will be 31, probably married and – after hopping 4 orchestras – more than a bit stale.
The odds are stacked heavily against this uneven appointment.
main photo taken this week in New York by Mathias Benguigui, issued by the Orchestre de Paris
W. K. M!
F. O. R. M. !
I need this explained to me please.
no doubt something Muti related…
No you don’t, no one needs anything explained by Chicagorat.
He claims to have insider access to the CSO, but he completely missed the boat on Makela and everything else.
He has been copying and pasting his own rants for 5 years.
I think this guy will be fun!
Fuck you, Norman. Your vile hate blog is the biggest problem for classical music at the moment.
so sweet…
“Musician in europe” should be banned, IMHO.
well to be honest the racist posts by some commenters that were allowed gives his description some credibility.
Could this be a display of a potential crush on Yuja? You have to admit that it’s not uncommon to see a half naked pianist on Slippedisc.
hey why don’t you start your own blog santa-klaus.fan?
Lol, you know nothing about classical music if you think this blog is its biggest problem. It’s not even in the top 100 problems.
There’s a list?
Because there is no other major outlet for classical music commentary, this site by its outsized presence, sucks up the oxygen in the room.
You know people in the industry read it, the NYT cites it from time to time, this site is like a Trump tweet, you can’t pretend it doesn’t exist.
Could that be because a good share of the contributors are actual intelligent people with actually interesting things to say, even when you disagree? Else no one would follow it at all. And Norman is not a complete fool either, despite what his psychologist says.
Indeed it’s like Trump tweets
As it appears that you derive little pleasure from this site, I might respectfully suggest that you stop reading it, thus sparing yourself a lot of torment.
I’ve to type dictations here but never read the rest. It gives me a head ache & most I don’t get anyway when I try. There better be a site for music PA’s, after all they carry the profession!
Sally
Hysterical. Are you going for hypocritical irony, or simply determined to prove your point?
Though I take issue with some of Norman’s pontifications, in this case, he is absolutely correct. How could this kid possibly be allowed to follow in the footsteps of Reiner, Solti, Kubelik, Barenboim, Muti, etc.? His interpretations are illiterate and vapid (cf. M3, especially). The only winners are his managements; the chief losers are the composers he – for now – thoroughly misunderstands.
…, Haitink,…
Haitink was pleasant, literate, educated and musical, and yet one of the most inadequate interpreters of the past 120 years of recorded music. His interpretations never amounted to more than a didactic run through of the score, and uniformly failed to ever incandesce. He easily was the most overdocumented conductor next to even Ormandy and Karajan.
He provided an excellent custodian ship for the CSO, along with Pierre Boulez after the Barenboim era, but that’s not enough to put him in the celestial listing of great conductors.
This young kid is going to go much further than is predicted, just as Dudamel has done in spite of his naysayers.
Ahem…so now we have to defend poor Bernard Haitink? Do you think Philips would have continued to grind out Haitink albums by the crate load if people were not choosing them over many other easily available famous names? He is also routinely listed by most critics as one of the finest conductors of his time. Plenty of listeners would take his 60’s Mahler cycle over Bernstein’s any day, and did. It would be easy to list dozens of worse conductors, certainly including Muti and Barenboim. And also, same point for Ormandy and Karajan…the public bought their albums by the crate, at least by classical standards. They could have turned elsewhere if they were so awful.
How much farther does he have to go? He’s got Chicago and Amsterdam. Just Berlin really left. London? It’s all downhill for him. That’s what’s absurd about his Chicago appointment.
Can I ask you, what would have been so wrong IF Reiner, Solti, Kubelik, Barenboim, Muti HAD taken over the CSO at age 31?
Would they have turned out to be a lesser or a BETTER Reiner, Solti, Kubelik, Barenboim, Muti, BECAUSE the CSO taught them to be better?
Muti often talks about how he learned a lot of pieces FROM the Vienna Philharmonic. So why can’t the CSO be the teacher for a young Solti or Muti, or …. Makela!
Kubelik took ver the CSO when he was in his mid thirties.
Did not work out too well. But he’s still one of my favorite conductors.
With their high world stature and history, there is no reason for Chicago to settle for anyone not already at the summit of a brilliant career. Someone whose authority and reputation are beyond any doubt. Someone who raises the orchestra to it’s highest level, not someone who needs to be taught by it and carried by it. Someone ready on day one. Maybe Klaus will be there someday, but he ain’t yet. And splitting his time is an absolute insult. You want Chicago, you stay in Chicago. Period. No exceptions. After the disappointment of Barenboim and Muti, this is strike three for this orchestra. Neither ever became more than decent. It seems someone needs to come in and clean house.
You don’t have to read it. You are free to start your own.
I care deeply about the CSO and am not particularly impressed with Klaus, and my initial reaction was “huh? thought he was already overcommitted.” But this news really doesn’t bother me. For one, I have been ready to see Muti out of the picture for years… the orchestra has been rotting under him and he never understood what made the orchestra unique. So just relieved that they’ve finally got off the pot. For two, filling the seats is a giant problem and he seems to have a little bit of star power. For three, his limited availability should mean a larger variety of interesting and hopefully competent guest conductors. My biggest reservation is that ticket prices will be at a premium for his cycles.
“…the orchestra has been rotting under him and he never understood what made the orchestra unique.”
Sounds like his tenure in Philadelphia.
I remember when Muti got Philadelphia. (I was in high school, I think) He stated he was going to raise the orchestra to “world class” or something to that effect, if I recall correctly. I and probably everyone who heard him thought: “can this guy possibly be any more of an idiot.” Of course, the orchestra was already as good as you could get. As for the idiot part, apparently he could.
I agree with the music critic who said, “ World class orchestras conduct themselves.” I saw Mr. Chen lead a Bach program the day before YW was to perform. Good luck Klaus. The CSO will do just fine if you don’t show up to work. I flew from NYC to Chicago to hear Bartok’s2. Instead, I got Sol playing the same piece that I heard at the NYPhil a month earlier.
At the Metropolitan Opera last night, a patron said,
“It serves you right for leaving NYC”
I love the CSO and always will.
Muti is overrated. His self-enforced image of gravitas is actually boredom in disguise. He has never had the fire of such maestri as Patanè, Toscanini, Solti, De Sabata and many others. Solid but dull.
Chicago is in the Midwest, so the ignorant audiences don’t know the difference. As for the Finnish Wonderboy, one can tell/see/hear he is just learning the repertoire: he knows the notes, but not the scores. Thus business is such a joke. Classical music is dying anyway.
Yowzer…how can you be so ignorant and dismissive of Midwest audiences? You think only the east coast, Europe and a bit of California are sophisticated musically? What a foolish comment. I’ve been to concerts all over the country and I can assure you that Chicago audiences are just as attentive, knowledgeable, and critical as they are in Boston, New York or Philadelphia. That goes for Detroit, Minneapolis, St Louis, Dallas, and Salt Lake City, too.
Truth Hurts wrote: “ Muti … has never had the fire of such maestri as Patanè, Toscanini, Solti, De Sabata and many others. Solid but dull.”
I disagree. In his prime, and especially in Verdi, Muti was electrifying. Watch this video!
https://youtu.be/tvffuYXE13Q?si=GLnpY-ySLXznfcNl
So, Cleveland is playing to ignorant Midwestern audiences, too?
If you think that midwestern audiences are ignorant then you need to get out more. These audiences have seen the great conductors cycle through their cities for years.
An audience member in Chicago asked the composer of the work that was being presented, “How long did it take you to notate that?”Not bad for an 80year old lady who has subscribed to the CSO for 30 years.
Largely agree. I’m not impressed by KM. I feel like I’ve met a hundred of him in my career. Uninspiring kids who decided way too early, before mastery of any instrument, that “conducting” was their instrument. The so-called “drum major instinct” (which is not a compliment). But KM has the star power of the moment, and if that helps keep the orchestra I care about afloat, so be it.
I’m a defender of Muti’s early years in Chicago. I think the CSO of the late 00s (the post-DB interregnum with Haitink and Boulez) and early 10s under Muti had some great concerts. But Muti is now frail and stale.
I grew up on the CSO in the 80s and 90s and they have, and will always, hold a special place in my heart, but I think this is a huge mistake.
I see some of your points, but the pros you outline won’t even take effect for three years, and even at that point he’s only contracted for 14 concerts. Not to mention, this leaves the orchestra without artistic direction for 4 full seasons.
KM simply is not ready for this, and burnout is inevitable. That orchestra is a force to be reckoned with and once they see the cracks, they are going to rip him apart.
Dear CA, I see that John (below) has already posted my same reaction to your comment, that the CSO has been “rotting” under Muti. The Philadelphia has been my home orchestra my entire life, since before Stokowski’s great return in 1960. The Muti years witnessed a considerable change in the PO’s sound; disappointing to those who grew up during the Ormandy years. More than that, Muti seemed disconnected from the city. From my reading, it seems he has been more connected to Chicago. I am very curious to learn your thoughts about the actual rot taking place at the CSO.
Your excellent point regarding the few coming years before Klaus officially becomes the new CSO MD has reminded me of the “transition” years at the end of Ormandy’s reign here. The PO administration was looking ahead to Ormandy’s possible retirement, from about 1969. I was in music conservatory in the city at that time, and the excitement mounted, as we had the opportunity to hear Ozawa, Kertesz, Maazel, Pretre, and Sawallisch work with the orchestra multiple weeks in a row. Also, the “other” Klaus…..Tennstedt. These weeks, over about three seasons, provided me with some of the most memorable concerts of my life; permanently etched to this day. Throw in Abbado’s (Claudio, as Roberto came much later) single debut week, an amazing Mahler Sixth, which the orchestra had never played, and I was in a heaven of musical discovery. Many years later, when Sawallisch was hired as MD, to follow Muti, it was publicly revealed that the orchestra had previously offered him the job, twice before. The first, after his debut outing, an outstanding three week stint of concerts of Strauss (Domestica, and a D & T that had some players weeping in the Green Room afterwards – I witnessed this.), Beethoven (Eroica and Emperor with Gilels), and Dvorak (the three overtures, performed as a symphony, and Symphony 8). The second time, before Muti. Both times, he was already booked too far ahead. The third time, began a decade of music making, during which the musicians looked forward to every week their Maestro was in town.
If I were living in Chicago now, I would be looking forward to the next three years of exciting guest conductors. I am wishing the best of this development for you!
Ah, yes. That ol’ incisive Norman commentary, where we read that at age 28, Mäkelä is “by no means the finished article” but by age 31, he will probably be “more than a bit stale.”
Got it.
Stale as in everyone will have been tired of seeing him by then. Unfinished as in musically immature. He will be both stale and unfinished by the age of 31.
He is already.
Hear hear you beat me to it.
The string of words, I hesitate to call it a sentence — “he will be 31, probably married and – after hopping 4 orchestras – more than a bit stale” — makes no logical sense whatsoever.
He”ll be stale because he’ll…be 31? be married? have moved up from 2 mediocre orchestras? gained experience and learned from his mistakes with these orchestras? That is literally the typical career trajectory of every major conductor.
Muti was stale, for his entire tenure at Chicago, he did nothing but re-played, ad nauseum, his Golden Hits from his youthful days at Philadelphia, the Philharmonia, with Vienna, and with La Scala.
Seriously! Muti had the most limited repertoire of any CSO music director. You can only program “Aus Italien” and Mendelssohn’s 4th so many times before folks catch on.
No shit, it’d be one thing if he conducted only Italians, but to conduct a caricature of Italians by a German, and to take that piece on tour in Europe, was the surest sign of the onset of senility.
Haha.
But Richard Strauss’s Aus Italien is worth far more excursions than another round of Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche.
Riccardo Muti made a commercial recording of Aus Italien with the Berlin Philharmonic, which was released on CD in 1990 on Philips Classics. That release also includes Don Juan. Both are/were more than decent performances and interpretations.
And it is not like Muti programmed Aus Italien every season. I believe he programmed it early this season (2023-24), in another season, and a bit on a tour (the recent one that included Italy?).
Well it least he wasn’t afraid to program it. My local top-25 orchestra in the U.S. has never played it once in 42 seasons. But with a new conductor starting next season there is hope.
Scott, Are you lamenting never having heard your orchestra perform Aus Italien? Or Mendelssohn Italian? Except for the Finale, the Strauss lacks the inspiration he was soon to find in abundance. If 42 seasons without the Mendelssohn, who can find the words?
Said recording is out of print and has been since its first and only run. Why would anyone buy that when there is Kempe or more recently Luisi? Far more detail and color in either one.
Till is a masterpiece of making the most out of very little musical material. It tells a whole story out of one single musical line and its near inversion. Maybe you should actually listen to it again.
Aha, “Aus Italien”! As I recall, that was on Muti’s “audition” concert in Philadelphia. And we heard that during his tenure also. I think that was the only R. Strauss in his rep during his MD decade. However, he was not always dull during those years. There was some exciting Stravinsky, a bit of Prokofieff not often performed, before him, or since (Sym 3 and Ivan the Terrible), as well as a great Nevsky, and a long highlights from R & J, a sweeping Bruckner First, some great Beethoven and Tchaikovsky. Sadly, Muti’s taste for non-standard repertoire, past and present, leaned heavily toward the forgettable. He did some good things. We may never have gotten a new concert hall without his pushing for it. And, he introduced opera in concert as an (almost) yearly event, his crowning achievement in my memory. His concert Tosca was thrilling, even though Carol Vaness became “too ill” to sing after just one performance, the Thursday night. My memory recalls that the Carnegie Hall performance was canceled. I heard the Saturday night with a different soprano. Now that I am thinking about this again, why were these performances scheduled so closely together, following the regular orchestra concert schedule? Was it possible that Ms. Vaness was “ill”, to prevent severe vocal fatigue from singing Tosca on three consecutive nights? (I welcome any correction if my memory has been inaccurate.)
Mäkelä’s repertoire isn’t any more limited than that of many major conductors.
He’s been doing things backwards with his recordings, setting things to disc before he’s fully fledged out an interpretation and broken them in with his orchestras. Hopefully the next ones (Symphonie fantastique, Shostakovich with Oslo, Mahler with Amsterdam) will be better.
How many conductors have fully fledged out an interpretation at 27? Makela should be making the rounds as a guest conductor, not taking over as music director for multiple major orchestras at the same time. Unfortunately, music management in its current form can’t resist a new, pretty face. I have heard him live, heard his recordings, and watched several live YouTube videos with his orchestras, and from a musical standpoint, he simply isn’t ready.
This is one of the more obvious and convincing takes on Mäkelä’s appointment to be music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and chief conductor of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. It’s almost like another version of Andris Nelsons being appointed to lead the Boston Symphony and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. Nelsons should have never been appointed Gewandhauskapellmeister.
Mäkelä is slated to leave the Oslo Philharmonic as chief conductor at the end of the 2026-2027 season; so, a seven year tenure. Not bad at all, but hardly what can be termed a “transformative” tenure in purely chronological terms.
The obvious question no one is asking is the following: after being the music director and chief conductor of the Chicago Symphony and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, what will Mäkelä do for his sequels, assuming that there are any? In my estimation, while experience will surely improve his art, it will really all be downhill from about 2032. Is he supposed to remain music director in Chicago and chief conductor in Amsterdam until he retires from the conducting scene? Go figure.
I disagree. I heard his Mahler 5 in Chicago two years ago and it was very exciting, polished and very moving throughout the musical journey. He neither conducted nor interpreted Mahler like a 26 -year old. I’ve heard very average interpretations in Chicago by much more experienced conductors. Too many Muti and Makela haters out there. It’s a shame.
Except that Chicago needs to cultivate new audiences. New audiences don’t understand all of these finer points of interpretation that are discussed here but they might know a hot, charismatic conductor when they see one. Makela is marketable, Euro-stylish and good-looking and sorry, but that counts for a lot these days.
Norman, I share all your reservations. But it’s not true to say that this young man has a limited repertory. He thinks he has a huge repertory. That is the big problem. Years ago he was already conducting Beethoven 9, Schubert 9, Bruckner 9, Mahler 9 as well as all the other big symphonic works. He really does believe he can do justice to all of them. Having seen him live and online, I beg to differ. At best his performances are competent. But there’s nothing remotely distinctive about what he does. In Bruckner and Mahler especially, I expect the conductor to have thought hard and long about what all those notes mean. I don’t want a time-beater. What would we say about a younger soprano who performs Isolde, Tosca, Leonore, Aida, Donna Anna, Elisabeth, the Marschallin and a few other key roles on the stage of all the world’s top opera houses within just a few seasons? That would be utterly insane.
You should do some blind listening comparisons. You can’t actually hear age if you don’t have your eyes to help you.
Apples and oranges. Time- beater? No chance.
Norman, don’t predict when you’re ignorant. No question in the next 2 years Mäkelä will relinquish orc it back on certain positions. It isn’t a train wreck bound to happen. Not at all. You don’t have the prowess to predict it. You don’t have the insight. All you’re doing is being a heckler.
You proved he doesn’t have the prowess to predict by…predicting what will happen in the next two years. Huh?
Haitink took over the same Concertgebouw Orchestra at age 32. But note that technology today makes listening to recordings and studying scores FAR easier in 2024 compared to 1961.
Haitink was much better.
..not when he started. He was dull, but he really improved over time.
“Haitink took over the same Concertgebouw Orchestra at age 32.”
Together with Eugen Jochum for a few seasons precisely because Haitink was inexperienced at that time.
And some believed that the directorship should have gone to Willem van Otterloo instead.
Well, Haitink worked fine in the end after his tandem with Jochum (which is overlooked in the history of the orchestra).
Well, Muti is Laureat For Life, so he can be Klaus’s mentor for the rest of his remaining days, lol, except they despise each other…
Classical music critics have always tried to eat the young. How well I recall an early review of Daniel Barenboim’s conducting: “He’s lucky the musicians already know the music.” And, without even leaving Chicago, there was Rafael Kubelik. . . .,
The prediction with Barenboim turned our to be exactly right. One of the most under-baked conductors ever.
Wildly disagree there.
These two were absolutely fantastic though, but perhaps a little young. Makela is young and not fantastic
That’s exactly right. Barenboim treated the orchestra like his own personal piano. In the same subscription series concerts were wildly different from night to night. This is very tough on the orchestra. It’s no surprise that the orchestra was split on him and Abbado. I bet many now wished they had supported Abbado instead. Thank you Henry Fogel for bringing the CSO Barenboim and destroying Orchestra Hall’s acoustics when you renovated gave the people Symphony Center. A pathetic legacy for Fogel to say the least.
I rarely agree with NL but I am in total agreement here. I heard him in NYC he was really OK but no great shakes. I can’t believe that the Chicago Board would hire someone who is also music director of another orchestra in the same league as they are, what were they thinking? Who was it who said about him when they asked her whether she would be excited to play with him: in his twenties, she said? I wouldn’t trust a cardiac surgeon to operate on me when they are in their twenties! I disagree of course, there are geniuses (including cardiac surgeons) but he is no genius.
“I can’t believe that the Chicago Board would hire someone who is also music director of another orchestra in the same league as they are, what were they thinking?” Worked for me!
Norman, don’t worry. The Chicago Symphony doesn’t play Copland anyway.
They do.
He did lead a wonderful performance of Copland’s Clarinet Concerto in Amsterdam, which might still be up on YouTube. What’s so unique about Copland that non-USA-born conductors can’t learn his music?
Thanks for the laugh.
So true. I think they have Copland 3 on their schedule next season but otherwise, I haven’t seen much – no Appalachian Spring, Rodeo, El Salon Mexico, Quiet City, etc. in a long time. For that matter, not a lot of contemporary American music either, aside from the curious recent interest in Philip Glass. I hope Makela doesn’t simply bring a bunch of European modernists over and say that he’s got new music covered now.
CSO start looking for your next conductor…again???
I can’t wait to watch you eat your words, Norm.
It’s no big deal if Norman has to eat his words. Music critics have done that in the past, and they’ll continue to do so in the future. However, it’ll be a very big deal for the Chicago Symphony if he’s right.
The sad news is that conductors nowadays are not as deep and sophisticated and learned like conductors in the past. There are not that many decent ones so their careers blow out of control. They take on themselves way too much because they know they can’t enjoy this fame for very long. I wish CSO all the luck here. You can’t find a replacement to Muti because there’s no one like him. This kid will bring up ticket sale for a little while, Scandinavian repertoire and soloists.
“You can’t find a replacement to Muti because there’s no one like him.”
Yes you can. They’re called robots.
When will people realize that in almost all situations their words reveal mostly who they are and very little about those they are passing judgment on.
I have no horse in this race.
But having watched numerous orchestras and music directors deal with losing soloists at the last minute over the years, I still don’t see how substituting a fine cellist for fine pianist is a sign of failure or lacking an essential skill, as our host suggests that it is.
There are surely ample pianists whose repertoire list shows the Bartók No. 2. Call the music agencies, call the piano teachers at Juilliard or Curtis (or the nearby Northwestern University for that matter) and they can give you a list (or in the case of the conservatories, even offer themselves up). They’re available, and likely very very good players.
In fact let’s pick a name out of the hat: Aleksandar Madžar. He’s splendid. He has the work in his repertoire list. You can hear it on YouTube. He might even have been available. But this audience was promised (and paid for) the biggest of big names, and Madžar isn’t there yet in the USA. The big names with this particular piece under their fingers likely all have engagements of their own now that we are in the sweet spot of the music season. He was lucky to get a rather major league cellist who was free for a full subscription series.
I’d say that this tiny example at least shows he has a well-developed sense of what a subscription audience prefers and expects, and it did no harm to the overall program. Maybe it is sad that audiences really want the biggest names for soloists, but that is why they are the biggest names. Big name soloists are often the bait for “difficult” repertoire. That’s hardly news. It explains why when I’ve heard the Berg Violin Concerto in concert it has always been with the biggest name soloists — Perlman, Kremer, etc., rather than the promising unknowns.
There are no lists of music students shaking Bartok 2 out of their sleeve and also Madzar is not great.
Well, there seems to be ample music lovers in Europe who think otherwise.
I was looking forward to Bartok Piano Concerto 2 all year, and not because of Yuja Wang. Bartok 2 is not a common piece because it is very demanding for the soloist, but in my opinion it is one of the great 20th century piano concerti. Replacing it was Shostakovich Cello Concerto 1, which is performed all the time, is a huge disappointment.
Pierre, I wrote my comment about the CSO program change, before I read your post. If I had been looking forward to hearing Bartok PC 2 all year, I too would have been disappointed to miss it. I agree that it is a masterpiece of the 20th Century. I have not heard it in Philadelphia, since Pollini made his debut here, with Abbado, in the early 1970s. I envy your having heard the Shostakovich Cello Concerto 1 many times. For me, that has also just been once (and never CC 2!) Now I am really wondering why Yuja withdrew from the concerts. The Ghost of Pollini? A quarrel with Klaus? Illness? She rarely cancels, and seems to have endless stamina. I seem to recall reading that her first outing with Bartok PC 2 did not go so well (I have also read that some excellent pianists have found it nearly impossible; no shame in that. Every pianist has different physical and mental qualities; I believe they should play what works for them, physically and musically.) sorry you missed out. Here’s hoping there is another Pollini on the emergent horizon.
I agree with David K, that Klaus substituting a fine Cellist for Yuja’s Bartok was a good move. I think Yuja’s fame at this point might be more about her, than about what she performs. Any lesser known pianist performing Bartok PC 2 would have risked being unfairly compared to her. It’s nore difficult for a typical audience to compare different solo instruments. And Klaus substituted a great mid-century concerto for another great mid-century concerto. I did not hear Sol Gabetta’s Shostakovich, but I’m guessing she did not disappoint.
No, the Concertgebouw got a raw deal. They signed him first, and forgot to put in an exclusivity clause.
No, Paris got a raw deal. They put him on the map with his first major appointment and he’s now dumping them for wife number 4.
Mr. Mäkelä is no doubt extremely talented. I think he will probably do just fine — I suspect he is one of those rare forces of nature with limitless ambition that can handle an enormous workload as well as the inevitable stress that comes with it. He will learn whatever he needs to learn on the spot, and I suspect mature a great deal throughout this process. I personally would have preferred Jakub Hrůša, who in my opinion is one of the greatest musicians I have encountered in decades, and whose artistry is absolutely breathtaking.
Agree with your comments on Hrusa
I’m also super disappointed it wasn’t Hrůša but if the CSO musicians are happy I’m happy.
We are happy, we would have been equally happy with Hrusa. Perhaps that can still happen in the future.
I’m still trying to figure in what have the Finns offended. It must be pretty big.
Silly decision. Never heard of the guy. Might as well hired Mickey Mouse.
LOL. “He has broken up with Yuja and can’t handle it.” Really????????
Given my experience as a concertgoer in Paris, I can say DEFINITIVELY that Mäkelä has not a limited repertory. Quite the contrary …
I don’t think the travel is a big deal. He’ll be taking a lot of nighttime flights in first class with the full recliner seats. I mean, there are plenty of people in very powerful, high ranking positions who fly all over the world each week.
As for repertoire, most orchestras, including Chicago, have pretty narrow repertoires. Just look at CSO’s schedule next year: Lots of Beethoven, Mahler, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, etc.
The sad truth is that Music Directors can get by conducting a pretty limited repertoire, avoiding anything with a complex rhythm (with the Rite of Spring being the major exception, but then conductors get it rescored in 4/4).
The incessant air travel ruined Andre Previn. About 1983 he seemed to hit the wall and never again could muster the exciting and vibrant performances of his peak years with the LSO.
By the by, I entirely agree with Norman’s thoughts here. When the crash comes, it’ll be sudden, and the washout permanent. He hasn’t built up the requisite reserves of experience and toughness.
Andre Previn gave some wonderful performances with the New York Philharmonic in the 90’s; the Korngold Symphony and Strauss Sinfonia Domestica come immediately to mind. He also lived in NYC at the time, so the jet lag factor didn’t come directly into play.
Usually it’s the guy pulling out…
OK, I take my hat – don’t expect this going past Norman, apologies in advance and I know it was a cheap shot (but so, so tempting).
But seriously, another major orchestra and then some won;’t neb too amused I assume.
In the words of Yogi Berra, “It’s dangerous to make predictions, especially about the future.”
Mäkelä is at present chief conductor of two orchestras, and in future will be chief conductor of two orchestras. Is this so unprecedented? How about Andris Nelsons (presently Boston and Leipzig), Orozco Estrada (formerly Frankfurt and Houston)? Is it a bad thing both for the orchestra and for the conductor to have a variety of experience?
It would also be interesting to have some real information about the role of a Music Director in programming, and about whether a guest conductor is entirely responsible for replacing soloists who have withdrawn. I was under the impression that most orchestras have managements.
Or Barenboim: CSO and Berlin State Opera
Or Solti: CSO and Covent Garden
Or FWM: Cleveland and Vienna State Opera
Lots of other precedents…
Many down-votes. No answers.
One thing that is not mentioned in these decisions and the resultant commentary that can help “explain,” to some degree, is:
The musicians of the orchestra are a major stakeholder in deciding who gets hired, and in Klaus’ case in Chicago, the majority of musicians (not all) very much loved and want him hired.
The reasons against Klaus stated here are not necessarily untrue. However, one must balance that against the very musicians who experience him coming to “want him.” They’re either “on to something” we’re not, or we have to admit our perspective is vastly different from theirs.
I have it on good authority from a musician on Klaus’ search committee that, “the orchestra fell in love with him after his Firebird.”
Orchestras are dying. Bleeding to death by old people dying and taking their subscriptions with them to their grave.
If a young, charismatic, good looking music director who is loved by his orchestra and the gift giving public can reverse the trend then more power to them.
As far as the music is concerned; 95% who patronize orchestras have no clue what they are hearing. The harsh reality: the music really doesn’t matter anymore
How about a little older, still charismatic but deeper, wiser, more seasoned and tempered and ripened in his mastery of the works he seeks to interpret. There is no shortcut to all this.You can’t expect such a learning curve to happen in a few years. He may be great for his age, but why not find someone also great but fully ready? Why not someone willing to dedicate himself to one orchestra also? Chicago should demand that at least, just as a minimum. That orchestra deserves no less. Is there really no one such as that available of all the conductors hopping from podium to podium? Where did they all go? I also do not believe that 95 percent don’t know what they are hearing, although some don’t. On what evidence do you base that? Then why would they even be there?
Sounds like a pretty good deal to me in that I would expect this appointment to last 20-25 years, return the orchestra to it’s rightful sound and finally erase the stain of the Barenboim years.
To think Carlos Kleiber would turn each and every one of these posts down…..
Sounds like someone is jealous. The classical world is toxic to young talent, without some degree of ladder climbing/hazing the “establishment” won’t accept a fresh young talent that seems to charm and motivate the knickers off everyone he works with. Let the bitter, sour old (mostly) men put aside their grievances and appreciate a fresh change when it’s very welcomed by the people that actually want it most (the musicians).
Please. The guy has a clear pattern of wh*ring himself out at the first offer of money, which is the only thing in common with the four orchestras he has. What is to be jealous of here?
I think your sour, bitter jealous view of youth is forgetting the main point: the musicians wanted him badly, above all others, as have all the orchestras that have hired him. No matter what the haters say, they don’t get to have the privilege of making music with a talented inspiring artist, everything beyond that is less important.
Would be interesting if Claudia Cassidy was still around.
“The announcement discloses that Mäkelä will leave his roles in Paris and Oslo in or before 2027, in time for him to take the reins in Chicago and Amsterdam. The conductor declares that “From 2027/28 my main responsibilities will be my partnerships with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Until then I remain committed to my ongoing collaborations with the Orchestre de Paris and Oslo Philharmonic.”
WFMT reports Mäkelä will leave Paris and Oslo by 2027.
OMG. I’ve just entered a shit-slinging show here. So much vitriol. Time for a cup of linden tea.
He’s way over-extended and Paris will surely drop first. He’s way over-extended and none of them will be his orchestra, as he will not have enough time to properly develop them to his sound. That said, any board that allows a conductor to lead 2 major orchestras is really dumb. It becomes orchestra abuse.
It’s become par for the course now with music organisations all over the world falling for slick presentation and vague airs of authority over real substance. I’ve heard Makela on a number of occasions and unfortunately it is like so many wunderkind promoted to the hilt nowadays, some seriously under-developed talent hidden under a veneer of competence then promoted till they’re at breaking point at which stage a new face comes in. Rinse and repeat. God forbid we find artists of serious substance that are not then worked to death and promoted above all others like a golden goose.
We as audience members are beholden to competitions, companies, concert halls run by dilettantes and charlatans with no cultivation of taste or humane sensibility. Just profiteering and slick packaging. Capitalism and post-modernism in a nutshell.
Jesus Christ. A bunch of clucking hens in a knitting circle, the lot a’ ya’. Cry harder, why don’t ya’?
so the formula to become a sought after conductor is to be a mediocre/failed instrumentalist (in his case, a cellist) and then screw/break-up with a circus act Beyoncé-wanna-be pianist? asking for a friend.
Leave Yuja out of this. She is an outstanding pianist with true musical substance. Mäkelä is the ken-doll of conducting.
“so the formula to become a sought after conductor is to be a mediocre/failed instrumentalist (in his case, a cellist) ”
For a moment I thought you were talking about Barbirolli.
This move is simply nonsensical. Orchestre de Paris is a much better job: great hall with great programming in a cultural center. Chicago is provincial in comparison. CSO doesn’t even play better than OdP in 2024. Besides, does he really think the dominant French classical streaming platforms such as medici and mezzo would follow him to Chicago just because he is a pretty boy? Only one conclusion to reach: he lives for money and money only.
Nonsense. OdP is a fine band but nobody would put it on a par with the CSO. Mezzo and Medici would probably love to show the CSO but televising U.S. orchestras – with the way unions have usually approached video – has always been problematic.
Says like a true CSO supporter. They always have an overinflated idea of how good/important their provincial band is. Yes lots of people would put OdP on par with CSO unless you stick to verdicts made in 1970s and pretend that is how it’s always going to be.
Klaus Mäkelä should get a mustache and a few kilos. He would then look older, which is good in the conductor business.
“He is also inexperienced at the twists and turns of music management. A few months ago when he was in a relationship with the pianist Yuja Wang he signed her up for concerts together over the next four years. Now she’s pulling out and he can’t handle it. Instead of finding someone he knew to play Bartok’s second concerto instead of Yuja this week, he replaced the piano with a cello concerto. Not a good look.”
I find it a bit intriguing that Yuja made her Instagram account private today on the same day that the news of Klaus’s CSO directorship was announced.
In 1958 the Brazilian football team selected a 17 year old to play in the World Cup final. Football commentators were shocked at someone so young being selected. The name of the young man was Pele……….the rest is history. Perhaps those on the “in side” know a bloody sight more than all the venerable music critics!
Footballplayers are near retirement at Klaus Mäkelä’s age.
WTF has that got to do with anything?…………and by the way many top class players are still playing inter late 30s, time you got up to date with the world.
But the problem, if there is a problem, is not Makela accepting but the CSO offering the position to a (possibly) overcommitted and probably soon-to-be overworked conductor…
What conductor did Mr. Le Brecht have in mind as an available better candidate than Mr. Mäkelä?
Who else dared the auditions and interviews? Who else was invited to interview?
Yet another one of Parrott’s puppets.
He’s graduating from Paris and Oslo to Chicago and Amsterdam. After having Papa Muti for such a long time, the orchestra is hungry for a fresh face and I daresay the audience too …
The problem is, at some point along, it ceases to be about the ‘fresh face’, and becomes about the results instead.
The function of symphony orchestras is to share great music with loving audiences, not celebrate egos and marketing hype. It is not a business, neither a celebrity show, but an art form, one of the greatest humanity has ever produced. This requires some humility and lost of dedication, instead of prostitution.
Prostitution? Are you referring to Mäkelä? That’s a serious criticism. Can you back it up?
As I understand this, Mr. Mäkelä’s contract with Oslo and Paris will expire around the same time those two new contracts begin. So roughly the work load remains the same. In addition, he informs plan to reduce the amount of guest conducting. Nothing to worry … -TL
I became partial to the Kid after the vile attack by David Hurwitz. Masked as a review of a Sibelius set by a 26-year old, which came out better than Maazel or Bernstein but not quite as good as Vanska (Lahti) or Segerstam II or Sanderling, this was a model character assassination attempt saying that Makela did a horrible Sibelius, that he would never be able to do a better Sibelius (because DH said so), nor able to conduct anything at all.
Now, young Klaus is is just a — conductor — but I don’t see any logic in choosing principal conductors among people in their 80s or 90s (and I LOVE some of these). Nor in inviting people not even remotely related to conducting an orchestra, such as a lady whose name starts with Marin and ends with Alsop.
we can’t look into the future, whether it’s about KM’s marital status or his success in Chicago. Also, journalism is about what happens; not about what will happen in the future.
I think Norman hit all the nails on the head with this post.
Klaus has little charisma, his gestures on the podium look like he’s trying to look like a conductor. It feels to me like the record company, magazines, agents are pushing someone like posh parents would push their spoilt brat child.
He’s an average instrumentalist who somehow got lucky.
Decca will know soon based on sales and may drop him like EMI dropped another amateur who recorded popular music.
Commentary based on nothing, with no insight. Does anyone know why Yuja wang cancelled? Perhaps when Klaus conducted his first concerts as MD designate, it was determined that he should be all about him and it was a strategic decision. The point is this commentary is BS. Where does it say he learns scores on the drive to rehearsal?
Willem Mengelberg. Chief conductor of the Concertgebouw at the age of 24, a position he held from 1895 to 1945. Previously general music director for the city of Luzerne, appointed at the age of 20. Simultaneously with the Concertgebouw post, music director of the New York Philharmonic, 1922-1928.
What would Slippedisc have said about him, I wonder?
It is not about the age, it’s how uninteresting he is as a conductor. It is essentially a non-performance whatever he conducts. Might as well have Chat gpt conduct it
“little knowledge of the world beyond northern Europe” – hmm, 3 years experience in Paris, Amsterdam, guesting all over the place, including Berliner Philharmoniker. Was it a similar problem for Salonen, Jansons, other Nordics?
I still don’t know what people see in this guy. Heard him live at least half a dozen times, listened to his records, and still don’t understand the hype. He is as bland and boring as it comes. There is more excitement in a slug’s day than in Mäkelä’s baton.
Dave Hurwitz’ reviews on YouTube are absolutely correct: this is the ken doll of conducting. Wake up Chicago!
I hope he surprises the lot of you armchair quarterbacks.
This was clearly a (mis)management blunder and a real plunge into mediocrity.
Notice the complete silence of all the intelligentsia who confidently predicted Marin Alsop would be the new chief of the CSO. Oh my, how did you get that one wrong, oh smart ones? Thank the good Lord you were wrong as could be. LA would be crazy to consider her and I would think that by now she is a known quantity to them so they won’t be hoodwinked by Marin’s press machine, paid and otherwise. I don’t see her ever getting the big US orchestra appointment.
Makela’s appointment makes sense in that we are seeing a tectonic shift in conductor generations now: many older ones have retired or just aged out of the music director thing, and the crop of middle aged ones are not always attractive to big orchestras, so the young brood holds mystery and promise and these orchestras are willing to give it a whirl and take the chance in the absence of aged greatness (and availability). Plus they need a sexy podium dweller to bolster post-Covid empty seats. I wish them well, and I am sure the players will give it a sincere college try, but there will be moments when the CSO gang will pine for depth of musical character. Let’s hope it works better than it looks like on paper now.
Without knowing the guy I still think that this is extremely pessimistic prognosis for Mäkelä. I hope Mäkelä doesn’t read your blog. On the other hand he can turn out to be
really successful and a great musician,one can wait and see. Jaap was only 21 when he became the youngest concertmaster in the history of Concertgebouw.
And look where is he now!!
He’s a very poor choice indeed, as was Welser-Moist. But maybe he’ll overstay for decades as Franzi did. They should have hired someone at least 50 years old, perhaps Riccardo Chailly, though his Ear is not really sensitive enough to color and balance. But then, what conductors is, nowadays?
“…….his Ear is not really sensitive enough to color and balance. But then, what conductors is, nowadays?” Answer: Mäkelä.
Only themselves to blame!
However worded, I agree with Norman’s premise. Makela is devouring too much, too soon. It would be better if he stayed in one or two commitments, and really honed his repertoire in the process. To me, it’s the Concertgebouw that should ‘get real’ and find it itself a different and somewhat better established stick.