Christian Thielemann drops out
OrchestrasThe German conductor has withdrawan from two Bruckner 8s in Amsterdam next weekend.
Concertgebouw Orchestra notice: Christian Thielemann has unfortunately had to cancel his performances with the Concertgebouw Orchestra due to illness. We are very grateful to Manfred Honeck for agreeing to step in at short notice.
Will be even better with Honeck.
Both of them are outstanding conductors of works by Bruckner. A comparison which of them is the better Bruckner conductor is inappropriate.
I’m sorry to say that I find Thielemann’s relative new Bruckner cycle with the Vienna Phil. on Sony Classical to be very underwhelming and disappointing. I think his earlier Dresden Bruckner recordings are generally better, but certainly not big competition for the old Jochum ones one EMI (save the 8th symphony).
Maybe go to a live concert than sit at home with pieced together CDs from everyone in this world!
Please, please: stop butchering the English language, it’s denigrating. Thank you.
Too many doppelbocks ?
Is this going to be the Theilemann road show for the rest of his career: Bruckner Wagner Bruckner Wagner Bruckner Wagner Bruckner Wagner ….
He’s way to uppity for me
Plenty of others who can conduct other stuff if that is the case. But most of them can’t conduct or know how to conduct Bruckner whatever about Wagner.
You forgot Strauss;)
Fast forward two decades, and your Bruckner prediction will probably be correct for Thielemann’s concerts. While I deeply admire his work in German opera, I don’t see him in the company of grand old masters of Brucknerian architecture like Jochum, Wand or Skrowaczewski.
Bruckner 8 was his audition piece for the Chicago Symphony, which he lost to young Klaus, and he was going to bring it to the Concertgebouw, but then thought, what’s the point, the Concertgebouw is already Makela’s, might as well call in sick, now, about that Mahler 8 scheduled with Paris…
What a shame. I’m sorry Theilemann is ill. He is a great Bruckner interpreter. My book on AB is now available on Amazon. It’s called Anton Bruckner – a genius emerges.
Theilemann? Is your book on Anita Brookner? Authors need to proof-read too…
https://www.abruckner.com/editorsnote/news/a-new-bruckner-novel-anton-bruckner-a-genius-emerg/
Here you go!
What is particularly great about his Bruckner? Other than that he knows (which is already quite something) how an orchestra should be balanced and sound in that repertoire. But I can’t find him particularly interesting for that music when it comes to phrasing, shaping tension arcs and suspense. He feels artificial to me there too often. No natural eroticism in the figurative sense. Contrary to Furtwängler who was one of the biggest eroticist/sensualist when it came to natural expression in complex orchestra music and to me is unsurpassed until today in repertoire like Bruckner.
Lieber Tamino.
On the basis of that comment, I presume you never heard Sergiu Celibidache conduct Brückner.
Dear Jonathan, good point, but I have. Even in persona live. He‘s great too, but if I had to make a choice, I prefer Furtwängler‘s Bruckner mysticism and primal unfolding of energy, over Celi‘s quasi-buddhistic Bruckner transcendentality.
Heard Celibidache conduct Bruckner 4. Tempi so slow ran hour twenty minutes. Almost killed the horn players
I once dreamt that I was listening to a broadcast performance of Bruckner’s 8th conducted by Celibidache. When I awoke, I was!
I once attended a concert of Celibidache conducting Bruckner, when I awoke, he still was.
Tamino, I agree with you regarding Furtwängler. His performances with the Wiener Philharmoniker were the highlights of my music education when I grew up and studied music in Vienna. There were certain physical gestures, which, not unlike Karajan, he was famous for and we all tried to imitate (unsuccessfully I have to admit). LOL.
I had reserved a ticket for Honeck’s announced Bruckner 8 in Pittsburgh in April 2024–then the PSO canceled it (far in advance), with no explanation I heard.
As it happens, I heard Thielemann do Bruckner 8 with Vienna at Carnegie Hall. A memorable experience, but I expected Honeck’s to be even more compelling.
I also bought tickets for the same concert and all the sudden the Bruckner 8th was replaced with Beethoven 9th. But we didn’t get any emails about the change of program. It was posted on the web site as if nothing had happened.
A snafu for this great orchestra.
Honeck did a superb Bruckner 9 in London just last month. He is a much more compelling and interesting conductor than Thielemann. Amsterdam got lucky.
I had tickets to see him lead Bruckner’s 5th in Amsterdam in 2001 and he cancelled. Inbal took his place.
he was also replaced 2-3 weeks ago but last week seen in rehearsals…
Hope he is ok. Great man!
Has anyone ever spoken to him about his hairdo?
Unfortunately it’s not the first time Thielemann is ill. I went to Dresden last year to see him conducting Arabella and I had to see instead the mediocre David Afkham. Fortunately I’ve made it to see Thielemann live several times over the past year, including his magnificent Tristan. I deeply hope he is fully recovered to conduct Mahler 8 next July in Dresden.