So what next for JEG?
OrchestrasIn his rupture from the orchestras he founded, John Eliot Gardiner made it clear he is not ready to lay down his baton. He said, among other things:
For the avoidance of doubt, I am not in any sense ready to retire. I will be focusing on a rich variety of other activities including guest conducting, recording, writing, creative and education projects … as part of a lighter, lower pressure schedule.
How that will pan out remains to be seen. Gardiner still has the support of a body of players and singers within the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestras. It is not impossible that some will follow him to other pastures, should he raise funding for new ventures.
He has also looked to develop a freelance career, initially in France and East Asia but not necessarily excluding London orchestras with which he has been closely associated – the LSO and the Philharmonia. Whatever the case, he will not take long to get up again and running.
As for the Monteverdi ensembles, they are flourishing to all appearances under much younger conductors – Dinis Sousa, Jonathan Sells and Peter Whelan. Further partners will be made known at the end of the present summer.
It’s not over. Not for anyone in this long running drama.
Looking at bachtrack, he has several several performances that don’t involve MCO, with the Orchestre Philharmonie de Radio France scheduled for March (along with a couple in Vienna and Barcelona involving the English Baroque Soloists though I’m not sure if those would get the axe as well).
Vienna and Milan may be in search of a Barenboim replacement.
Which Vienna institution?
VPO
Anyone else wanting to give JEG a go? He’d certainly welcome another bash.
To the contrary. For MCO it’s just a matter of time until the big money dries up. The star-sycophant element has vanished which I have firsthand observed (from within MCO) is a BIG factor in the UK. If MCO can attract an equally established and prominent figurehead, it might carry on. But thinking they can set the machine on cruise with Tier B conductors is raising the economic stakes very high.
At the moment plenty of their big money comes from someone who will have played a large part in this decision. They’ll live.
After what they’ve done to JEG, I hope the MCO fails and spectacularly so.
That’s pretty mean for all the wonderful musicians involved but it’s probably what will happen.
…combined with Pärt.
Is a demi-rep a repetiteur who works Part time?
The MCO board is naive. The conductors mentioned do not have the support of the recording business. DGG, Erato and others built over many years the name recognition of Sir John Eliot and the MCO and Chorus. The conductors mentioned have no International recognition. Sad but I would have to say the MCO board have no idea what they have done.
Utterly useless is how it was described to me by one of the people who works for MCO. By the looks of it they just hired an expensive corporate PR in the end and let them call the shots.
Short-sighted would be an understatement, this is Maureen from Driving School levels of decision making.
Completely agree, the’ve dug their own grave by doing this.
Whatever JEG’s shortcomings it’s very unfortunate for the musicians to be managed by clowns like this.
The blame lies with JEG for having never picked a worthy successor.
By the time you get into your late 70s the chances of serious health issues dramatically spikes. And once you hit 80, simply falling down can result in broken bones that put you out of commission for half a year.
A succession plan should have been worked out by the time he turned 80. Nobody wants to talk about their mortality, but that birthday milestone should have mapped out the transition plan to a MCO without Gardiner.
The LSO members won’t want him back, especially how he has treated their musicians in past years.
They’ve already had him back many times since some of the earlier incidents though there’s no sign of him next season. It would be a shame if he didn’t work with the LSO again, they’ve done some fine concerts together.
Yes. I believe the Managing Director doesn’t listen to the players concerns, but goes for box office receipts. The players are of no consequence. That’s why half his LSO concerts are played by extras and not members!
Or… we could stop giving jobs to known abusers. It’s a radical thought but maybe his time is done. He’s bullied enough people.
Spot on. His appalling behavior has been an “open secret” for many years. No-one is that “special” or “talented” to be allowed to get away with the way he has treated people. Time to retire and dig his garden.
I’m not a fan of Jeggy at all but it does seem a bit rich when an ensemble he created and made world- famous decides to sack him. I hope they become obsolete! Part of MCOs global success was down to JEG and whether there would be an audience for them continuing under an unknown new figurehead remains to be seen. I don’t think for one minute that fans of the MCO have or will now throw their many recordings in the bin in disgust because of the Jeggy incident; neither will the organisation refuse any future revenue from JEG’s many recordings. It seems that we live in very harsh times these days where forgiveness is not an option. He made a huge mistake and is, by all accounts, trying to make amends. Nobody died at the end of the day and – like him or loathe him – I think it is hypocritical for the MCO to continue under their established name. The whole ensemble was only ever made up of freelancers who would readily play or sing for any other ensemble offering the most cash and often did. They had no true loyalty to JEGs outfit. I’m sure he’ll find a new niche somewhere but where, I’ve no idea.
Founders have no inherent right to lead their organizations if the organization can’t tolerate it. Also the idea that a conductor really does anything for a group of the world’s best historical performers is laughable. He probably made them scared so they played a bit better. You really think he had musical genius or insight that is irreplaceable and the orchestra will fail without him? Utterly laughable. These are some of the best musicians in the world, they don’t need a conductor.
Exactly this. The music with which Gardiner made his name as a conductor was all written before ‘conducting’ even existed- it starts, it flows naturally, then it stops. In anything post-classical requiring actual shaping and direction he is simply catastrophic.
Most of the best ensembles consist of freelancers who work for whoever pays most!
Gerry, I think this raises a crucial issue. There are plenty of people who can’t imagine good performances coming from an orchestra whose members haven’t played together for twenty years or more, and then you have people who are quite happy to listen to (e.g.) the Sinfonia of London, whose members play for other orchestras in London and elsewhere and only come together to make recordings. I suspect that sheer economic reality is going to dictate that permanent orchestras with star conductors paid ridiculous salaries will simply no longer be viable in many cases.
BTW it’s been claimed that the UK HIP orchestras are all drawn from the same pool of musicians. I suppose this might have been true in the early days, but is it really true now?
It was certainly true in the early days: I believe in the early 1980s the managements of MCO, AAM and English Concert had to liaise about their dates, there were so many players in common! For many years there have been so many excellent players around that is no longer the case, although there is obviously a certain amount of “crossover”! However, just think of St Martin in the Fields, English Chamber Orchestra and London Sinfonietta to name a few modern ensembles, not to mention the late Sid Sax’s session orchestra The National Philharmonic!
I don’t think that’s true. The orchestra was truly exceptional from a musical point of view. People didn’t play just for the money, they played their souls out regardless of the money. Jiggy inspired that level of commitment. He was/is a visionary.
He’s flawed but so is everyone, even leaders. We choose what level of fault we will accept in someone but we’re naive if we think we can find a faultless leader or a perfect organisation. Jiggy really did create wonder. My life is richer for experiencing his music, flaws and all.
Since JEG is now 81, his bands would need to be considering how the torch would be passed on, regardless of his ignominious ouster.
There’s always conducting the score to Monster Hunter in the Philippines…
Whether JEG is about to be, in the current parlance, cancelled, it’s got me wondering whether this has happened to other conductors, a total shunning? Willem Mengelberg is the only one who comes to mind, though he had engagements on the horizon — after several years on the sidelines — that his death kept him from taking.
And then there’s the partial silencing of pro-Putin artists, like Gergiev and Netrebko and others.
But the basic question: What conductors have been more or less permanently silenced?
Oswald Kabasta was forbidden to conduct by the Allies after the War. An ardent Nazi, he refused to recant; he committed suicide in February 1946.
The MCO can look around in Europe for music directors who already have a position like this and can combine the directorship of two baroque. My bet goes for Emmanuelle Haïm
“Rise, Lord Gardiner, Master of the King’s Musick!”
Brilliant, Your Lordship! But being a member of that exalted clique occupying the red benches did not silence Berners of that ilk!
Jeggers plays pop?
At that age l…sans knowledge of the Punch that did it for his career with the Ms…I would say he must have delivered a low Right Hook…unless he was Southpaw.
I advise avoid the chin and go for
the stomach…unless the person you attack had Borschf for lunch.
What did this 80+ year old do ?
Having been the Butt of Slurs over 88+ years,such usually drove me to hysterical laughter,but then when Younger,I was indeed Southpaw &
when necessary…effectively so !
Maybe he can conduct video game music performances a la Tar.