Russia replaces Vasily Petrenko
OrchestrasTwo and a half years since the conductor Vasily Petrenko left Russia over the Putin invasion of Ukraine, the authorities have finally replaced him at the head of the Svetlanov symphony Orchestra.
The new baton is Филипп Чижевский, Philip Chizhevsky, 39, virtually unknown outside Russia and going nowhere for a while.
Did he study under Yanni?
Chizhevsky wins…and by more than just by a hair.
(wink)
Based on the way he “conducts” Bach and Vivaldi (clips below) I’d say he’s VERY qualified to lead a major orchestra!:-) And watch out, Yannick: this guy Phil’s outfit choices can make you look way too conservative!:-))
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-5sHyTS4eE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjrJ5ViM0qA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7dnKeEWV6k
Yiiiikes. Where does one learn to conduct like that?
He is certainly active and expressive as he conducts but leading major orchestras requires a lot more than just how good you look when you conduct. Does he have good ears for correcting balance, wrong notes, intonation? Does he have interpretations of works that make sense and are justifiable musically? Does he program well and understand the balances between audience and donors, orchestra members and board members? There are too many questions a few videos of expressive conducting does not answer before declaring anyone qualified to lead a major or any orchestra for that matter.
Greg, in case you hadn’t noticed (it looks like you hadn’t) – the intention and the tone of my comment were quite sarcastic.:-)
A stark reminder to the music world:
Russia and Venezuela are allies. Along with Iran, China and North Korea, of course.
Putin’s Wagner forces are now on the ground in Venezuela – https://shorturl.at/PGrWs – protecting the dictator from the vast majority who voted him out a month ago, which no sane person disputes – except Gustavo Dudamel’s good pals the Rodriquez siblings and the regime to which they are sworn. The same dictatorship, that is, that sends you youth orchestras playing mambos in the name of “social transformation”!
Joining the dots yet?
Please treat Venezuelan entities and Maduro puppets as you would treat the Russians. Thank you.
As a Venezuelan, thank you very much for displaying some level of intellectual honesty. Some people are so immersed in their privileged delusional ‘political mindset’ that they truly think that every single global conflict boils down to a matter of ideology (not to say that many of them indeed are rooted in political/ideological disagreements), rather than acknowledging that Venezuela has become (or rather has been for a long time) a corrupt narco-dictatorship that’s aggressively repressing its own people due to them expressing their indignation in regards to an obviously fraudulent electoral “win”. Maduro isn’t some “communist/socialist hero who’s defending it’s people from the claws of american imperialism” or some other stupid comments i’ve heard from non-venezuelans or venezuelans that haven’t set foot on Venezuelan soil in more than 20 years. He is a criminal, a literal idiot and a murderer who, let’s not forget, promised a “bloodbath” in case anybody tried to take any power away from him. And boy has he delivered…
Sam, I personally think that we can judge about things (including on this matter) by using our own brain, so your (political) reminder was really not necessary….Thank you.
Publicity photo resembles what could be an AI-generated meme of right-wing image of modern woke ‘birthing person.’
Mr. Chizhevsky conducted a very intetesting concert performance of Mozart’s ‘Idomeneo’ with Questa Musica, in Moscow, a few months ago. I think video is still available online.
Love this.. he’s unknown and going nowhere. The musician’s nightmare phrase, sadly true. I wish him well.
He is a huge fan of Currentzis, and have been trying to imitate his (conducting) gestures, his way of speaking, and even his fashion taste and outfits. Many of us know that, and find it quite distasteful.