Music director faces trouble over second job

The Latvian Ainars Rubikis signed on last week as chief conductor of the Tyrolean Symphony Orchestra Innsbruck, Austria.

They are not pleased about that in Kassel, Germany, where Rubikis was recently appointed General Music Director of the Staatstheater, starting next summer.

Kassel officials say that in Innsbruck he will only ‘conduct a few concerts’.

Insiders, though, say there is trouble ahead. Rubikis was not the musicians’ choice in Kassel. They voted 91.5 percent in favour of the British conductor Keren Hasan. The selection committee split 3-3 between the two conductors and the casting vote was left to Timon Gremmels, Hesse’s Minister of Art and Culture.

This does not augur well.