Andris Nelsons falls sick mid-concert

Andris Nelsons falls sick mid-concert

Orchestras

norman lebrecht

November 24, 2024

Boston Symphony pulled one out of the fire last night when music director Andris Nelsons fell sick after conducting a Mozart overture.

Orchestra CEO Chad Smith came on stage to call an intermission after the overture.

He returned after a break to announce that assistant conductor Sami Rachid would conduct the rest of the concert, consisting of Mozart’s Linz symphony and and Kevin Puts’ song cycle The Brightness of Light, with soloists Renee Fleming and Rod Gilfry.

Our eyewitness reports that the concert went really well, with much foot-stomping in the orchestra at the close for the stand-in French conductor (pictured).

UPDATE: Other concertgoers tell us Nelsons was clinging with one hand to the back of the rostrum throughout the overture, clearly in distress. Why he was persuaded or allowed to conduct at all should be a matter for concern.

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