Another job for Jaap van Zweden
OrchestrasThe Dutch conductor, ousted after a six-year spell at the New York Philharmonic, has been named artist in residence with the Evergreen Symphony Orchestra in Taiwan.
He is also music director of the Seoul Philharmonic in Korea and, srarting soon, of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France.
Quite the portfolio maestro.
That’s truly impressive. I hope he can find time to study music scores on the aeroplane.
He led some fine concerts in Hong Kong, and improved the orchestra’s standards quite markedly. An interesting, very bright musician: maybe not the easiest guy but I don’t understand the snide comments about his career and musicianship.
He got the HK orchestra recording the Ring, music they had never done before, and it is a great achievement:
https://www.naxos.com/CatalogueDetail/?id=8.660428-31
Unfortunately, it is a musically lousy recording. That’s not a surprise since he has no clue about opera or singers. But yes, the orchestra plays mostly the right notes.
A nonsensical comment by someone with a hearing problem.
He’s a bully. He shouldn’t be allowed to work with any musicians however brilliant. Total dis-regard for all musicians
From New York Philharmonic to Evergreen Symphony in Taiwan?
What I’ve heard: A step-up in culture, and maybe step-down in pay, but hopefully a reality check for the maestro and his antics.
A rather pointless comment. He already has two orchestras on what we can term a full time Music Director contact (presumably around 14 – 16 weeks in each) in Paris and Seoul. Taipei can only be a part time appointment, one that clearly makes sense from his travelling viewpoint.
Van Zweden was not ousted, he merely did not extend his contract. His stay was burdened by the covid epidemic and concert hall restaurations.
How did you know? Do you know any musicians from the NY Phil? I do by the way.
I had regular contact with him and he did my pieces in Dallas and Hong Kong.
Of course I don’t know the details. But the way Van Zweden is blackened is ridiculous.
Come on, Mr. Borstlap. You like him because he conducts your works. However, the relationship with NY Phil was terrible from day one. Yes, in Dallas he improved the technical level of the orchestra, I give you that, but not the musical one, despite some good concerts. Verticality and speed are not enough for a good orchestra.
The NY Phil is well-known for being the most diligent, humble, humanist orchestra in the world, and they bear their status with the utmost modesty, and always treat their conductors with the utmost friendliness and full dedication to anything he may come up with. Really, a unique phenomenon in the music world. So, there is only one single explanation for any concert that for some mysterious reason does not quite fulfill the expectations of that one audience member who happens to be the only one capable of making a musical judgement. As we know, the future of music depends upon that single person. That is why all conductors in the world passionately long for working in NY because of the incredibly friendly working atmosphere under the best of conditions.
I think you’ll find that that is what is put in the press to save someone’s skin: you get fired unless you resign so you resign and carry on your appalling anti-human approach in another country
He’d be ideal for the Pyongyang Phil
Curious to know about the music scene now in Pyongyang. After all the country’s first dictator Kim Il Sung was the organist in his father’s church!
Latest information: they have a symphony orchestra where the bowing of the strings is carefully organised to comply with government instructions of regularity, and the trombone section has been abolished because there was no piece where the slides could be handled in strict synchonisation.
Seems to have a penchant for the Far East.
Asians love Western classical music and they fund it generously. In such countries, Western classical music is a demonstration of progress, modernity, universal civilisation. In the West, it is being criticized as elitist, Eurocentric, white suprematist, reflecting colonizing, misogynist societies, and saturated with exclusion and suppression on all sides.
They also have a terrible track record for human rights …Jaap will fit in well .
Was Van Zweden really “ousted” from New York? You have the proof for that?
See for yourself in the way this blog has been covering Van Zweden over the years.
Evergreen is owned by EVA, the marine freight and airline company in Taiwan. It’s a pretty good orchestra. Taipei has a pretty great concert scene. I attended the two Krystian Zimerman recitals this week and saw a lot of young people in the audience. There was also a huge number of high school students still in their school uniform in attendance. This is completely different in Europe or the US where the audience is much older.
Is third biggest orchestra in Paris, Seoul and what seems to be a training orchestra in Taiwan (can someone who knows actually clarify what Evergreen Symphony is?) really “quite the portfolio”? Not too long ago he was a MD of NY Phil, after it was announced he was leaving there were rumors of him becoming Principal conductor of CSO… I guess it depends on the angle…
I really don’t understand your hatchet for Jaap van Zweden, Norman. So he doesn’t a personality (according to you) – there are far too many ‘personalities’ among conductors today. Go listen to his Mahler 3 or Mahler 6 with the Dallas Symphony, or the Bruckner 8 on the Challenge Records label from Holland. They’re excellent. I would much rather see a performance of anything conducted by van Zweden, than to endure even one concert with cutesy pretender Klaus Makela.
Van Zweden is a no-nonsense conductor, he wants the music to be and to express itself. He belongs to the breed that infuses all of its subjectivity into the work at hand, FOR the work, knowing that only in that way the music speaks best and thus brings also success for themselves. In this way, performing is based upon respect and love. Fortunately there are many of such excellent performers all around.
Conductors who consider the entire existing repertoire as mere material to project their vain ego, look down upon the composers upon whose gifts they depend, this is the parasitic kind, and actually very unprofessional. The musical world has quite a lot of them. But Van Zweden is different.
Um, that’s a little snide. I played with him in the Phil and wasn’t crazy about him, but kicking a guy when he’s already down is not a good look.
He’s been kicked here by default, no matter whether he’s up or down.
I reckon the appointment actually seems to make sense from JVZ’s viewpoint. Taipei is only around 2 1/2 hours from Seoul with several daily flights beween the cities. There are also plenty of non-stop connections between Taiwan and Europe (where I assume his home is) as there are between Seoul and Europe. It’s a young orchestra less than 25 years old, yet it has already worked with a large number of major artists including, Pavarotti, Domingo, Carreras, Gheorghiu, Fleming, Garanza, the ubiquitous Lang Lang and others. It’s next concert on the 25th has JVZ working with the excellent violinist and Paganini Competition winner Sayaka Shoji.
I expect his commitment will not be much more than a few weeks a year.
He is poisonous, wherever he goes, the orchestra is doomed. He is a good conductor, but a terrible person. His personality doesn’t suit Taiwanese at all, who are relative soft in character. Not to mention French.
So this poster Jaapvanzwedenvictim lives in Taiwan or has been a regular visitor? He certainly makes himself out to be particularly knowledegable. Yet his understanding of the Taiwanese is both childish and idiotic. I have visited Taipei regulary and the island in general more than 100 times. They are a lovely, understanding people but to suggest they are “soft in character” is utter nonsense.
He was not “ousted.” He announced his resignation in September 2021.
Because the relationship didn’t work. He gave nothing to the orchestra in terms of music making.
Yes, we know for sure it could not possible be the other way around.
Good for him. As long as he stays out of the US.
However brilliant this conductor is it is an absolute disgrace that he be engaged anywhere in Europe. He is a bully to musicians both male and female alike and doesn’t seem to care if he makes people fall apart. In fact he relishes over someone else’s discomfort. I hope he is made to sign a code of conduct agreement wherever he goes , like that he will be fired after the first rehearsal.
The NY Philharmonic programming was terrible Jaap. From the disasterous Project 19 on, he served up nonstop crap that was only played because it was “new.”
Obviously he was asked to play young American composers. And how good are they, on average?
Hadn’t he previously said MDs should only have one orchestra per continent?