Andris Nelsons delivers double snub to Bayreuth
mainThe Boston Symphony conductor won’t be back in Bavaria any time soon after last summer’s disastrous falling out with the powers-that-be.
Nelsons has committed twice as much time to Tanglewood in 2017 and – adding insult to injury – he will put on a first Rhinegold with the BSO, possibly the start of a Ring.
He will spend four weeks in Tanglewood, and they look jam-packed.
From the press release:
In what promises to be one of the highlights of the 2017 Tanglewood season, and a significant event in the world of opera, Mr. Nelsons will lead the first BSO concert performance of the complete Das Rheingold, the first of the four dramas that make up Wagner’s masterpiece Der Ring des Nibelungen. The performance will feature Thomas J. Mayer as Wotan, Sarah Connolly as Fricka, and Jochen Schmeckenbecher as Alberich, among other eminent and prestigious singers known the world over for their acclaimed performances of Wagner’s music. Mr. Nelsons will also conduct BSO Artistic Partner Thomas Adès’s Three Studies from Couperin, on a program with music of Haydn and Ravel, and Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21 with Daniil Trifonov as soloist. Kristine Opolais joins Mr. Nelsons and the BSO for a performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 on a program with Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 5 in A, with teenaged violinist Daniel Lozakovich in his BSO debut; Ms. Opolais will also be featured in a Nelsons-led opera gala program with baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky. For his first Tanglewood Opening Night concert, Mr. Nelsons will lead the BSO in Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, Resurrection, with soloists Malin Christensson and Bernarda Fink. Mr Nelsons leads the BSO’s season-closing concert, beginning the program with Ives’s “The Housatonic at Stockbridge,” from Three Places in New England, prior to the traditional performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Ode to Joy.
It’s Andris’s birthday today. He’s 38.
Way to go.
He does have Rusalka in Bavaria:
https://www.staatsoper.de/stueckinfo/rusalka/2017-06-15-18-00.html
Apparently, Munich is not part of Bavaria in Lebrechtian Geography.
In fact, if one wants to see Nelsons in Bavaria before Rusalka in June, one can see him at the Gasteig with the Philharmonia Orchestra in about 2 months from now.
http://www.philharmonia.co.uk/concerts/1540/munich/philharmonie/25_january_2017/andris_nelsons_bruckner_symphony_no_9
It is Bavaria in our book!!! I have family there.
Indeed, Munich is in Bavaria in most people’s book. In the thread intro however, Norman seems to claim that “The Boston Symphony conductor won’t be back in Bavaria any time soon…”, despite several upcoming performances for Nelsons in Munich.
Sniff sniff . . .
Don’t you think his point was that Nelsons won’t be back in Bayreuth any time soon?
Or are you just doing geography snark? If that’s the case, just disregard my post.
No reason to disregard your post, John and the geography snark was mostly tongue-in-cheek.
If ones point is that Nelsons has no plans to return to Bayreuth anytime soon, one can simply state that Nelsons won’t be back in [Bayreuth] any time soon […].
If one however claims that he won’t be back to Bavaria any time soon after [the] disastrous falling out with the powers-that-be (particularly taking into account the Bavarian governments involvement at the Bayreuth Festival), it could be construed that the author is attempting to make it appear as though Nelsons hadn’t just turned his back on the Bayreuth Festival.
Snubbing Bayreuth or just doing his job at Tanglewood?
To me that sounds like doing his job in Tanglewood and not being irresponsible by spreading himself thin.
Doesn’t a snub require that an invitation be rejected?
Bayreuth, like any major opera house, surely plans its major productions some years in advance, and those plans included Andris Nelsons leading the new “Parsifal” in 2016 and 2017. It seemed clear that since he left the production last summer, he wouldn’t be back for the second round of performances in 2017 either. But I don’t think it signifies a total break with Bayreuth. On the other hand, we in Boston appreciate the extra time he’s able to give to the Boston Symphony and the Tanglewood Music Center this summer, and hope that his future schedules will allow this extra commitment here going forward as well.
As for prospects for a complete “Ring” at Tanglewood, it’s unlikely. The other operas are extremely long, and don’t fit practically into the schedule of a symphony orchestra or the Tanglewood festival.
I don’t care what he does; he’s cute and adorable. And about the age of one of my sons! LOL