Concertgebouw hints at next conductor
mainThe Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra will launch its own European youth orchestra this summer.
Given the ghastly title ‘RCO Young’ and made up of pan-European players aged 14 to 17, it will perform the Mendelssohn concerto and Tchaikovsky 4 in Amsterdam and Brussels under the baton of Pablo Heras-Casado, it was announced today.
The Spanish conductor is presently under-employed as principal guest conductor at Teatro Real in Madrid and director of the Granada Festival. He has to be added to the shortlist for the C’bouw’s next music director.
Chung will be conducting the two RCO concerts in the 2020 Mahler festival. This could be an indication.
You mean Myung-whun Chung? Where do you hear about this? For the Mahler 3 and 9 concerts?
The Concertgebouw lists it on their website…
https://www.concertgebouw.nl/en/mahler-festival-2020
That would be a disappointment to me. I’m not knocking Chung, but his recorded Mahler doesn’t impress all that much.
Yes. It’s in the orchestra site.
It was a surprise he is conducting those two concerts, but I am looking forward to it. Nevertheless, I do not for a moment believe that is an indication for the next chief conductor. In fact Heras-Casado may be an interesting choice, even though my favourite is Manfred Honeck.
Honeck would be the second in a row to go from Pittsburgh to the Concertgebouw.
I think very good conductors get jobs, so if Heras-Casado hasn’t got any job as chief conductor or Music Director, it is not because he is under-employed but overrated instead…
We talk here of a youth orchestra , and not taking the RCO on tour or so…. so he is obviously not a candidate.
Congratulations ! You are absolutely right. He is totally overrated . I played under his baton a few times and can attest that he hardly knew his scores …
Definitely overrated.
Before criticising, you should listen to him. Try his Mendelssohns. And then we can talk.
There are plenty of overrated conductors who actually do have an orchestra : Jaap, Alondra, Eschenbach, etc.
He is a great conductor. But the RCO? I doubt it.
I had interviewed him three years ago. It’s in Dutch:
https://basiaconfuoco.com/2016/09/05/pablo-heras-casado/
Word is they couldn’t stand him at St. Lukes in NYC. He pretended to be a big shot. Arrogant.
Any man who aspires to look like a toy poodle should not be given a baton.
Not so easy to substitute Gatti, after all…
Heras: please, stop that joke!
Oh look, another orchestra that MUST have its own Dudamel clone.
Oh, thanks. I only see him doing Mahler 9 in one concert, what’s the other one?
So just waiting for the announcement of the conductor for Mahler 3 concert.
The announcements have been made and he is conducting both, the 3rd and the 9th. If you click on the specific concert, it shows all pertinent information (date, time, location & performers). For Mahler 3:
“Koninklijk Concertgebouworkest
Groot Omroepkoor
Nationaal Kinderkoor
Myung-Whun Chung
Conductor
Gerhild Romberger
Alto”
Pabko HC as well as many other outstanding conductors are indeed underemployed and it seems this is the result of dominance of certain agents whose conductor clients are dominating the scene with 50 to 100 concerts a year and the rush to engage very young conductors who are not yet ripe musically.
He is a fine example of a “cool conductor”: married to a TV celebrity, young-ish, very active on social media, metrosexual image… he has it all, except conducting talent. He got where he is because his agency pushed him into every major #orchestra.
Conducting a youth orchestra is not a harbinger of who is going to get the big job. And there are few bigger jobs. I don’t have a great sense of his stature in the business. Does he have much of a relationship with the RCO? They do have a history of engaging relatively young MDs (Haitink, Chailly…)
Maybe in 20 years he is good enough.
I saw him guest conduct in Philadelphia and don’t have the impression that he’s up to being chief conductor of the Royal Concertgebouw.
He had a very successful debut at the LSO. Just saying.