Maestro move: New job for Eliahu Inbal
mainThe Israeli veteran, 83, has been named principal conductor in Taiwan.
He starts with the Taipei Symphony in August on a three-year deal.
Past positions include: hr-Sinfonieorchester Frankfurt (1974-90), La Fenice in Venice (1984-89), Czech Philharmonic (2009-12) and Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra (2008-14).
It is just me, or others believe that Inbal was kind of understimated during his career?
I’ve had several “who is that conductor?” moments when turning on the radio in the middle of a piece, where it has turned out to be Inbal and Monte Carlo (not listed above among his past positions).
I agree. He seems like he has been underrated.
Musician friends have told me he delivers in concerts, but doesn’t like rehearsing.
I worked with him over 8 years. He’s not my favorite human being in the world, but for me his Mahler was superlative (and I played them all with him.) I hated his Beethoven and I don’t think he has the temperament to conduct opera (too controlling and nervous in himself.) Oh, but his Mahler ….!
He showed up in Madrid some 10 years ago to conduct Berg’s Lulu, and very obviously he hadn’t even bothered to open the score at rehearsals.
The First Night was according to insiders a disgrace, but the Madrid critics had apparently written their superlative reviews in advance…
His Mahler recordings on Denon were given reference status by no less an authority than Henri-Louis de La Grange who reviewed them in Diapason…
Yes, Inbal has been totally underrated.
His recorded Bruckner cycle with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony is brilliant.
It’s at least a reference cycle because it contains the original versions of the Bruckner symphonies…