French conductor tears up German contract
mainIt’s official: Ariane Matiakh has quit as general music director in Halle, as of last Thursday, in the middle of her first season.
Sehr geehrte Medienvertreter*innen,
die Theater, Oper und Orchester GmbH Halle und Frau Ariane Matiakh sind übereingekommen, den Dienstvertrag der Generalmusikdirektorin der Staatskapelle Halle zum 31.01.2020 auf Wunsch von Frau Matiakh einvernehmlich aufzuheben.
Frau Matiakh wird dennoch dem Hallenser Publikum erhalten bleiben, da sie alle mit ihr als Dirigentin angekündigten und geplanten Sinfoniekonzerte in der laufenden und kommenden Spielzeit dirigieren wird.
Dear Media Representatives,
Theatre, opera and orchestra gmbh Halle and Ms Ariane Matiakh have agreed to cancel the contract of the general music director of the staatskapelle Halle on 31.01.2020 at the request of Ms. Matiakh.
Ms. Matiakh will still be available to the Halle audience as she will conduct all planned symphony concerts in the current season.
Ms Matiakh issued a subsequent statement, attacking media reports:
Theater, Oper und Orchester GmbH Halle and I (Ariane Matiakh) have mutually agreed to terminate the contract of my employment as General Music Director of the Staatskapelle Halle as of 31.01.2020 at my request.
Neither an alleged lack of presence nor my international commitments played any role in this decision. Reports to the contrary in various newspapers are untrue. This is proven by the fact that I will be honouring all of my planned engagements with the Staatskapelle in Halle – I will conduct all previously announced symphonic concerts in the 2019/20 and 2020/21 seasons.
I regret the recent misrepresentations in various media. They do not depict the nature of the situation correctly.
I am looking forward to my contiued work with the Staatskapelle Halle next month, including several concerts and a new recording dedicated to Max Bruch.
She seems to be the only one who does not find it odd that a music director resigns halfway through the first year of her contract without giving any reasonable explanation.
Sounds like she needs some decent management.
This raises the thought that perhaps the orchestra was treating her badly. Any substantiated info about that from anyone?
There is a lot of information about the issues in Halle (how the orchestra treats conductors in not one of them).
It is also comprehensible when some commenters here place part of the blame for this abrupt contract termination with Matiakh’s management or Matiakh herself; the issues in Halle were hardly a secret when she signed on.
Some links highlighting said issues:
– https://slippedisc.com/2019/11/showdown-rumours-as-german-chief-quits-town/
– https://www.mdr.de/kultur/brenner-rosinski-tooh-halle-100.html
– https://www.mz-web.de/halle-saale/rosinski-bleibt–brenner-vielleicht-aufsichtsrat-der-buehnen-halle-setzt-monatsfrist-32371280
This is sad…instead of fulfilling the responsibility that she took on, she is jumping ship to guest conduct more.
But sure, when you’re a woman and a halfway decent conductor, your inbox must be exploding of requests. The demand for woman conductors is just so much bigger than the resources.
Problems in Halle, what else
Something obviously has gone very wrong in that relationship, and once trust is lost between management (aka “manglement”), an orchestra and conductor it is very hard to recover.
If you could ever write a complete story, we might know more then your subjective comments at the end. Maybe some journalism school would help.
The Halle is famously difficult and Matiakh is known for being a poor conductor. If it wasn’t for this current fashion of prioritizing women in hirings and signings, we would had never heard of her.
The incel community is alive and well here, I see. She’s an excellent young conductor. Just listen to her recent work with hr-symphonie. Distinct voice. Very capable and confident. Huge range.
So when someone questions a female conductor’s skills you would immediately assume the questioner is incapable of getting laid? Fascinating – hope Ariane awards her white knight appropriately after seeing your defense here.