New German GMD is Colin Davis disciple
mainThe Berlin conductor André de Ridder, 50 this year, has been named Generalmusikdirektor in Freiburg from summer 2022.
A student of Sir Colin Davis at the Royal Academy of Music in London, Ridder’s first job was five years with Sinfonia Viva in Derby. He has also worked with the Philharmonia and various BBC orchestras.
The GMDs don’t seem to stay for long, if Wikipedia is right, although Bollon has been there since 2008. Has the position simply become an established stop for those moving on to bigger things, is there something troublesome there, or is that just a meaningless pattern?
Part of the problem is that, even at GMD level, the pay is pretty bad. That’s one of the reasons I left Germany myself, along with the huge amount of work to do in German opera houses, which are always overstretching themselves with as few people to do the work as possible.
Interesting.
If the money is your primary interest and you’re not interested in doing the extra hours, then good riddance.