Bolshoi will not rush to name music director

After the sudden departure of Tugan Sokhiev, there’s room at the top and not many candidates in Moscow with international credentials.

But general director Vladimir Urin, pictured with Putin, says he won’t be hustled into an appointment.

‘I know almost everyone who might be in the circle of prospective music directors. This circle is not very wide,’ he told the state news agency, Tass. ‘This is a question not only of talent, of matching the scale of the Bolshoi Theater and that person. Compatibility with the orchestra and opera troupe is important. This is a matter of artistic authority . The atmosphere in the team will depend on this, how much this person will be trusted.

‘We will not rush, we will watch, try, discuss.

‘We need to find not just a good conductor – we need to find a leader who, together with me and others, will make the Bolshoi Theater. In other words, a person who will take on the responsibility of making primarily artistic decisions.’