Vladimir Jurowski: I’ll do four more years and that’s it
OperaThe general music director of Bavarian State Opera has said he’s grateful for yesterday’s two-year contract extension, but he won’t stay on in any circumstances beyond 2028.
Jurowski, 52, told BR: ‘I think seven years is actually a good number. My two predecessors, Kirill Petrenko and Kent Nagano, were GMD at the Bavarian State Opera for exactly seven years. And when I took up the job in 2021, I actually had no other number in mind than that. At the time, they wanted to sign a ten-year contract and I said: For God’s sake, let’s do four or five years and see how it goes. But I’m really convinced that seven or eight years is an ideal time so that there is no stagnation, but that you can still reap the fruits of your labor yourself. I don’t want to become a “piece of furniture” at the Bavarian State Opera. I’m still relatively young at 52 and I have other plans in life.’
He’s right, 52 is young for a conductor, plus it’s always better to leave on a high rather than have things stagnate or become routinely mundane.
I fully agree, Lucas!
I love this guy’s integrity.
By the time he leaves, the hype around all these yellow-labelled youngsters will have come to a natural end, hopefully.
Let’s all wish him well; may his harmonious relationship with the orchestra, the audience and most of all, the General Music Director of the BSO continue – and may that august position never ever fall into the ruinous hands of an Emma Stenning clone. (Could that ever happen in Germany?)
Missing your daily dose of Emma bashing where you?
We need that “War and Peace” on Blu-ray, now!
All 13 scenes, even the outdoor scenes, take place in the SAME ROOM, thanks to the camera-and-concept problem plaguing opera nowadays, and
the text is bastardized, thanks to the real Russia-Ukraine War.
So I’m not sure we do, your lordship.
Excellent conductor and – so unusual for a Russian – a man of great integrity, fiercely denouncing Putin and the “terrorist state of Russia”. Sadly very much an exception to the rule among his nationality.
Unbelievable bigotry. You’ve clearly never been to Russia, or you would know that people there have far more integrity, honesty, and reliability than in any western, individualistic, selfish, so-called “society”.
As someone who has definitely “been to Russia” – to be exact, I lived there for nearly a quarter of a century and later visited on a few occasions – I strongly disagree with NLPUWR and just as strongly do agree with TP’s comment above here.
I have been to Russia, and the chief characteristic I observed was depression.
I have become a real fan of Jurowski. Brahms, Mahler and Tchaikovsky recordings are just some of the wonderful work he’s done.
I need to make sure I see him live at some point.
The great James Levine chose to stay with Met Opera for 40 years that’s how you build a world class ensemble. I guess 7 years today is long by social media standards, no wonder orchestras all sound the same now.
Yes while molesting young boys during a large part of his tenure. And leaving the orchestra and company in limbo for over the last decade of his tenure due to his unacknowledged health issues (about which he was of course deliberately deceptive). What a great role model!
The Munich production was a mess , with third rate singers – as is the now balding long haired non-entity who rarely connects the opera.