Young conductor gets major post: Yannick Nezet-Seguin to Philadelphia Orchestra Audiences for classical music may be getting older and older, but the trend for plum conducting jobs continues to skew young. On the heels of Gustavo Dudamel's much-publicized appointment at the Los Angeles Philharmoni...
Music Review: Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra The motto of the Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra, which offered the first of two programs at the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall on Friday night, is “the cutting edge of classical music.” That may be stretching it a bit, at least by the standar...
History of Classical Music Medieval (c.1150 - c.1400) This is the first period where we can begin to be fairly certain as to how a great deal of the music which has survived actually sounded.Â
Yannick Nezet-Seguin to lead Philadelphia Orchestra
Young conductor gets major post: Yannick Nezet-Seguin to Philadelphia Orchestra
Audiences for classical music may be getting older and older, but the trend for plum conducting jobs continues to skew young. On the heels of Gustavo Dudamel's much-publicized appointment at the Los Angeles Philharmonic before the age of 30, the 35-year-old Canadian conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin has been named music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra. He'll formally start in 2012.
There has been a lot of buzz about Nézet-Séguin for some time, and it's cool to see the grand old Philadelphia Orchestra take a chance on someone not only still quite youthful in conductor years, but relatively unknown. He got the nod after just two guest-conducting stints with the ensemble.
If there's anything to the idea that young, energetic musicians can attract fresh audiences and re-energize seasoned ones, Nézet-Séguin should fit the bill nicely in Philadelphia. The orchestra needs a boost, after a prolonged music director search and worrisome deficits and declines in attendance. This great, noble orchestra has been having a rough patch for too long. My guess is that things are going to perk up well before the new guy is fully in place at the helm.
Here's a video clip that reveals Nézet-Séguin's engaging personality at work on the podium:
Vienna Philharmonic names 1st female concertmaster March 20, 2010 reprinted from The Associated Press
The Vienna Philharmonic, one of the oldest and most venerated orchestras in the world, has permanently appointed its first woman concertmaster.
Albena Danailova has been acting concertmaster since September 2008, making her the first woman ever in that position with the orchestra. The Bulgarian-born musician had been promoted from first violin she was also the first woman ever to hold that job.
The world famous ensemble announced Saturday that she now has the concertmaster position after passing probation.
Established in 1842, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra was an all-male ensemble until the 1980s when women started joining its ranks.
However, women weren't allowed to become full members until 1997 which means being accepted into the association of the Vienna Philharmonic, an organization that confers certain privileges and prestige.
The concertmaster, head of the first violin section, is regarded as the second most important orchestra member after the conductor. <snip>
Interesting: Music directors of the Staatsoper [I completely missed Wächter <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eberhard_W%C3%A4chter_%28baritone%29> filling the post, did he conduct too?) - * Franz von Dingelstedt <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_von_Dingelstedt> (1867-1870) * Johann von Herbeck <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_von_Herbeck> (1870-1875) * Franz von Jauner <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Franz_Jauner&action=edit&redlink=1> (1875-1880) * Wilhelm Jahn <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_Jahn> (1881-1897) * Gustav Mahler <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustav_Mahler> (1897-1907) * Felix Weingartner, Edler von Münzberg <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felix_Weingartner> (first directorship, 1908-1911) * Hans Gregor <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Gregor> (1911-1918) * Richard Strauss <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Strauss> / Franz Schalk <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Schalk> (1919-1924) * Franz Schalk (1924-1929) * Clemens Krauss <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clemens_Krauss> (1929-1934) * Felix von Weingartner (second directorship, 1935-1936) * Erwin Kerber <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Erwin_Kerber&action=edit&redlink=1> (1936-1940) * Heinrich Karl Strohm <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinrich_Karl_Strohm> (1940-1941) * Lothar Müthel <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lothar_M%C3%BCthel> (1941-1942)
* Karl Böhm <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_B%C3%B6hm> (first directorship, 1943-1945) * Franz Salmhofer <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Salmhofer> (1945-1954) * Karl Böhm (second directorship, 1954-1956) * Herbert von Karajan <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_von_Karajan> (1956-1964) * Egon Hilbert <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egon_Hilbert> (1964-1968) * Heinrich Reif-Gintl <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinrich_Reif-Gintl> (1968-1972) * Rudolf Gamsjäger <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf_Gamsj%C3%A4ger> (1972-1976) * Egon Seefehlner <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egon_Seefehlner> (first directorship, 1976-1982) * Lorin Maazel <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorin_Maazel> (1982-1984) * Egon Seefehlner (second directorship, 1984-1986) * Claus Helmut Drese <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claus_Helmut_Drese> (1986-1991); musical director: Claudio Abbado <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claudio_Abbado> * Eberhard Wächter <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eberhard_W%C3%A4chter_%28baritone%29> (1991-1992) * Ioan Holender <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ioan_Holender> (1992-2010) Secretary-General; * Seiji Ozawa <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seiji_Ozawa> (2002-2010) musical director * Dominique Meyer <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dominique_Meyer&action=edit&redlink=1> (2010); musical director: Franz Welser-Möst <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Welser-M%C3%B6st> (2010)
Boston-area January concerts
BOSTON BAROQUE
The veteran period instrument band presents a comic double-bill devoted to Mozart’s “Bastien und Bastienne’’ and Cimarosa’s “Il Maestro di Cappella.’’ With vocal soloists Kristen Watson, Lawrence Jones, and David Kravitz. Dec. 31 at 8 p.m. and Jan. 1 at 3 p.m., $25-$69, Sanders Theatre. 617-484-9200 or www.bostonbaroque.org
GARDNER MUSEUM In conjunction with Taro Shinoda’s exhibition “Lunar Reflections,’’ the Gardner offers a New Year’s Eve performance of Schoenberg’s landmark “Pierrot Lunaire.’’ Performers include Paula Robison, Sooyun Kim, Alexis Lanz, David Fulmer, Eric Jacobsen, and Steven Beck. 7:30 p.m., Dec. 31, $60 (covers admission to museum’s holiday event running 6-9:30 p.m.). 617-278-5156, www.gardnermuseum.org
BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Early music specialist Ton Koopman leads Haydn’s Symphony No. 98, Schubert’s “Unfinished’’ Symphony, and music by C.P.E. Bach. He will also partner with Yo-Yo Ma in Haydn’s Cello Concerto No. 1. Jan. 7, 8, 9, and 12, $29-$115, Symphony Hall. 617-266-1200, www.bso.org
Music Review: Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra
Music Review: Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra
The motto of the Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra, which offered the first of two programs at the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall on Friday night, is “the cutting edge of classical music.” That may be stretching it a bit, at least by the standards of the Los Angeles Philharmonic or the Berlin Philharmonic. It would take an unusually dexterous orchestra to trim borders in the picturesque, contented Austrian town where Mozart was born and where an Alp-sized dessert soufflé known as the Salzburger nockerl has been known to give even non-diabetics sugar seizures.
The New York Philharmonic's new music director, Alan Gilbert, is the first native-born New Yorker to hold a post held by such luminaries as Gustav Mahler and Leonard Bernstein. But the shoes he's stepping into are already comfortable: He literally grew up with the Philharmonic. Gilbert's parents played in the violin section, and his mom still does.
