Rattle Replacement
Thu, Jan 10 2013, 6:07PM
So the Rattle has announced he is off........Any guesses as to who might replace him?
My thoughts: (1) they will go for someone fairly young as they like to appoint for long periods and prefer long-term stability; (2) must be someone with a decent brand image and recording track record (they won't want to take too many risks); (3) democratic, rather than autocratic in style (they don't like Hitler very much).
My guess: Dudamel (already doing some guest conducting there, very popular if a bit suspect), or (better still) Vladimir Jurowksi (great image, impeccable credentials, does the standard repertoire, family already based in Berlin).
Thu, Jan 10 2013, 7:01PM
#2
RE: Rattle Replacement
No way, ganymede - Thielemann is just too iffy on too many occasions. His pedigree is suspect across the board. Too many duff recordings (wierd tempos, leaden conducting) and duff concerts. He is not going to pack out venues or sell disks around the world. There is nothing remotely exciting or cutting edge about him.
Thu, Jan 10 2013, 7:08PM
#3
RE: Rattle Replacement
Barenboim must still be a contender. He has a strong presence in Berlin already.
Thu, Jan 10 2013, 7:10PM
#4
RE: Rattle Replacement
Well, I don't know. He's not my favourite conductor, but he does tick many boxes for them.
Dudamel is much further from their ideals I think.
My personal favourite would be someone like Harding, but he's too young still.
Jurowski is interesting but he's also too young still. And I don't mean only age, I mean professional experience and international reputation. Thielemann is the right professional age and having been a student of Karajan may help a little between the lines.
But who knows...
Thu, Jan 10 2013, 7:09PM
#5
RE: Rattle Replacement
Barenboim must still be a contender. He has a strong presence in Berlin already.
I think he would have been a contender when Rattle got the job, but he's too old now.
Thu, Jan 10 2013, 8:01PM
#6
RE: Rattle Replacement
Absolutely, Barenboim is far too old. He is seventy NOW, so he'll be seventy-five in 2018 - eighty-five after a standard ten year appointment. No chance. He'll probably be dead by then. Conducting an orchestra isn't the same thing as managing one the size of the BPO: with all the politics, bureaucracy and touring, it is not an old man's job.
Jurowksi will be 46 in 2018 - that sounds about right for me. (Rattle was 47). Also, he has plenty of experience with top orchestras: LPO, stuff at Glyndbourne, Boston, Philadelphia, major Russian orchestras. You heard it here first.
Thu, Jan 10 2013, 9:19PM
#7
RE: Rattle Replacement
Dudamel is too young, Barenboim is too old, Jurowski is a good bet..... and what about Gergiev? Chailly is totally out of the question?
Thu, Jan 10 2013, 9:39PM
#8
RE: Rattle Replacement
Chailly and Gergiev will be 65 in 2018. My guess is that will be a bit too old. Can you really manage an orchestra of this size in your seventies? (Manage, not conduct.) It's too much of a gamble and probably limits the appointment to a single term.
Martin Kettle seems to think Andris Nelsons is the front runner, but I haven't heard anything by him so far.
Thu, Jan 10 2013, 9:50PM
#9
RE: Rattle Replacement
They should never have got rid of Karajan. Or Di Matteo.
Thu, Jan 10 2013, 10:24PM
#10
RE: Rattle Replacement
Have they thrown their rattle out of the prom.
Thu, Jan 10 2013, 10:44PM
#11
RE: Rattle Replacement
Speculation is a most favourite sin. It ends up to some unpredictable or odd choices (like poor Rattle's; another golden mediocrity). Anyway, BPO has ceased to be the orchestra of the glorious past; it's just a very good musical engine (of course, most, if not all, of the conductors, nowadays, perform like excellent -at times- musical engineers).
Parla
Fri, Jan 11 2013, 8:17AM
#12
RE: Rattle Replacement
BPO is just a big noise factory, and with Rattle for some reason it just can't *quite* hit a beat.
That aside, they'll be looking for someone with core repertoire, yes, but mainly someone with a history of developing an orchestra and with ideas about repertoire.
Fri, Jan 11 2013, 9:33AM
#13
RE: Rattle Replacement
Let's face it - anyone would be an improvement over fuzzyhead.
Fri, Jan 11 2013, 12:46PM
#14
RE: Rattle Replacement
Yes, I must agree, Rattle has never been one of my favourite conductors. Abbado certainly is though. Conductors tend to wander more these days.
Fri, Jan 11 2013, 1:53PM
#15
RE: Rattle Replacement
How about Lorin Maazel, I think he went up in a lot of people's estimation when he took the NYPO to North Korea.
DSM
I think they might pick Thielemann. Not Dudamel, he's too young still.