Alan Gilbert to leave NY Philharmonic in 2017

[bluestateprommer]

Well, this is a surprise. Now we can add the NY Phil to the list of orchestras searching for music directors / chief conductors:

(1) BBC SSO
(2) Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
(3) CBSO
(4) LSO
(5) NY Philharmonic

PS: Anne Midgette of the Washington Post weighs in here, even tossing in one name popular on this board as a potential candidate (no prizes for guessing which name).

[french frank]

She seems to toy with quite a range of names. (Why was Alan Gilbert mentioned here recently- did he step into a Prom concert?)

[Cockney Sparrow]

Yes - Leipzig Gewandhaus Mahler 3 for the indisposed Chailly and not a bad job he made of it...

[french frank]

Yes - Leipzig Gewandhaus Mahler 3 for the indisposed Chailly and not a bad job he made of it...

Yes, thanks CS. I think there was some disappointment expressed from some who had bought tickets. Can't remember the general verdict. As Midgette says: 'To put it bluntly, his conducting wasn’t always very exciting, particularly in the standard repertory ...' Perhaps the vacancy is more exciting

[richardfinegold]

That Mahler 3 may have been the best that I have ever heard of AG, but I have heard him lead other stellar performances We heard him Conduct in Avery Fisher Hall last October in Haydn, Brahms VC, and some modern piece that I absolutely can't recall, and the Haydn in particular was excellent. My wife and I regualrly listen to the NY Phil Broadcasts (hosted by Alec Baldwin) and I've never heard a misfire from AG, but nothing approaching that Mahler 3. His worse work with NY was the Nielsen disc on dacapo, but then Bernstein, Mehta, Boulez, and other conductors of that orchestra have had bad recordings.

[Petrushka]

I was present at the Mahler 3 Prom and greatly liked it but the Beethoven 9 the following night was awful.

[jayne lee wilson]

I remember writing about that Mahler 3 in some detail here... I had to try very, very hard not to be too cruel about it... awful webcast, and no sense of idiom or natural flow or phrasing from the conductor. I've been underwhelmed by Gilbert in the Berlin DCH, and wished I'd never bought his Nielsen 2/3 with the NYPO.

He's young for a conductor... maybe needs change of direction, away from the big, famous ensembles... time to breathe & create himself anew...

[BBMmk2]

Are the NYPO still a tough nut to crack like they have been?

[bluestateprommer]

Are the NYPO still a tough nut to crack like they have been?

It wouldn't surprise me, based on this admittedly pre-(Alan)-Gilbert blog post about another Gilbert (Kaplan):

http://davidfinlayson.typepad.com/fin_notes/2008/12/some-words-about-gilbert-kaplan.html

But that aside, the picture here in the USA is even more complicated now, with 3 other US orchestras losing music directors in 2017, namely Jahja Ling (San Diego), Edo de Waart (Milwaukee) and Christoph Eschenbach (National Symphony, Washington, DC). On the more "regional" side, the New Jersey Symphony will need a new MD after 2016, when Jacques Lacombe leaves. So in the US, that's one "Big Five" ensemble, one orchestra just below that level, and 3 more below that, all looking for new music directors.

[Alison]

Why are there so many brilliant pianists and violinists and not nearly enough decent conductors to go round?

[richardfinegold]

Why are there so many brilliant pianists and violinists and not nearly enough decent conductors to go round?

Most great Conductors of yore seemed to receive their training in Regional European Opera Houses. Is it possible that their are less opportunities for up and coming Conductors in those types of environments than previously?

[teamsaint]

Why are there so many brilliant pianists and violinists and not nearly enough decent conductors to go round?

rather different skill sets required for each job?

[bluestateprommer]

Q: "Why are there so many brilliant pianists and violinists and not nearly enough decent conductors to go round?"

A: "rather different skill sets required for each job?"

Indeed, yes, although the demands of an American music directorship are probably another reason, beyond conducting skills themselves. This NYT article somewhat snarkily (but with more than an element of truth) begins by addressing that point:

"The next music director should be a brilliant musician with impeccable credentials, experienced and World Famous in the way New Yorkers expect - but also daringly young and up-and-coming. The maestro must be a probing, subtle interpreter of the glorious classical canon who is also on the cutting edge of contemporary music. Someone who will satisfy the orchestra’s longtime subscribers while attracting new audiences. A taskmaster who can command its sometimes willful musicians while maintaining their respect and affection.

Sadly, there may be no such animal."

Of the 5 critics who weigh in in the article, only 4 actually put forth their favorite candidates, with CdF-W putting out not-so-veiled hints about whom not to hire (e.g. Gergiev, the "frequent flier" in her list, not to mention Jaap van Zweden, of the recent "demoted musicians minutes before a performance" notoriety). Esa-Pekka Salonen and David Robertson have the relative majority of thumbs up among the critics in the article, with Manfred Honeck as the potential main 'dark horse' candidate. Their current respective contracts are up as follows:

Salonen (Philharmonia), 2017
Robertson (Saint Louis Symphony), 2018 (but he also pretty much just started with the Sydney Symphony, so that's a complicating factor)
Honeck (Pittsburgh Symphony), 2020

I wonder if CdF-W isn't the smart one of the bunch not to put forth her favored candidate, since s/he probably wouldn't get chosen anyway. After all, when Muti turned the NYPO down (again) when Masur was on his way out, and then Maazel suddenly went to the top of the NYPO musicians' list, none of the NYT critics wanted Maazel there. Guess what happened.

[Stanfordian]

Oh my Godness! I hope Alan Gilbert is not being given the job with the Berliner Philharmoniker. The timscale seems right.

[pastoralguy]

A music director also needs the social skills to schmooze the wealthy into donating go their cause. No mean feat in itself...