Osmo Vänskä resigns from Minnesota Orchestra

[bluestateprommer]

Very bad news for the Minnesota Orchestra, with the resignation of Osmo Vänskä today as their music director:

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2013/10/01/arts/osmo-vanska-resigns-minnesota-orchestra

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/02/arts/music/vanska-quits-minnesota-orchestra.html

Not that the management side, the Minnesota Orchestra Association, cares, given their campaign to squeeze slashing pay cuts from the musicians and the lockout that's lasted >1 year. The MOA, headed by Michael Henson (from your side of the pond), is probably very happy not to pay Vänskä's salary, and since they're all about money and about treating the musicians like dirt, the MOA probably considers this a win for them. In terms of prestige for the orchestra, it's a disaster, of course.

[DracoM]

Watch their recording contracts disintegrate maybe? Vanska is a big name in Europe, partic UK, Germany, Scandinavia etc.

[vinteuil]

... and on the same day the New York City Opera files for bankruptcy.

Chill times...

[BBMmk2]

Oh dear! A classical music desert or what?

[bluestateprommer]

Musicians from the Minnesota Orchestra are giving concerts at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus this weekend. They didn't announce a conductor for some time, but the cat's now out of the bag. Osmo Vänskä will lead the musicians this weekend:

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/03/vanska-to-conduct-two-farewell-concerts-with-musicians-of-minnesota-orchestra/

Nice way to stick it to Michael Henson and the idiots of the Minnesota Orchestra Association board, even though it won't change their attitude. However, per the one comment by Jon Campbell, the MOA board chairman, in the earlier NYT article, the MOA is clearly not worried about trying to save the orchestra as it stands:

"At a news conference on Tuesday afternoon at Orchestra Hall, Jon Campbell, the chairman of the orchestra's board, said that attempts to reach a settlement on a new contract will continue but not anytime soon.

'The time pressures we were under are now removed,' Mr. Campbell said. 'We’re probably in a pause for the next few months.'"

Translation: we, the MOA board, don't care anymore.

[AmpH]

This, from Ivan Hewett in the Telegraph, caught my eye today on the Minnesota situation and other American orchestras, although I have no idea how accurate this article is.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/classicalmusic/10350252/US-orchestras-are-greedy-and-overpaid.html

[bluestateprommer]

Although by the time this US radio broadcast will occur, it'll be the middle of the night for you folks in the UK, the last of the 3 concerts this weekend with Minnesota Orchestra Musicians and Osmo Vanska is being broadcast on Minnesota Public Radio tonight, and also will be accessible via the internet:

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2013/10/04/live-broadcast-osmo-vanskas-farewell-concert

Some articles on the performance last night in MSP are these:

Star-Tribune (you should know that a higher-up at the paper is on the MOA board): http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/226545831.html

NYT: http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/20...ref=music&_r=0

Apparently the musicians will try to continue giving concerts while still being locked out. Stanislaw Skrowaczweski is set to conduct next month.

This, from Ivan Hewett in the Telegraph, caught my eye today on the Minnesota situation and other American orchestras, although I have no idea how accurate this article is.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/m...-overpaid.html

I too saw this op-ed from Ivan Hewett. It's basically a Lebrecht-in-reverse, accusing the top tier (to be somewhat fair to the inflammatory header) of US musicians of being greedy and overpaid, but trying to use the Minnesota debacle as a broad brush to tar all US orchestras. The commenter "WatchingFromOverThere" pretty much demolishes Hewett's argument in the specific context of the Minnesota situation, basically saying that Hewett isn't providing the full picture for this particular instance. In the case of Minnesota, I can actually understand that the management some years back went overboard in raising the orchestra's salaries, but then needed to dial back once the Great Recession kicked in. Had management asked for salary cuts while offering to take a pay cut themselves, and not raising funds for the renovation of Orchestra Hall in the meantime, management proposals would have had more credibility. Unfortunately, given what actually has happened rather than "what if", the MOA's ham-handed and blatantly union-busting actions belie any sense of acting to try to salvage fiscal responsibility from the situation, rather than simply trying to break the backs of the ensemble as it now stands.

[Bryn]

Hmm, 02:00 BST. That's but late evening at the weekend, surely?

I, however, will pretty certainly be fast asleep. Up for work at 06:30 tomorrow if I go in by public transport, or 08:20 if I opt to drive in.

[bluestateprommer]

1st casualty of the 2015 Proms: Minnesota Orchestra/Vanska Sibelius cycle residency

Buried in Roger Wright's RPS Lecture from 2 weeks ago is this sad tidbit in reverse, about what will not be happening at the 2015 Proms (once he gets past veiled comments about Vasily Petrenko's faux pas and the various sad happenings on this side of the pond with respect to the Minnesota Orchestra and New York City Opera), with respect to the Minnesota Orchestra:

"At our summer festival, the BBC Proms, we usually only announce events that are taking place. Sadly, however, I can let you know that the first ever residency by an orchestra from the US will not now be happening at the Proms in 2015. We had planned for some years a Sibelius symphony cycle by Osmo Vanska and the Minnesota Orchestra and had held on to the plan through this last difficult year, only having to accept in the last fortnight, with Osmo's tragic but understandable resignation, that it won't happen."

http://royalphilharmonicsociety.org.uk/images/uploads/RPS_Lecture_2013_Roger_Wright.pdf

No coverage of this in the Twin Cities press that I know of, or from Minnesota Public Radio. But given how prestigious it would have been for the Minnesota Orchestra and Osmo Vanska to have this residency, in the Sibelius anniversary year, this is yet another manifestation of how Michael Henson and the Minnesota Orchestra Association are running the orchestra into the ground.

[Thropplenoggin]

Buried in Roger Wright's RPS Lecture from 2 weeks ago is this sad tidbit in reverse, about what will not be happening at the 2015 Proms (once he gets past veiled comments about Vasily Petrenko's faux pas and the various sad happenings on this side of the pond with respect to the Minnesota Orchestra and New York City Opera), with respect to the Minnesota Orchestra:

"At our summer festival, the BBC Proms, we usually only announce events that are taking place. Sadly, however, I can let you know that the first ever residency by an orchestra from the US will not now be happening at the Proms in 2015. We had planned for some years a Sibelius symphony cycle by Osmo Vanska and the Minnesota Orchestra and had held on to the plan through this last difficult year, only having to accept in the last fortnight, with Osmo's tragic but understandable resignation, that it won't happen."

http://royalphilharmonicsociety.org.uk/images/uploads/RPS_Lecture_2013_Roger_Wright.pdf

No coverage of this in the Twin Cities press that I know of, or from Minnesota Public Radio. But given how prestigious it would have been for the Minnesota Orchestra and Osmo Vanska to have this residency, in the Sibelius anniversary year, this is yet another manifestation of how Michael Henson and the Minnesota Orchestra Association are running the orchestra into the ground.

Wow. Thanks for digging this tidbit out, BSP. I would have definitely been up for tickets to some of those Proms. I'm fairly new to Sibelius and Vanska's 7th with the Lahti Symphony Orchestra easily persuaded me there was more to the Finn than I'd hitherto fathomed. His incomplete Sibelius cycle with the Minnesotans must also now remain thus. It has received very good reviews.

I wonder who will replace them for the Sibelius cycle, which, in the anniversary year, is presumably still going ahead.

[amateur51]

Wow. Thanks for digging this tidbit out, BSP. I would have definitely been up for tickets to some of those Proms. I'm fairly new to Sibelius and Vanska's 7th with the Lahti Symphony Orchestra easily persuaded me there was more to the Finn than I'd hitherto fathomed. His incomplete Sibelius cycle with the Minnesotans must also now remain thus. It has received very good reviews.

I wonder who will replace them for the Sibelius cycle, which, in the anniversary year, is presumably still going ahead.

Well Sakari Oramo with BBCSO would be a fair bet I'd have thought

[Zucchini]

Well Sakari Oramo with BBCSO would be a fair bet I'd have thought

Yes. The excited concertgoers can line the streets and wave flags when the Proms Orchestra in Residence arrives by bus from the Barbican to perform as Sibelius Orchestra in Residence.

Of course, Oramo's credentials for Sibelius Symphonies are immaculate - but it would be exciting if he shared them with Semyon Bychkov!

[Thropplenoggin]

Yes. The excited concertgoers can line the streets and wave flags when the Proms Orchestra in Residence arrives by bus from the Barbican to perform as Sibelius Orchestra in Residence.

Of course, Oramo's credentials for Sibelius Symphonies are immaculate - but it would be exciting if he shared them with Semyon Bychkov!

After having seen Bychkov destroy Tristan this summer, I can't concur.

[Thropplenoggin]

Well Sakari Oramo with BBCSO would be a fair bet I'd have thought

Yes, Vanska's done them a favour. I wonder how much severance pay they could generate with this 'budget cut'.

[bluestateprommer]

I would have definitely been up for tickets to some of those Proms. I'm fairly new to Sibelius and Vanska's 7th with the Lahti Symphony Orchestra easily persuaded me there was more to the Finn than I'd hitherto fathomed. His incomplete Sibelius cycle with the Minnesotans must also now remain thus. It has received very good reviews.

I wonder who will replace them for the Sibelius cycle, which, in the anniversary year, is presumably still going ahead.

Good question. Given that Roger Wright and his people have to plan several seasons in advance, one wonders if they had a backup plan for the worst-case scenario, which has now sadly come to pass. My own guess, FWIW (i.e. not much), would probably be to divide those concerts among the BBC orchestras. Giving the series to a single visiting orchestra who wasn't scheduled to play anything else at The Proms was sensible (if exhausting for said single visiting orchestra). But with this situation, I'm somewhat doubtful that a single orchestra could be lined up with that much of a gap in their schedule available. Plus, it would be a lot more economical to call on home-grown talent in this case.

There actually is the theoretical possibility that Vanska could still curate the series as the single conductor for the cycle, since he was originally contracted as the single conductor. However, given that Sakari Oramo is chief conductor of the BBC SO, one would think that he would want a part of the Sibelius symphony cycle action in the 2015 Proms, and I wouldn't blame him. Vanska could still get the lion's share, as he has long-standing guest conductor relationships with the BBC SO and the LPO, as well as his past tenure as chief conductor of the BBC SSO. So there are 3 UK orchestras that could easily be tapped with Vanska connections to do the cycle.

I wonder, though, if this page from the Lahti Symphony's site might offer a model for what to do regarding the situation for The Proms' 2015 Sibelius cycle. This concerts the 2015 Sibelius Festival in Lahti, where the BBC SO has been invited as a visiting orchestra:

http://www.sinfonialahti.fi/ajankohtaista/uutiset2013/en_GB/1377864466725/

"In 2015 the musical world will celebrate the 150th anniversary of the birth of Jean Sibelius (1865–1957). The Lahti Symphony Orchestra will play its part in the celebrations by organizing its annual Sibelius Festival on a larger scale than usual, in terms both of the music played and of the artists taking part. The festival will last a week, from 31st August to 6th September 2015, and there will be concerts not only by the Lahti Symphony Orchestra but also by the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra....

The BBC Symphony Orchestra will give two concerts, one conducted by Okko Kamu and the other by its principal conductor Sakari Oramo"

Kamu also graciously said in his prepared statement:

"It is fantastic that the BBC Symphony Orchestra, which played Sibelius in Finland already in the 1950s, has accepted our invitation and will be coming to Lahti at its busiest time, during the Proms."

So in this light, it might be good sense to take the programs that they have planned for this Lahti festival, and do variations on them in 2015 at the RAH, without necessarily duplicating them exactly. Anyway, we'll see.