Vanska leaves Minnesota

[Brian]

MINNEAPOLIS — Osmo Vanska resigned on Tuesday as music director of the Minnesota Orchestra, evidently in response to the orchestra's announcement that it had canceled two concerts he had planned to conduct at Carnegie Hall in early November.

The players of the orchestra, unable to agree with management on a new contract since the old one expired on Oct. 1, 2012, have been locked out since then. The orchestra canceled its entire 2012-13 season and seems unlikely to begin its 2013-14 season on Friday, as scheduled.

The resignation was a major blow for the Minnesota Orchestra, which under Mr. Vanska had been building its reputation as one of the finest ensembles in the country, especially in works by Nordic composers.Mr. Vanska, 60, had said that if the orchestra were to be ready for the new season and for the Carnegie concerts in particular it would have to start rehearsing at least by this week. He had also said that if the Carnegie concerts were canceled he would resign, though he was under contract until 2015.

The November concerts, together with two more at Carnegie in April, were to have offered an intensive survey of the symphonies and other music of Sibelius. Mr. Vanska, who is Finnish, is recognized as one of the finest Sibelius interpreters in the world and he had said repeatedly that these concerts were especially meaningful to him.

In a statement released by his British manager, Mr. Vanska said: "It is a very sad day for me. Over 10 years ago I was honored to be invited to take up this position. I moved from Finland to the Twin Cities. At that time I made clear my belief that the Minnesota Orchestra could become one of the very greatest international ensembles. During the intervening years I have had the privilege of seeing that belief vindicated through the skill, hard work and commitment of this wonderful group of players and with the valued support of the board of directors, management and administration team, volunteers, as well as our exceptional community."

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

[Parsifal]

I wonder what they will do with the glamorous new concert hall they built a few years ago.

[bhodges]

I wonder what they will do with the glamorous new concert hall they built a few years ago.

Have heard through the grapevine that the intent is to turn it into a rental facility: touring musicals, weddings, etc. Very sad to see such an enlightened cultural center (usually vying with Seattle for "most literate city in the country") let one of its finest assets disintegrate. Just this summer I was listening to some of their Beethoven recordings and marveling at the freshness.

[asin]B001DDY6UI[/asin]

Also had tickets for their two Carnegie dates in November - all-Sibelius, including Hilary Hahn in the Violin Concerto - but now all that's gone. To say "it's a shame" seems inadequate.

--Bruce

[Parsifal]

Also had tickets for their two Carnegie dates in November - all-Sibelius, including Hilary Hahn in the Violin Concerto - but now all that's gone. To say "it's a shame" seems inadequate.

Lost investment seems to be the theme for the US. 

[not edward]

I wonder where Vanska will go. Presumably he won't be short of offers.

I've always rated him highly not just for his performances but for the way that he turned around the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra in the late '90s, preparing the way for their successes under Ilan Volkov. Living in Glasgow at the time and hearing much of the orchestra, I can say the change was both rapid and lasting.

[Karl Henning]

A terrible loss for The Land of a Thousand Lakes.

[Opus106]

A terrible loss for The Land of a Thousand Lakes.

In a neat coincidence, that's also Finland.

[Parsifal]

A terrible loss for The Land of a Thousand Lakes.

If they gave a damn in the land of a thousand lakes I think they would have found a solution.  A year of Vanska's life spent without making music.  That is a loss.

It is a very sad day for me. Over 10 years ago I was honored to be invited to take up this position. I moved from Finland to the Twin Cities. At that time I made clear my belief that the Minnesota Orchestra could become one of the very greatest international ensembles. During the intervening years I have had the privilege of seeing that belief vindicated through the skill, hard work and commitment of this wonderful group of players and with the valued support of the board of directors, management and administration team, volunteers, as well as our exceptional community.

In a similar vein, the US government is "shut down" and the National Institutes of Health campus in Bethesda, MD---one of the world's leading biological and biomedical science facilities where 6,000 principal investigators and many more junior scientists and technicians work---is closed.  This is after the crippling budget cuts of "sequestration."  I suspect the people who work there, many of whom left their native countries to contribut their talents to the US, are experiencing similar emotions.

[mahler10th]

I wonder where Vanska will go. Presumably he won't be short of offers.

I've always rated him highly not just for his performances but for the way that he turned around the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra in the late '90s, preparing the way for their successes under Ilan Volkov. Living in Glasgow at the time and hearing much of the orchestra, I can say the change was both rapid and lasting.

  I did not know you lived in Glasgow at one time Edward.  I took in some Vanska also during that period, we were probably at the same concert at one time or another!  Yes, he did wonders for the BBCSSO.  I would love to see him back, a great conductor that he is, but then that would dislodge Runnicles, who is also doing a tremendous job with my favorite home band.  (I never much took to Volkov  )
Vanska will end up with another World Class orchestra, that's for sure, and if he doesn't, whatever he does end up with will not be long in becoming a World Class orchestra under his baton.  It is a terrible loss for the Minnesota Orchestra.

[CRCulver]

I feel sorry for Vänskä. He comes from a country where musicians are paid a very average wage, but it's OK because they don't have to pay extra for health insurance, a vehicle and petrol. Then he has to watch musicians in the US struggle to maintain their salaries against an aggressive management just so that they have a decent reward for their work after paying for all those extras. He comes from a country where even small podunk towns have an orchestra (or at least a sinfonietta), but he has to watch as Minnesotans say that their metropolitan area is just too small to support an orchestra. He must be leaving the US with a dismal view of classical music's longterm viability.

[Cato]

I am reminded of several stories from the 1970's and the 1980's, where unions and management did not find a way out of extinction.

The owners of the companies opened their ledgers and showed the union leadership the red ink.  Yet the leaders of the union were positive the owners were liars and were hiding money somewhere.

The bankruptcy occurred: I will always recall the picketers months later still walking back and forth with their signs in front of a factory that had gone out of business!

Eventually they stopped. 

[Parsifal]

I am reminded of several stories from the 1970's and the 1980's, where unions and management did not find a way out of extinction.

The owners of the companies opened their ledgers and showed the union leadership the red ink.  Yet the leaders of the union were positive the owners were liars and were hiding money somewhere.

The bankruptcy occurred: I will always recall the picketers months later still walking back and forth with their signs in front of a factory that had gone out of business!

Eventually they stopped. 

Sounds like a tale from the Brothers Grimm. 

[71 dB]

He comes from a country where musicians are paid a very average wage,

That's correct, I suppose.

but it's OK because they don't have to pay extra for health insurance, a vehicle and petrol.

Yes, no health insurence, but we Finns pay more taxes for our health services. Vehicles and petrol aren't free in Finland, in fact they are much more expensive than in US. Sure, there's always public transportation available if you live in larger cities like Helsinki or Tampere but that's not free either.

Then he has to watch musicians in the US struggle to maintain their salaries against an aggressive management just so that they have a decent reward for their work after paying for all those extras. He comes from a country where even small podunk towns have an orchestra (or at least a sinfonietta), but he has to watch as Minnesotas say that their metropolitan area is just too small to support an orchestra. He must be leaving the US with a dismal view of classical music's longterm viability.

Finns have chosen to support culture. Americans prefer something else (wars?). Those small town orchestras don't swim in money, but they can manage because as you said, musicians are paid a very average wage.

[Brahmsian]

Sad news for Minnesota, and the land of MN Dave, my southern neighbour.  They were blessed to have a great conductor for a long time.

[jochanaan]

I am reminded of several stories from the 1970's and the 1980's, where unions and management did not find a way out of extinction.

The owners of the companies opened their ledgers and showed the union leadership the red ink.  Yet the leaders of the union were positive the owners were liars and were hiding money somewhere.

The bankruptcy occurred: I will always recall the picketers months later still walking back and forth with their signs in front of a factory that had gone out of business!

Eventually they stopped. 

Given the record of corporate malfeasance that led to the latest Great Recession, I wouldn't be surprised if the unions were on to something...

[Parsifal]

Given the record of corporate malfeasance that led to the latest Great Recession, I wouldn't be surprised if the unions were on to something...

Up until 1980 or so, wages for laborers were coupled to productivity.  When productivity at a plant on in an industry rose, wages rose proportionally.  Since then, productivity has increased dramatically and wages have gone down.    That is one of the major factors in the evaporation of the middle class.  It is probably an oversimplification to say there is one reason for the stagnation of wages (technology, global competition, collapse of labor unions, etc.) but unless the trend is reversed there isn't going to be a middle class in the US anymore. 

[Cato]

Given the record of corporate malfeasance that led to the latest Great Recession, I wouldn't be surprised if the unions were on to something...

Governmental regulations requiring banks to give tenuous loans did not help: selling and packaging the loans as "investments" really did not help either!   0:)

[71 dB]

Is it true that a number of Finns prefer giving birth in smoke-saunas because of the hygiene??

No. I have never heard about this myth. Finnish babies are born by default in hospitals.

[North Star]

http://www.helsinki.fi/lehdet/uh/498b.htm

"From the late 19th century onwards, women began to give birth in the house, but as late the 1940s many children were born in the sauna."

This sounds right, many elderly relatives were born in a sauna.

[71 dB]

"From the late 19th century onwards, women began to give birth in the house, but as late the 1940s many children were born in the sauna."

This sounds right, many elderly relatives were born in a sauna.

I didn't know this. Everyday you learn something new!