Who will get the Berliner Philharmoniker gig?

[Brian]

https://www.digitalconcerthall.com/en/live

If people keep posting this link, I may just need to subscribe. Especially in time to see the absolutely drool-inducing series of concerts from 29 January - mid-February 2016.

[Todd]

2. What about Alan Gilbert??!??

What about him?

[San Antone]

If people keep posting this link, I may just need to subscribe. Especially in time to see the absolutely drool-inducing series of concerts from 29 January - mid-February 2016.

I wish more orchestras had something like this.  I have really enjoyed it, and who wouldn't?  Their production studio is state of the art and the orchestra is one of the best.   Priced in Euros, it is a steal.

[North Star]

I wish more orchestras had something like this.  I have really enjoyed it, and who wouldn't?  Their production studio is state of the art and the orchestra is one of the best.   Priced in Euros, it is a steal.

Finnish RSO concerts are free, e.g. Berezovsky's Ravel PC and Mahler 5th with Lintu, or Nagano's Bruckner 4th & Saariaho Organ Concerto. The site is in Finnish, but it shouldn't be too big a hurdle as the composer & performer names are recognizable.
http://areena.yle.fi/1-1260745

Nagano explaining how the orchestra thought they were playing the original version of Bruckner 4th, and he intended to conduct a later version.

[Brian]

The Detroit Symphony has free live broadcasts, but I don't know if you can get them on demand.

[San Antone]

The New York Phil also has free concerts.

But the big difference in the ones you mention (thanks for links, btw) and the NYP with the BPO, is the depth of catalog for the BPO.  Looks like entire seasons for several years is included with the BPO, not just a concert here and there as with these free choices. 

[North Star]

The New York Phil also has free concerts.

But the big difference in the ones you mention (thanks for links, btw) and the NYP with the BPO, is the depth of catalog for the BPO.  Looks like entire seasons for several years is included with the BPO, not just a concert here and there as with these free choices.

That's true, and it's a pity that the Finnish Broadcasting Company doesn't keep a similar catalog up.

[Pat B]

You are arguing as if the majority of the orchestra (but not an absolute majority) hadn't just voted for Thielemann [as I've been given to understand]. Obviously they see something in him as well.

I'm not sure how you got that out of my statement. I don't have any idea how many of them supported him. I was responding to the idea that they should choose whoever has the most critically acclaimed recordings (with an emphasis on opera recordings, even!). Let me put it this way: if I were a BPO member, and I had done several rehearsals and concerts with him, then those experiences would be the primary factor for me. Joseph Newsome's opinion of his studio Ring cycle would not be a factor at all.

Are you saying that he got a majority but needed a supermajority? That's interesting, and a bit surprising given the rumors of the closeness of the Rattle-Barenboim vote. Do you know what percentage is required for a selection?

[San Antone]

I am pretty sure I read there needs to be a super majority.  But maybe not.  I think Jens means he got a plurality but not a majority.

[jlaurson]

I am pretty sure I read there needs to be a super majority.  But maybe not.  I think Jens means he got a plurality but not a majority.

Thanks for honing the sloppiness of my language. It is exactly what I meant. 

[Pat B]

Thanks for honing the sloppiness of my language. It is exactly what I meant. 

Ah, that makes sense.

Misha's link above led me to this. I wish he had weighted recent appearances, but it's an interesting analysis anyway.

[MishaK]

I wish more orchestras had something like this.  I have really enjoyed it, and who wouldn't?  Their production studio is state of the art and the orchestra is one of the best.   Priced in Euros, it is a steal.

This is OT with respect to this thread, but the Frankfurt Radio Symphony (hr Sinfonieorchester) has a youtube channel that's chock full of free full length concerts:

https://www.youtube.com/user/hrSinfonieorchester

Most others are admittedly behind the curve. Chicago has regular weekly radio broadcasts, which can be heard streaming through their website for a few months after, also free.

http://csosoundsandstories.org/

There's currently also videos of a complete Beethoven 9 with Muti and a complete Symphonie fantastique with Denève.

[jochanaan]

I am remembering the flap that happened when Marin Alsop was appointed music director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, after having rebuilt the Colorado Symphony Orchestra nearly from scratch.  The complaint apparently wasn't about Ms. Alsop as a conductor (having seen her live several times, I can't imagine any orchestra complaining about that!), but rather the way that she was appointed, with apparently next to no input from the orchestra players.  It was enough that it made news here in Colorado.  But I haven't heard since then of any dissatisfaction with her as a music director.

As for Thielemann, I have only watched a YouTube recording of him leading the Munich Philharmonic in Bruckner 7.  The orchestra played well enough, but the impression I got was that they were essentially playing the way Celibidache trained them to play Bruckner.  I was not impressed visually by Thielemann's conducting; no real point to his beat, and no intensity to be seen in his body language.  Very different from old Celi, whose conducting was textbook-clear and had steel to back up its sensitivity.

[Mirror Image]

I would like to see a conductor like Thomas Dausgaard or Michael Schonwandt get the job, but I know this won't happen.

[MishaK]

A fascinating, brief interview with one of the BPO cellists (and member of the BPO foundation board) in German regarding the inconclusive vote on Monday:

http://www.morgenpost.de/kultur/berlin-kultur/article140870127/Philharmoniker-sehen-keinen-Schaden-durch-Nicht-Wahl.html

Suggests that a lot of our speculation here (pro/con Thielemann, few viable choices, old guys not being considered) could be garbage. On the other hand, he is one of the designated media contact people and what he is saying has certainly been scrubbed of controversy for public consumption. Nonetheless, a few highlights in translation:

Do you feel like this was a failure?

Not at all. It was pretty clear from the beginning that this wouldn't be a simple and uncomplicated vote. The range of candidates is incredibly broad: really young, incredibly talented all the way to the grand seigneurs of the art, who have been collaborating with us for decades. All are amazing, all represent a very different spectrum...

It nonetheless feels like a defeat. The word "failure" dominates the internet today.

Of course, the vote has failed. Anything that ends without a result has consequently failed. But nonetheless the knowledge gained as a result of this 12-hour process was huge. The orchestra have learned a lot about each other. They have learned a lot about the desires of their individual colleagues. This process was extremely important and accordingly Monday was not a lost day.

Is there a generational conflict among the Philharmoniker?

Not at all. The main concern is artistic. And art is not a generational question.

Was it worth all that, now that the Philharmoniker look like a divided bunch?

That's what you are saying, that we are a divided bunch. But we are not divided at all, we are instead in a process of discovery and in an election that we take very seriously and which means a lot to us. We are deciding on something that will affect us for the next ten years.

Why don't you do it like the Vienna Philharmonic. They don't have a chief conductor but instead engage famous guests for their concerts.

That is not an option for us. Our entire structure, our whole history is focused on one chief conductor.

[king ubu]

funny interview from a Swiss perspective ... love those anti-democratic tendencies coming up in so many German debates 

[San Antone]

Despite my advocacy for Thielemann this week, my preferred choice has always been Vladimir Jurowski.  Here's a mini-CV:

In May 2006, Jurowski was announced as the 11th Principal Conductor of the LPO, effective with the 2007/2008 season, with an initial contract of 5 years.  Several CD recordings of Jurowski conducting the LPO have been released. In April 2007, Jurowski was one of eight conductors of British orchestras to endorse the 10-year classical music outreach manifesto, "Building on Excellence: Orchestras for the 21st Century", to increase the presence of classical music in the UK, including giving free entry to all British schoolchildren to a classical music concert.  In May 2007, Jurowski received the 2007 Royal Philharmonic Society Music Award for Conductor of the Year. In May 2010, the LPO announced the extension of his principal conductorship through the 2014-2015 season. In September 2014, the LPO announced the further extension of his contract as principal conductor through 2018. Jurowski is also a Principal Artist of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.

Outside of the UK, Jurowski is also a member of the Russian National Orchestra Conductor Collegium. With the Russian National Orchestra, Jurowski recorded four discs for Pentatone: works by Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev and Shostakovich. In October 2011, the State Academic Symphony Orchestra of the Russian Federation announced the appointment of Jurowski as its principal conductor, with immediate effect, for an initial contract of 3 years.

In the USA, Jurowski first conducted at the Metropolitan Opera in December 1999. He made an acclaimed conducting debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra in October 2005. He returned in February 2007 to Philadelphia for a second guest conducting engagement which also received critical praise. Jurowski has since become a regular guest conductor with the Philadelphia Orchestra, including appearances in March 2009, October 2009, March 2010, November 2011, and February 2014.

Jurowski and his wife Patricia have two children, Martha and Yuri. The family resides in Berlin.

Although he has only one concert as guest conductor of the BPO (on DCH), I wonder if he is being considered?

[ritter]

Despite my advocacy for Thielemann this week, my preferred choice has always been Vladimir Jurowski.  .....
Although he has only one concert as guest conductor of the BPO (on DCH), I wonder if he is being considered?

I don't have a clue about Mr. Jurowski, but I've heard rumours (or gossip, rather, and with no proof whatsover to substantiate it  ) that the "opposing camps" briefly agreed on Kirill Petrenko, but that when he was contacted by the orchestra, he declined the job  , so it was back to square one and to two "opposing camps"... 

[MishaK]

I don't have a clue about Mr. Jurowski, but I've heard rumours (or gossip, rather, and with no proof whatsover to substantiate it  ) that the "opposing camps" briefly agreed on Kirill Petrenko, but that when he was contacted by the orchestra, he declined the job  , so it was back to square one and to two "opposing camps"... 

Noooo! He's my top choice! I figured though that his recent walking away from an engagement at the BPO had to do with him getting cold feet. He previously said he wouldn't take on another music directorship, but then the Bavarian State Opera managed to convince him anyway.

[ritter]

Noooo! He's my top choice! I figured though that his recent walking away from an engagement at the BPO had to do with him getting cold feet. He previously said he wouldn't take on another music directorship, but then the Bavarian State Opera managed to convince him anyway.

I myself can't say I have a "top choice", bur Kirill Petrenko is clearly a conductor who's out of the ordinary...I was lucky enough to attend his second Ring cycle in Bayreuth last summer, and it was really special. Actually, for those interested, there's tickets on sale on the Festival's website, and this is the last year Petrenko will be conducting this production (Marek Janowski is taking over next year)...