Klaus Mäkelä chosen for Chicago Symphony Orchestra music director

[brewski]

Wow, so Klaus Mäkelä, the music director of the Concertgebouw, has been chosen as the next music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. From what I've seen, he's a great talent. Chicago + Amsterdam = quite the portfolio, and I forgot he's still involved with Oslo and the Orchestre de Paris! I hope he doesn't burn out.

Info here.

-Bruce

[Brian]

Wow. He's 28 years old and running two of...shall we say...the top dozen orchestras in the world?

I'd love to hear an explanation, from orchestra musicians, of what kind of rehearsal skills, personal touch, and maturity are required to rocket to fame in this way when so many other conductors have to "earn their keep" in minor regional circuits for decades. This is not to denigrate him in any way, of course. It's genuine curiosity about what sets him apart!

[brewski]

Wow. He's 28 years old and running two of...shall we say...the top dozen orchestras in the world?

I'd love to hear an explanation, from orchestra musicians, of what kind of rehearsal skills, personal touch, and maturity are required to rocket to fame in this way when so many other conductors have to "earn their keep" in minor regional circuits for decades. This is not to denigrate him in any way, of course. It's genuine curiosity about what sets him apart!

Yes, exactly. And I edited my original post: he's also head of the Oslo Philharmonic and the Orchestre de Paris!

I mean, good on him, but...but...four orchestras? I guess we will find out.

-Bruce

[brewski]

Ah, just found out from the NY Times: he'll leave Oslo and Paris when those contracts expire, to focus on Amsterdam and Chicago.

-Bruce

[Brian]

Side note, which of those four cities would you live in? Talk about spoiled for choice! 

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

I was gonna post this (since I'm on a CSO mailing list), but you beat me to it.

I've heard of Mäkelä, but never heard him conduct. Looking forward to discovering more. That he is so young is both exciting and potentially worrying (as Bruce says, let's hope he doesn't burn out, or bite off more than he can chew).

[(poco) Sforzando]

Hurwitz is going to have a field day with this!

[Karl Henning]

Wow. He's 28 years old and running two of...shall we say...the top dozen orchestras in the world?

I have the same complaint I had when the now rightly and utterly disgraced Jas Levine helmed both the Met Orchestra and the BSO: what about fostering new talent, rather than letting those who are already established breathe up all the damned oxygen? It's them what already have gets it all forever, eh?

[AnotherSpin]

Wow, so Klaus Mäkelä, the music director of the Concertgebouw, has been chosen as the next music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. From what I've seen, he's a great talent. Chicago + Amsterdam = quite the portfolio, and I forgot he's still involved with Oslo and the Orchestre de Paris! I hope he doesn't burn out.

Info here.

-Bruce

I read somewhere that one way or another he would have to move across the ocean, closer to Yuja.

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

Hurwitz is going to have a field day with this!

What is Hurwitz's view of Mäkelä? I searched the Classics Today website, but found nothing.

I have the same complaint I had when the now rightly and utterly disgraced Jas Levine helmed both the Met Orchestra and the BSO: what about fostering new talent, rather than letting those who are already established breathe up all the damned oxygen? It's them what already have gets it all forever, eh?

Isn't he young enough to count as new? He's certainly not "safe" in the sense that Muti, Haitink and Barenboim were (just to mention the last 3 CSO heads).

[Brian]

What is Hurwitz's view of Mäkelä? I searched the Classics Today website, but found nothing.

He had some histrionic comments about the Sibelius cycle on video. My own feeling about the Sibelius was much less extreme, but still that Mäkelä spent so much time and effort on the string section phrasing and tone that he shortchanged everyone else in terms of both detail and balance.

[Karl Henning]

Isn't he young enough to count as new? He's certainly not "safe" in the sense that Muti, Haitink and Barenboim were (just to mention the last 3 CSO heads).

While I take your point (nor do I contest his musical fitness) But, "there's no other talent available, we have to appoint someone who already has another major appointment" serves to keep other conductors who though talented, lack opportunity, invisible. Granted, I speak as an invisible composer, so factor that in.

[Daverz]

Wow, so Klaus Mäkelä, the music director of the Concertgebouw, has been chosen as the next music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. From what I've seen, he's a great talent. Chicago + Amsterdam = quite the portfolio, and I forgot he's still involved with Oslo and the Orchestre de Paris! I hope he doesn't burn out.

Info here.

-Bruce

Claudia Cassidy is spinning in her grave.

[Roasted Swan]

I've not heard a single one of his discs let alone seen a concert but he must be not just a significant musical talent but good with people/musicians too.  Orchestras do not have to tolerate old-school martinets any more.  I'm sure a nice juicy Decca recording contract in an era when such things are all but extinct helps as well.

My only observation would be that a Music Director has to be so much more than "just" a fine musician/conductor.  Programming, administering large organisations, auditioning/appointing principles and other key responsibilitiesare all things which benefit from experience rather than simply talent.  Being at the head of one of the great orchestras would be demanding at such a young age - to my mind heading up two cannot benefit both.  But clearly it is the modern way with Nelsons in Boston and Leipzig.

[Todd]

Side note, which of those four cities would you live in?

Which has the best pizza?

[DavidW]

He had some histrionic comments about the Sibelius cycle on video. My own feeling about the Sibelius was much less extreme, but still that Mäkelä spent so much time and effort on the string section phrasing and tone that he shortchanged everyone else in terms of both detail and balance.

So he is the new Karajan then?

[brewski]

FWIW, you can hear his Carnegie Hall debut here on WQXR with the Orchestre de Paris, from just a few weeks ago. The program is all-Stravinsky, with The Firebird and The Rite of Spring. I have not yet listened, but will soon.

I have watched his Shostakovich 7 with Frankfurt, available here on YouTube, and liked it a lot.

-Bruce

[Karl Henning]

So he is the new Karajan then?

(* chortle *)

[(poco) Sforzando]

Bernstein first subbed for Bruno Walter in 1943, age 25. Toscanini conducted his first Aida at 18. Sacré bleu, these kids should not have been allowed near a podium.

[MishaK]

A couple of things:

I heard Mäkelä live for the first time with the RCO on tour in Cologne this last December. Same program as the Kerstmatinee that can still be watched on streaming video over on the Avrotros website. That was easily one of the best concerts I have ever heard, with one of the most gripping, organically flowing Eroicas ever. That alone convinced me in terms of his talents. And all the interviews I have seen suggest that he is a thoughtful, serious and humble musician with exceptional people skills.

Re: being overcommitted, his contracts in Oslo and Paris will run out before he starts in Amsterdam and Chicago. A music directorship is a 12-14 week job. Many conductors have held two music directorships simultaneously, including Mäkelä's immediate RCO predecessor and two of his CSO predecessors. So I don't really see this being a problem. It seems he has said in some interview that he will curtail his guest conducting to just Berlin and maybe one other orchestra. So that seems like a very manageable load.

With all the complaining about classical music "dying" and audiences shrinking, the critics seem to forget that the winning recipe in the past very much included personality hype, a bit of showmanship, the social allure of being seen at concerts with top performers, and just the plain entertainment effect. Sober serious, ascetic musicianship alone simply doesn't pay the bills. An orchestra of the caliber of the CSO, besides needing someone with top musical skills, also needs someone with that star power to both fill seats and draw donations and sell out international tours. There are very very few conductors who fit that bill AND are of an age that the investment will still bear fruit two decades from now. From all these considerations this is a shrewd choice for the CSO (and once again shows that they can attract the sort of talent that e.g. NY or LA or SF still can't).

Lastly, re: the opinions of musicians, I have uniformly heard from musicians I know that they have been floored by his musicianship. Here is an example from a CSO violist: https://slippedisc.com/2022/04/chicago-lands-a-dream-conductor/
I would think the CSO musicians are quite happy with this result.