Mahler Mania, Rebooted

[Brian]

UPDATE: tomorrow night's conductor is now James Conlon. Interestingly, I heard him 20 years ago in the same piece, when he made his debut with the Minnesota Orchestra. (Rhetorical query: who makes his initial appearance with the Mahler 8? )

Well, I can think of at least one conductor whose first major conducting appearance was Mahler 3, which they'd never studied through before...and that worked out fine! 

[Karl Henning]

[brewski]

Well, I can think of at least one conductor whose first major conducting appearance was Mahler 3, which they'd never studied through before...and that worked out fine! 

Who, who? (If I knew, I've forgotten. )

-Bruce

[brewski]

Rhetorically speaking, it's probably either his first program with the orchestra, or his first time conducting M8.

If it were his debut, that would be quite a feat...

Clarification: AFAIK, it was his first time with the ensemble. (No idea if he had conducted it before, but something tells me he wouldn't have agreed if he didn't have some familiarity.)

-Bruce

[Brian]

Who, who? (If I knew, I've forgotten. )

-Bruce

25-year-old composer Esa-Pekka Salonen flying in last-minute to replace Michael Tilson Thomas at the Philharmonia.

[brewski]

25-year-old composer Esa-Pekka Salonen flying in last-minute to replace Michael Tilson Thomas at the Philharmonia.

I'm not sure I ever heard that story! Thank you so much.

-Bruce

[Brian]

I'm not sure I ever heard that story! Thank you so much.

-Bruce

Yeah! He learned conducting just to promote his own music. I'm not sure how Philharmonia found out about him, but that was as far as I know his first real international gig and it turned him into an overnight sensation.

[vers la flamme]

^That's especially intriguing as I distinctly remember watching a clip of Salonen trash talking the 3rd (he seemed to think that wide swathes of the first movement were nothing but bombastic filler).