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Who would you pick to conduct the Berlin Philharmonic?

15K views 55 replies 19 participants last post by  Becca 
#1 ·
Instead of the incumbent.
 
#35 ·
BTW, do you know that Concertgebouw management wanted to take Thielemann, but the orchestra chose Jansons....

What about Blomstedt? He can bring more Sibelius to Berlin... He conducts a lot of Bruckner. His Mahler's Second (deleted, alas) with SFSO was very good. He seems to me to be very clevel and intelligent person, not arrogant, he improved SFSO. Maybe it will be good to honour him with BPO tenure at least for 4 years?
 
#38 · (Edited)
Or I suggest to try Paavo Jarvi after several years. Salonen has a future of a great conductor, I suppose, but he already has a great British orchestra - the Philharmonia. Why not let him work with that great British orchestra and to move everyone great to Berlin?

Thielemann is also better to stay with Dresden Staatskapelle. They do not have such amount of recordings. If he records more standart German repertoir with them, it will be great, but he doesn't like XX century music...

And Jansons.... I respect him very much, but he has bad health for a conductor of his age. And I am not so sure about his future as a great conductor. For me he is very talented student of Mravinsky, Karajan, etc. a son of a famous Soviet conductor Arvids Jansons... But sometimes I am not sure about him...

Maybe sometimes you should be more "arrogant in a good way", not to be so intelligent and delicate. I do not know...
 
#39 ·
Eschenbach!!!!!!!!! please
 
#40 ·
It's a moot point, because the BPO has upped his contract for quite a few years. Who knows how long Sir Simon will stay in Berlin ? The orchestra is a self-governing entity and chooses its principal conductors and guests.
If they didn't like working with him they would never have chosen him to be their number one man.
Possibly Dudamel could be the next one after Rattle, but they won't be looking for a new guy for years, most likely.
Karajan lasted for over 30 years in Berlin, and Furtwangler even longer.
So let's have some moot music !
 
#41 · (Edited)
If you wanted a Russian what about Semyon Bychkov. Daniele Gatti is also a possible contender. They could try the CBSO route again and get Andris Nelsons.

The thing is that the BPO never get their first choice. When they wanted Kleiber they got Abbado and when they wanted Barenboim they got Rattle.
 
#42 ·
Andris Nelsons is Maris Jansons' protege. Maybe he will take the post in Bavarian Radio Orchestra someday...

Yes! I've also thought about Danielle Gatti! Have heard some good recordings of Mahler by him on Youtube. His Elektra DVD is also very good. He also conducted a lot of Wagner. So, he has wide expierence in German music.

So what do you think of Gatti?
 
#44 ·
Any young guys out there that can handle it?
 
#52 ·
Personally I think Honeck has done a great job in Pittsburgh and would be a top fit but otherwise I'd love to see them go for a fresh face such as Simone Young, Ticciati, Orozco-Estrada or Alondra de la Parra (sigh :angel:). I wonder who they would like to conduct them?
 
#55 · (Edited)
On Petrenko''s debut: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/09/16/kirill-petrenkos-unadventurous-debut-at-the-berlin-philharmonic

I have not heard him do anything where he's not so tightly wound, one of the first things I've noticed about them, and this has been commented on by others:

"The downside to Petrenko's supremely confident control of musical flow is, paradoxically or not, his supremely confident control. His performances have struck me as too tightly worked and lacking in spontaneity." -Alex Ross

I wish him well in his new position and maybe he'll settle down when he feels more comfortable. I believe the orchestra chose him because they want a new energy. But in the meantime, all the excerpts I've heard seem to have a forced excitement, are overly driven and controlled, and have a hyper-nervous tension. I can't imagine a steady diet of that in his rehearsals and performances. I hope to hear a complete performance. Perhaps then I'll be more impressed. IMO, he's not a big enough name to be permanent director of one of the most talented orchestras in the world, plus he's started out very conservatively. What Petrenko does have in abundance is a very positive and uplifting energy... there always seems to be a smile in his approach. The question I have is whether this will be enough over the coming years.

Good interview with Petrenko: https://www.petrenko-live.de/en/portrait/
 
#56 ·
^^That would seem to (currently?) be a minority opinion. As to the range of his repertoire, it is worth noting the composers who he has had in his various guest appearances at the BPO other than those mentioned in the article ... Adams, Berg, Bernstein, Dukas, Elgar, Kraft, Milhaud, Prokofiev, Ravel, Schmidt - an interesting range.
 
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