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The Classical Commentator
Opinion/commentary
The Berlin countdown: Christian Thielemann
Posted by Andrew R. Barnard
on Mar 31, 2015
We’re getting ever closer to the Berlin Philharmonic’s vote for their next principal conductor on May 11th. Right now, it’s probably safe to say that the most discussed candidate for the job is Christian Thielemann. From the moment Simon Rattle announced he’d be leaving in 2018, speculation that Thielemann will be his successor has been widespread. Thielemann is in the middle of a very successful reign with the Staatskapelle Dresden, and as a German, he has unmissable connections with the Berliners.
But I’m less than fully enthused about the idea. True, Thielemann has been splendid in some of the central Germanic repertoire, certainly in a much more traditional sense than Rattle. Thielemann would undoubtedly be a throwback, which is why many who miss the Karajan years want to see him land the job. All the same, isn’t his repertoire a bit limited? He doesn’t have experience outside of the German classics, and it’s hard to imagine him becoming a champion of Mahler, Sibelius, Stravinsky, and Shostakovich, to list a few of the composers the orchestra has performed to great acclaim under Rattle. If the Berliners think Thielemann has special things to say in Beethoven, Brahms, Bruckner, or Strauss, why not invite him to record cycles on their new label without giving him the reigns? Frankly, I worry that Thielemann isn’t charismatic or forward-looking enough for the job. Innovation has been a prime ingredient in Rattle’s tenure, and to see the orchestra narrow its repertoire would be disappointing.
If Thielemann lands the job, I’ll follow him with great enthusiasm. It just seems that other conductors are more suited. Stay tuned and feel free to join in the discussion.
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1 Comment
Alexander Hall
April 1, 2015
Have no fear, it won’t be Thielemann the Berliners choose. They are not stupid and nor is he. He has gone on the record to say that when he and the Dresden orchestra first made music together, it was a complete meeting of minds. Their devotion to him is absolute. He has already exercised his considerable influence to get rid of a chief executive (Serge Dorny) who threatened to interfere in matters of artistic policy, and he has a first-rate opera house at his disposal whenever he desires a break from purely symphonic concerts. The Berliners are not likely to choose anybody who has repeatedly picked fights with management when he hasn’t got his own way. Nuremberg, Deutsche Oper Berlin and the Munich Philharmonic could say a lot about a man who calls the tune even though he doesn’t pay the piper.
Of course the Berliners want to work with all the leading conductors of the age and Thielemann is one of them – he knows more about Beethoven, Brahms, Bruckner and Richard Strauss than Rattle will ever know about the rest of the orchestral repertory. But it is only respect that binds them together in concerts, nothing deeper than that. The beaming that you can see on the faces of the players when Kirill Petrenko conducts them, for instance, is entirely absent in the case of Thielemann.
http://www.theclassicalcommentat ... ristian-thielemann/
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