Comments on: Mr. Conductor, if you please!

By: Harry

Harry — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 17:43:07 +0000

Makes one pause and think about the ‘tizzy merry -go-round grid’ artists get caught up on. Negotiating their way around forms of human pressure – 24/7: in their quest for success and famous recognition. It is fortunate for most of us to be able to just go to a performance or sit down at home and listen. As they say “All that glitters is not gold!”.

By: justanothertenor

justanothertenor — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 16:52:43 +0000

In this case, the Student perofrmance is actually the final dress rehearsal, which is today.

By: Dan

Dan — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 05:53:15 +0000

I’m not surprised if it’s him. The man works non-thefuck-stop. In October, two days before the Aida matinee, he was here in Philadelphia conducting a beautiful Brahms 1 and a, well, Italianate Mendelssohn Italian Symphony. That was Thursday and Friday. Saturday at 1 he was in the pit at the Met, then right back down to Philly to conduct the strings et al again that night.

David Patrick Stearns in the Inquirer wrote that Gatti would make a great contender for the MD position in Philly, but after the financial trouble the past year and the tumultuous Eschenbach years, I hope he’s not so unstable, because if he gets the job, the last thing Philly needs right now is someone who is crazy. I’m also not sure that getting in line behind Stokowski, Ormandy, Muti, and Sawallisch would do wonders for the nerves.

By: Marcello

Marcello — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 05:45:45 +0000

According to the statement from Vienna, he has been ordered to rest for a lengthy period. (“Auf ärztliche Anweisung ist der Dirigent für längere Zeit zu absoluter Schonung gezwungen.”)
I wonder what will become of his first engagement in Zurich as “Chefdirigent”, a revival of Elektra which opens on January 23.

By: Marcello

Marcello — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 05:30:12 +0000

More likely “Wiener Staatsoper”.

By: Alto

Alto — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 23:44:08 +0000

Quite. The persistent refusal of these two artists to expose their wares to the hard-to-please public of Buxton and and to its organs of publicity [if our Doyenne will permit me the use of such a graphic term] is the stuff of legend.

By: lorenzo.venezia

lorenzo.venezia — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 22:08:05 +0000

Weiner Staatsoper, that is

By: lorenzo.venezia

lorenzo.venezia — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 21:43:55 +0000

Hmmmm. I was surprised when my friend singing in Staatsoper’s Macbeth texted me to the effect that Gatti was suddenly no longer at the helm of this new production… If this item doesn’t refer to Gatti, there’s still a story there…

By: squirrel

squirrel — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 21:37:32 +0000

Thanks Warmke, but no – excellent work would be someone telling us WHICH sanatorium he’s in, and what kind of scene he caused this time. Anyone??

Seriously everyone, mental illness is a very sad thing and not to be laughed about (cough! cough!)

By: warmke

warmke — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 21:23:52 +0000

Ooh, Squirrel, excellent detective work. The title of course, is: Duetto buffo di due gatti.

Very subtle, yes tasty blind clue.

Luisi is in the Met pit, and doing first-rate work from my sources.

By: squirrel

squirrel — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 21:07:35 +0000

Gatti – singing CAT duets with himself, of course!

Not really surprising, considering the onstage freakout he had several years ago wit the Royal Philharmonic.

By: kashania

kashania — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 19:21:19 +0000

I’ll guess Daniele Gatti

Ah, that explains his Aida at the Met.

By: Violetta

Violetta — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 19:13:04 +0000

How many public rehearsals does La Scala put on? – This one of course already happened…

By: Violetta

Violetta — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 19:08:59 +0000

“the tenor bought it too” – sounds (to me) more like the tenor got booed as well, not that he was booing.

By: Dawn Fatale

Dawn Fatale — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 19:02:44 +0000

Taking a big leap here, but unwind suggests watches which suggest Switzerland, so I’ll guess Daniele Gatti who is the general music director of the Zurich Opera.

Fabio Luisi has ties to Switzerland as well, but I assume we would have heard something if he hadn’t shown up for Elektra rehearsals.

By: tannengrin

tannengrin — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 18:31:00 +0000

Don’t all conductors live in their own private worlds? I thought that comes with the job!

By: Verdilover

Verdilover — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 18:14:33 +0000

Jovial could also refer to the student audience that usually attend la scala’s antegeneralres.

By: The Vicar of John Wakefield

The Vicar of John Wakefield — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 17:25:13 +0000

This kind of sordid nonsense would never occur in Buxton.

By: La Cieca

La Cieca — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 17:21:59 +0000

They are different people.

By: pavel

pavel — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 17:14:54 +0000

Wait a sec, is this one blind item or two? Are the Dirigent in the first question and the maestro in the second the same person?

By: Verdilover

Verdilover — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 16:57:26 +0000

Perhaps his editing of Emma Dante’s regie? (though I would stand with him on that matter.)

By: justanothertenor

justanothertenor — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 16:12:58 +0000

Well, the “antegenerale” is an Italian word… so we know this is in Italy (Although it could be French, but I am sure LC would have added accents)
The Conductor is referred to as “Dirigent” letting us know he is German.
The Dress Rehearsal for Carmen at La Scala is tomorrow, meaning the penultimate rehearsal was either yesterday or today.
All this fit the bill.

I wonder what Barenboim did to merit those boos… I generally think of him highly!

By: Maury

Maury — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 15:54:51 +0000

Sounds like “bought it” was, in part at least, a clue to Kaufmann. (Kaufen, as you may know, is German for “to buy.”)

By: frenesi

frenesi — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 15:46:00 +0000

Lion’s den = Daniel = Barenboim at La Scala?
Does “the tenor bought it too” mean Kaufmann hired a claque to boo the maestro or that he was booed as well?