Mariss Jansons, a rare sighting in the opera house, has been forced to cancel on the Vienna State Opera’s revival of Carmen for a bout of surgery that will put him out of action for the next 2-3 months.
Jansons, who heads the Amsterdam Concergebouw and the Bavarian Radio orchestra, is unlucky at opera. He suffered a heart attack while leading an Oslo Bohème in 1996 and, apart from a stunning Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk in Amsterdam, has little to show for his love of opera other than scratched plans. At 67, he has just renewed his Munich contract to 2012.
Stepping into the Vienna vacancy is Jansons’ only acknowledged pupil, the brilliant young Latvian condcutor Andris Nelsons, music director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Nelsons, 31, is Vienna’s favourite standby. In June 2008 he took over Pique Dame from the cancer-stricken Seiji Ozawa, followed by Tosca and Madam Butterfly. The Vienna Phil liked him so much they booked him for a concert debut.
Press release follows.
———————————————————————————
Andris Nelsons springt für Mariss Jansons an der Wiener Staatsoper ein und dirigiert die Neueinstudierung von Bizets „Carmen”
Hannover, 19. April 2010. Am 3. Mai und an mehreren darauf folgenden Vorstellungen übernimmt Andris Nelsons die musikalische Leitung der Neueinstudierung von Bizets Carmen. Er springt für Mariss Jansons ein, der aus gesundheitlichen Gründen seine Mitwirkung absagen muss. Die Iszenierung ist mit Elina Garanca als Carmen, Anna Netrebko als Micaela, Massimo Giordano als Don José und Ildebrando D’Arcangelo als Escamillo hochkarätig besetzt.
„Ich hoffe aus tiefstem Herzen, dass es Mariss Jansons bald besser geht. Das ist im Moment das Wichtigste”, so Nelsons. „Natürlich fühle ich mich sehr geehrt und bin dankbar, dass Ioan Holender mich gefragt hat, für Maestro Jansons einzuspringen. Ich freue mich, diese wundervolle Oper zu dirigieren. Natürlich ist es eine große Herausforderung für mich, für Mariss Jansons zu dirigieren, den großartigsten Dirigenten aller Zeiten.”
Nelsons sprang im Juni 2008 an der Wiener Staatsoper für Seiji Ozawa ein und übernahm „Pique Dame”, später dirigierte er „Tosca” und „Madame Butterfly”. Im Juli debütiert er mit „Lohengrin” bei den Bayreuther Festspielen. Sein Debüt bei den Wiener Philharmonikern folgt in der Saison 2012/2013
Pressekontakt:
Konzertdirektion Schmid, Nina Steinhart, Königstraße 36, 30175 Hannover,

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