Players in the BBC Symphony Orchestra have just been told the name of their next chief conductor, and they are buzzing with it all over town.
The announcement is not until tomorrow, but I guess I won’t spoil anyone’s party by revealing that the new chief comes from the land mass between Sweden and Russia.
The point is, there are so many outstanding candidates in that narrow strip that it could be any one of a dozen excellent and hard-working maestros, including two possible women.
The vacancy was created by Jiri Belohlavek’s decision to return to the Czech Philharmonic.
Now read who it is here.
Oh good, we can have a Sibelius cycle to distinguish them from all the other London orchestras.
“Including two possible women,” eh? I should think the genders of the possible candidates would be a bit more definite than that.
Finnish musicians are some of the most open-minded, intelligent and adventurous in the world, with a thirst for contemporary music, a reluctance to be pigeonholed and a real willingness to explore rare repertoire. Judging from the Finnish conductors I know, if they do end up doing wall to wall Sibelius it’ll be more because of the conservative nature of London audiences than their own personal tastes.
Please not Jukka-Pekka Saraste….
I know of what you speak…
Yes, and Finns are often very reserved and shy. Esa-Pekka Salonen (perhaps it’s he?) once posed the question: How do you distinguish a Finnish introvert from a Finnish extrovert? The introvert stares at his shoes when he talks to you; the extrovert stares at your shoes……
Mr Fitzpatrick may not have noticed Mr Salonen is engaged elsewhere in London…
Mr. Fitzpatrick begs forgiveness. He only cited Maestro Salonen’s name to give proper credit to a feeble attempt at humour (please note UK spelling as a sign of promoting good international relations). He promises to refrain from similar attempts at levity in future commentary.
It’s maestro Sakari Oramo and it’s official now.
It is Sakari Oramo, following his stint at CBSO.
It’s Sakari Oramo according to the BBCSO website.