“Osmo Vänskä, music director of the Minnesota Orchestra since 2003, has resigned, effective immediately,” writes Claude Peck in Tuesday’s (10/1) Star Tribune (Minneapolis).“ ‘It is a very sad day for me,’ Vänskä said in a statement. His departure is a major blow to the 110-year old orchestra, which has been locked in a bitter and intractable labor lockout for more than a year…. The resignation of the Finnish maestro was not unexpected—Vänskä had said last spring that he would quit if planned Carnegie Hall concerts were canceled because of the labor strife…. Hopes for a last-minute settlement were raised briefly Monday afternoon when the two sides met in person in Minneapolis for the first time since January. But those talks ended abruptly when management rejected two new proposals from musicians and canceled the Carnegie Hall concerts that were planned for Nov. 2 and 3.… Both sides in the labor dispute had issued statements saying they hoped Vänskä would remain in Minnesota.… While he has guest-conducted around the world with increasing frequency in recent years, Vänskä has no permanent posts at other orchestras.”
Photo of Osmo Vänskä by Tom Wallace
Posted October 1, 2013
