In Friday’s (2/6) Washington Post, Anne Midgette writes that following the announcement that Alan Gilbert will step down as music director of the New York Philharmonic in 2017, “The game of Name That Successor has already begun with a vengeance—the names of dozens of current conductors have appeared on my Facebook and Twitter feeds in the last couple of hours—and will occupy the industry for months to come…. Gustavo Dudamel, in Los Angeles, and Yannick Nezet-Seguin, in Philadelphia, are prime examples of what every orchestra is looking for these days: a young, charismatic figure who can connect with the community and create both local and national interest…. Without the benefit of inside information (nobody has that at the moment), I can make less a short list than a wish list,” which includes David Robertson, Manfred Honeck, Jaap van Zweden, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Simon Rattle, Michael Tilson Thomas, James Conlon, and Marin Alsop. “Two other names suggested by colleagues … are the Spanish conductor Pablo Heras-Casado … and Semyon Bychkov.… And I haven’t even touched on a whole cadre of younger conductors: Daniel Harding, Sakari Oramo, James Gaffigan, Ludovic Morlot. Or the most radical idea of all. If personal preference were really a factor, and the Philharmonic wanted to be really visionary, they could go out on a limb and—hire a woman.”
Posted February 9, 2015
