“With three full-time opera houses, seven major symphony orchestras and numerous world-class choirs, all lavishly funded by the German government, Berlin may well be the most musically active city on earth,” writes A. J. Goldmann in Sunday’s (1/21) New York Times. “It has also reached a moment of transition, with the rise of a new generation of young, international musical chiefs. While Daniel Barenboim, 75, remains the dean of the Berlin music scene, and another veteran, 77-year-old Christoph Eschenbach, arrives in 2019 to lead the Konzerthausorchester, many older maestros are passing the baton to a new crop of musical leaders.” The article profiles eight Berlin-based conductors, ranging in age from 29 to 45. They are Robin Ticciati, chief conductor of the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester since 2017; Justin Doyle, chief conductor of the RIAS Chamber Choir; Gijs Leenaars, who conducts the Berlin Radio Choir, which works with the city’s orchestras; Kirill Petrenko, who in 2019 becomes chief conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic; Vladimir Jurowski, the new chief conductor of the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin; Ainars Rubikis, who next season becomes general music director of the Komische Oper; Jordan de Souza, the Komische Oper’s new Kapellmeister; and Matthias Schulz, the incoming general manager of the Staatsoper Unter den Linden.
Posted January 24, 2018
