Comments on: Yannick Nézet-Séguin Named Music Director of Philadelphia Orchestra

By: zeno

zeno — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 16:20:14 +0000

I started to look into this yesterday and only came up with Messiaen, the Vivier, and Kurtag’s Opus 18 for mixed chorus and orchestra, Songs of Despair and Sorrow.
Admittedly, I spent all of 2 minutes on this research.

Let’s hope that now that he has snagged a huge salary, he will surprise us (and the Philadelphia administration) by developing a reputation for contemporary classical music as strong as that of Franz Welser-Most, Alan Gilbert, Susanna Mälkki, and others.

(A year ago, I surmised that this pitcher would probably have many of the attributes sought by the major league teams of America.)

By: Christian

Christian — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 14:42:18 +0000

Jay,

Forgive me, but I’d love to know more about his stance on contemporary music than that he conducts Vivier’s Orion, as nifty as that is. Anyone out there hear him talk about new music or other composers?

I was very glad to see him give a shout out to Westminster Choir College in the NYT article: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/14/arts/music/14phil.html?scp=1&sq=philadelphia%20orchestra&st=cse

Best,
C

By: Jay

Jay — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 06:41:29 +0000

Check the last paragraph, which answers your question. It would be fair to point out that the orchestra’s programming has trended more conservatively in the past few years in response to lower ticket sales.

By: Christian

Christian — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 14:47:49 +0000

Has anybody heard him conduct 20/21 concert music? Which composers does he seem to favor from that repertoire?