I can't recall a more fervently anticipated guest conducting appearance than Vladimir Jurowski's long-planned dates this week with the Philadelphia Orchestra. (Maybe Riccardo Muti's return a few years after leaving town in a snit came close.) Here are a few comments that have come in from readers since Jurowski's announcement that illness will keep him from materializing this week:
- "This is shattering news to me. Jurowski is at once the most musical and fascinating conductor extant."
- "I'm devastated. Does that mean he doesn't love us?"
- "Very big bummer. I actually re-arranged several different parts of my life to make sure I had a ticket for this week!"
Orchestra president Jim Undercofler says he's working to see if it's possible to add a Jurowski appearance to the dates already on the books for March 2009 in which he'll lead Mahler’s Das klagende Lied and Berg’s Three Pieces for Orchestra.
In the meantime, I can't recommend enough the Jurowski recording of Prokofiev 5. Alas, it's not with the Philadelphians, but with the Russian National Orchestra.
The marvelous photo, by the way, is by Richard Termine, from a New York Times review of a concert last year at Avery Fisher.
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Missing Vladimir
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The Author
Peter Dobrin has been writing about classical music and the arts for The Inquirer since 1989. He earned an undergraduate degree in performance from the University of Miami, and received a master's degree in music criticism from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University.
He’s grateful for news tips, willing to engage in a certain amount of back and forth with readers, but is unfortunately unable to remove old LPs from your basement or post photographs of your cat.
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Comments (2)
I am truly dissapointed that Vladimir Jurowski will not be able to conduct the Philadelphia Orchestra this week. I live in Florida and I got tickets for this concert weeks ago. I was up to see him conduct last year and the concert was spectacular. I did not see his debut when he conducted the Manfred Symphony with the Orchestra. I was lucky enough to see him conduct the Russian National Orchestra in Sarasota Florida. He conducted the Manfred and it was one of the best concerts that I had ever been to. I will surely be up next year when he conducts Mahler and Berg. I hope he did not cancel for other reasons. I also had tickets a few years ago when Riccardo Muti cancelled at the last minute and was to make his first subcription concert appearance since he left in 1992. The Philadelphia Orchestra definately needs to build a relationship with Vladimir Jurowski. Getting him to be Principal Guest Conductor would be a good start.
Posted by Bill Richards | April 8, 2008 10:09 AM
Posted on April 8, 2008 10:09
Well, to the person who was concerned that Jurowski "doesn't love us", besides taking a chill pill, they might refer back to Dobrin's prior post about Jurowski's ear infection and limit on travel. Granted, sometimes excuses for an artist cancelling can be bogus, but there's no reason to believe that this is the case here at all. The fact that the Philadelphia Orchestra is willing to let Jurowski conduct Mahler's Das klagende Lied (!) and Alban Berg (!!) next season, a massive box office risk, shows that obviously they hold him in esteem. To give an example of how big a risk that is, this program is 2/3 of Jurowski's opening concert as LPO Principal Conductor, and a video was released of it. I saw the free stream of it when it was up on the video company's website, and the Royal Festival Hall was not full.
BTW, memo to the Orchestra's web masters: this text still remains on the page for the concert, even though Minczuk is listed as conductor:
"Vladimir Jurowski's appearance is made possible through the Margaret and Eugene Ormandy Guest Conductor Fund."
I hope one day to be able to see Jurowski in action, perhaps with Philadelphia, though obviuosly long-distance travel will be involved.
Posted by Geo. | April 8, 2008 11:18 AM
Posted on April 8, 2008 11:18