ArtsWatch

Reports coming out of Europe Friday have only added to the confusion over what sort of future Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic have together.
AFP quotes the Philharmonic's spokesman as saying that members "have spoken out in favour of extending the contract of its chief conductor Sir Simon Rattle which expires in 2012."
Rattle and the orchestra "will now discuss what their joint future might look like after 2012," the AFP story says.
Lukewarm affirmation, that. And it could mean almost anything - even phasing into a guest-conducting slot.
An AP story, though, paints a very different picture. A short piece with a Berlin dateline says the orchestra has only agreed to keep Rattle through 2012 - the end-date of his current contract.
Was there ever any question about that?
Bloomberg says Rattle will stay beyond 2012, but how far beyond has not been determined.
Strange that all these stories seem to be describing the future from the musicians' perspective, without questioning whether Rattle would agree to stay if asked.
The relevance of all this to Philadelphia could not be greater. The Philadelphia Orchestra's various search agents and committees have not indicated an official choice - official choices are not made until it's clear who is available - but there's no question that musicians and board members would love to see Rattle here in some capacity.
If he reduces his dates in Berlin after 2012, would he be free to become music director here - or maybe principal guest conductor?
If Rattle is tied up in Berlin, would Philadelphia turn to Vladimir Jurowski? Maybe while Charles Dutoit is in charge for the next four seasons, the orchestra could cultivate its relationship with Jurowski while signaling its seriousness with him via a principal guest conductor title. That's the way Muti became music director - after a period as principal guest.
Or does the Philadelphia Orchestra have the nerve to extend a music-director offer to Jurowski now? What a bad bit of timing it was that Jurowski had to cancel his dates here a few weeks ago. The orchestra would be in a much better position to act if it had that third program with Jurowski under its belt.
Is the orchestra developing a Plan A, B, C and D? Let's hope so. After Rattle and Jurowski, there's a big drop-off in terms of viable options.
President James Undercofler will only say that that the orchestra is "alert" to events unfolding in Berlin.
Possibly significant side note: Among the guest conductors in Berlin next season is Riccardo Muti, who hasn't conducted the Philharmonic in 17 years. Of course, for Muti, having his name on the schedule and actually showing up to conduct are independent concepts.