The specifics can be debated, but a larger point seems clear. With the complicated cultural and financial pressures now circling orchestras, the modern music director needs more than ever to be on the scene. This means showing up for more than the standard twelve weeks; leading school concerts; participating in fund-raisers; giving interviews; meeting prospective audiences at campus events; attending other people's concerts; appearing at gallery openings and other cultural gatherings; and generally being a visible citizen of the city. More than ever, each orchestra needs to convince its community of the music's power, and the chief conductor is—or should be—the best person to make the case. The old international star system is fading; it's local fame that counts.
Tim Mangan chronicles makes these observations about LA's Gustavo Dudamel:
- Last season, his first as music director of the L.A. Phil, he didn’t conduct the orchestra between the end of November and April. This year, the gap lasts from mid-October to January.
- When he’s on the podium, there’s no question that the orchestra plays with tremendous energy and commitment for him. But is there a Dudamel sound, a personality, that the orchestra and conductor are forging together?
- It will be interesting to hear the orchestra again in a few weeks, when Esa-Pekka Salonen returns for the first time as conductor laureate to lead two sets of concerts. Will the old Salonen sound make a reappearance with him? And if so, what does that mean?
What do you think?
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