U-turn
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March 06, 2005
Changing winds in the Concertgebouw
The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra is one of the dinosaurs in Dutch music. They stick to Mahler, Brahms, Ravel and Stravinsky with conductors like Sir Collin Davis, Bernhard Haitink, Mariss Jansons in the lead.
They do program contemporary Dutch music, but the music ought to be of a certain reputation. Willem Jeths, Robin de Raaff, Geert van Keulen keep up to the standard for example. But now they're going to play Jacob ter Veldhuis. According to some composers and music buffs Ter Veldhuis' music is...out of bounds.
Well, I know of at least one orchestra member who isn't happy and might take a day off on June 3 this year. I wonder if he is the only one.
The other sign of changing winds is the invitation to Marin Alsop. Finally! I can remember when I was little, the general opinion was women wouldn't be able to conduct. Her dress would distract and musicians wouldn't know where to look, or something stupid like that.
Nearly 90 years after the suffragettes won their battle with the right for women to vote, finally one woman stepped up who is tall enough to face this orchestra. I hope this opens the door for many more women conductors in the future with this type of orchestras.
Posted by Renske at 21:43 UTC | permanent link