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2nd December: Mariss Jansons Passes, Jean-Philippe Thiellay faces Challenge, LA Phil becomes Orchestra of Future?

Monday 2nd December 2019

Trauer um Stardirigenten Mariss Jansons

Er galt als einer der besten Dirigenten der Welt: In der vergangenen Nacht ist Mariss Jansons im Kreis seiner Familie in Sankt Petersburg gestorben. Das bestätigte die Frau des verstorbenen Dirigenten dem Bayerischen Rundfunk. Mariss Jansons feierte als Dirigent in der ganzen Welt Erfolge. Er wurde vielfach für sein musikalisches Schaffen ausgezeichnet, unter anderem mit dem Herbert-von-Karajan-Preis, dem Cannes Classical Award, dem Echo Klassik und dem Grammy.

Das Erbe seiner lettischen Eltern: die Leidenschaft für Musik

Geboren wurde er 1943, während des Zweiten Weltkriegs in der lettischen Hauptstadt Riga, die damals unter deutscher Besatzung stand. Seine jüdische Mutter, eine Mezzosopranistin, musste ihn in einem Versteck zur Welt bringen, nachdem ihre Familie im Rigaer Ghetto ermordet worden war. In seiner Kindheit und Jugend war Mariss Jansons ein begeisterter, talentierte Sportler.

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Mourning for star conductor Mariss Jansons

He was considered one of the best conductors in the world: Last night Mariss Jansons died in the circle of his family in Saint Petersburg. This was confirmed by the wife of the deceased conductor to Bayerischer Rundfunk. Mariss Jansons was a successful conductor all over the world. He had received many awards for his musical output, including the Herbert von Karajan Prize, the Cannes Classical Award, the Echo Klassik and the Grammy.

The legacy of his Latvian parents: the passion for music

He was born in 1943, during the Second World War in the Latvian capital Riga, which was then under German occupation. His Jewish mother, a mezzo-soprano, was forced to give birth in a hiding place after her family was murdered in the Riga ghetto. In his childhood and youth, Mariss Jansons was an avid, talented athlete.

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Obituary: Mariss Jansons

In any league table of great conductors, the name of the Latvian-born maestro Mariss Jansons, who has died aged 76 after suffering from a long-term heart condition, would feature very near the top. Indeed, in the first decades of this century he was frequently awarded the accolade of greatest living conductor. His tours in those years, to London and other cities, with his two primary orchestras, the Bavarian Radio Symphony and the Concertgebouw of Amsterdam, were eagerly awaited events and rarely did they disappoint.

Lacerating anguish in Mahler symphonies, blistering climaxes in Strauss tone poems, intense, finely wrought detail in almost any repertoire: these were the characteristics that defined his music-making, which consistently pushed expressive possibilities to their extremes. Even the heart attack he suffered on the podium conducting La Bohème in Oslo in 1996, from which he nearly died, did little to lower the emotional temperature of his interpretations, in which every nerve and sinew seemed to be strained.

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Centre National de la Musique : Jean-Philippe Thiellay président déjà contesté

La gestation et la naissance du Centre National avaient déjà été compliquées. A peine annoncée cette semaine, c’est la nomination de son président, Jean-Philippe Thiellay, qui fait parler et qui a du mal à passer dans le petit milieu de la musique. Autant l’annonce mardi de la nomination d’Émilie Delorme à la tête du Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris a été unanimement saluée, autant celle, le même jour, de Jean-Philippe Thiellay à la présidence du Centre national de la Musique (CNM), qui verra le jour en janvier prochain après avoir été validé par le Parlement mi-octobre, provoque des remous parmi les instances supérieures de la musique. Plusieurs responsables déplorent « l’éviction » de Catherine Ruggeri, l’inspectrice générale des affaires culturelles qui présidait le comité de pilotage du projet, qui était donnée favorite. Parmi les reproches exprimés, celui de ne pas avoir mis une femme à ce poste, pointe la Guilde des Artistes de la Musique.

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Centre National de la Musique: Jean-Philippe Thiellay president already challenged

The gestation and birth of the National Centre had already been complicated. Barely announced this week, it is the appointment of its president, Jean-Philippe Thiellay, that is making people talk and that is having trouble getting into the small world of music. As much as the announcement on Tuesday of the appointment of Émilie Delorme as head of the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris was unanimously welcomed, so much so that, on the same day, Jean-Philippe Thiellay’s appointment as head of the Centre national de la Musique (CNM), which will be launched next January after being approved by Parliament in mid-October, is causing a stir among the higher music bodies. Several officials deplore the “eviction” of Catherine Ruggeri, the Inspector General of Cultural Affairs who chaired the project’s steering committee, which was the favourite. Among the criticisms expressed, that of not having put a woman in this position, points to the Guild of Music Artists.

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Le Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, orchestre du futur ?

Le Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra (LA Phil), l’orchestre le plus important en matière de budget et le plus populaire des Etats-Unis, fait l’objet d’un documentaire complet le 2 décembre sur Arte à l’occasion de son centenaire. La formation, dont toutes les facettes sont évoquées, allie tradition et modernité avec succès. Los Angeles est la 2ème ville des Etats-Unis avec près de 4 000 000 d’administrés. “Ici, on cultive la tradition de la nouveauté, notre orchestre se veut à l’image de la cité et de ses habitants” explique Gustavo Dudamel, directeur musical de cette phalange depuis 2009. En cette année anniversaire, l’orchestre a vu les choses en grand dans la “Cité des Anges” : un parcours festif de 13 km, des tronçons entiers de rues fermés, des projections vidéos géantes, entretenant ainsi une proximité avec les habitants, et à l’origine d’une ferveur populaire loin de tout élitisme. Pourrait-on imaginer pareil événement dans les rues de Paris ?

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The Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra of the future?

The Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra (LA Phil), the largest and most popular budget orchestra in the United States, is the subject of a full documentary on December 2 on Arte to mark its centenary. The training, whose all aspects are mentioned, successfully combines tradition and modernity. Los Angeles is the 2nd largest city in the United States with nearly 4,000,000 people under its administration. “Here, we cultivate the tradition of innovation, our orchestra wants to reflect the city and its inhabitants,” explains Gustavo Dudamel, musical director of this phalanx since 2009. In this anniversary year, the orchestra has seen things in great style in the “City of Angels”: a 13 km festive route, entire sections of closed streets, giant video projections, thus maintaining a proximity with the inhabitants, and at the origin of a popular fervour far from any elitism. Could we imagine such an event in the streets of Paris?

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