Yannick Nézet-Séguin will conduct the Vienna Philharmonic this Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Carnegie Hall. He will replace Valery Gergiev, known artistic support of Vladimir Putin.
The announcement of the replacement of Valery Gergiev was made in the afternoon of Thursday by a terse press release from Carnegie Hall.
“Carnegie Hall and the Vienna Philharmonic today jointly announced [jeudi] that Yannick Nézet-Séguin will replace Valery Gergiev at the head of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. The programs of the three concerts […] remain unchanged. Carnegie Hall and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra are extremely grateful to Yannick Nézet-Séguin for agreeing to replace him for these performances at very short notice. »
Reached in New York at the start of the evening, Yannick Nézet-Séguin confirmed to Homework that everything had been organized at noon and that he did not hesitate before responding to the invitation: “I am happy to help Carnegie Hall, one of my houses in the world of music, honored to help the Vienna Philharmonics. As for my decision, it speaks for itself. »
The conductor, who has not seen the orchestra for five years, will assume the general of Don Carlos at the Met, and did not change the planned program for Gergiev. He will work from “substantial connections”: “it will be one of the beauties of the thing, it is an orchestra which reacts to the finger and the eye. We’re going to throw ourselves into the music, and it’s going to create very special moments“.
Pressure
The surprise caused by the replacement is all the greater since the line of the Vienna Philharmonic had been clearly drawn by the voice of its representative Daniel Froschauer: “Culture must not become the plaything of political disputes. »
For Froschauer, the orchestra “would not comment on political issues” related to its conductors or soloists (Russian pianist Denis Matsouïev will be replaced by the winner of the 2015 Chopin Competition, Seong-Jin Cho, on Friday evening). The director of Carnegie Hall, Clive Gillinson, was on the same line, having “supported Mr. Gergiev, saying that he should not be punished for expressing political opinions”, recalls the New York Times.
The pressure had increased Thursday on the symbol that would represent the fact of seeing an American public applauding the main artistic ambassador of Vladimir Putin in the heart of New York in the aftermath of the war launched by the Russian president in Ukraine. A hashtag #CancelGergiev had appeared on Twitter.
This pressure had been all the more growing since in the morning in Europe, Gergiev had been summoned by the mayor of Milan and the director of La Scala to condemn the Russian intervention, while he was also in Milan to a series of representations of The queen of spades.
Dominique Meyer, the director of the theater, sent a message to Gergiev, asking him to make a statement calling for a peaceful resolution. In case of refusal, a replacement will be sought for future performances.
During the premiere of The queen of spadeson Wednesday, boos and a few “go away” were heard, according to the account of La Repubblica.
motivations
Gergiev did not hesitate to relay Russian foreign policy actions, such as during a concert in Palmyra in Syria in 2016 following which The duty questioned the chief about his motives.
He then refuted the label of ambassador, but his in-depth geopolitical reflections resonate strangely today: “NATO is getting closer to Russian borders. The question is: “What do you want by doing this? The 3and World War ?” »
Yannick Nézet-Séguin will direct in three days the 2and Concerto and the 2and Symphony of Rachmaninoff, the Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faunthe 2and Continued of Daphnis and Chloe, Scheherazade by Rimsky-Korsakov, excerpts from Romeo and Juliet of Prokofiev and the pathetic symphony by Tchaikovsky.
It is now the future of Valery Gergiev at the Munich Philharmonic which is in the hot seat.