This Week in Classical Music

September 27, 2009

Osmo Vanska

( Phoenix, AZ )
•Vanska re-ups in MN
•Fisher replaces Lockhart in SLC
•Met production of Tosca booed

This Week in Classical Music 9/27/09

It’s “This Week in Classical Music”, an update on what’s happening in the Classical music world; I’m Randy Kinkel.

Osmo Vanska has signed a contract extension that will keep him at the Helm of the Minnesota Orchestra through the 2014-2015 season. Vanska Joined the Orchestra in 3003 as its 10th music director. "When I joined the orchestra in 2003, I was impressed by the musicians' desire to work hard every day," Vänskä said in a prepared statement. "I still appreciate this quality very much, but now we also know and trust each other more."

Meanwhile the Utah Symphony has named a replacement for outgoing Conductor Keith Lockhart, who was there for 11 years; it’s Swiss Conductor Thierry Fisher, whose initial contract is for four years, with an option to renew for another three. Fisher is currently conductor of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and will continue in that position in addition to his duties in Utah. "He's the right guy for this moment in time," said principal violist and search-committee member Brant Bayless, who beamed throughout the half-hour news conference. "He's a consummate artist. He has great honesty as a person, as a boss and as a musician. ... We're all excited." As for Thierry, he said, “When I come to Salt Lake, I want to feel like it's home, sweet home," he said.

The Metropolitan opera’s Opening performance of Puccini’s “Tosca” elicited an unusual reaction from Opera goers: Boos! While the audience warmly applauded the singers, including Diva Karita Mattila, when the Swiss-born director Luc Bondy and his production team took the stage, the audience suddenly turned nasty, giving them a very vocal thumbs-down. Bondy’s production featured spare sets and more than a little raunchy maiden-on-Baritone action in act two, which purists didn’t apparently appreciate. Opera buffs can expect more of the unusual; Met Head Peter Gelb recently told a group of Met donors, “After 25 years we must move forward by offering new productions that will startle our imaginations and will demonstrate that our art is not locked in the past.”

For more on these and other items and events, go to the website, kbaq.org; be listening each week at this time for another update; and join me every weekday at noon for the Mozart Buffet, an hour of music by Mozart and his contemporaries. I’m Randy Kinkel for “This Week in Classical Music” on 89.5 KBAQ Phoenix, a service of Rio Salado College and Arizona State University.