trumpetmike

Premiere ends on sour note as conductor refuses to play

Premiere ends on sour note as conductor refuses to play-Arts & Entertainment-Music-TimesOnline

I have my Mother to thank for this article, she wondered what I thought about this - a conductor refusing to perform a premiere because he "did not believe in it.

My thoughts are that it is nice to see a conductor with enough musical principles to say "no" to a piece that they don't feel is up to standard.

cornetguy

I think it is unprofessional, if you don't like the work or belive in it fine, but the pr machine has already done its part and the audience is expecting it, and the players have theoretically practiced the parts. The better thing to have done is take a cue from Szell, who would give those pieces to one of his associates (usually Louis Lane) rather then replace it. I would assume the players in the orchestra will have something to say about this

Jimi Michiel

Sounds like a prima donna conductor to me.

If the work was so bad, couldn't he have said something in rehearsals? There's got to be something else...

And to answer your original question, yes, I would refuse a work. I just wouldn't decide on the day of the concert that I was going to refuse it.

-Jimi

robertwhite

I'd bet it has very little to do with "musical principles". The net result is that the composer has been treated very poorly. I highly doubt this was a "difficult" modern work - Gant's music is nothing if not accessible.

Tootsall

If nothing else, you perform it once and then put it away. The audience reaction to that first performance will be a pretty good indicator as to whether or not your instincts were right.

josephus07

Personally, I think this is ridiculous and totally unprofessional.

Maybe the conductor didn't have the capacity to understand the work. Maybe it didn't connect with HIM, but he should have done something about it LONG before the premier.

Do we really need more reasons to dislike some conductors?

TrentAustin

I bet they still cash the check.

Nobody held a gun to their head.

Grow up! I routinely have to play gigs I don't "like" because I need to pay my mortgage. I still love to play my trumpet and feel extremely blessed I can do this for a living.

I hate stories like this.

People forget that playing music is a gift from the Heavens above and that we are all truly lucky.

Richard Oliver

Mike, this line from the article, I thought it was a thoroughly professional job but with no inspiration. I really believe conducting is more than getting the notes in the right order. You have to believe in the work — and I didn’t doesn't tell me why he canned the piece.

Sounds like there were other reasons. Maybe good ones. I don't know.

And if the reasons were good, why wait for the last minute? That's irregular.

There's things we don't know.

Richard

B15M

I don't understand why he's not fired. He was being paid to do a job and didn't.

There has to be more to the story. The composer must have taken his girlfriend years ago or something like that.

Mikey

..