ANNOUNCED: The Philadelphia Orchestra names French Canadian wunderkind its new conductor

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ANNOUNCED: The Philadelphia Orchestra names French Canadian wunderkind its new conductor

POSTED: Monday, June 14, 2010, 3:00 PM

Filed Under: Music

First self-aware popped collar in Philly Orchestra history?

Following the Flyers' brutal steamrolling of the Canadiens in the Conference Finals, Philadelphia throws the Quebecois le bone. Yes, Yannick NÃ©zet-SÃ©guin, a mere 35 years old, has been signed to a seven year deal. That's pretty old for a goalie, but crazy young to lead a world class outfit like the Philadelphia Orchestra. (The dude is considered a major heartthrob among les habitants, I think.) As the New York Times points out, youth is all the rage in the world of Old Dead White Guy music:

While hardly a household name among American audiences, Mr. NÃ©zet-SÃ©guin, 35, has been closely watched and much sought after by orchestra and opera executives on the prowl for the next great podium talent. He joins a select crew of relatively young men put at the helm of major American orchestras in recent years: Gustavo Dudamel, 29, at the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Alan Gilbert, 43, at the New York Philharmonic. The Cleveland Orchestra renewed the contract of Franz Welser-Möst, 49, through 2018. In Philadelphia Mr. NÃ©zet-SÃ©guin's name will be joined to those of Leopold Stokowski and Eugene Ormandy, conducting lions who represented a past era of European-style maestros. Mr. NÃ©zet-SÃ©guin has been artistic director and principal conductor of the Orchestre MÃ©tropolitain in Montreal, his native city, since 2000, and he has stuck with that relatively obscure band despite his rise to international prominence. He is also music director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic in the Netherlands and principal guest conductor of the London Philharmonic. Both those jobs will overlap with his first years in Philadelphia.

Read the whole write-up here. And now, let's see if we can get a sense for the man.

Petros Linardos

Posted 2010-06-14 21:42:40

Historically, for conductors to enter major appointments before age 40 is nowhere as uncommon as bloggers and the press nowadays suggest.  It is a relatively recent phenomenon:

Philadelphia
1912:   Stokowsky (30)
1936:   Ormandy (37)
1980:  Muti (39)

Boston Symphony
1973   Ozawa (38)


Concertgebouw
1956:   Haitink  (27)
1988: Chailly (35)

Berlin Philharmonic
1922  FurtwÃ¤ngler (36)



Leningrad Philharmonic
1938:  Mravinsky (35)

Czech Philharmonic
1919  Tallich (36)



Teatro Alla Scala, Milan
1968 Abbado (35)
1953 Giulini (39)
1930 De Sabata (38)

Metropolitan Opera
1973  Levine (30)

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