# Alan Gilbert's legacy at the New York Philharmonic



## jegreenwood

A rather dispiriting article in today's New York Times

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/31/...-region&region=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well


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## Klassik

jegreenwood said:


> A rather dispiriting article in today's New York Times


That was an interesting read, thanks for the article. I was looking at either the past season or the upcoming season at the NY Philharmonic and it seemed much more vanilla than even what the Houston Symphony will be doing/has been doing recently. I'm not sure what the issue is there, but hopefully Borda and Jaap van Zweden will have better success.

To be fair, some of the things Gilbert has tried probably would have led me to be critical of the situation. I'm not a New Yorker though so their expectations are going to be different. Perhaps the media and the critics in NY make things impossible for most people to succeed there?


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## Becca

While I am unfamiliar with Alan Gilbert's work with the NY Philharmonic, or even with that orchestra, I am familiar with Gilbert's regular, annual appearances with the Berlin Philharmonic where my reaction has been distinctly mixed. Yes he has done some interesting and slightly off-the-beaten-track repertoire (albeit not the real cutting edge) but the results have not been exactly inspiring. Clearly there could be many reasons for that so I won't try to draw (many) conclusions other than to say that I wouldn't be in a hurry to see him conduct.


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## Vaneyes

Also kindly see...Thread: Alan Gilbert - what do you think of his conducting?


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## Triplets

I saw Gilbert once in New York, a few years ago, in a Haydn Symphony, the Brahms VC with Batiasheveli, and some utterly forgettable modern piece by their then Composer in Residence. I don't remember AG as being particularly inspirational but he wasn't a bozo either. I think the problem is that he was thrust from relative obscurity into the most demanding job in the country and at a relatively young age. There is just to much baggage with that post. When people discovered AG wasn't as dynamic as Leonard Bernstein--who is?--the New York and international press ate him alive. I'd love to see him ripen out of the pressure cooker, be more comfortable in his own skin, and have many triumphs going forward


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## fluteman

As a native New Yorker, I must say this article is not "dispiriting" so much as all too predictable. The NY Philharmonic is run by a wealthy, powerful and very conservative board. Money is the no. 1 issue and has been for many years, and this board still looks almost entirely to the traditional New York money sources: the wealthiest individuals and families, major corporations and Wall Street financial industry players. Satisfying these backers is what matters, not building or rebuilding an audience for classical music, and these backers are very conservative musically (and otherwise). They are looking to program surefire hits by Beethoven and Brahms.

So long as this situation prevails, the NY Philharmonic will never again be an innovator or artistic leader in the world, national, or even New York City music scene. Alan Gilbert found this out the hard way and had to transition to much less interesting and innovative programming as early as his second season. And get skewered by the critics for doing it, too! Not surprising he got tired of that.


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