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Sat, 4 Dec 1999 08:45:13 -0600 |
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From a correspondent in Berlin:
Ostensibly *Der Spiegel" will print the news in Monday's edition,
but the German radio news has already broken the story: an unequivocal
announcement that Californian Kent Nagano will succeed Christian
Thielemann as *Generalmusikdirektor* of the Deutsche Oper Berlin,
even though Nagano has yet to sign his contract.
This would revive the situation that prevailed during the years
when Lorin Maazel did double duty here simultaneously as head of
the Radio-Symphonie-Orchester Berlin (originally the RIAS Symphony
Orchestra) and GMD of the Deutsche Oper: Nagano has already signed
to succeed Vladimir Ashkenazy as conductor of the Deutsches
Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, which after Berlin's wall disintegrated
succeeded the RSO.
The current *Intendant* of the Leipzig Opera, Udo Zimmermann, will
take over the directorship of the Deutsche Oper Berlin when Goetz
Friedrich retires in 2001 after a twenty-year tenure. Zimmermann
has long made no secret of the fact that he had his eye on Nagano
to figure importantly as conductor for some new DOB productions.
Thielemann recently announced his resignation as that house's GMD,
igniting sulphurous volleys back & forth between himself & Zimmermann,
with the latter calling Thielemann not a team player, and Thielemann
describing Zimmermann's concept of teamwork as "I command, you obey."
Scott Morrison
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