AUG 01, 2001
Perlman to Sub As Detroit Conductor
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 6:10 p.m. ET
DETROIT (AP) -- Itzhak Perlman will fill in as conductor of the
Detroit Symphony Orchestra as Neeme Jarvi recovers from surgery.
The Estonian-born Jarvi, 64, was released from a hospital in Helsinki,
Finland, on Wednesday.
The orchestra announced that Perlman will take over for Jarvi for
the season opening Sept. 12. It rescheduled the concert from Sept.
13 because Perlman, the orchestra's principal guest conductor for 18
months, had a scheduled appearance with the North Carolina Symphony.
Perlman also will conduct the Detroit orchestra Sept. 15-16.
"This will allow our maestro to recuperate from his successful
surgery," Detroit Symphony President Emil Kang said Wednesday.
Perlman, who's played violin with orchestras worldwide, has conducted
the Philadelphia, Chicago, Toronto, Houston, Pittsburgh, Dallas and
National symphony orchestras, Israel Philharmonic and English Chamber
Orchestra.
Jarvi was hospitalized July 9 after an attack at a music festival in
Parnu in southern Estonia. It briefly left him unconscious.
The conductor was moved to Helsinki University Central Hospital in
nearby Finland July 15 and underwent surgery to repair an aneurysm
of the vertebral artery two days later.
"In spite of severe initial bleeding ... the recovery has gone
remarkably well," according to a joint statement by doctors and
family.
Jarvi will spend time resting in the Finnish countryside, Jarvi's
wife, Liilia, told The Associated Press.
She said her husband will resume conducting later this year.
Jarvi also has been principal conductor of the National Orchestra of
Sweden, previously known as the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, for
nearly 20 years and is associated with half a dozen other leading
orchestras in the United States and Europe.
Juha Hernesniemi, the neurosurgeon who performed Jarvi's operation,
said Jarvi was making good progress. "I would say that most likely
in two months he will be fit enough to perform his previous activities,"
Hernesniemi said.
The Detroit orchestra is scheduled to go on a 17-day European tour in
October.
Gretchen Ehrenberg
Garmisch-Partenkirchen
Germany
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