The New York Times reports that the New York Philharmonic has decided to add the position of Principal Conductor to its roster. Most likely this is an attempt to get a place-holder figure on the podium on a regular basis while they continue their search for a successor to music director Lorin Maazel. You can smell the desperation on the part of these Big Five ensembles as they look for the magic bullet to solve all of their constituencies’ needs and wants.
Finding the ideal candidate in the traditional mold is becoming more and more like seeking the holy grail. He or she should be a talented, highly knowledgeable musician who can earn the respect of musicians, draw audiences through charisma, help raise money, foster young soloists and composers, keep the orchestra musically healthy, connect with the community and come up with imaginative, interesting programs.
Each constituency has its own priorities: management wants to fill seats, the fund-raisers want handshake charm, and the critics want innovation and freshness. The players, who have a strong say in the choice, above all want musical depth — knowledge, interpretive skills, insight into the composer, good ears — and conducting technique to convey ideas and a clear beat.
The strategy across the industry seems to be to go for a multi-pronged approach in order to satisfy differing needs. What I find interesting is that Pittsburgh tried a triumvirate approach but recently abandoned it for a single music director model, hiring someone who is largely unknown on these shores. This seems to have gone unnoticed by the New York Philharmonic, which has been spurned by the highly desirable (and musician favorites) Riccardo Muti and Daniel Barenboim.
The LA Philharmonic got an untested, but very exciting and glamorous and young new music director in the person of Gustavo Dudamel, reportedly narrowly beating out the Chicago Symphony, who sought him for their Principal Guest Conductor post.
In addition to the Principal Guest Conductor post, the NY Phil will also add a composer-in-residence, director of a mini-festival, and artist-in-residence positions.
Joshua Kosman of the San Francisco Chronicle has a scathingly satirical post on this subject here.