Bruckner’s eighth symphony is scheduled for the Munich Philharmonic on March 17 in the Isarphilharmonie. However, under “Conductor” the concert in the orchestra’s online calendar says: NN – nomen nominandum, the name has yet to be mentioned. There are some unanswered questions after the city parted ways with Valery Gergiev, the previous chief conductor of the city orchestra, on Tuesday. He had previously let an ultimatum from Mayor Dieter Reiter (SPD) expire and did not distance himself from Putin’s war of aggression in Ukraine.
The questions also include what will become of the planned concerts in the near future that Gergiev should have conducted. The management of the Philharmoniker wants to keep it and is looking for a new conductor. Basically, the search for a successor should be a tricky task for the city. Not many conductors are “available” on the market, and then it has to fit. To the sound of the orchestra, on a human level and who the city can afford.
The culture department does not comment specifically on the Gergiev case, but only on the general search for successors in the event of a sudden gap in the orchestra’s leadership. This search is the task of the director of the Philharmoniker, Paul Müller, who is in close contact with the department. Proposals would be submitted to the Philharmonic Council, which also includes City Council members. The contract with a new conductor will finally be presented to the city council for a vote by cultural advisor Anton Biebl.
The authority also does not comment on the contract with Gergiev, which runs until 2025, for labor law reasons. It was heard from City Hall circles that it was a freelance contract of the kind that is usually concluded with artists – so Gergiev is not a city employee. The culture department was also silent on how expensive the termination of the contract with a possible severance payment could be for the city.