I am just wondering why it is that the conductors replacing James Levine these days are generally not one of the two qualified and capable assistant conductors on staff at the BSO. Ludovic Morlot , Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, and Joseph Colaneri have filled in for him recently, all big names, but I wonder why it is that the assistant conductors Shi-Yeon Sung and Julian Kuerti are so inferior?
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The same thought has crossed my mind. Why is it that we rarely see BSO Assistant Conductors Shi-Yeon Sung and Julian Kuerti? What are their roles? Are they guaranteed to conduct a certain number of rehearsals and/or concerts each season? Do they reguarly "shadow" Levine?
One thing that comes to mind about this season is that Levine's delay until January was a shock to the BSO. Levine had designed the programming of the complete cycle of the Beethoven Symphonies, which so many had been looking forward to. Now, Levine will be missing all of the performances. I have read in several articles that BSO subscribers, especially, were very upset about this news. I think the BSO felt they needed to bring in the a "huge name" like Lorin Maazel, to cushion the abruptness of Levine's extended leave. The BSO has already been challenged to fill the seats at Symphony Hall, and needed to do whatever they could to make sure this leave didn't hurt them even more. I find it interesting that the rest of the Beethoven cycle concerts are now all sold out. Would that have happened if they didn't bring in Lorin Maazel?
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