He's already got 3 orchestras. Madness! No doubt the LSO will be chasing him next.

I was eagerly waiting for this assessment, thank you Dave.

Was waiting for u to post this 😆😆

You'll be proven wrong David. He is a hit in Amsterdam. And the Concertgebouw Orchestra has even a higher reputation to preserve. The musicians of this orchestra have chosen Mäkelä themselves because of the chemistry between him and the orchestra. The Chicago people are very lucky! Lennaert v Anken (the Netherlands)

David! Excellent post! When I saw this story, I was hoping you would weigh in. And thank you for mentioning among the other conductor options out there, JoAnn Falletta! For once, was hoping that some “major” orchestra would give her serious consideration.

April Fools Day gets longer every year...

Burn out and actual presence in Chicago to cultivate and contribute to civic culture will be a problem. In the interview with the Tribune, he addressed his schedule by saying his tenures in Paris and Oslo will end by the time he will be in Chicago. However, he says those orchestras will always be "family" and he will likely return to conduct weeks of concerts. Oh, and he made exceptions to always conduct in Vienna and Berlin. Amsterdam, Berlin, Vienna, Chicago, Paris, and Oslo is still a packed calendar. How much does it matter that the CSO members seem to like his conducting and, most importantly, his rehearsal "efficiency"? It could be worse. I read that a member of the violin section saw Christian Thielemann in a European cafe and begged Thielemann to accept the position in Chicago.

Even in the days when conductors were expected to rise slowly and patiently through a series of apprenticeships, there were those who did so more rapidly and at at a very young age. Even though we now think of them as old masters. Toscanini, for example, conducted his first performance at 19 and was in charge of LaScala at 32-with a ton of prestigious posts in between. Von Karajan was 21 when he debuted at Salzburg. Mengelberg was chief conductor at the Concertgebouw at 24. Kubelik was heading the Brno Opera and the Czech Phil at 25-same age as Rattle in Birmingham. Salonen got the Swedish Radio gig at 26, and Mahler the Royal Hungarian Opera job at 27. Szell was also just 27 when he became principal conductor at the Berlin Staatsoper. Philly was Stokowski's second orchestra and he was still only 30 when he got there. As was Haitink when he followed in Mengelberg's footsteps in Amsterdam.

I recently left a concert in elevated mood, because of the younger conductor, Dalia Stasevska (age 39). She is of Ukrainian origin, but based in Finland (extra-musical tidbit: she is married to Sibelius' greatgrandson). Programmed were Dvorak's Cello concerto! (soloist Gaultier Capucon) and Sibelius' 5th. Stasevska's conducting was riveting, with a clear stylistic delineation between the two works programmed. She succeeded in letting the orchestra (The Danisb Radio Symphony Orchestra) play with an unmistakenly Czech, somewhat earthy, folksy tinge in Dvorak: while she in the much more complex Sibelius symphony gathered the disparate, almost rhapsodic elements to a convincing whole, while st the same time leaving room for a wealth of often unnoticed details letting themselves be heard. Stasevska is currently conductor in chief for the Lathi Symphony Orchestra and principal guest conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra. With so obviously a talent around, one really wonders, what is behind so many orchestra's decission of putting one (Mäkelä) egg in so many baskets? Is it the Ken-effect proposed by David - or might they have a strong urge or illusion of reviving a dream of a General Musicdirektor of the World ad modum Karajan (GM Europa)? 😅

Daniel Barenboim gave up this job because he'd grown tired of that fact that the primary responsibility of the music director of an American orchestra is no longer setting musical standards, but rather to be the chief fundraiser, convincing the major donors to continue cutting checks. And as you yourself pointed out in this very video, the performance level of orchestras today is higher than ever across the board - which shows that there's no longer a need for a principal conductor to spend 20+ weeks a year with an orchestra to whip them into shape. The symphonic music world has changed so much over the past 75 years that I don't believe any comparison holds up.

This is what the players want. Tell them it's a horrible mistake. It's a different world from 1950. They all (well, mostly) seem to love working for him. He has solid technique and indulges the players in their desire to make big sounds. They react to all those little gestures like they care and believe in him. Is there a big picture being painted while they do it? Probably beside the point here. The Concertgebouw musicians didn't choose him on a whim and he wasn't forced on then. Tickets will be sold on the name, which is ultimately more important these days. It seems almost churlish to care about whether or not a music director can provide outstanding interpretations, raise standards in playing or affect a change in character over time, but that's the world we're in now.

The Concertgebouw AND the CSO at the same time? What happened to taking one step at a time and building your career gradually? I'll be surprised if he's not burned out in ten years.

As I heard this news here in Finland, I instantly hastened to hear the awaited comments... and yes, here they were!

I didn't think the decision was good. In my opinion, Mäkelä is getting too much too soon. Another Finnish conductor that comes to mind is Okko Kamu. Kamu's career took off in 1969 when he won the first Herbert von Karajan Conducting Competition. He was only 23 years old at the time. There was talk of Kamu even being a possible successor to Karajan as the head of the Berlin Philharmonic sometime in the distant future. Karajan recommended Kamu for the position of Generalmusikdirektor in Münster, Germany, in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. There, Kamu could have patiently learned more repertoire, developed himself further, and left his personal mark on the local orchestra. Instead, Kamu seized opportunities when they arose, took on too much work, didn't have time to properly study the repertoire, began to underperform, and I understand he had to reduce his workload at some point due to the pressure. Of course, Okko Kamu didn't become a bad conductor, but by acting differently, he could have become even better and more famous. I'm afraid Mäkelä might face a similar fate due to his upcoming workload.

This is crazy, how can one man lead both the Concertgebouw Orchestra and the Chicago SO at the same time?

In these days of sweltering political correctness, it is a rare pleasure to listen to someone speaking his mind without refraining himself. Thank you, Dave.

UPDATE: See promised concert impressions as reply below. I'm 74 and have been a Chicago Symphony subscriber since college in 1968 (before Solti). I was disappointed in the selection (but expecting it) for most all of the reasons you cited. However, I think there is something else going on here, not yet mentioned. I believe there is a case for optimism based on the reasoning that the orchestra musicians leaned heavily in his direction so that they themselves could supply and apply the depth of their own vastly greater knowledge, experience and authority to shape things going forward. If the kid can learn a lot as time goes on, so much the better, but if not, they are more than happy to let him shake the stick and sell the tickets. I heard him here doing the Stravinsky Firebird here a couple years ago and gave him props at the time, but then there wasn't much to really discern from that work. This Friday, I'll be hearing them do the Shostakovich Symphony No. 10, a piece that I'm particularly discriminatory about in its interpretation. Perhaps I'll drop by here afterwards and share impressions. Yes, I know Dave, you have to hear it for yourself.

Oh dear. In two weeks I am retiring and moving to Chicago. I have been looking forward to the Chicago Symphony. Well, we'll see. I am hopeful.

Boy, was I expecting THIS one!

I think it’s awesome how much of a fixture Dave has become in online classical music circles. I saw comments immediately after the appointment was announced saying something to the effect of “Can’t wait to see Dave’s reaction, he’s gonna have a field day”. This definitely did not disappoint 😂😂

I absolutely agree with you, Dave! As a young concert goer from Chicago - in the age group that you would think cultural organizations are eager to attract as future patrons - I cannot find a more boring choice for music director than this. Every performance I've heard or seen of Mäkelä is essentially a non-interpretation. This is the Chat GPT version of conducting.

Dave, It’s interesting that you bring up Dudamel: Why does the young up and coming conductor model for lack of a better term, work in LA? Dudamel was in his 20’s when he got LA. Salonen was 34 when he got there. Mehta was 26 when he took over LA. Are their listeners more patient? All three of them had longer tenures there. Mehta’s LA discography, as you pointed out in the Decca box, is incredibly distinguished and gets ignored. Salonen’a LA recordings are nothing to sneeze at. Dudamel’s recordings have been more with SBYO than LA, but the earliest ones he made, while not that memorable or distinctive, are at a higher level than Mäkela’s first few releases. What lessons can Chicago learn from LA so they get this right and don’t have another Kubelik mess on their hands? It’s also interesting that Dudamel is also following the same career trajectory that Mehta did, going from LA to NY.

Also, I really enjoy this extended reference to Claudia Cassidy and the other videos discussing her work.

You have talked about distinctiveness and different local schools in other videos. Wondering if at some point you could make a talk recommending benchmark recordings to get acquainted with those different schools.

They had better choices, as you say, but let's see what happens. I hope he maintains the standard they've had a long time. I wish KM the best. I found out on my Gramophone news!

The CSO had the pick of the litter. They chose the cute puppy. Regardless of everyone’s prognostication, he will soon be responsible for one of the world’s greatest orchestral sounds. Muti left a legacy of a superb wind section. Now the brass section needs rebuilding. We’ll have to wait and see. He is doing Mahler 3 next year and I’m worried.

This coming week the CSO radio broadcast will include his recent appearance with them with Mahler 5. You’ll be able to hear that online.

If he sells more tickets, fine. Given time, he may mature into a top conductor. As you say, we'll see. I read that they had put out feelers to Jurowski, but that he wasn't keen on the transatlantic commute. Too bad. He would've been fabulous with the CSO.

I hear Barbie has bailed on him and cancelled all their concerts together, including Bartok 2 in Chicago 😂😂

JoAnn Falletta deserves to lead one of the big American orchestras. She has the skill to do classical and more modern repertoirse. She has built more than one orchestra. Her recordings are great, and she can make orchestras play at the highest level. Will she be selected for one of these big posts that are free now? Cleveland, San Francisco, etc? Probably not. We will get a lesser qualified guy from Europe, and that is sad.

Dear David You are a bit unkind here. For some reason you have taken against Makela. Yes, he is young. Yes, he is inexperienced. But .. he has great talent, he is gifted. He is still on a learning curve. But he is much better, now, than you give credit. His Sibelius is NOT as bad as you make out. In fact, in my view (and I rate Davis/Boston and Berglund as my standard bearers), his Sibelius is excellent. You say Chicago will “teach him”. Yes. And that is great!! They are investing in a future where he will develop well. I think Chicago have made a good choice. Others that would have been worthy include Canellakis (in my view, the best female conductor to emerge in recent years), and Hrusa. But they have not made a bad choice, and I am sure we will look back in a few years and see that this was a very good appointment.

one more thing. muti's contract was over a few years ago. he gave them an extra season. so the board had many years to find a music director. i would loveeeee to know who else was considered.

After your numerous mentions of Claudia Cassidy, I looked for a compendium of her music reviews, but I could only find her theater reviews in a terrific book, Bigger, Brighter, Louder: 150 Years of Chicago Theater, as Seen by Chicago Tribune Critics. The interstitial commentary by editor Chris Jones formed a fascinating history. I definitely got a feel for Cassidy's sharp intelligence and superb writing.

I saw that report. He seems awful young to be given such a prestigious world class orchestra, but then, I suppose the pickings are pretty slim, these days.

I agree. I don't understand how a 28 year-old can be named Music Director of a major American orchestra. By his age alone, there's no way he's been exposed to the various works of music that I feel a younger me wouldn't have known by that age. I am from Chicago and haven't been to the CSO in years. I can think of several Stravinsky works that haven't been performed in well over a decade, yet take back seat to the CSO constantly repeating the same works over and over.

The recent article in the New Yorker by Alex Ross makes many of the same observations. Worth a read.

Chicago made a very smart choice hiring this guy. In the Insta-Book-Tok world we live in, it is no longer a matter of “musical excellence”; it is a matter of exposure and excitement. People want a riveting event to watch, perhaps with vigorous arm flailing by a photogenic boy-toy. Classical music can be stodgy. Chicago chose to make it exciting. He will sell tickets and CDs, no matter what.

I think the key point Dave makes relates to tenure, that the days when a conductor would spend years guiding and developing an orchestra, both in terms of its musical skills and the repertoire, seem to have been replaced with at best 5 year contracts -think in the past of Ormandy in Philadelphia, Szell in Cleveland, Barbirolli in Manchester, Karajan in Berlin, etc. That said, given the tremendous skills of contemporary orchestras, maybe the key will be the concert programmes, the old favourites, rarely performed works, etc. And as Mäkelä' will, one assumes, be accompanying his wife (or she accompanying him?) the concerts will probably be sold out -and available on KZfaq some time later...enjoy!

I listened three times to make sure I heard it right. Did the article you read say that Hindemith's "The Four Temperaments" was going to be played at a Chicago Symphony pop concert? Don't you generally get things like "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" at pop concerts? I am trying to wrap my head around this.

I mean Mäkelä might get better over years but sometimes one gets a job at a young age when theyre not "ready yet" but BECOME better over time. Kubelik in Chicago, Barbirolli in New York, and Previn in Houston weren't "there" yet but were later.

Many, many thanks, Mr. Hurwitz. It is always extremely reassuring to listen to your wisdom and absolutely accurate assessments. Indeed, the profession is largely a racket and the criteria in determining the advancement of many all too often goes well beyond professional excellence and credible experience. Please continue your highly substantial and well-thought honesty.

I regularly attend the San Francisco Symphony. The majority of the concerts are "standing ovation" quality. Even those for which I did not stand, I still left the Davies Symphony very pleased. That trend of excellence was broken on April 30, 2024, when Klaus Mäkelä occupied the podium to conduct Perú Negro​ by Jimmy López Bellido, Berg's violin concerto, and Symphony No 10 by Shostakovich. Peru Negro was ok, the composer was in house. The Berg violin concerto was so so; during applause and a few standing ovators, the soloist did not look pleased. The sonic nightmare came with the Shostakovich Tenth. The orchestra played well, but the sound was so different, so non Shostakovich. His posture was grotesque. He looked like some evil magician casting spells with his wand to butcher Shostakovich. I closed my eyes or look away to the violin section or the cellos on the right. At the end I wanted to boo, and maybe I should have, he would have heard me as I sat in the front row. I left and near the back I did manage to give a short uni-digital gesture. The local reviews were not very flattering as well.

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra was at its greatest when under the guidance of its longest serving conductor Sir Georg Solti. Just my opinion of course.

I knew you would bring up Kubelik.... but Kubelik was a polished conductor in contrast to Makela. There are great recordings by Kubelik in Chicago.

Some members of the orchestra have been playing longer than he’s been alive… good grief.

As Dutchman: Mengelberg became chief of the Concertgebouw Orchestra when he was 24, Haitink when he was 31 (his debut was at his 27th), Van Beinum conducted the orchestra the first time on his 31st and became 2nd conductor immediately (Mengelberg was the first), Riccardo Chailly became chief of the Royal Concertgebouw when he was 35 - his debut with the orchestra was years before. So whats wrong with young chief conductors....?

A fascinating analogy. However, in Mäkelä’s case, we’re speaking four major orchestras rather than one-starting with the Oslo Phil when he was 22. I can only speculate that, perhaps enabled by still-echoing pandemic-era panic over empty concert halls, marketing departments seized control of the latter three.

Imagine having Hindemith at a “Pops” concert now! I don’t know anything about Mäkelä, but while Cassidy was a sparkling writer, she eventually arrived at something close to a vendetta against Kubelik IMHO.

I succumbed to the hype and have a copy of his Sibelius cycle, which is now relegated to a box somewhere. Ive seen some of his YT live performances, which as others have stated, have been a little better depending on the piece being played. He does interject some excitement to those concerts with his gesticulations but listening eyes closed generates much less of that.

Mäkela seems to be on the right track for a young guy (Sibelius 1 recording was at the very least was impassioned), but handing him Chicago is pretty unreal.

David, i agree with you. when we talk about Mahler, Bruckner, Sibelius, Stravinsky the real challenge for any conductor is to take a small or even medium orchestra and gets spectacular music through the conductor. If Mäkelä has played in a great way, but behind Orchestre de Paris, Concertgebouw, Berlin, etc, i guess they, as ensemble, will never allow to sound bad, just following someone, despite names. In fact, this "new star" tells me nothing, still prefer old redings for any great work, even not listening great orchestras

When I heard that this guy got Chicago, I thought "I can't wait to see what Dave Hurwitz says about this", and you did not disappoint! I laughed when I saw his plans for lesser-known repertoire - Monteverdi's "Vespers" and Walton's "Belshazzar's Feast", and when I heard his (very souped-up) interview about the Chicago Symphony on KZfaq - the "connection" he felt with the orchestra is probably because they're a world-class ensemble who knows the repertoire standing on its head and need minimal direction and know to follow the conductor. He clearly doesn't have a wide-ranging knowledge of repertoire, nor has he had the time to mould a sound - he's a yes-man who's been given a shiny new toy with lots of buttons. I'll eat my words if he turns out to be brilliant, but I'm also not holding my breath...

Even our friend Norman Lebrecht agrees its madness!

Actually interested to hear his Jeux. That’s not an easy piece to do well.

What will Muti do now, retired? How do you rate his years at Chicago, Dave?

Could this appointment also have to do with the Decca recording contract that Mäkelä comes with? Big orchestras get so few opportunities to record standard repertoire these days, they must all be gasping for the highly-paid recordings that Decca gives them

If only Fritz Reiner were still alive. Those were the days!

A lot to digest here and there are other cases apart from Kubelik in Chicago that do not prove you wrong. I've heard some of Mr. Makela's recordings and I've not been impressed but... I heard him live in Boston a few weeks ago with Orch de Paris and he was sensational. I temper that by reflecting that the program was Debussy Prelude a l apres midi d un faune and Stravinsky Complete Firebird. Not a program of dig deep and connect with the soul kind of music. And likely a program he had worked very hard on and polished with the Orchestra knowing they were going on a tour to impress which does not answer how he will be in day in and day out performances. In between he led a very lovely and lyrical performance of Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto 2 with Yuncham Lin. I wish one could say, how this will turn out is anyone's guess, but it is not a guessing game. There is, as you say, history to reflect on and in this case, ignore. One orchestra is a lot of orchestras proven by a host of great conductors who succeeded with one over a period of many years. But the fashion today seems to have 2 or more and here in Boston Andris Nelsons has, to my mind, not succeeded. He had a great beginning but rarely does that surface today. I hope better for Mr. Makela but... time will tell.

Back to Cassidy - and not to give you more work - but a book of a collection of her columns and reviews would be pretty great to read. Even the passing of years and years doesn’t diminish the impact of her words. UChicago press recently-ish published a collection of Andrew Patner’s writings and reviews of the CSO under Barenboim, Boulez, Haitink, and Muti. And there’s several fascinating book collections of columns by Mike Royko in the Herald/Sun Times/Trib. So, there is precedent. And I think you’ve written a paper on her- That could form an introductory section. See-it’s already written. Just needs a thoughtful editor to select writings that offer a good view of the time in which she lived and those that offer commentary still appropriate for today.

Detroit did much the same thing with Jader. I went to a few concerts with him until Covid descended (and then have watched some online since). And he's been, good enough, but not much more. But he seems charismatic in a way that the community loves. (And unlike Mäkella, he seems to reciprocate, rather than jetting around to several other orchestras, whichever big gigs he can add to his resume...) Trying to decide if I'm going to break some of my Covid-isolation-protocols to go see him conduct Mahler's 9th in May.

Who’s a great, experienced conductor that should have been hired? The future of classical music is iffy at best. The future is iffy at best.

Next month, I am seeing him lead the Orchestre de Paris in a performance of Beethoven's Ninth. I will be taking my seat in the Grande salle Pierre Boulez with some trepidation. ... It's also a disappointment when, at the time of the announcement, I was working my way through Jean Martinon's CSO box, which houses a number of simply wonderful recordings, and no recording that's not at minimum quite good. The CSO deserves to be led by a conduct of that stature, as it so often has been.

I'd ike to see what he can do with an average orchestra. Rattle went to the CBSO in his 20's and left leaving a brilliant legacy. It's easy to be good given great material.

completely off topic: I always admire the diversity of the music you talk about, but I wonder wether you would like to talk about Joachim Raff and Viennese/Austrian/German Operette if you haven't done so before 🎶😋

Goodness was I waiting for this video since the JOKE dropped…..Absolutely ridiculous and embarrassing for such a renowned orchestra

Dear oh dear. London appearances to date have been much hyped & great photo/publicity opportunities but musically nothing special. Let's hope he matures quickly & that they're on the money in Chicago. He'll pull in the punters, of course...

Leonard Bernstein made his New York debut when he was 25, and it seems ever since concert-goers have been looking for young rock-star/leading-role-type of conductors like Bernstein. I wonder why?

Poor CSO…I’m seriously concerned for their future! I’d have selected among Jurowski, Salonen, Tilson Thomas, Chung

Maybe orchestras should have blind auditions for music directors like they supposedly do for players.

i fell to my knees in the cafeteria on campus yesterday....

WHAT???????? Seriously....I am shocked...thank you for the Information...I need indeed a drink....

My favourite word here is grotesque. The classical music world has long since turned into a grotesque parody of itself, and the best fun is just sitting back and watching it happen.

With the possible exception of 25 year old Leonard Bernstein's meteoric rise after replacing Bruno Walter at Carnegie Hall, is there any other 20th century conductor who was considered to be a musical genius at a fairly young age? Was Leonard Bernstein "up to the task" during that concert or was he just basically following the orchestra and Walter's annotations?

Well, drat. That means they passed over me again for that position. Sigh... What do you think his first recording with them will be? Hi, Mildred!

Big PR coup by Chicago, which I suppose that was the main goal with this hire. In a way "music director" nowadays is like "guest conductor for 10 weeks a year". He may only need to show up to keep people happy, musicians included. I don't dislike Mäkelä, he might as well become a great conductor at some point. I saw him last December with the Concertgebouw Orchestra here in Cologne. Beethoven's 3rd was on the program, I didn't expect too much and it was an OK performance, although I guess that's a piece the Concertgebouw can play without a conductor. He's coming again to Cologne at the end of this year, this time to conduct Mahler 6th with the Vienna Philharmonic. My expectations are much higher for that one. We'll see.

OMG this is ridiculous..and, young or not, what counts it's the artistry he's shown so far..not much, I'd say

I definitely believe San Francisco wants to expedite the appointment of a Mäkelä type who will create a new concept and image for the orchestra. Maybe they made him an offer as well? In 20 years, will the average age of music directors be 28?

I saw Makela do the Mahler 5th with Chicago and it was quite dull. I remember the finale being particularly lifeless. I really don't understand their choice.

I just listened to Maestro Mäkelä’s latest Stravinsky/Debussy endeavor. Long story short: Mediocre at best. Not to mention, a very odd sounding Flute soloist in the Debussy “l’Apres Midi”, with a vibrato as slow as molasses. I really want to root for this guy. The classical world always needs new blood to promote this amazing genre. I really hope he’ll improve.

David i know you are a record critic and you have said that you haven't heard a live concert from him yet so perhaps your view may change I saw him at the Edinburgh international festival usher hall last year and he packed the hall and enjoyed his shostakovich 5th give him a chance there doesn't seem many conductors nowadays can pack a large concert hall very Dissappointing where i live and attend concert s in Scotland the Hall is usually only half full no atmosphere and sad for the orchestra s

So many who laud his performances forget the music itself, and the experienced orchestra, 'sell' the performance, often despite the conductor. Klaus lacks any strong musical personality thus far, though, like most conductors, he is a fine accompanist in concertos. We shall all see; thus far I am mostly unimpressed.

Isn't this a symptom of a general tendency in our society to value novelty and youth and to disregard and dismiss experience?

I look forward to the inevitable Sibelius cycle!

Who knows, perhaps Mäkelä will be the next Simon Rattle.😁

Dave's rants. My favorite videos!

Dave, I do enjoy your blabfests on matters musical. I agree with some of what you say and disagree on others. I think Stoki's "symphonic synthesis" from Tristan is a wonder. I disagree about Kubelik. Claudia Cassidy was a jerk who didn't't know what she was talking about. Are you ignorant re Kubelik's version of Tchaikovsky"s 4th with Chicago? Truly awesome! Comparing Makela(sp) with Kubelik is totally misguided. And Kubelik in the course of his life continued to practice wonderful music-making (Mendelssohn's Midsummer Night's Dream incidental music!) I am now an 84-year0old listener and pianist, so I've had plenty of time to listen. In my experience, the Chicago has always been a fabulous orchestra, capable pf making any conductor sound great. Anyway, do continue with your blabfests. Entertaining! What do you think of Yannkck?

Do you think lack of effective criticism is part of the problem? Nelsons has been phoning it in for years now in Boston but nobody has held him to account. Nobody’s called him out for being the tired mediocrity he has become. Could the demise of great critics explain the demise of great conductors?

I appreciated your knowledge, enthousiasm and critic abilities very much. But I have to point out that describe him as ‘Ken Doll’ is cheap. He really is a really great musician. I saw him in The Concertgebouw several times. His Mahler 3 was no less than brilliant. Haitink was 28 when he started… 34 when he took over the Concertgebouw. Makela will be 31….what’s the problem here? Don’t judge a book by looking at the cover. I invite you to come to Amsterdam and go see and listen for yourself. Love your videos nevertheless…keep on the good work and I will keep on listening!

I was expecting this. He seems to be quite popular with the musicians, so let us keep up the thumbs.

both slatkin and welser moest would have been available, unless they have accepted another podium.

Judging by the KZfaq clips of his performances, it may be better to record him 'live' in the future, otherwise we may risk the chance of 'Makela degeneration' !!😂

Oy vey! The machinations of the classical music world…

If they had their hearts set on a Finn, why not Susanna Mälkki?

I haven't been that impressed with KM's recording, thinking he renders pieces as a series of seemingly discrete tableaux with no logical progression. His latest disk was Petroushka/and Debussy's Jeux. The Petroushka was nothing special but the Jeux - wow - was a wonder. Maybe, as a series of seemingly discrete tableaux with no logical progression it suited him to a T ?

Saw him conduct Orchestre de Paris at Carnegie in an all-Stravinsky program. He is not better live.

Maybe we're heading full-speed into the age where the visual candy covers auditory mediocrity. I can hear PR saying "As long as it looks good, it's OK. People in the audience won't know the difference anyway" - a "viseance" rather than audience?

Maybe a young conductor has been chosen to attract young, new patrons. Makela is tall, full of dramatic gestures on the podium, a feast for the eyes. Any CSO member could conduct the orchestra as well or better than Makela. But, Makela may blossom into a fine musician.

I can understand and tolerate your criticism very well, but what I cannot tolerate is the wording of your headline, which in my opinion is stupid and insulting. Criticize him for the quality of his conducting, but not for his appearance. You are old enough that you should be able to focus on an objective discussion. From a guy that has not even heard of Mäkelä…

Title alone made me laugh. Don’t listen to these crybabies.

I just don`t understand how can someone be music director of four major orchestras at te same time. This is very strange, surreal even.