Montrealer adds Philly to notches on his baton
Arthur Kaptainis - Times Colonist, Vicoria
17 juin, 2010

Nézet-Séguin signs seven-year deal, raising fears he's over-committed

Montreal-born Yannick Nézet-Séguin will be taking his brand of youthful podium excitement to the mighty Philadelphia Orchestra in 2012.

The famous U.S. orchestra has confirmed that it will name the 35-year-old its eighth music director, placing him in a pantheon that includes such conductors as Leopold Stokowski, Eugene Ormandy, Riccardo Muti and Wolfgang Sawallisch.

In practical terms, Nézet-Séguin will succeed former Montreal Symphony Orchestra music director Charles Dutoit, who was named to the stopgap position of chief conductor in 2008 after Christoph Eschenbach concluded what was reported to be an unhappy term.

Philadelphia will be the conductor's third music directorship, after the Orchestre Metropolitain, the hometown ensemble that gave Nézet-Séguin his start in 2000, and the Rotterdam Philharmonic, which he has led since 2008. Nezet-Seguin is also principal guest conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra and was principal guest conductor for the Victoria Symphony Orchestra in 2003-2004.

In Philadelphia, he is already called music director designate. Following the lead of some other American ensembles, the Philadelphia Orchestra has signed him to a long commitment of seven years, starting immediately.

Speculation on whether Nézet-Séguin can handle all the responsibility is inevitable. Managers of the Rotterdam Philharmonic assured their musicians that any new appointment would not affect his relationship with the Dutch orchestra. The conductor's contract with Rotterdam runs until 2015.

His contracts with the LPO and the OM run until 2014.

In August, he is installed at the Salzburg Festival, leading the Vienna Philharmonic in Mozart's Don Giovanni and the Salzburg Mozarteum in Gounod's Romeo et Juliette. This festival, a former stomping ground of Herbert von Karajan, is widely considered to be the most prestigious event of its type in the world.

In the fall, Nézet-Séguin has dates with the Berlin Philharmonic and the Metropolitan Opera as well as with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Rotterdam Philharmonic.

A source close to the Rotterdam Philharmonic said yesterday that Nézet-Séguin has looked "very, very tired" in recent weeks.

The conductor asked to be excused from recent scheduled performances with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, ostensibly in order to rest, although it is likely the time was occupied also by negotiations with Philadelphia.