Berlin’s Philharmonic Orchestra ‘chooses’ its next conductor: no one

As the 123 musicians of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra met behind closed doors this week to try and choose their new conductor, classical music fans around the world waited to hear who Berlin would choose. The answer? No one.

“We are optimistic that we will reach a consensus within one year," announced Peter Riegelbauer, a member of the orchestra's board, after 11 hours of deliberations.

Brian McCreath, a host and producer with Boston's WCRB classical music station, says he was shocked when the orchestra members emerged with no decision. “There’s no job bigger for a conductor,” he says. “Seriously.” 

The deadlock may be due to the differing opinions within the orchestra about which direction the Philharmonic will take in coming years. “The conductor usually shapes the vision of the orchestra, and to some extent even the sound of the orchestra,” McCreath says. “You just have a group of 120 or so very highly trained, very intelligent people with lots of opinions, and you’re just going to have partisans, basically, who say ‘I want this guy’, or ‘I want this woman,' and they just didn't reach a compromise.”

So who will conduct Berlin’s world class orchestra? Among the luminaries said to be on the short list for consideration are 37-year-old Latvian Andris Nelsons, who’s just taken over at the Boston Symphony Orchestra, 34-year-old Venezuelan Gustavo Dudamel, who conducts the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Berlin native Christian Thielemann, 56, now at the Staatskapelle Dresden.

There may be more people who aspire to the job, but McCreath says there's really only a small handful of conductors capable of taking on the prestigious Berlin Philharmonic. "They can play anything with anybody," he says, "but when it gets down to the real chemistry of creating extraordinary art in the moment, which is what orchestras do, there's just a very tiny handful of people that are capable and, secondly, even available when Berlin needs them.”

So it’s anyone’s guess as to which way the musicians are leaning. But what if McCreath were in the hot seat and had to choose Berlin’s next conductor? He diplomatically sidesteps the question this way: ”Honestly, I really think the Boston Symphony Orchestra struck it rich with Andris Nelsons. I believe that a lot of people in Berlin want him, but I really hope that he stays with Boston.”