Inbal will be the new chief conductor of CPO

[John Kim]

Eliahu Inbal will succeed Zdenek Macal as the new chief conductor of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra starting in the 2009-2010 season.

I think this will make a nice combination. Hopefully we'll hear more Mahler concerts and recordings coming out of Prague in the future.

I admire Inbal's Mahler very much, especially his complete Mahler cycle on Denon. He also made a couple of live Mahler recordings in Japan including an outstanding M3rd and a well structured, strong M9th. I am told his new live recording of M6th also came out from Japan recently.

John,

[barry guerrero]

Interesting pick. The Czech Phil. has performed a lot of French music in their past. Inbal knows that repertoire pretty well (as well as Mahler, obviously). Maybe they're wanting to get back to that a bit.

Barry

[sbugala]

Is it just me, or does it seem like the Czech Philharmonic changes directors every year or so?  Obviously, that's hyperbole, but I'd love to see a breakdown of the recent tenures to see how long some have lasted. 

[John Kim]

No, Macal has been the conductor there for some time

John,

[sbugala]

For me, Neumann's and Ancerl's tenure are"some time" 

    * 1950-1968 Karel Ančerl
    * 1968-1989 Václav Neumann
    * 1990-1992 Jiří Bělohlávek
    * 1993-1996 Gerd Albrecht
    * 1996-2003 Vladimir Ashkenazy
    * 2003-2007 Zdeněk Mácal

but other's interpretation may vary.  How long is a typical director's contract for lately, anyway?  It looks like the Czech Phil has had a few "one and out" directors since Neumann.

[barry guerrero]

My guess is that the Czech Phil. can't offer the same kind of exorbitant pay that many of the bigger name orchestras can. It may be an honor to conduct them, but I believe that money has always been tight with them.

Barry