F-X. Roth . . . he's probably done!

[barryguerrero]

R.I.P. career of Francois-Xavier Roth. Talk about career suicide! I mean, who does that!?!    .    .    .  .   Who has a widely recognized career in public circles, gets attracted to a supposed subordinate (female string player), and decides it's a good idea to send a photo of your dick?!?   .    .   .   .  I just don't get that, do you? I've never once sat around with a buddy in a bar, and have had that friend say to me - either casually or awkwardly - "you know, I'm really attracted to a Susanne in the second violins. Do you think it would be a good idea if I sent her a dick pic?  .    .  .  Do you think she'd like it?"   .    .    .   I mean, I don't ever remember somebody's father telling their son, "You know, son, you're coming to the age in life when people like to receive a little something from you for Christmas. Have you thought about producing Christmas cards of yourself with your junk hanging out?"   .    .    .   .  Doesn't happen, right?    .   .    .    . How does somebody who performs the most complicated and classy music on Earth, decide that sending a 'dick pic' is somehow a good way to court somebody? You're just asking for trouble!

I'll tell you guys, I never bought into Roth to begin with. Talk about the Emperor's new clothes (literally)! He's probably going to get canned from the SWR job that he was just handed, and the French Minister of Culture has decided to suspend Les Siecles in France (I guess they're somehow guilty by association). Relevant to us, Harmonia Mundi has had the worst luck piecing together any kind of Mahler profile. They made only the 8th with Kent Nagano (I think). They have several Mahler symphony recordings with Daniel Harding and the Swedish R.S.O. Then they have the original "Titan", M3, M4 and M5 with Roth. Frankly, I'm kind of glad he won't be going any further. He may be French, but he has zero feel for Maurice Ravel's music.

[erikwilson7]

I hadn't heard about this yet, but it's a terrible and disgusting thing. Thanks for informing me. I don't care much for his Mahler recordings, but if anything I like that Third he did quite a bit.

The French perspective on Mahler is always interesting, in my opinion. We don't need Roth for that though; Alexandre Bloch and the Lille Orchestra did wonders with their Seventh and I'm still hoping to hear more from that source. I'm afraid it's a one-off commercial release from that cycle though.

[barryguerrero]

I think Bloch is moving on from Lille, so I believe you're correct. Alpha Productions is supposed to begin their Mahler cycle with Paavo Jarvi and the Zurich Tonkunstler. That would be their second cycle, as the David Zinman cycle was made with the Tonkunstler. Go figure! P. Jarvi already has that very good live cycle on video from Frankfurt. It's quite good.

[akiralx]

Sounds serious:

As reported by VAN Magazine, two journalists of Le Canard enchaîné spoke with seven musicians who had allegedly received “undesirable messages” from Roth while working with him.

Further, between 2005 and 2010, some young players in Les Siècles were allegedly warned not to respond to Roth’s messages, which often and quickly contained inappropriate content. According to Le Canard enchaîné, other players saw the messages as a rite of passage that had to be accepted.

The Le Canard enchaîné journalists obtained the text messages and photos corroborating the musicians’ accounts. They also cited a letter (viewed by VAN) from an orchestral musician to Stefan Englert, the head of the Gürzenich Orchestra, complaining of the workplace’s sexualized atmosphere.

[barryguerrero]

Incredible!  .    .   .   .  In this day and age, this leaves one speechless.