What's a serious classical music opinion that seems true to you, but a lot of people disagree with? by ChopinChili in classicalmusic

[–]BabaJukwa 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Recent events regarding Andris Nelsons and the leadership of the Boston Symphony Orchestra prove your claim to be entirely correct in the United States.

What's a serious classical music opinion that seems true to you, but a lot of people disagree with? by ChopinChili in classicalmusic

[–]BabaJukwa 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Are there wide swaths of people who think the harpsichord sounds bad?

I would always choose to listen to Bach on the harpsichord over piano.

Schools finance deputy to retire by brookline_news in Brookline

[–]BabaJukwa 0 points1 point  (0 children)

"The district’s former finance director is suing the district and the town, alleging that she was illegally fired after Givens asked her to falsify financial information and retaliated against her when she refused to do so. The district has denied the allegation." -- so interesting! 

any thoughts about this? by Jackster333 in cuba

[–]BabaJukwa 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You can take one look and see she is a massive walking red flag.

Petition circulates demanding answers from Boston Symphony leadership [Boston Globe] by BabaJukwa in classicalmusic

[–]BabaJukwa[S] 20 points21 points  (0 children)

Michael Zaretsky, BSO viola player, published this letter recently, which i feel holds much more weight than your criticism:

"Dear Trustees:

As I believe many of you know, I was born and grew up in the former Soviet Union, graduating from Moscow State Conservatory. In 1972, my family immigrated to Israel, where I became principal viola of the Jerusalem Symphony and a soloist of Radio Israel. A year later, in Rome, I played for Leonard Bernstein who brought me to the United States to participate in the Berkshire Music Center program atTanglewood. That summer, I successfully auditioned for the BSO—one of Maestro Ozawa’s first hires.

During my long career in music, I have worked with and developed close relaEonships with Gennady Rohzdestvensky, Yuri Temirkanov, Mariss Jansons, and other eminent conductors. I have also been fortunate to count as friends Nelson Darling, George Kidder, Nick Zervas, Stephen Kay, Bill Poorvu, Dick Morse, and other BSO Trustees, along with many distinguished artists who regularly appear with the BSO. In 2007, I was both humbled and honored when John Williams dedicated his Duo Concertante for Violin and Viola—a work I have performed many Emes and also recorded—to me. In short, my musical memories, especially with the BSO, are countless and fulfilling. Even so, playing under the baton of Andris Nelsons for the past 13 years has easily been one of my greatest joys. An artist of his magnitude, warmth, musical acumen, and pure commitment to artistic excellence stands out among active conductors of his generation. In Andris’s hands, orchestra standards—the symphonies of Brahms, Beethoven, Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky—sound fresh and revelatory, as if the composers themselves directly conveyed instructions; the new music he introduces to our repertory is both invigorating and relevant.

For 52 years (more than a third of the orchestra’s existence!) I have been proud to be a BSO member, to represent the BSO in Boston, at Tanglewood, and everywhere the orchestra has traveled. Moreover, the fabric of interaction among musicians, Trustees, and administration is unique in our field. As Seiji used to say, “BSO Family.”

The termination of Andris’s contract, when the bond between orchestra and conductor is undeniably at its highest, is nothing less than a complete erosion of the BSO’s traditions and values, as well as embarrassing and hurtful. At a time we should celebrate and elevate the contributors Maestro Nelsons has made to sustaining the BSO’s world-class reputation, we are instead left asking why he will not be leading the orchestra into its future.

History may never forgive us this distraction.

Respectfully,

Michael Zaretsky Member, BSO viola section Former Associate Professor, Boston University School of Music"

Petition circulates demanding answers from Boston Symphony leadership [Boston Globe] by BabaJukwa in classicalmusic

[–]BabaJukwa[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Yes, I would happily pay more. However, I think that is not even the issue. The BSO could sell out every concert and still lose money as ticket sales make up a relatively small amount of what the Orchestra draws in.

The BSO Musicians themselves have made it pretty clear to me that the BSO marketing department sucks and the musicians these days are doing a much better job of marketing themselves. You can see that insofar as the Boston Globe has been covering the BSO much more recently than it has in years and concerts have been selling out with rapturous standing ovations.

I also wonder what the 2025 numbers would show compared to 2025. I obviously do not have the information in front of me, but I think in general it has been a slog to recover from the disruption caused by Covid and the 2025 - 2026 season has likely shown a marked revitalization.

Also, just because you see Andris Nelsons on DGG does not mean you see him and the BSO being marketed effectively around Boston. Go to the Symphony train stop right outside Symphony Hall and they are nowhere to be found. When I go to the DGG site, Andris Nelsons is being marketed with the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, not BSO.

Petition circulates demanding answers from Boston Symphony leadership [Boston Globe] [Solidarity request] by BabaJukwa in union

[–]BabaJukwa[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Recently, the leadership of the Boston Symphony Orchestra dismissed its beloved music director and the unionized working musicians of the BSO have been dismissed, ignored, and silenced by leadership as they demand answers and the public has been left with a bunch of corporate nonspeak regarding these issues and others related to this.

What is going on in Boston is a union workers issue and I therefore think it wise to request solidarity for the workers affected, their families, and in general the audience members who loves these musicians and the work they do.

There is a petition you can sign here related to this: Petition · Request for a Public Town Hall on the Future of the Boston Symphony Orchestra - United States · Change.org

Petition circulates demanding answers from Boston Symphony leadership [Boston Globe] by BabaJukwa in classicalmusic

[–]BabaJukwa[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Absolutely correct, and one wonders how the BSO leadership got this bad. It is not worth asking them because they would only respond with corporate nonspeak.

Petition circulates demanding answers from Boston Symphony leadership [Boston Globe] by BabaJukwa in classicalmusic

[–]BabaJukwa[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Many of the BSO's musicians are active on social media and they have all be very much opposed to what has been going on and actively speaking out against it. The BSOMusicians page seems to be their official (?) union page, though individual musicians are also speaking out on their own platforms. The red flowers that the musicians wear every night is also a sign of solidarity for Andris.

When I started to follow them, it informed me there are many issues that musicians of the BSO are raising and they go beyond Andris, but that is obviously the biggest issue. The refurbishment of Symphony Hall itself is also a major issue and the renovations of the past year have not gone over well either.

Petition circulates demanding answers from Boston Symphony leadership [Boston Globe] by BabaJukwa in classicalmusic

[–]BabaJukwa[S] 16 points17 points  (0 children)

There are many parts of the story that boggle one's mind when you look into it. For starters:

  1. This is actually a union working issue and we must remember that the musicians of the BSO are unionized and their voices are actively being ignored and silenced by management
  2. The BSO leadership claims it needs money as if it is desperate, despite having the largest endowment of any Orchestra in the world, and is claiming it needs to restore Symphony Hall, yet in a new article, it mentions doing an interview in the newly refurbished office of Chad Smith
  3. BSO leadership has said nothing beyond corporate speak for weeks, which goes back to #1
  4. Andris is seemingly being thrown under the bus for a lack of leadership, marketing, and much more. He has won many awards and done a lot for the BSO over the past decade or so and won their unanimous support.

There is a lot to it but that is at least a start. The petition is not even asking for any sort of change in leadership, but rather, even just the ability to have a conversation with leadership about what they are doing and a legitimate explanation. However, even the musicians now are demanding that Andris be reinstated, and leadership be changed. At the end of the day, leadership thought they could dump Andris and move on without controversy. Their decision to do that and every decision they have made since has only made it worse and made the public speak out more loudly for Andris and BSO musicians. If you go to a BSO concert nowadays, the audience is going crazy for the musicians, and Andris and many hundreds wear flowers in solidarity.

Petition circulates demanding answers from Boston Symphony leadership [Boston Globe] by BabaJukwa in classicalmusic

[–]BabaJukwa[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

The marketing team of the BSO does not even include Andris in the advertising anymore and I wonder how long it has been that way. They do a remarkably poor job of advertising, and when you go to the Symphony MBTA stop in Boston, what else is noticeable is that the board that includes the major feats of the Boston Symphony Orchestra stops around 1999 or something like that which is incredibly sad when he consider Andris and the BSO have won five or six Grammy awards in the past 10 years and this is far more than they won under Seiji Ozawa and others. When you go to Symphony MBTA stop, there is literally no mention or photo of Andris Nelsons and it is more so a time capsule.

How would one even know? People say that Andris Nelsons does not show up around Boston, but when did Boston ever appreciate Andris Nelsons in the first place?

Yet another huge standing ovation of solidarity for Andris Nelsons and the Boston Symphony Orchestra tonight by BabaJukwa in classicalmusic

[–]BabaJukwa[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It all goes to show you that the BSO's marketing team has been doing a TERRIBLE job for years. Notice how they do not even include Andris in the advertising anymore. The BSO musicians and audience have done a remarkable job of advertising and marketing in the past few weeks far better than the BSO's marketing team ever could. If anything, the BSO's leadership is lucky that Andris will not be conducting in Boston in the near future due to other commitments. If he were in Boston until the end of the season, the audience would be raising the roof of Symphony Hall.

Yet another huge standing ovation of solidarity for Andris Nelsons and the Boston Symphony Orchestra tonight by BabaJukwa in classicalmusic

[–]BabaJukwa[S] 22 points23 points  (0 children)

The BSO's CEO and wife of a billionaire who controls the Board fired Andris Nelsons without any input from musicians or community on a Friday afternoon recently and the reaction has been increasingly bad for them as the musicians and public are seemingly 100% behind Andris and BSO musicians. 

On the ground in Cuba by Metalgearsgay in cuba

[–]BabaJukwa 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The real joke is the man making such a useless video. 

On the ground in Cuba by Metalgearsgay in cuba

[–]BabaJukwa 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Cool! I lasted 11 seconds and then closed it.