Nathalie Stutzmann just got too busy
NewsWith the Atlanta Symphony in her pocket, the French conductor is having to rejig her diary.
First cancellation is the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
The wording suggests they are not best pleased.
Due to a scheduling conflict, conductor Nathalie Stutzmann is unfortunately unable to perform with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at Walt Disney Concert Hall, November 12–14, 2021. Replacing Ms. Stutzmann on the program is conductor Matthias Pintscher.
The wording seems straight-forward and objective enough to me. Should they suggest she caught a cold?
Pleased or not, what does “scheduling conflict” mean? She was booked in two places at once? That would not reflect well on her management. Perhaps “Due to unexpected developments” would be more appropriate.
Obviously, these bookings are done far in advance. At the time the booking was made for the L.A. Phil., it was not foreseen that she would land a directorship of an American orchestra that’s almost as ‘high profile’ as the LAPO (I said “almost”). In short, such things happen.
Also, this doesn’t tell us when LA learned she needed to cancel. Standard PR practice is to only announce when a replacement is inked, not when you hear someone needs to pull out.
It’s hard to impute any emotional connotation to a terse statement of the facts. Why strain to do so? She was presumably engaged by the LAPO long before she was chosen by Atlanta, and musicians (and music organizations) frequently have to rejig diaries in the face of unforeseen events.
“The wording suggests” that the LA Phil is merely being professional – this is boilerplate language with no ‘shade’ intended. Please concentrate on real stories like the mishandling of the Bright Sheng situation by the UMich students (and, be it not forgotten, the school’s admin) and resist the pot-stirring.
Where do you get the sense they are not pleased? Stop trying to create controversy out of nothing. That’s literally boilerplate language… like the industry standard template… 50% of the time it’s not even due to scheduling… In the age of COVID-19, reschedules are going to be even more commonplace.
I’m confused what is the issue here? Should the LA Philharmonic have worded their announcement differently?
This is normal. Conductor gets new job, cancels upcoming gigs.
I don’t see anything about the wording that sounds displeased. I guess they could have been more gracious and congratulatory?
Sometimes orchestras will use a guest’s high-profile conflict as a way to reflect glory onto themselves: see what high-caliber people we attract? (We had Gabriela Montero booked to play with my orchestra in early 2005, but she cancelled when she was asked to play for Obama’s inauguration. Our PR department definitely made sure everybody knew why she was cancelling.)
Another scheduling conflict apparently: https://www.artsatl.org/review-nathalie-stutzmann-aso-are-hit-and-miss-with-holiday-program/ She prefers to go to Helsinki than do all the concerts in Atlanta though being MD… doesn’t smell good. She hasn’t received any good reviews since the beginning of her tenure too.