A trend in Slovakia's music world is that incompetent managers do everything they can to destroy it. A manager is not to have any vision, responsibility for his product is completely unheard of, and it seems the only objective is to make sure your own salary is as optimal as it can be.
Slovakia's Philharmony, one would gather it to be a prestigious cultural institution to carefully nourish and use as a promotion abroad. Yet, it is a petty club of drifting musicians, victims of anything bad that Mr Murphy has put into his law. Season 2009/2010 has started quite a while ago, and only in February 2010, its newly appointed chief conductor Emmanuel Villaume finally came to town to present himself and 'his' orchestra. And till the end of the season only one more concert to follow. How about that?
True is, that it is becoming a general trend, where chief conductors spend much time abroad. But the quality of an - let's say - Amsterdam's Concertgebouw Orchestra or a Berlin Phil is a bit more steady to absorb such shifts. While the Slovak Philharmonic has fell prey to management struggles, where one conductor after another walked out, this tactic (for hardly can it be considered a strategic choice) proves to be devastating. But in all honesty - merely 2 concerts for this season and having a status of chief conductor? What's the point? Having two heavy weight cultural centres around the corner - Vienna as well as Budapest, the burden is simply too massive to be ignored.
This so-called opening concert announced a Brahms symphony. Nr. 4. Whichever Brahms you take, any self-respecting philharmonic band needs to have this in its repertoire, and almost be able to play it by heart, no matter who is swaying the baton. Perhaps the bride and groom were so nervous during their first appearance (although it was not the very first co-operation between the orchestra and the conductor). But when even a minimal professionalism of playing together, following the maestro, among others, is not there, then the state of the orchestra is at a dramatic low. Unless it would have been a last-minute stand-in to replace a suddenly fallen ill conductor, it could be excused. This is an embarrassment. A better job could be outdone by an average amateur orchestra from Germany.
My conclusion is, despite a Mahler symphony ahead (and my acquaintances know my appetite for Mahler), the Slovak Philharmonic is no longer on my visit-list. Unfortunately.
MS
