The Bolshoi Unraveling

In the last 10 years, an artistic director, a general conductor, a musical director and four ballet artistic chiefs either have quit or been pushed out. When the musical head of the theater, Alexander Vedernikov, quit in 2009, he told the daily Izvestia that “the Bolshoi Theatre doesn’t possess any traits of an artistic organization.”

The National Symphony’s New Maestro:

“I think the greatest need is to internationalize the National Symphony. I want them to tour regularly. I also want them to record. We just made our first recording–from concert performances of Gershwin and Bernstein. And we’re planning a big tour to South America. Then we will work on a tour to Europe. I want to get the orchestra to the point that I can show them off with pleasure.”