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Monday, October 1, 2007
Conductor Runnicles Goes Home to Scotland
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Donald Runnicles, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s principal guest conductor since 2001, will today announce he’s becoming Chief Conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra in Glasgow, his publicists at New York’s 21C Media announced.
It’s a three-year contract, and his duties begin officially in the autumn of 2009 — just after he ends his tenure at the San Francisco Opera, where he’s been music director since 1992.
Although he’ll retain his other part-time gigs — in Atlanta (fewer than 6 programs a season) and principal conductor of New York’s Orchestra of St. Lukes and music director of the Grand Tetons Music Festival, in Jackson Hole, Wyoming — the BBC Scottish becomes his most significant post. He’ll lead the orchestra a minimum of eight weeks a season.
A rare conductor who holds his baton in his left hand, and re-seats the cellos and basses accordingly, Runnicles is known to favor the heavy Germanic repertoire — Wagner and Strauss — although he’s consistently more interesting in colorful, atmospheric or rhythmically gauzy 20th century music that’s away from the Teutonic center. His conducting of the US stage premiere of Olivier Messiaen’s “Saint Francois d’Assise,” at the San Francisco Opera, was among the most critically acclaimed performances, globally, of the past decade.
The Messiaen, Ravel and Britten pieces he’s conducted with the ASO, likewise, are among the highlights of his time here. Contemporary music is also a specialty. Two years ago, he conducted the world premiere of John Adams’ opera “Doctor Atomic” in San Francisco, and will perform it again next season with the ASO, to be recorded by Nonesuch.
Around the time of the “Doctor Atomic” premiere, Runnicles seemed likely to snag the BBC’s flagship ensemble, the prestigious and well-funded BBC Symphony Orchestra, based in London. But after months of talk and speculation, that gig went to another maestro.
The BBC Scottish is arguably the best of the Corporation’s regional orchestras. It will provide Runnicles with countless opportunites for international exposure, including tours, CDs (many attached to the cover of BBC Music Magazine) and concerts at the BBC Proms, the celebrated London music festival. Also, Runnicles’ mother still lives in nearby Edinburgh.
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