Right now, Kent Nagano's tenure with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra (Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, that is) sure seems uncertain.
A report earlier this month from Montreal's La Presse---written by the nearly infallible Claude Gingras---stated that Nagano's contract with the orchestra won't be renewed beyond the 2016 season. Gingras' sources claim that Zarin Mehta has been poking around the OSM front office, perhaps trying to finger a successor to Nagano.
Russian conductor (and Liverpool F.C. fan) Vasily Petrenko is being touted as a possible candidate.
A separate report from Paul Wells in the Canadian publication Maclean's hinted that Nagano may no longer be as popular within the orchestra as he once was.
"He is seen as a micromanager who doesn't let the players bring enough of their own insight to the music. But I doubt that would have counted for much in the board's decision about his continued tenure," Wells writes.
Not surprisingly, the OSM's management has denied any outright ousting.
Their official word: "After 2016, the contract of Kent Nagano may be renewed further to a mutual agreement between the two parties."
Nagano will be 65 in 2016. Charles Dutoit, Nagano's predecessor, lasted a whopping 25 years in Montreal.
Here's a fan-shot video of Nagano and his beloved Beethoven, to remember the happier times:
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