A dark cloud is sure to follow the National Symphony Orchestra this 2014-15 season after the renewal of Christoph Eschenbach's contract as music director.
The decision to continue on with Eschy at the podium was "purely administrative" (as if that were an excuse).
Of course, Deborah F. Rutter, the new head of the Kennedy Center, explains: "For the past four seasons, Maestro Eschenbach has elevated the stature of the National Symphony Orchestra and the Kennedy Center. I am pleased this relationship will continue for an additional two seasons."
And yet, the actual heights of said elevation remain questionable.
At the start of his tenure, Eschy was all about the musicians--engaging 11 new players, promoting two others to principal chairs (flutist Aaron Goldman and trombonist Craig Mulcahy) and even, yes, flexing his Fleming muscle.
On the local beat, WaPo's classical critic Anne Midgette chimed in. "Yet for all of the new energy," she writes, "Eschenbach's concerts with the orchestra have not consistently represented the kind of vital music-making one might have hoped."
Quoth Midgette: "Eschenbach is at his best with the big moments, drawing on his cadre of close musical associates, like Renee Fleming, who turned in a fine performance of Der Rosenkavalier earlier this month. But regular subscription concerts of core repertoire tend to be fuzzy: sometimes superficially exciting but often imprecise, technically and emotionally."
Love him or hate him, Washington, D.C. is stuck with Eschy for two more seasons--idiosyncrasies and all.
