Call him 'YNS,' the talk of the musical world

The news traveled fast.

Minutes after the appointment of Yannick Nézet-Séguin to the Philadelphia Orchestra began appearing on websites in the United States and Canada on Sunday morning, reaction began bouncing among BlackBerrys.

In the airport lounges of LAX, people returning from the Opera America conference in Los Angeles cursed the Philadelphians bitterly: The more time Nézet-Séguin spends here, the less time he'll be at the Metropolitan Opera (or so the reasoning goes). And isn't it bad enough that the Philadelphia Orchestra already stole clarinetist Ricardo Morales from the Met?

The 35-year-old conductor's five-year contract, starting 2012, was officially announced Monday, though word slipped out on Sunday, reportedly because one of the musicians from Nézet-Séguin's Rotterdam Philharmonic tipped off the Montreal Gazette. Then the race was on: The Philadelphia Inquirer posted extensive coverage at 10:30 a.m., as soon as musicians were notified. Many others followed.

Much was made of the Philadelphia Orchestra's break from its history of venerable European conductors. "Yet another orchestra has opted for the excitement and uncertainty of youth," wrote the Washington Post's Anne Midgette.

"It's cool to see the grand old Philadelphia Orchestra take a chance on someone not only still quite youthful in conductor years, but relatively unknown," wrote Tim Smith in the Baltimore Sun.

Unknown? Not in his native Canada, where the Winnipeg Free Press calls him "Montreal classical music phenom," and the Ottawa Star reports that the "Canadian superstar conductor" will receive the Governor General's Performing Arts Award on Wednesday prior to a performance of Mahler'sSymphony No. 8 ("Symphony of a Thousand") in Ottawa.

In Philadelphia, where Nézet-Séguin will formally sign his contract on Friday, meet with orchestra officials, and attend the scheduled neighborhood concert in Upper Darby, little unanimity could be expected over the first choice for the orchestra's next music director. Vladimir Jurowski made a strong impression, while Simon Rattle inspires eternal longing. But on one point there was general agreement: relief that the orchestra's leadership crisis is over with the arrival of president Allison Vulgamore, board president Richard Worley, and now a music director.

"It's been a stressful time," said violinist Paul Arnold. "I'm relieved that a person of great quality . . . was appointed.