London Philharmonic Orchestra

Klaus Tennstedt, a German conductor who unleashed dramatic performances of music by German romanticists, died yesterday at his home near Kiel, Germany. He was 71 and had battled throat cancer for more than a decade. Musicians sometimes joked that Mr. Tennstedt knew no short pieces, but the tall, gangling conductor was at his best in constructing the great edifices of Bruckner and Mahler. Born in Meresburg, Germany, Mr. Tennstedt had studied violin at the conservatory in Leipzig.

'You are now my family. " So proclaimed Yannick Nézet-Séguin on Friday before the signing of the contract that made him the Philadelphia Orchestra's eighth music director amid long applause from musicians, board members, staff, his Montreal family, and his partner. The 35-year-old conductor was in Philadelphia for the ultimate meet-and-greet day - with longtime subscribers in the lobby of the Kimmel Center, Mayor Nutter at City Hall, children from the Philadelphia Performing Arts Charter School (chanting "Yannick!

The first of this season's six big visiting orchestras at the Kimmel Center arrived Friday night sounding a bit bland. The London Philharmonic Orchestra, led by principal conductor Kurt Masur, came with both a wonderful program and Yuri Bashmet, the Russian who happens to be making a starry career as a solo violist. But even the concert's main course, Prokofiev's Symphony No. 5, couldn't make the ensemble break out of some routine playing. Competence is not a question with this orchestra, which last visited Philadelphia in 1987 (unless you count as a visit their sonic encounter with our city on the soundtrack to the movie Philadelphia)

In October, after Vladimir Jurowski led his debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra, some players thought he should be offered the job of music director on the spot. Musicians sometimes need protection from their impetuousness, but their basic artistic impulse was dead- on. Jurowski led a shatteringly beautiful performance of Tchaikovsky's relatively rare Manfred Symphony, and those who felt moved by it wanted that kind of experience on a regular basis. Now the caveats, and there are lots of them.

Brushing aside the objections of its musicians, management of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra voted yesterday to offer the job of music director to Marin Alsop, who would become the first woman to head a major-league American orchestra. Alsop, 48, has not yet accepted the post. She would not comment, her spokeswoman said. More details are expected today during an announcement in Baltimore. "We believe greatly in Ms. Alsop's leadership and her ability to move us into the next era of excellence," the management said in a statement.

Ralph Vaughan Williams' Sinfonia Antartica is an example of an idea strongly felt by the composer, but one that has not reached audiences with the same impact. The symphony - No. 7 in his catalogue - grew from a score that Vaughan Williams had written for a film about Robert Scott, who commanded an ill-fated expedition to the Antarctic. The drama of the film had touched the 80-year- old composer, and he sought to express both the setting and that drama in his expansive score, which premiered in 1953.

If Hansel and Gretel audiences of Christmases past left the opera house checking the bottom of their shoes for gumdrops and fondant icing, Monday afternoon's Metropolitan Opera crowd might have felt grateful to escape without bloodstains on their clothes. Not that Hansel and Gretel themselves were so lucky. British director Richard Jones marked his Met debut with a weird and darkly beautiful Hansel and Gretel that has mother nearly taking her life by popping pills, father threatening physical abuse, and, in a particularly hilarious visualization of the role of the witch, what could be the start of a career as a world-class drag queen for tenor Philip Langridge.

Out of the blue Thursday night, the Philadelphia Orchestra hosted a guest conductor whose debut emphatically disproved the theory that chemistry is something that must distill over time. In the mysterious realm of conductor-orchestra relationships, chemistry can develop - in months or the painfully glacial span of years. But for Vladimir Jurowski, 33, who led the orchestra in an astonishingly gorgeous Tchaikovsky Manfred Symphony, the connection with this ensemble was immediate.

Klaus Tennstedt has completed his Mahler cycle with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, closing it out with the Symphony No. 8 (EMI 47625). The two-record set also summarizes the qualities that have made this cycle contend strongly with earlier series by Bernard Haitink, Leonard Bernstein and Rafael Kubelik. Tennstedt's view of Mahler is panoramic, and his conducting encourages some inspirational flights within the orchestra. Where Haitink holds all the details in his hands with a chess-player's finesse, Tennstedt grasps the structural center of the music while allowing the details to break like waves over that center.

Among the new generation of kid conductors, Yannick N?zet-S?guin looks the youngest, but at 33 is one of the oldest. And while he ranks in the minds of many with the sensationally kinetic Gustavo Dudamel, he at times conducts like a wise old man. Standing in front of the Philadelphia Orchestra yesterday morning, he confidently led the group through the core of its core repertoire, Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6, speaking entirely through his...

'You are now my family. " So proclaimed Yannick Nézet-Séguin on Friday before the signing of the contract that made him the Philadelphia Orchestra's eighth music director amid long applause from musicians, board members, staff, his Montreal family, and his partner. The 35-year-old conductor was in Philadelphia for the ultimate meet-and-greet day - with longtime subscribers in the lobby of the Kimmel Center, Mayor Nutter at City Hall, children from the Philadelphia Performing Arts Charter School (chanting "Yannick!

The Philadelphia Orchestra's search for a music director is, in all likelihood, over. That doesn't mean a decision has been made, much less an offer extended or accepted. The search committees may dither for months or - damagingly - years. But all the relevant evidence likely to come in is, in fact, in. Vladimir Jurowski's last visit with the orchestra ended the need to look any further - if in fact he would accept the job. Is an unknown name still a possibility? It could happen, but that would mean a protracted search.

Among the new generation of kid conductors, Yannick N?zet-S?guin looks the youngest, but at 33 is one of the oldest. And while he ranks in the minds of many with the sensationally kinetic Gustavo Dudamel, he at times conducts like a wise old man. Standing in front of the Philadelphia Orchestra yesterday morning, he confidently led the group through the core of its core repertoire, Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6, speaking entirely through his...

If Hansel and Gretel audiences of Christmases past left the opera house checking the bottom of their shoes for gumdrops and fondant icing, Monday afternoon's Metropolitan Opera crowd might have felt grateful to escape without bloodstains on their clothes. Not that Hansel and Gretel themselves were so lucky. British director Richard Jones marked his Met debut with a weird and darkly beautiful Hansel and Gretel that has mother nearly taking her life by popping pills, father threatening physical abuse, and, in a particularly hilarious visualization of the role of the witch, what could be the start of a career as a world-class drag queen for tenor Philip Langridge.

In October, after Vladimir Jurowski led his debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra, some players thought he should be offered the job of music director on the spot. Musicians sometimes need protection from their impetuousness, but their basic artistic impulse was dead- on. Jurowski led a shatteringly beautiful performance of Tchaikovsky's relatively rare Manfred Symphony, and those who felt moved by it wanted that kind of experience on a regular basis. Now the caveats, and there are lots of them.

Out of the blue Thursday night, the Philadelphia Orchestra hosted a guest conductor whose debut emphatically disproved the theory that chemistry is something that must distill over time. In the mysterious realm of conductor-orchestra relationships, chemistry can develop - in months or the painfully glacial span of years. But for Vladimir Jurowski, 33, who led the orchestra in an astonishingly gorgeous Tchaikovsky Manfred Symphony, the connection with this ensemble was immediate.

Brushing aside the objections of its musicians, management of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra voted yesterday to offer the job of music director to Marin Alsop, who would become the first woman to head a major-league American orchestra. Alsop, 48, has not yet accepted the post. She would not comment, her spokeswoman said. More details are expected today during an announcement in Baltimore. "We believe greatly in Ms. Alsop's leadership and her ability to move us into the next era of excellence," the management said in a statement.

The first of this season's six big visiting orchestras at the Kimmel Center arrived Friday night sounding a bit bland. The London Philharmonic Orchestra, led by principal conductor Kurt Masur, came with both a wonderful program and Yuri Bashmet, the Russian who happens to be making a starry career as a solo violist. But even the concert's main course, Prokofiev's Symphony No. 5, couldn't make the ensemble break out of some routine playing. Competence is not a question with this orchestra, which last visited Philadelphia in 1987 (unless you count as a visit their sonic encounter with our city on the soundtrack to the movie Philadelphia)

Klaus Tennstedt, a German conductor who unleashed dramatic performances of music by German romanticists, died yesterday at his home near Kiel, Germany. He was 71 and had battled throat cancer for more than a decade. Musicians sometimes joked that Mr. Tennstedt knew no short pieces, but the tall, gangling conductor was at his best in constructing the great edifices of Bruckner and Mahler. Born in Meresburg, Germany, Mr. Tennstedt had studied violin at the conservatory in Leipzig.

Klaus Tennstedt has completed his Mahler cycle with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, closing it out with the Symphony No. 8 (EMI 47625). The two-record set also summarizes the qualities that have made this cycle contend strongly with earlier series by Bernard Haitink, Leonard Bernstein and Rafael Kubelik. Tennstedt's view of Mahler is panoramic, and his conducting encourages some inspirational flights within the orchestra. Where Haitink holds all the details in his hands with a chess-player's finesse, Tennstedt grasps the structural center of the music while allowing the details to break like waves over that center.