RE: Valery Gergiev
I cannot stand this conductor. He is an incredibly arrogant and vain man. When he was the principal conductor of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, the concert hall looked like a cult of personality monument. Huge pictures of him all over the place. Some are still hanging there.
A few days after 9/11 I had tickets to hear a performance of Shostakovich’s 4th Symphony. Gergiev got stuck in the U.S. because of the grounding of flights and was not able to conduct the symphony. Instead, Maxim Shostakovich, the composer’s son stepped in and conducted an absolutely electrifying performance. Gergiev could not be outdone that way. The next year HE had to schedule the symphony again so that HE could show everyone how it is to be done. Arrogance.
Not to mention the fact that he grunts and groans through his performances which makes many of his recordings unlistenable.