Seong-Jin Cho’s Carnegie concert featured in Musical America

Yannick Nézet-Séguin backstage with Seong-Jin Cho, a last-minute replacement who flew in from Berlin to make his orchestral debut at Carnegie (Photo credit: Primo Artists)

Industry News: How One 11th-hour Phone Call Saved Three Mega Concerts
By Susan Elliott
Musical America
March 3, 2022

The brouhaha has settled down and the three concerts—or at least the two I attended—by the Vienna Philharmonic in Carnegie Hall February 25-27 went off as smoothly as anyone could have wanted. In the hours before the first downbeat, however—one day after Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine--the scheduled soloist for the first concert and the conductor for all three—Putin supporters Denis Matseuv and Valery Gergiev—were not yet on U.S. soil.

During the intermission of the final concert last Sunday, I asked Clive Gillinson, the artistic and executive director of Carnegie Hall, to describe the sequence of events in finding their replacements on about 30 hours’ notice. The following is a transcript of his responses.

Clive Gillinson: The Vienna Philharmonic arrived in New York on Wednesday night, so we met at 11 o’clock on Thursday [the opening was Friday]. I mean, it was impossible for Valery and Denis to perform because they are so closely identified with Putin. The orchestra and [Carnegie Hall] were unanimous that it was not possible to go ahead. The insane thing was, we talked it through and our number one choice was Yannick [Nézet-Séguin]. So I took my phone out and I called him. He was in rehearsal [for Don Carlos at the Met, scheduled to open February 28], so I left a message. Ten minutes later he phoned back; I told him the situation and that he was our dream choice. He said, "Give me 20 minutes, let me see if I can work this out."

Twenty minutes later, he called back to say he was in. The conductor had started the week leading the Philadelphia Orchestra, also in Carnegie Hall, and remained in New York for rehearsals and opening of Don Carlos at the Met. In the end, Nézet-Séguin rehearsed for and conducted four symphonic concerts and one mega-opera all within the space of one week.

CG: I’ve been in management for nearly 38 years, this was the first time EVER—it’s unbelievable—I’ve heard of making one phone call and getting the conductor [you want]. The funny thing is, when Yannick was here earlier in the week with Philadelphia [Feb. 21] he saw the posters for Vienna and was thinking, “This is all my dream repertoire.” So he didn’t even need to change a single piece.

Finding the pianist was its own saga.

CG: The pianist we did have to work out. We spoke with Yannick about who are all the pianists he liked to work with, and [South Korean pianist] Seong-Jin Cho was one of them. He was in Berlin, so we called him-- he had a Visa for the U.S.

Seong-Jin Cho had secured a visa for his concerts with the New York Philharmonic later in March. Meanwhile, it's Thursday night in Berlin when he gets the call for Friday's concert in New York.

CG: He hadn’t played the Rach 2 for quite awhile and there was a curfew in his building. So he had to go somewhere else—he couldn’t even practice in his own home. I mean the whole thing was insane. So then he got on a plane and arrived on Friday not long before the rehearsal….I mean it was extraordinary what he did [including] playing it by heart after not having performed it in quite some time.

And rehearsal time for all was limited.

CG: There was only one and a half hours rehearsal for all three concerts. Everybody knows the pieces but then it’s all open to interpretation—you just have to cover all the [vulnerable spots]. Yannick, meanwhile was going from Don Carlos at the Met to God knows what, backwards and forward. He’s been absolutely extraordinary. Friendships, relationships—these are the things that count. When you genuinely care about each other, you make things happen. We all really worked together, and the results couldn’t have been better.

And then there was that other call...

CG: I contacted Valery and Denis, I mean I had to, and said I hope they understood. Apart from anything else, it would probably have been the most horrific experience for them because the audience would’ve been so angry.

Carnegie Hall didn’t announce the changes for weekend concerts until late Thursday afternoon. I wondered if there had been pressure to act sooner.

CG: Not from the outside, no. I mean we were obviously talking about it a lot and by the time we met Thursday the answer was clear. But we wouldn’t have made a decision without the orchestra.