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Arts & Entertainment

Jaap van Zweden and the Burden of Success

For those who have come to love van Zweden’s DSO, there may be some sadness over his announced departure. But the news that van Zweden is off to lead the New York Philharmonic should be greeted with excitement and gratitude.
By Peter Simek |
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When the Dallas Symphony Orchestra introduced Jaap van Zweden as its musical director in 2008, he came to the city with high expectations and a certain amount of risk. Succeeding the 12-year tenure of Andrew Litton, the dynamic Dutch maestro promised a new look, feel, and energy for the symphony. Van Zweden had earned a solid reputation in Europe during his stints with the Residentie Orchestra in the Hague and the Netherlands Radio Philharmoic, but he had won his American gig based on a few guest appearances, particularly a 2006 string of concerts with the DSO. Essentially, the DSO was placing its reputation and its future in the hands of a conductor who was largely unknown to American audiences.

Let’s put the hiring of van Zweden in further context. In 2008, Dallas was on the verge of opening the new AT&T Center for the Performing Arts. All the major institutions in the Arts District prepared for the October 2009 opening ATTPAC by flirting with new ambition. The Nasher Sculpture Center brought in former Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art director Jeremy Strick, and the Dallas Theater Center hired Kevin Moriarty from the esteemed Trinity Repertory Company. The Dallas Opera initially went after whiz kid director George Steele, who turned out to be a bust, before bringing in Keith Cerny from the San Francisco Opera to right the ship. The DMA would eventually land touted-Indianapolis Museum of Art director Maxwell Anderson.

The result was a complete face-lift for Dallas’ major arts institutions. But perhaps none of these new hires had quite the impact than van Zweden did at the DSO. Under the Dutch maestro, the Dallas Symphony boosted its reputation both locally and abroad, soaring to rousing critical acclaim and expanding its reputation beyond the region’s borders through tours and recordings. The DSO had taken a risk on an unknown European conductor and they landed a rising star. Now, the Flying Dutchman is off to lead one of the top orchestras on the planet.

For those who have come to love van Zweden’s DSO, there may be some sadness over his announced departure. But the news that van Zweden is off to lead the New York Philharmonic should be greeted with excitement and gratitude. It isn’t necessarily a good thing for an artistic director to stay with an organization for too long.  After seven or ten years with the same institution, there is a tendency for artistic directors to become compliant or predictable, too comfortable with their vision or too entrenched to keep up momentum. When van Zweden steps down after the 2018 season, his ten-year tenure will fall just two seasons short of Andrew Litton’s long run with the DSO. A new maestro for the DSO will result in a new look and sound for the symphony – perhaps even a welcomed one, given the reported tension between the DSO musicians and the conductor.

The move to the New York Philharmonic is also something of a parting gift to the orchestra van Zweden has done so much to improve during his time in Dallas. Now the DSO can be seen as a legitimate training ground and stepping stone for conductors with the highest aspirations. When the DSO goes out to find their new director, they can expect competition for the job from some of the brightest talents in the musical world who hope to take what van Zweden’s work to the next level, and build their own reputations to boot.

That respect for the DSO comes with a certain amount of responsibility for the symphony’s board of directors. Given van Zweden’s popularity with his Dallas audience, there may be a temptation to go out and find something like a van Zweden clone. This would be a mistake. The DSO now has a store of artistic currency, and it should spend it on furthering its own reputation as a top tier American orchestra. I would like to see the DSO find a new maestro whose approach truly does offer a new look for the symphony, perhaps someone whose specialty isn’t booming Beethoven and Brahms, perhaps someone who is not European. Van Zweden’s tenure and move to New York allow the DSO an opportunity to act like a top tier ensemble, and they should do so by shirking Dallas’ tendency to proclaim high ambition, while inching forward behind tentative, conservative tastes.

In the larger context of the Arts District, the departure of van Zweden also seems to represent the closing of a cycle that began with the opening of the ATTPAC. By the time he leaves, it will be a decade since the opening of the Wyly and the Winspear. The DSO and the DMA will have new leadership, as will the Arts District itself, which has not hired an executive director since the departure of Catherine Cuellar. More than just a moment of soul searching for the DSO, van Zweden’s departure seems to announce the end of an era and the opening of an opportunity for arts leaders and patrons. It offers an excuse to return to that moment of anticipation and ambition in 2009. What has worked and what hasn’t? What dreams were realized and which ones remain out-of-reach? What kind of new leadership does the Arts District need? What does it mean to have an Arts District in the first place?

Those will be questions that face the next generation of leaders who take the helm of Dallas’ top arts institutions. It is a moment of opportunity, one that demands new questions, answers, and aspirations.

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