Dudamel to Paris Opera

The NY Times reports that Gustavo Dudamel will become the next music director of the Paris Opera. Well....uh....he has comparatively limited opera experience and my general impression is that the Paris job is complicated, with two houses and a huge schedule. The appointment also overlaps with his music directorship at the Los Angeles Philharmonic, where he has an excellent orchestra, a great hall, and a fantastic, forward-looking administration to work with. The Times article notes that he's not great with languages, and while things have changed a lot in France, I think you'd better speak French if you're working there.

Lastly, does he get to keep the LA Phil job?! As I've noted repeatedly, there's so much musical talent and skill in the world that it's ridiculous that anyone has more than one major appointment. No, YN-S should not have the Met and Philly; Andris Nelsons should not have the Boston Symphony and the Leipzig Gewandhaus, etc., etc.

I had thought that there was a good chance of the Paris job going to Susanna Mälkki. She is the principal guest conductor of the LA Phil, so I guess this further cements the possibility of her become their next music director, should two jobs ten hours apart not actually work for Dudamel.

 Open positions:

• Royal Opera, when Sir Antonio Pappano leaves for the LSO in September, 2024.
• Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, when Robert Spano leaves at the end of 2021-22. 
• City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, when MGT leaves at the end of 2021-22
• Baltimore Symphony, because Marin Alsop did not renew her contract there
• Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra following the firing of Daniele Gatti
• Opera Theatre of Saint Louis: Stephen Lord resigned following accusations of sexual harassment. OTSL has not named a new music director.
• Michigan Opera Theater: Stephen Lord resigned following accusations of sexual harassment. MOT has not named a new music director.
• Teatro Regio Turin: Open now with departure of Gianandrea Noseda. the Teatro Regional's has not named a new music director.
• Minnesota Opera: Michael Christie has left. MO has not named a new music director. 
• Sarasota Orchestra after Anu Tali  leaves at the end of 2018-2019. Jeffrey Kahane is "artistic advisor" but whether that means he is conducting the orchestra....I do not know.
• Melbourne Symphony: Sir Andrew Davis leaves at the end of 2019. No new music director has been named.
• Virginia Symphony: JoAnn Falletta is now laureate, but no successor has been named.
• Shanghai Symphony Orchestra
• Minnesota Orchestra, when Osmo Vänskä leaves in 2022.

Conductors looking for jobs (that is, as of the near future, or now, they do not have a posting):

• Miguel Harth-Bedoya
• Lionel Bringuier
• Juanjo Mena
• Ludovic Morlot
• Sian Edwards
• Jun Markl
• Ingo Metzmacher
• Jac van Steen
• Mark Wigglesworth
• David Robertson
• Peter Oundjian
• Philippe Auguin
• Kwame Ryan
• Ilan Volkov
• Aleksandr Markovic
• Lothar Koenigs
• Henrik Nanasi
• Carlos Kalmar

And closed:

• Paris Opera signs Gustavo Dudamel to succeed Philippe Jordan.
• London Symphony Orchestra: Sir Antonio Pappano becomes Chief Conductor Designate in September, 2023, Chief Conductor the following year.
• Fort Worth Symphony: Robert Spano to succeed Miguel Harth-Bedoya.
• Oregon Symphony: David Danzmayr succeeds Carlos Kalmar at the beginning of the 2021-22 season.
• Scottish Chamber Orchestra: Maxim Emelyanychev has succeeded Robin Ticciati
• Orchestre de Paris, Klaus Mäkelä to succeed Daniel Harding
• Montreal Symphony Orchestra: Raphael Payare has succeeded Kent Nagano.
• Richmond Symphony: Valentina Peleggi succeeds Steven Smith.
• Singapore Symphony: Han Graf succeeded Lan Shui.
• BBC National Orchestra of Wales: Ryan Bancroft succeeded Thomas Søndergård
• BRSO hires Sir Simon Rattle to succeed the late Mariss Jansons, effective 2023.
• Jader Bignamini is now Music Director of the Detroit SO, succeeding Leonard Slatkin.
• Opera North: Garry Walker is music director designate
• Sydney Symphony Orchestra names Simone Young their chief conductor; she takes over in two years, succeeding David Roberts.
• San Francisco Opera appoints Eun Sun Kim its music director, starting August 1, 2021. She succeeds Nicola Luisotti.
• Philharmonia Orchestra names Santtu-Matias Rouvali as its next Principal Conductor, starting in 2021-22.