Pointer Report on Jaap van Zweden

Pointer is a platform in The Netherlands that describes itself this way:

Pointer is the platform for investigative journalism of KRO-NCRV on TV, radio and online. TV and radio makers, data journalists and researchers bring revealing, in-depth stories, with social impact. A platform that makes modern investigative journalism such as crowdsourcing and open source intelligence accessible to all Dutch people. In the middle of society, for and by the people.

Today, they released a report on Jaap van Zweden, the Dutch conductor who has been the music director of the Dallas Symphony, NY Philharmonic, Hong Kong Philharmonic, and Seoul Philharmonic (among others) and who has guest conducted worldwide. Next year, he's conducting four concerts, including the opening gala, at the San Francisco Symphony, which has also announced that over three seasons (2025-26, 2026-27, and 2027-28), he'll be leading a cycle of the Beethoven symphonies.

Here's the start of the article on Pointer's web site:

In several orchestras where Jaap van Zweden was the conductor, there has been evidence of transgressive behavior. This is evident from research by Pointer (KRO-NCRV) based on conversations with dozens of musicians and other insiders. They outline a pattern of fear in places where the most famous conductor in the Netherlands has been in charge. Watch the extra long broadcast of Pointer on the YouTube channel of Pointer this afternoon at 4 p.m. and on Sunday evening on NPO 2.

In recent months, Pointer journalists spoke to more than 50 musicians, directors and staff members from seven of the orchestras that Jaap van Zweden conducted in the Netherlands and abroad over the past 25 years. Van Zweden's tough, sometimes intimidating manners keep recurring. Individual musicians from the Netherlands and abroad tell of being insulted and belittled in front of colleagues. For a number of them, working with the Dutchman has had a lasting impact.

There were reports about van Zweden behaving in a borderline abusive manner when he was at the Dallas Symphony before he was appointed to the NY Phil position. It was clear at the time that Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim had him in mind when she wrote her comments for this article, for example. And a friend mentioned that the Dallas News reported on these issues as well; here's a 2014 article about van Zweden.

I own that I have no idea what to make of "the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra became the best orchestra in the world under his leadership in 2019." Maybe Google Translate didn't accurately render that in English, but I do not think it likely that the Hong Kong Phil was somehow better than the Berlin Phil, the VPO, the LSO, Cleveland, etc., etc.

Over the last few years, U.S. musical institutions have shown at least some increased willingness to do something about abusive conductors and musicians. Plácido Domingo was disinvited from San Francisco Opera, Charles Dutoit has barely worked in the United States, the NY Phil appears to have finally fired two of their musicians, etc. I don't know what impact this report will have on van Zweden's future engagements at the San Francisco Symphony, but I do hope it means that he has no chance of being the next music director of SFS. I've never heard any rumors of abusive behavior on the part of Herbert Blomstedt, MTT, or Esa-Pekka Salonen, and I hope that SFS will continue to hire music directors of unimpeachable character.