Gustavo Dudamel returns to the the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s podium for his last concerts in Walt Disney Concert Hall as the orchestra’s Music & Artistic Director. That also means that the parade of guest concertmasters vying for one of the two open chairs on first stand continues in earnest (for a review of the candidates thus far, click HERE).
The next candidate debuting tonight is a doozy . . .
Vineta Sareika will be guest concertmaster with the LA Phil for the performances of Wagner’s Die Walküre (The Valkyrie), with each of the three acts played in separate concerts then repeated over six nights between May 19 and May 24. The Latvian violinist was concertmaster of the Royal Flemish Philharmonic (2011 – 2013) and first violin of the Artemis Quartet (2012 – 2021) before joining the Berlin Philharmonic violin section in May 2022. In February of the following year, she was named First Concertmaster, one of three to hold the position at the time and the first ever woman to be given the title.
Here is footage of her in the first chair of that orchestra playing Strauss’s Ein Heldenleben (A Hero’s Journey) with Kirill Petrenko:
. . . and another of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 with Zubin Mehta:
On September 9, 2024, she announced on Facebook:
“After three enriching and exciting years with the Berlin Philharmonic I have made the decision to leave the orchestra.
It has been an honor for me to serve as its first ever woman concertmaster and I am truly grateful for this unique life experience, fantastic concerts and inspiring encounters.
One of the many valuable learnings during the past years however is that being part of this particular orchestra is not the path I’d like to continue on in the future. I wish the orchestra the best of luck finding a fantastic new colleague for this position, I am at the same time looking forward to the next chapter of my personal musical journey.
My last concerts as concertmaster of the Berlin Philharmonic will take place in February 2025.”
The buzz about her playing leading up to tonight’s first concerts with the LA Phil has been palpable. Assuming she’s officially making herself a candidate for their Concertmaster, I’ll be shocked if she’s not qualified by the orchestra and becomes a/the leading candidate to take up the post permanently.
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Photo credit: courtesy of the artist’s website
All is Yar 
Ouch: “…being part of this particular orchestra…” Well, that’s a statement(!) and I now have a LOT of questions…(is Berlin Phil less a 21st century band than we all thought??, etc…) and does anyone have any answers? I’l be out for Dudamel’s last week of shows at Disney, I hope she’s still around!
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Yeah, regarding her departure: lots of speculation yet nothing definitive as to the reason, and undoubtedly eye-opening regardless.
She’s only playing for the 6 Wagner performances. Others will be guest concertmaster for the remaining concerts.
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Not to be obvious, but I’m open to a Latvian MD and concertmaster tag-team at the LAPhil…! And, as you do, please post future guests if/as you know…
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