Jaap van Zweden’s First Week at The New York Philharmonic

With an opening night gala and an ambitious, awesome sounding first subscription concert, Jaap van Zweden officially became the New York Philharmonic's 24th Music Director.  The Dutch maestro, who transitioned from Concertmaster of Amsterdam's Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra to conductor with the Leonard Bernstein's encouragement, comes to an orchestra still in serious need of overhauling and/or dynamiting David Geffen Hall and continuing its overdue image change.  van Zweden's predecessor Alan Gilbert succeeded making the NYP a local and digital presence (here's hoping Gilbert gets his wish to one day conduct Olivier Messiaen’s St. François d’Assise because Manhattan socialites will never sign off on it unless

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