Elections in Berlin: No News is Some News

The idea that the @BerlinPhil 's due diligence when deciding about their next decades is "failure" is patently absurd jorno-speak. Why rush?

— Jens F. Laurson (@ClassicalCritic) May 14, 2015

The Berlin Philharmonic votes, but comes to no result... and may not, for up to a year.

“We must continue this process and this election. That will have to take place within one year. We are very confident that we will come to a decision then. The process of this election will be continued, and the orchestra assembly will meet regularly, but we will take the time that is necessary. That can last one year.”

From the press release:

Voting for Chief Conductor of the Berliner Philharmoniker Brings No Results
The voting for the Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Berliner Philharmoniker brought no results today.

Orchestra Board member Peter Riegelbauer said: “After an orchestra assembly which lasted 11 hours, we have unfortunately come to no decision. There were positive and lively discussions and several rounds of voting, but unfortunately we were unable to agree on a conductor.”

123 members of the orchestra who were eligible to vote were present.
Riegelbauer continued: “We must continue this process and this election. That will have to take place within one year. We are very confident that we will come to a decision then. The process of this election will be continued, and the orchestra assembly will meet regularly, but we will take the time that is necessary. That can last one year.”

The mood during the assembly was described by all participants as very constructive, cooperative and friendly.
May 11, 2015

I reckon the last sentence means there were yelling-matches but no fist-fights.

Continue to speculate, meanwhile, with my horse-racing odds:

The Berlin Philharmonic's Next Conductor: The Odds And Ends

The speculation has been running high for months, reaching fever-pitch in the days before May 11th: Who will be the new music director of the Berlin Philharmonic?!

It’s a smaller community that cares so much, than, say: the entire catholic world when the pope gets elected, but it feels a bit like that: The orchestra gets together and – this being fairly unique in the world of classical music – votes on who will lead them in the years to come. Not the least because the other most prestigious orchestra, the sloppy, occasionally inspired Vienna Philharmonic, has no permanent conductor, this position is arguably the most prestigious orchestral conducting job to have. Only the plume of smoke coming out of Hans Scharoun’s Philharmonic Hall will be missing, to give the full Vatican feeling.

Apparently betting isn’t prevalent enough in this cultural niche; otherwise Ladbrokes would give quotes on the different candidates. It might look something like this:

15/2 Daniel Barenboim (1942; pining for that job for decades now, but too old)....

Continue reading here, at Forbes.com