What news indeed! Jos Van Immerseel, 'the Jos' as so many call him, has been shown the door by the orchestra he brought to life. That's something you don't experience at the age of 79. The merits of Jos Van Immerseel for classical music, starting with the 'resurrection' of renaissance music, are immense. How can such a person then be treated so?
Ah yes, 'the Jos' is not the easiest person, many people who build something enormous from the ground and realize great things with unparalleled energy are not always the easiest. Jos could / can be sharp, a bundle of nerves and more, but well, touching his vision and his brainchild must have hurt. He has, much is clear, committed no crimes that would now lead to immediate dismissal. He was, so we understand from the press, unmanageable (become). A whole litany was circulated to justify the dismissal and in turn Jos Van Immerseel contradicts it with good reason. That something is wrong at Anima Eterna, there is certainly no doubt about that. It is mainly about the vision of the new generation and about the possible inability to say goodbye by 'the old'. But couldn't it have been done a bit more neatly and civilly? Must one air the dirty laundry, whether or not already dusted off at length and in detail to the outside world? Would it not have been better to organize a nice farewell party and give Van Immerseel the opportunity to still make music with the orchestra? There was already a transition in motion, though the dispute clearly concerns that as well. The strong impression is that Van Immerseel does not believe or cannot believe in the qualities of the new conductors. He is probably afraid that the orchestra's name will have to be toned down because of this and he cannot accept that, it is indigestible.
The "new bosses, new rules" bothers the man and well, on the one hand you can understand that, on the other hand you must realize that there is a time to come and a time to go. Saying goodbye is difficult, especially when you are such a top person as 'the Jos'. He reached very high peaks and now he probably sees the top of the mountain he built being flattened. What a painful matter indeed. It should not have happened this way. You do not fell a giant who has stood as an example for years like this, whatever a 'difficult character' he may (have become). Let us stick to the many brilliant projects and achievements of that 'difficult' guy who still managed to pull it all off. Whether now it concerned his legendary performance of Monteverdi's Orfeo during the Rubens year 1976 at the opera in Antwerp, whether it concerned his recordings of Beethoven's symphonies (still world-class for us) or all those other amazing projects that Jos Van Immerseel threw himself into and during such a project transformed into the content of the project itself, into the composer it was about or whatever. And yes, he could and can sometimes make strong statements, be cynical, naughty, free and frank, but is it not the case that the balance, apart from that 'unmanageability', is especially very positive? Who disputes that? Further, we at Klassiek Centraal do not wish to go into the skewed relationship between the orchestra's board and Jos Van Immerseel. We would much rather listen to the many fine recordings that the musician realized with, among others, his Anima Eterna but also with so many others in small ensembles, as a soloist, with other orchestras and choirs. We wish Jos, despite the particularly bitter days and weeks that await him (he is now temporarily even without income!), still much musical joy.