A lot of eyebrows were raised when Valery Gergiev was appointed chief conductor of the London Symphony, not because Gergiev isn’t qualified for the post (he obviously is,) but because he is already known as one of the hardest working conductors in the business, and wouldn’t seem to have time to spend more than ten weeks a year in London. Anthony Tommassini says that his first few months on the job have done nothing to assuage fears that Gergiev is simply too busy for his (and his orchestras’) own good.