Swedish clarinetist Martin Fröst cancels planned debut with St. Paul Chamber Orchestra

A day after the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra had some exciting news about its leadership succession, the ensemble issued the bad report that Swedish clarinetist Martin Fröst needs to cancel his anticipated debut as an SPCO artistic partner, Nov. 10-11.

The SPCO says Fröst has withdrawn from "all upcoming engagements through December due to Meniere's Disease — a disorder of the inner ear which causes severe vertigo, sickness, and tinnitus."

Fröst also was to have accompanied the orchestra on a November tour to Asia, and to play concerts in February and March. The SPCO said only that it hopes to "welcome him back this spring when he is fully recovered."

The Nov. 11-12 concerts would have been the American premiere of Fröst's Genesis Project — an ambitious mix of music from different centuries and styles highlighting the intersections of folk, early sacred and classical music, with the clarinetist serving as soloist, conductor and host.

Instead, the SPCO will now perform those dates with clarinetist Alexander Fiterstein playing Mozart's Clarinet Concerto and also on selections from Brahms, Schumann and George Gershwin. Born in Belarus, raised in Israel and now a music professor at the University of Minnesota, Fiterstein also will join the SPCO on its Asian tour, with performances scheduled in Taipei, Singapore and Jakarta.