He would succeed Matthias Bamert, who came to the WASO in 2003 and was effectively dismissed from the post last month. The Australian reported in late May that the orchestra's board of directors had decided not to renew the 63-year-old Swiss conductor's contract when it expired in 2007. (A major issue in this regard, according to the paper, was the sense, among management and musicians alike, that he preferred to concentrate his attention on the well-funded Malaysian Philharmonic, where he became principal conductor in August 2005.) Bamert was reportedly informed of the board's decision just before the WASO departed for a five-city tour of China; due to the conductor's understandably low morale as well as a hand injury he suffered and major logistical snafus in-country, the tour was generally considered by the orchestra to be a fiasco, according to the paper. WASO management issued a brief press release shortly thereafter, on June 15, saying that orchestra and conductor had "decided mutually to terminate their contract," effective immediately.
De Waart appeared with the WASO in April as a guest conductor in concerts that were very warmly received all around. According to The Australian, he returned to Perth briefly in June for meetings with orchestra and Western Australia state officials. De Waart is reported to want to increase his and the orchestra's involvement with West Australian Opera; WASO management wants its chief conductor to spend 12 weeks per year in Perth, the standard commitment expected from the chief conductors of the Melbourne and Sydney Symphonies. (Bamert spent seven weeks annually with the WASO.)
Bamert, though he was sometimes criticized for "inconsistent" interpretations of the standard repertoire, is credited with raising both standards of musicianship in the WASO ranks and audience interest in its performances through his programming choices. De Waart, meanwhile, is considered one of the world's great orchestra builders.