Orchestra chooses Dutoit

Why Dutoit makes sense

STEVE COHEN

The Philadelphia Orchestra’s choice of Charles Dutoit as interim chief conductor is logical and sensible. Although I tangled with the maestro a few years ago, I welcome his appointment.

Now the Orchestra can take its time appraising candidates for the music directorship, knowing that there’s no rush. Vladimir Jurowski is one possibility, as I wrote last week. So are many others.

Back in July of 1999, when Dutoit abruptly resigned as music director of the Mann summer concert series, I reported on the events for Philadelphia City Paper. The main reason for Dutoit’s leaving, I wrote, was his frustration with the Orchestra’s management. Dutoit disagreed with the Mann’s increasing preference for popular and jazz concerts. "I have absolutely nothing to do with that part of the season," he told me. "I am not consulted.”

The players, I added, said Dutoit had actively campaigned to be music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra. "It’s extraordinary,” I quoted one. “No other conductor talked to us the way he did. He said he could get us recordings and broadcasts if he were in charge." Dutoit responded that he never campaigned for the job after Wolfgang Sawallisch was named to the post, leaving open the inference that he had indeed uttered such comments during the two-year interim between Riccardo Muti’s announced resignation in 1990 and Sawallisch’s appointment in 1992.

Musicians called him 'mediocre'

Although I was aware that Dutoit often conducted exciting performances by the Philadelphia Orchestra, I quoted a musician who described Dutoit as "a mediocre conductor. His rehearsals are inefficient, and he still hasn’t learned how to give us a clear beat. If he were music director, the Orchestra would deteriorate."

Dutoit’s defense impressed me. "You have provoked me,” he told me after my article appeared. “I’m sorry one player feels that I’m a mediocre conductor, but what can I say? There are 100 players in the Philadelphia Orchestra and he is just one. If I were a mediocre conductor I would not have guest conducted the Berlin Philharmonic and the Concertgebouw and 150 more orchestras. I would not have made 85 recordings with the Montreal Symphony if I were mediocre."

He didn't sulk

After the fuss about his leaving the Mann died down, Dutoit did something else that struck me. Instead of sulking, he returned to the Philadelphia Orchestra as guest conductor during the winter season, with apparent enthusiasm. This was class; it was professionalism.

During 25 years as music director of the Montreal Symphony, Dutoit was an efficient organizer who gave five or six concerts a week, including chamber and contemporary music in various venues. He charmed the public with his urbane style, but in private with the orchestra he was like some of the famous tyrannical conductors from the old days. Several orchestra members described his style as rude and dismissive, and commented on his "dirty looks and angry, bitter scowls.” Which could also be said, of course, of George Szell, Artur Rodzinski and even Stokowski— tyrants who elicited great performances from their fractious musicians. When the Montreal players complained to their union about Dutoit in April, 2002, the maestro abruptly announced his resignation, just as he did at the Mann in 1999.

New York in the '40s? Not

So why, then, does Dutoit’s appointment make sense? He gives the Orchestra a recognizable face and a body who will meet with potential contributors. He brings a dependable sense of continuity and direction as his presence expands to eight weeks of concerts each year. But he reportedly won’t be given power to discipline or to fire players who displease him. This would seem to forestall anything like the problem that occurred in Montreal.

When orchestras undergo prolonged periods without a music director or without an heir-apparent, they appear rudderless. The exception occurred in the early 1940s, when John Barbirolli didn’t work out as Arturo Toscanini’s successor at the New York Philharmonic. After the organization fired him and before it could find a replacement, the Philharmonic presented an all-star year of concerts led by some of the world’s most famous conductors. But the Philharmonic enjoyed this luxury because New York City was the world’s media capital and everyone wanted to appear there, and also because World War II had left many European conductors homeless and eager for public exposure in the U.S.

In today’s world, where every conductor is booked far in advance, and with Wolfgang Sawallisch too ill to return as a guest, it’s clearly impossible for the Philadelphia to mount a similarly distinguished interim lineup. So let’s enjoy Dutoit for a few years while the Orchestra narrows the list of men and women who will provide the long-term answer.

**
Semantic note: In the Daily News of February 23, Tom DiNardo reported that Dutoit has succeeded Eschenbach. Greater clarity is called for. For the past half century the heads of major orchestras have been called music directors. That’s the title held by Muti, Sawallisch and Eschenbach, and it’s the position that’s still open. Dutoit has accepted the role of an interim caretaker, and the title he asked for is chief conductor, which he prefers instead of using the words interim or principal guest.



To read a response, click here.