 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Dileep Gangolli
Date: 2009-09-16 01:21
Hi all,
In today's Chicago Tribune, John von Rhein, Classical music critic (one of the last) for the newspaper wrote a very interesting article on the fact that Matthieu Dufour, principal flute of the CSO, will now be sharing his time with the LA Phil in a very unique arrangement. He will be playing 22 weeks in Chicago (with the titled conductors Muti, Haitink, Boulez)) and then playing the remainder of the season with the LA Phil (Dudamel).
http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/music/chi-0915-duforsep15,0,2051411.story
In essence he is the Curt Flood of Classical music
(Google who Curt Flood is if you are not a US sports fan).
My question for discussion is the following:
Does this open the door for wind players, such as Riccardo, who play at a level well beyond the norm....clear outliers....to hold multiple positions with the top orchestras?
Conductors have been doing this since the 70's. It should be fair for musicians to be able to do the same, in my opinion.
Why shouldn't the best players hold two positions in the principal chair and play for the respective music director of each institution, and use the asst. to cover the concerts that are perhaps of "lesser importance"?
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Author: DavidBlumberg
Date: 2009-09-16 01:42
All he would be doing is have a split co-principal ((job share)) position.
When that happens the pay isn't much more then 1/2 either unless he negotiated for more which you would figure he did.
So maybe he would make 3/4 with both (1.5 total salary)
Still dimes compared to a Conductor's $$$$$$$.....
http://www.SkypeClarinetLessons.com
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Author: Morrigan
Date: 2009-09-16 07:08
No, I don't like the idea at all! That's a principal job that could go to someone else less famous but just as deserving!
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Author: BobD
Date: 2009-09-16 10:10
It merely sounds like a way to make a smooth transition to L.A. rather than a commuting job
Bob Draznik
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Author: vin
Date: 2009-09-16 12:45
This is only for this year- if he likes LA he's going to leave Chicago.
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2009-09-16 15:08
The story reads as if it was written by a lawyer (and I'm one).
It begins by stating that LA has "appointed" Dufour as its principal flute, but whether he has actually signed a contract is left unsaid.
Chicago says "he's still ours" until his current contract expires, but their refusal to comment is based not on legal obligations but on their "policy."
It seems obvious (but is not explicitly stated) that he's made a final commitment to go to LA and for the next year will play there, using sabbatical leave from Chicago.
This gives him a break-in period in LA and lets Chicago try out some replacement candidates.
There appears to be no "tryout" period in LA, and it's unlikely that he would burn his bridges in Chicago unless he had an ironclad LA commitment.
As a practical matter, though, if for any reason it doesn't work out for him in LA, he could probably go back to Chicago, just as Ricardo did in Philadelphia. There would be embarrassment and bad feelings, but he's too good to have that make much difference.
Greg Smith -- can you (legally or politically) make any comments, now that the announcement has been made?
Ken Shaw
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Author: Dileep Gangolli
Date: 2009-09-16 20:17
While everyone on this thread has made good comments, I think that this type of arrangement prefaces what will happen in the future.
I don't think it will be long before we see two major orchestras agree to share principal wind players who have achieved star status.
It will be interesting to see what happens this year if neither the CSO nor the NYPO find the player that they feel they need to fill the positions.
Two orchestras with good bench strength- namely with strong asst principals to cover for the principal - could pull it off.
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2009-09-16 20:26
When I first saw the title of this thread, I thought it might turn out to be about another aspect of jet-setting orchestras: the bop-til-you-drop-tour. I've just read a New Yorker article about approaches to performing and ornamenting old music (Aug. 31 issue, Alex Ross, "Musical Events: Taking Liberties, p. 80-81) that incorporated a favorable review of an Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment performance at this summer's Mostly Mozart festival in New York. I went to the orchestra's web page, to see whether the tour would go elsewhere in the USA. Nope. According to the blog, the OAE blitzed in and out of New York in 36 hours!
I don't know whether that was 36 hours on the ground or 36 hours total, including the long flight to and from England. Either way -- yipes. I don't know how musicians can function on that kind of schedule, with such a major time difference, but apparently they functioned quite well in this instance. I'm seeing more accounts of quickie tours lately. Add a frantic schedule to the jet-setting others have described above and the whole enterprise begins to sound fairly grueling.
Lelia
http://www.scoreexchange.com/profiles/Lelia_Loban
To hear the audio, click on the "Scorch Plug-In" box above the score.
Post Edited (2009-09-17 01:18)
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Author: Liquorice
Date: 2009-09-16 22:28
Dileep wrote: "Why shouldn't the best players hold two positions in the principal chair and play for the respective music director of each institution, and use the asst. to cover the concerts that are perhaps of "lesser importance"
Well, the obvious problem is- what if the respective music directors of the 2 orchestras are conducting in the same weeks? Do you really believe that orchestras/music directors would schedule according to when the principal flute may or may not be there?
I really can't see this kind of arrangement working at all.
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Author: graham
Date: 2009-09-17 06:53
Conductors are stars who draw audiences. So do soloists. But is there really star attraction status for a woodwind principal, however well known in the profession? I really doubt that. I don't think an audience will choose to attend a performance of, say, Beethoven's 6th because Ricardo Morales has flown in to play first clarinet. They may choose to if Slatkin has flown in to conduct (or not, as the case may be).
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Author: Dileep Gangolli
Date: 2009-09-17 11:06
>I really doubt that. I don't think an audience will choose to attend a >performance of, say, Beethoven's 6th because Ricardo Morales has flown in >to play first clarinet. They may choose to if Slatkin has flown in to conduct (or >not, as the case may be).
Conductors want the best players they can get in front of them at any given time. Of course the name of a orchestra musician is not enough to draw people to the hall. That goes without saying.
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2009-09-17 11:21
I very seriously doubt that anyone in the audience, other than perhaps a few random clarinet players, would have any idea nor care who is playing clarinet for any given performance. How many of us, if attending an orchestra concert, would know or care who, say, the principal trombonist was that night? (And we're musicians so we are unusually well-informed and sensitive to the identities of the players). Should a well-known clarinetist fly in to join an orchestra some evening (as a regular member, not as a soloist), I'd be surprised if more than ten attendees would even realize he or she was there.
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2009-09-17 12:23
>>Should a well-known clarinetist fly in to join an orchestra some evening (as a regular member, not as a soloist), I'd be surprised if more than ten attendees would even realize he or she was there.>>
David, I agree with you. I'm interested in who plays where, yet I rarely read the list of orchestra players on the back page of the typical concert program unless I notice an unfamiliar face. Often, in a full orchestra performance, I can't even see the clarinet players, buried back there behind the strings, unless I'm sitting up in pigeon heaven where I've got a nice view of the tops of the musicians' heads.
Lelia
http://www.scoreexchange.com/profiles/Lelia_Loban
To hear the audio, click on the "Scorch Plug-In" box above the score.
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Author: JTS
Date: 2009-09-17 15:50
Board members and big donors for orchestras like LA, CSO etc... probably do care about having the absolute "best" principal winds. It's a pride thing. Audience draw is only part of the equation.
JTS
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Author: BobD
Date: 2009-09-17 16:00
"How many of us, if attending an orchestra concert, would know or care who, say, the principal trombonist was that night? "
Or even the Second Trombonist.....
It could work in the Parallel Universe.....
Bob Draznik
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2009-09-18 00:01
Nice work if you can get it. I really doubt if this will catch on and become a regular thing. Most orchestras are in trouble financially at this time and are not going to spend extra money flying, and putting up, players from other orchestras. This is a fluke. I agree, not many people are going to come to a concert because the principal player from another orchestra is playing with them that night. It's all about the conductor and the soloist not the orchestra members, unless maybe they're doing Daphnis and Chloe and have a famous flute player that night, but they better be real famous because the majority of the audience won't know who they are. ESP http://eddiesclarinet.com
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Author: 68fordfalcon
Date: 2009-09-18 15:36
Dileep makes an interesting point. The idea of being a 'free agent' (to stick with the Curt Flood reference) could have more to do with an individual player's preferences and lifestyle than anything else. Perhaps it serves Mr. Dufour on a personal level to have such an arrangement. For example, LA is a lot warmer in February than is Chicago. It's something he wants to do, and he may continue to do it for a number of seasons. As we know, sometimes it takes a few tries to find a replacement that an audition committee likes. And as far as the money goes, I would guess that Matthieu has negotiated a well-paying arrangement. These two orchestras may be willing to accommodate this arrangement specifically because they feel he is a special player whose presence makes a great difference. An orchestra is a team, but is also made up of the individual contributions of its players. I'm not sure if this will become standard procedure, but it is interesting to think about having multiple positions at one time for any number of reasons: personal, artistic, or economic.
Campbell MacDonald
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