Okay, Okay, Okay, I'll Write About Muti

Riccardo Muti is scheduled to take over the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 2010 and the cultural blogosphere is abuzz with commentary and since I don't want to get another 40 odd email messages asking why I haven't written anything about yet I decided to finally weigh-in. Frankly, I'm not certain why there is so much chatter since the whole scenario is relatively cut and dry. Most of the discussion centers on three primary points, all of which can be addressed with bite-sized answers…

1) Muti took the Chicago job as a way of thumbing his nose at New York and Milan.

If true, this is shocking to anyone, how? Don't forget that after years of rebuffing offers from Philadelphia Orchestra management to return and conduct, the only time Muti accepted was amidst a full blown labor conflict and only after the musicians asked. Consequently, the (now departed) Philly board and administrative leadership were left with more than just egg on their face.

2) Old-school conductors like Muti are dinosaurs that didn't get the memo about being extinct.

Although the Ponce de León school of hiring music directors might like the idea of an under-50 litmus test, each orchestra is (thankfully) different and the person they select as music director should be instrumental (no pun intended) in serving as a catalyst for allowing the ensemble to become greater than the sum of its parts. Based on my time in Chicago, tradition seems to work well with the ensemble. In fact, I hear many of the same adjectives used to describe Dudamel and Gilbert coming from patrons who attend CSO concerts led by Haitink (Muti's elder no less). Personally, having heard the ensemble on several occasions with Barenboim at the end of his tenure and Haitink at the begging of his, I think the ensemble far more energized and exiting with the latter. As such, scratch the generation discussion off the list.

3) Muti brings an elitist attitude to the podium.

Speaking candidly, I wasn't thrilled with Muti's lecturing patrons (albeit polite and sincere) who applauded between movements during one of his Chicago concerts this season. It was the wrong thing to do and I don't agree with most of the points he made. But on the other hand, you can't argue against the vitalized artistic quality he has managed to cajole from the ensemble and frankly, if I'm attending a Muti concert and the ensemble moves me enough to applaud between movements, I'll damned well do it regardless of the maestro's feelings. I think he is a strong enough to endure it. Worst case scenario is that the CSO is going to have to work overtime to make the concert experience as inviting as possible (more on that below).

Closing Thoughts

Will Muti be the next Solti? Probably not, and that's a good thing. My observations lead me to believe that the orchestra, and the city at large, is still in mourning over Solti's passing. It is both touching and tragic. At the same time, when compared to his predecessor, I suspect Muti will do more for the orchestra in the long run while simultaneously providing some much needed closure. Add to that another few years to wallow around in the glorious music making that is Haitink and Chicago has a promising decade in store.

Frankly, if Muti's tenure produces a critical mass capable of building a new concert hall worthy of this organization and its patrons then history will look back on it as a gargantuan success (conductors don't keep me away from Orchestra Hall, Orchestra Hall keeps me away from Orchestra Hall). At minimum, expect a fantastic series of recordings, some heavily publicized tours, improved new music programming, and a headline stealing antic here and there (and there, and there).

Comments

[Galen H. Brown]

Do they need to build a new hall from the ground up, or do they need to do massive renovations to the old one? I've never been, so I know nothing about the place. But given that it's called "Orchestra Hall" I think I see a naming opportunity in the future. . .

Raising money for bricks and mortar considered the hardest kind of money to raise in the broader non-profit world. It that equally true in orchestra fundraising?

Orchestra Hall recently underwent a very expensive renovation that provided much needed backstage space, offices, a cafe, and some significant changes inside the sound chamber. But the consensus is that the acoustic improvements (the real heart of any hall) fell far short (John Von Rhein wrote an excellent article on the topic awhile back, my apologies for not having the link at hand) - an assessment which I wholehearted concur. given the shortage of prime building space in downtown Chicago, I doubt they could locate a suitable building to start from scratch. Consequently, if a new location never materializes a solution might be to dynamite what's there and rebuild from scratch while the orchestra performs in a temporary home for a few years.

Granted, that's some hefty dreaming on my part but capital campaigns surrounding brick and motor projects are some of the most successful fundraising campaigns, especially compared to far less sexy (but equally crucial) projects like building an endowment. ~ Drew McManus

[Hudson Fair]

Orchestra Hall is much better than it was. However, one can say that it is not as good as it used to be (before the 1966 remodeling)

Let's not waste money on a new hall. It is relatively unimportant compared to building the orchestra's endowment. I hardly believe that it is worth your starting a discussion about whether Orchestra Hall keeps you away from hearing the orchestra. Before you ever arrived here, all the discussion was already had, brother.

Besides, in its current guise the hall is a very good recording hall.

I loved Solti by the way. Orchestra never sounded better with the brass sound bombing off the back plaster wall. He is sorely missed and you'll make enemies if you persist in calling our remembrance "tragic."

Hudson, I think you may have inadvertently misinterpreted how the term "tragic" was being applied. I wasn't referring to Solti's remembrance as a tragic event, rather, his passing was a tragic event. Meaning the event contained elements of tragedy: i.e. involving death and grief. As such, your assessment that he is sorely missed is precisely the point being made. I hope that clarifies the point.

Regarding the value of an endowment over a new hall, I suppose it depends on whether or not those events are mutually exclusive. Personally, I don't see them that way. A thorough brick and motor style capital campaign must contain an operating endowment component in order to be sincerely successful in the long run so in that since I think we place the same value on the need to boost the organization's endowment. ~ Drew McManus