Just in: Chicago Symphony loses second principal player
mainEugene Izotov, oboe, will leave at the end of the season to join San Francisco Symphony.
He follows soon after Matthieu Dufour, principal flute, lit off for Berlin Philharmonic.
To lose one principal is unfortunate. Two starts to look like a trend.
Read here on Chicago Classical Review.
photo (c) Todd Rosenberg
no winter.
“To lose one principal is unfortunate. Two starts to look like a trend.”
I’ll bet Oscar Wilde wished he had put it like that…:)
Well, considering that Mr. Izotov has ‘only’ taken a leave of absence, he may yet return to Chicago after a season with the San Francisco Symphony (although considering he was Associate Principal with the SFS and has taught at the SF Conservatory, I wouldn’t want to hold my breath).
If he does not return, the CSO will have effectively lost 3 not 2 principal wind players…David McGill, former principal bassoonist, left the orchestra early in order to devote his full focus to teaching.
Muti’s golden opportunity to completely revamp the woodwind section, and reshape the woodwind sound, of Chicago. I’ve always found the principal woodwinds, however excellent individually, not entirely engaged with each other as chamber musicians. There never developed a signature Chicago woodwind sound, and we aren’t even talking to the point of talking about developing a legendary sound like that of the Chicago brass. There is even a burgeoning Chicago string sound – silky and translucent.
Muti already found his principal clarinet, now he can get his own principal flute, oboe, basson (and horn).
Already last month in Vienna, they were calling the orchestra HIS Chicago Symphony. He already appointed the principal bass and tympanist, the orchestra will indeed be HIS in a couple of years. And we will be talking about the Muti sound for generations to come.
Better weather, worse conductor.
They’ve a long way to go to match Philadelphia’s woodwinds.