LA Phil adopts principal horn shunned by Chicago
OrchestrasThe outstanding hornist David Alan Cooper posted last night: ‘I am so happy to share that tonight I was granted tenure as Associate Principal Horn of the LAPhil.
‘This week the @laphil performed in Barcelona, Paris and London under MD @gustavodudamel. Every night was full of energy and very special music making. I am thankful to Maestro Dudamel, the fabulous horn section of the LAPhil and every musician in our orchestra for their art, dedication and great atmosphere! It’s a pleasure to keep working, creating and growing together.’
Cooper’s path has been somewhat rocky. He went from principal horn at the Dallas Symphony to the Berlin Philharmonic, where he resigned in 2018 ‘for private reasons‘ after little over a year. He was snapped up as principal by the Chicago Symphony, only to be refused tenure by a narrow margin in a vote of his colleagues.
Chicago’s loss is LA’s gain. He’s a world-class player.
Is that Photoshopped? Duda is starting to look weird.
Lense distortion from shooting wide and up-close.
Let’s see your pic, PF.
Isn’t he going to SF as their new principal though?
I believe they couldn’t come to an agreement on a contract, but perhaps someone else has more information.
You can pick up a lot more studio side work in L.A. They play in the better hall, too.
He didn’t accept the position, supposedly.
Not just supposedly but also actually.
This says something about the state of the SFS. One wouldn’t normally turn down a principal job for an associate principal position in a comparable orchestra. That indicates they are no longer comparable, and the SFS isn’t doing so well. Good for LA and for David!
He is truly one of the outstanding players in the world today. Congratulations to him and to LA!
For completeness of the reporting: Muti made the final decision to not given tenure to David Cooper. He’s responsible.
Actually, for accurate reporting (of which you are incapable): many factors contributed to the final decision. It is a significantly more complicated situation than you imply; you are wrong to state that only RM is responsible. RM considers everything that the tenure committee puts forth. The disagreement of those in the tenure committee (not to mention other additional factors) ultimately tipped the scales towards not granting tenure. It is unfortunate how everything turned out, but perhaps LA was always the right place for him to succeed.
So Muti wants to take credit on the NYT for the hires he did, but does not want to take responsibility for this decision, and you support that? Very disingenuous.
He receives input, true, but ultimately makes the final decision on his own. Our sources state that Cooper actually had a majority vote of the committee, but that RM went with the dissenters. Perhaps you could confirm this.
You have no idea how it was, so, don’t talk too much.
Muti made the first wrong decision when the committee was 5 yes against 4 no votes.
Everything that came after that is BS and a huge loss for the CSO Brass.
Not to mention the next decision, which made everything even worst with the last hire (no comment)
All shame should go to Muti and those “behind the scene” supporters.
If you read carefully, you would see that I wasn’t referring to anything that happened after the original tenure decision. To use your own words, maybe you’re the one who shouldn’t talk too much.
I don’t have to read anything, cause I know what happened first hand
If nearly 50% didn’t want him then he really should not have gotten tenure. That vote says it all.
That’s not correct sir, because many people was against the new hire (audiences and orchestra) and it also happened in a very weird way as I heard, so, 50% or not means nothing.
DC is a phenomenal jewel. Whoever has it has a treasure.
When the Steves of the world, the Muti gang and/or the CSO magically make hundreds of thumbs materialize overnight (which weren’t there the first day) you know that nerves have been struck quite heavily!
I need help parsing this comment. What is “hundreds of thumbs?”
Well done for him!…it seems the CSO was a tonic environment for him…they are spiraling down…
Oh, come on. They’ve hired the Super Finn “Rookie of the Year”. What could possibly go wrong!
It’s both funny and deeply tragic that the few CSO hardcore fans remaining on this site (there are probably less than five, including one active musician), in their delusional denialism keep singing the praises of the ear-pummeling first trumpet (I beg your pardon, principal trumpet), even called the ‘best in the world’ – laughable; a clarinet that you can’t hear; and an oboe that was hired as the pupil of Muti’s buddy.
But they were completely comfortable with the Italian Stallion butchering the future of the orchestra with the most stupid and arrogant decision to let go this ONE REAL SUPERSTAR, that the audiences ADORED.
Truly clueless, rat.
As guest principal in Philly during their Mahler 7th, Esteban Batallán was remarkable and praised by the rest of their brass section.
I heard him. He’s superb. The reference to “ear pummeling” could equally be applied to Bud Herseth whose instrument Battalan plays. I once heard Bud drown the whole orchestra in the finale of the Tchiakovsky 3rd Symphony. It was impressive. Then again Abbado must’ve wanted that because Bud could do anything and could play very quietly too. If Battalan is too loud it’s what the conductor wants. As for “ear pummeling brass” I well remember the CSO under Solti where the “Chicago blare” was well and truly in place and was the worst possible sonority for the Bruckner Symphonies he did. The CSO is a much better sounding orchestra than in the 1980s – much better strings and much better overall blend.
Oh! the famous Chicagorat! of course
Someone who knows nothing and talks about everything hahaha
Muti screwed up with Cooper, but not with the others.
Are you deaf enough not to hear that the musicians you mention are fabulous? or maybe you’re jealous of not being one of them, because you’re probably a mediocre musician and person, frustrated, who hides behind a nickname (which also totally agrees with how you behave: rat).
If you don’t like something about those musicians, I’m sorry, we’re many of us do like them, so eat s..t and f..k yourself
You do know that not all readers of this site (or Chicago fans/musicians) interact with your cloth-eared dreck in the comments, yes?
I am shocked and horrified…this is in Chicago…right!
I agree with these sentiments if not the unhinged, seething-with-anger manner in which they’re presented. There are very few “stars” left in my orchestra. In Esteban’s defense, I think he has been making an effort to rein it in and not play over the orchestra as an every entrance default. Some very sweet and delicate moments on the recent Mahler 2 for example, and really only cut completely loose when most needed. But basically empty principal horn and principal clarinet seat.
Your orchestra? Who are you? Raimi?
Problems with BPO and CSO? Weird. Let’s see how long LA will hold him.
A high salary where you can also pick up a fair amount of studio work, as well playing in a hall where you don’t have to blast your brains out to cut through (unlike Chicago’s Orchestra Hall)? . . . You might want to rethink that.
Will probably have to commute in from Thousand Oaks to afford housing.
How long they’ll hold him? Well, they just granted him tenure, so…I’d say for as long as he himself sees fit.
One of America’s greatest horn players. Andrew Bain, the LA Phil’s principal, is another. The entire section rocks. Go David! Congrats!
I’m not impressed with Andrew Bain. More often than not he cracks notes when I’m there.
He played superbly as guest principal with the BRSO recently at Carnegie Hall. Not a single clam that I heard and this was Mahler 6……..
But when you’re not there, he doesn’t crack them.
Glad that he finally found his place – at least for now. He has nothing to prove to anyone. Despite his a bit rocky way – only the real bosses can win auditions for Berlin’s, Dallas’s and LA Phil’s principal chairs. David Cooper is in same league than Radek Baborak, Stefan Dohr, Radovan Vlatkovic, Ronald Janezic and Yun Zeng. LA Phil is lucky when they have Cooper and Bain in same section!
Wishing best luck for Cooper and his new life in LA!
… and also Chicago’s…
No. Plenty of not real bosses win Chicago.
I miss his playing in Chicago.
Glad to hear he has found a home. I was in school with one of the horn players in LAPhil – excellent section. Enjoyed their performance of Copland 3 under MTT when I was out there a few years ago.
If I recall a while ago he was leaving LA Phil for Germany for ‘private reasons’, and LA Phil’s principal viola Teng Li was leaving for Chicago.
1) If it is really just Muti’s fault, then Makela can rehire him.
2) If the vote was 5-4 however, then there are real divisive issues, most likely with his leadership skills as principal, and there is no turning back and re-hiring.
3) Judging from the conspiratorial smiles in the photo, Dudamel will lure him to NY with him as principal. Dudamel can do no wrong in NY, since they are in such terrible shape with the Muckey/Wang affair, they will do whatever he wants in personnel hires.
They’ve been looking for a principal horn since Phil Myers left………………
I see David staying put in LA for at least 3 years– Bain likes to take liberal time away to solo and guest with other orchestras, and no doubt David will be doing so as well– almost more of a coprincipal situation. It seems like a very comfortable “base.” I don’t see him going to NYPhil regardless of how badly Dudamel may or may not want him (supposedly he didn’t click with some of the other principals there on his trial a couple years ago) but just to add to the intrigue, you may have seen he’s playing in Oslo under Klaus M this week.
Definitely intrigued seeing him playing under Klaus with Oslo.
But for the best of him, I hope he doesn’t come back to put up with the toxicity in Chicago.
It was Muti’s fault with the horn section behind scenes….but the worst thing is they hired a new principal horn with not good skills, CSO BRASS will not be the same anymore
The horn section was a mess under Cooper – everyone seems to have forgotten how much he and they cracked all over the place. Before that they were just loud. Now they actually play together and sensitively. Maybe people got too used to flashy playing but I prefer the elegant control of the new principal and the way the section is now holding together. The horn solos this week have been breathtaking and I’m glad the audience has been giving loud ovations for the principal horn. I’m glad the CSO brass is not the same as it was because it’s much more interesting and musical when it can do something other than just be loud. I hope the back row is similarly sorted out soon. However apparently sensitive music making is not to everyone’s taste. Admittedly I was thrilled by the loud brass when I was young and first moved to Chicago and heard them.
New principal horn is a mediocre. If you are deaf you should give up your subscription. The real CSO sound used to be different, exciting, but the lack of horns and low brass are going to make it “one more” orchestra. If you really want that, there are plenty orchestras out there, and, besides that…who cares about what you say deaf CSOSuscriber?
Cooper was beyond excelent. The new guy, not even in a lifetime, will be close enough to him or Dale.
Oops I mean touring with Oslo…