Charles Dutoit prepares to leave his last job
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norman lebrecht
June 26, 2017
The Swiss maestro, 80, was tonight named Honorary Conductor for Life of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, where he has been principal conductor and artistic director since 2009.
The bestowal of titles like ’emeritus’ and ‘honorary’ is a prelude to retirement.
James Williams, Managing Director of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, said tonight: ‘The Orchestra is incredibly fortunate to work with Charles Dutoit and as we plan for our future, we are delighted that this musical partnership will continue beyond 2019 retaining Charles as a key figure within the RPO’s artistic leadership team. Charles has created a strong artistic foundation upon which we shall continue to build as we undertake a search for his successor.’
The search is now officially on.
photo: clive boursnell/rpo
He’s 80!
He’s 80!
Indeed, and looks marvellous, tireless, and has just conducted a superb series of performances of Pelleas et Melisande with the Sydney Sydney Orchestra, for starters.
There is an obvious candidate in my mind and that’s Ilan Volkov who recently gave superb performances with the RPO. He will also shake the RPO extremely mainstream repertoire and make them relevant again. I still recall the RPO with Vladimir Ashkenazi at the podium and Volkov can revive the artistic thrill which gradually faded away at the RPO.