"If Salonen’s abrupt departure inspires a sense of we hardly knew ye, there’s no mistaking that he has left the orchestra in even better shape than he found it, and that’s a development that should be with us for a long time."
I agree completely about the players you mention who were hired by Salonen. But the horn section is still down to two regular members, two season substitutes, floating guests, and no new hires.
In addition, associate principal trombone Nicholas Platoff has been at Houston for a trial year as principal and evidently is staying; principal trombone Timothy Higgins won the Chicago principal trombone audition; Christopher Bassett won the St. Louis bass trombone audition. I understand that Bassett's wife is a violinist there, and given the difficulty of solutions to the two-body problem for orchestra musicians.....
(None of this is Salonen's fault, of course; the ongoing labor issues and the unforced error of failing to keep Salonen are very much in the laps of management and the board.)
Yes and no regarding this:
"If Salonen’s abrupt departure inspires a sense of we hardly knew ye, there’s no mistaking that he has left the orchestra in even better shape than he found it, and that’s a development that should be with us for a long time."
I agree completely about the players you mention who were hired by Salonen. But the horn section is still down to two regular members, two season substitutes, floating guests, and no new hires.
In addition, associate principal trombone Nicholas Platoff has been at Houston for a trial year as principal and evidently is staying; principal trombone Timothy Higgins won the Chicago principal trombone audition; Christopher Bassett won the St. Louis bass trombone audition. I understand that Bassett's wife is a violinist there, and given the difficulty of solutions to the two-body problem for orchestra musicians.....
(None of this is Salonen's fault, of course; the ongoing labor issues and the unforced error of failing to keep Salonen are very much in the laps of management and the board.)