MONTREAL — He’s back.
Former Montreal Symphony Orchestra (MSO) music director and conductor Charles Dutoit has been invited back to lead a special concert during the city’s light festival, Montréal en Lumière, next year.
“Charles Dutoit has contributed so much to our Orchestra.”
The invitation was made by the MSO and the promoter of the festival; and was announced at a press conference Monday morning.
It will be the first time Maestro Dutoit has performed with the MSO since his acrimonious departure in 2002.
Dutoit was the Artistic Director and conductor for nearly a quarter of a century from 1977 t0 2002; however he left in disgrace after a bitter dispute with some of the members and has never returned to perform with the MSO.
The internationally acclaimed Maestro refused to perform as a guest conductor during the 2008-2009 season to mark the orchestra’s 75th anniversary, when all other living former conductors accepted the invitation.
“There had to be a peaceful way forward.”
Many are hoping the tensions of the past can now be put behind and the reunion will reach a harmonic level.
“We are delighted that Alain Simard (president and managing director of Équipe Spectra) was able to seize the opportunity to invite Charles Dutoit as a part of the Montréal en Lumière,” Lucien Bouchard, president of the MSO board of directors, said in a press release.
“That fruitful period when Charles Dutoit was at the helm of the MSO, as we all know, ended unhappily in 2002.”
Under Dutoit, the MSO conducted more than 30 tours with 80 recordings. The orchestra also received more than 40 national and international prizes.
Next year’s performance will include Berlioz’ Roman Carnival Overture, Stravinski’s Petrushka (1911 version) and Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé, the very first work recorded. Guest soloist, pianist Martha Argerich, will perform Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major, Op. 15. These are all pieces that Dutoit and the MSO have recorded in the past.
The MSO’s current music director and conductor is Kent Nagano, who began leading the orchestra in 2006, and whose contract has been renewed until 2020.
“It is surely a great moment in the history of the MSO to witness the return of Charles Dutoit,” Nagano said in a press release.
“Charles Dutoit and I have known each other for many years, and it was he who invited me to conduct the Orchestra for the first time; he is a great artist for whom I have a deep respect, and who has led an impressive career.”
Tickets for the event go on sale Thursday.
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