Troubles at the OSM

Troubles at the OSM

It was one more artistic coup for Canada's most distinguished orchestra. Last week, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and the MSO Chorus, under the direction of Charles Dutoit, won a Grammy Award in the best-opera category for their four-disc recording of Berlioz's Les Troyens. The dashing 59-year-old Dutoit, conductor of the MSO since 1977, can be forgiven for boasting that his ensemble is "out of this world." In the past decade, the MSO - which has an exclusive long-term contract with Decca/London - has collected more than 40 national and international awards for its 70 recordings. And, every year, the MSO travels to major music festivals in Europe, Japan and the United States.

The MSO's administrative and financial problems, however, have piled up as fast as their awards. In the past several months, the orchestra's management has been in disarray, with five senior people getting laid off in February. Meanwhile, the symphony's recording and travelling - expensive undertakings that bring prestige but not necessarily profits - have contributed significantly to its $4.2-million deficit. So has the declining audience. According to the MSO's general manager since November, Michelle Courchesne, the number of subscribers has dropped to 15,000 from more than 20,000 in the 1980s.

Among the possible reasons is a sense that the MSO's home base, 33-year-old Place des Arts, is past its prime - a feeling intensified by the three failed attempts to build a new concert hall for the symphony over the past several years. Says Montreal Gazette music critic Arthur Kaptainis, "The MSO suffers from a perception that Place des Arts is not a good place to hear classical music." Some also point out that the anglophone population - traditionally a strong supporter of the orchestra - is declining. But others contend that the symphony suffers from Dutoit's other commitments. The Swiss-born conductor heads two other orchestras, the Orchestre National de France in Paris and Tokyo's NHK Symphony Orchestra. "Charles Dutoit - as good as he is for the musical side of MSO - is simply not here," declares Mario Labbé, president of the Montreal classical label Analekta. "You have to make the community feel that the orchestra is their jewel, not just Decca's jewel."

Dutoit dismisses his critics outright. "This is absolutely absurd," he says. "We play just as much in Montreal as in the past." And, he insists, many MSO tours either break even or make a profit. "We have to keep our audience around the world," says Dutoit. The conductor bristles at the fact that the 100 musicians' year was cut to 46 weeks from 50 last year. "If we cut and cut and cut," says Dutoit, "we will end up with an average orchestra." For now, Dutoit is counting on the MSO's new management to take care of the money - so that he can focus on musical excellence.

Maclean's March 25, 1996