gone but not missed

 
Could conductors soon be as rare on the orchestra podium as they are on London buses?

When Riccardo Muti dropped out of Saturday's Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the very last minute with a stomach bug, the band simply played on - without him.

Swapping some scheduled items for a Mozart symphony they'd performed earlier in the week, and allowing soloist Anne-Sophie Mutter to flap her arms around a bit during the Beethoven Violin Concerto, the CSO not only coped but "showed their mettle with a refined and worthy performance" according to the Chicago Classical Review.

A new option for any orchestra faced with swingeing cuts?

(thanks to Muti fan Maria for the tip off)

UPDATE - Maria also sent this video, where Muti presciently tells a group of young musicians exactly why a conductor is not necessary:

Comments

[Yoshiyuki Mukudai]

Still, you need composers. ;-)

[Jim]

If you docked his salary a lot every time he isn't available, maybe he'd quit and you could get somebody just as good for half the money. Worth a try. Like most others, he's just a name waving his arms around.

[Maria.]

To Jim: Muti is always available but this does not mean that he will be paid for the concerts he is not going to conduct.
Anyway, he is flying back to Italy right now to be examined by his familiar doctors in Milan and feel more secure at home. He plans to go to Chicago next year.

[Will]

ACO playeed Beethoven 5 directed from the violin at Cadogan Hall earlier this summer and OAE do it without a conductor often...it can work well!