Esteban Batallán. Photo by Todd Rosenberg.
In Tuesday’s (3/11) Philadelphia Inquirer, Peter Dobrin writes, “There was a whiff of mystery around the startlingly brief tenure of the Philadelphia Orchestra’s new star trumpeter—just six months … Esteban Batallán’s speedy departure is unusual, especially for a destination orchestra like Philadelphia’s … The exit has also been more public than most personnel changes at the orchestra, in part because of the prominence of the position’s role within the orchestra, and since the trumpeter himself publicly declared his ambivalence about the job before even starting. But in an interview last week, Batallán explained some of his reasoning behind his return to Chicago—which is expected sometime this spring … His choice to give up the principal trumpet position in Philadelphia to return to the same spot with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra doesn’t signify anything about the relative quality or status of the two ensembles, either in his mind or more objectively speaking…. His return to Chicago also doesn’t mean he was not wanted here…. In the end, he didn’t want to stay, and the reasons were about musical style, he says. The musician understood his role as leader of not just the trumpets but the entire brass section … ‘I have had all my life a really defined, vibrant sound with a very clear articulation…. In a place like the CSO, it’s basically the tradition of the brass.’ ”
