Reader’s Choice Mathieu Dufour

Daniel Barenboim’s greatest contribution to the CSO may have been his additions to its roster. At the top of the list is French principal flutist Mathieu Dufour, who joined in 1999 at age 26. If Dufour played a different instrument, the violin perhaps, no orchestra could hold him. His sound is unmistakable: pure and elegant, but also rich and expressive, it leaps from the stage. There are nights when he momentarily surpasses a guest artist, delivering a solo that takes over the hall. Also a member of Roosevelt University’s faculty and the Chicago Chamber Musicians, Dufour can be heard regularly away from the CSO; his 2001 recording (on Harmonia Mundi) of flute and piano sonatas by Prokofiev, Martinu, and Hindemith is a knockout.  cso.org. —Steve Langendorf

Readers’ Choice Rachel Barton Pine

rachelbartonpine.com.

Send a letter to the editor.

From the Reader blogs