Word: conductor
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...America's most fractious ensemble: "A lot of us think, Why not send our worst enemy there and finish him off once and for all?" For the past 1 1/2 years, ever since Mehta announced he would leave his post in 1991, it has sometimes seemed doubtful whether any conductor could be found to take over the Philharmonic, either worst enemy or best friend. Various high-powered names were floated, among them Leonard Bernstein, who has already served one tour of duty as the orchestra's head, and Claudio Abbado, who last year disappointed his supporters by taking the Berlin...
Last week, in a stunning surprise, the Philharmonic's quest finally came to an end with the selection of a relative unknown: East German maestro Kurt Masur, currently the conductor of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. Masur, 62, is a Kapellmeister in the best Central European tradition, and it was exactly this quality that appealed to the Philharmonic's search committee, which for the first time also included some of the orchestra's musicians. "He had an institutional commitment to the Gewandhaus that he was prepared to bring to New York," said orchestra chairman Stephen Stamas. Translation: Masur, whose five-year...
That's what they all say, though everybody knows there isn't a pit bull alive that can drag a conductor off the stage. In any case, true success nowadays means more than the ability to produce a memorable performance. It means winning the directorship of a major ensemble, a substantial recording contract, the admiration of players, the acclaim of critics and audiences...
...line extended with further training under composer-conductor Pierre Boulez and at the Berkshire Music Festival at Tanglewood, where Thomas won the Koussevitzky Prize for conducting. By 1965 he was William Steinberg's assistant at the Boston Symphony. And then, like all understudies in show-biz song and saga, he prepared for the star to break...
...maestro walked offstage just before the intermission and told his assistant to get out there and finish the concert. Thomas proceeded to take the orchestra through a Starer concerto and Till Eulenspiegel without a slip, and the critics flipped. By 1972 he was the Boston's principal guest conductor and had his own orchestra, the Buffalo Philharmonic...