Word: conductor
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Haydn: Symphonies Nos. 93 and 94 (New York Philharmonic, Leonard Bernstein conductor; Columbia, $5.98). The familiar Surprise, preceded by its stately, less frequently played older sister (by a month: both are from 1792, part of the series of twelve so-called "Salomon" symphonies written by Haydn during his sojourns in London at the behest of Impresario Johann Peter Salomon). Bernstein is at his best in this music, bringing to it the same strength, drama, wit and control he invariably applies to the last symphonies of Mozart...
...passengers change for Adelaide. There the yard-masters have the maddening job of sorting out rolling stock for three different gauge tracks. In Gladstone, east-and westbound trains stop side by side to swap crews. "Be careful you get back on the right one," warns the chief conductor, Joe Ford, as he spots a passenger alighting dangerously between the two identical silver liners. By nightfall the train is heading into the "back o' beyond," where tiny settlements along the track still depend on a fortnightly supply train called the "tea and sugar...
...spare moments Taylor chips away on a piece for piano and orchestra commissioned by Conductor Maurice Abravanel and the Utah Symphony. Because he plays so well in so many styles, it is not easy to define the essential Taylor manner. By turns impish, husky and lyrical, at its heart it is an elegant, note-clustered filigree reminiscent of Taylor's onetime mentor Art Tatum. There is no pain in Taylor's improvisations, nor much funky blues. He firmly believes that jazz is America's classical music, and his playing shows...
...conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra was napping at home one afternoon not long ago when the telephone rang. Waking him, his wife said, "The President's on the line." "The president of what?" asked Eugene Ormandy. Richard Nixon was calling to forward an invitation from the Chinese government to the orchestra of its choice-the Philadelphia. Following the lead of the Vienna and London orchestras, which have also toured China, the Philadelphia is not including any works by Russian composers. Ormandy announced last week that it is, however, preparing to play the Yellow River Concerto, a modern Chinese work...
Wintry Fare. At age 30, Conductor James Levine is on his way. A virtual unknown three years ago, Levine now ranks with Michael Tilson Thomas, 28, as one of the two hottest young conductors on the American scene. Tackling such wintry fare as Beethoven's Missa Solemnis, or sitting down at the piano to conduct and play Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 12 with a crystalline joy, Levine has given this summer's Ravinia programs new musical depth as well as box office appeal...