Word: conductor
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...Once upon a time," says Japanese Conductor Seiji Ozawa, "nearly every major orchestra was a dedicated maestro's proudest castle. It no longer is." Where one castle used to suffice for a Toscanini or a Koussevitsky, now only two-or more-will do. Pierre Boulez now jets between the New York Philharmonic and London's BBC Symphony, Georg Solti between the Chicago Symphony and Orchestre de Paris, Zubin Mehta between the Los Angeles and Israel Philharmonics, Lorin Maazel between London's New Philharmonia and the Berlin Radio Orchestra; Maazel will also conduct the Cleveland Orchestra beginning next...
...however, typifies the new mobility better than lithe, mod Ozawa. Last week, at 36, Ozawa grabbed off one of the biggest plums in American orchestral life: the august, auburn-sounding Boston Symphony, which he will take over in 1973. Since he already has another juicy plum in hand as conductor of the San Francisco Symphony and has no plans to give it up, Ozawa has instantly become one of the most powerful and busy men in American music...
Michael Tilson Thomas, 27, the talented associate conductor who has brilliantly filled in for Steinberg and who was a popular favorite for the job, was passed over largely because of his age and lack of administrative experience. He and London's Colin Davis will be on hand starting next season as principal guest conductors...
Ozawa and the other two-castle men are not necessarily greedy for power. There are simply not enough superstar conductors of great luster to go around. The result of all the doubling up sometimes seems to be a numbing jet-age confusion, affecting conductor and orchestra alike, but it is the answer to necessity. Like almost every other orchestra in the nation, the Boston Symphony needs money and a new young audience. One way to win both is to hire a conductor who is an established name in the LP marketplace, and who is attractive, personable and young. He should...
...Floyd, in the title role of a foundling whose book learning propels her into civic leadership, produced a bright, reedy soprano but had stiff presence. Simon Estes, as Treemonisha's father Ned, draped Joplin's curvaceous melodies in rolling voluminous sound. But with surprisingly lackluster support from Conductor Robert Shaw, Treemonisha's effect was blander than the score deserved...