Word: karajans
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...long, the myth that great age is required for great musicmaking has been accepted uncritically by audiences, performers and boards of directors alike. Now, with the surprising appointment of Claudio Abbado, 56, to succeed the late Herbert von Karajan at the august Berlin Philharmonic, and the even more unexpected engagement of Finland's Esa-Pekka Salonen, 31, to lead the Los Angeles Philharmonic, two new generations are finally laying claim to the world's great orchestras. Coming shortly after the selection of Myung-Whun Chung, 36, to lead the Opera de la Bastille in Paris, the appointments indicate a fresh...
Just last year Herbert von Karajan bravely declared, "As long as my arm can hold a baton I will remain, and as long as I live there will be no discussion about a successor." But last week the iron chancellor of the Berlin Philharmonic abruptly ended his distinguished 34-year tenure as conductor-for- life. With a curt, 17-line note to West Berlin's new culture minister Anke Martiny, the Salzburg-born Karajan, 81, severed his often troubled relationship with an orchestra widely regarded as the finest in the world. The reason given was ill health...
...musical merry-go-round is spinning again. Today Levine is the favorite to step into Karajan's shoes, thanks to his good working relationship with the self-governing ensemble during his regular guest-conducting stints. Other possible contenders: Maazel, the Boston Symphony's Seiji Ozawa, Philadelphia's Muti and, farther afield, Leonard Bernstein, now a freelance guest conductor. What marks the new sweepstakes is the increasing desperation with which orchestras pursue the same handful of podium personalities. It is | not that there are too few good conductors, but that there are so few who meet the economic requirements: a hefty...
...matter who gets the job in Berlin, Karajan's successor will almost certainly not be offered the life appointment that Karajan enjoyed, although the new man will be expected to maintain the Philharmonic's highly lucrative recording income -- another factor that favors Levine. The New York Philharmonic, for its part, has suffered under Mehta's indifferent performances and low appeal to record buyers. It needs a conductor with fire in the belly like Bernstein; if Billy Martin can be hired by the Yankees five times, can't Lenny come back once? Los Angeles, where the orchestra plays second fiddle...
...Karajan and Previn step down, and another spin of the musical merry-go-round begins as the usual suspects are rounded up to fill their posts in Berlin and Los Angeles...